Napoleon remembered the fate the Prussian commander had promised for the city if the Tuileries was attacked. 'I pray that you're right, citizen.'
Napoleon had seen enough – more than enough. When he had joined the army, he had never imagined that his first sight of a battlefield would be here amid the grandeur of Europe's finest palace. And he had never imagined it would look like a vision of hell. So this was what happened when the people ran out of control. Despite his sympathy for the suffering of the poorest classes of French society he could find no justification for the scene before him. Nor could he staunch the bitter feeling of disgust that swelled up inside him. Napoleon nodded farewell to the National Guardsman and turned to walk away, leaving the man to his victory.
Chapter 65
Two days after the massacre of the Swiss Guards, Saliceti sent for Napoleon. When he arrived at the deputy's office Napoleon was kept waiting for over an hour before Saliceti finally appeared, looking exhausted. He swept past Napoleon, beckoning to the lieutenant to follow him into the office, then he closed the door behind them and slumped in his seat behind the desk.
'Those fools at the Assembly want to suspend the King.'
'Suspend?' Napoleon looked astonished. 'How do they expect to do that?'
'By a rope ideally.' Saliceti laughed. 'If only! No, I mean they refuse to depose him. They still can't see that it's him or us at the end of the day. In any case, it's out of their hands now.'
'What do you mean?'
'The Paris Commune has taken charge of the King. The Assembly can say what it likes, but Louis is a prisoner of the Commune and they're not going to hand him over until they get what they want.'
Napoleon stirred uneasily. 'What's going to happen to the King?'
'He, and the rest of the royal family, are being held in one of the towers at the Temple. Until their fate is decided. If the Jacobins win the day, he'll be dethroned, tried as a traitor and then…' Saliceti waved his hands. 'And then, he'll be disposed of.'
Napoleon bit his lip. Despite the angry cries of denunciation he had heard in the streets since the massacre, there had been few demands for the King's death, just his removal from the throne. But that was wishful thinking. As long as he lived, Louis would pose a danger to the new order in France.
'Anyway,' Saliceti broke into his thoughts,'I didn't send for you to discuss the fate of kings. That'll be my job. It's time for you to repay my favour. I have a tricky mission for you.You won't like it, and it is dangerous. Both for you and your family. You must understand that before I explain anything else to you.' Saliceti's dark eyes bored into Napoleon. 'Despite our desperate need for professional officers in the army I'm not sending you back to your regiment.'
Napoleon opened his mouth to protest. He had been kept idle in Paris while his regiment had no doubt been called forward to fight in the defence of France, and he longed to join them. To prove himself as a soldier and – if he was honest with himself – to win himself some glory.
Saliceti raised a hand to forestall Napoleon's complaint. 'I've made up my mind. It has to be you. One artillery officer more or less is going to have little effect on the outcome on the war. But one Buona Parte in the right place is going to be invaluable to me, and to France.'
Napoleon looked at him warily. 'What exactly is it that you want me to do?'
'Your promotion to captain will be effective immediately. Then I want you to return to Corsica. I want you to find out what Paoli is up to. If you can, I want you to destabilise him by any means that come to hand.'
'You want me to be a spy?' Napoleon replied quietly.
'Is that so terrible?' Saliceti smiled faintly. 'Please put aside that look of distaste, young man. Whatever you may think of me, I have one attribute that is unquestionable: I am an excellent judge of character. After I read the report on your activities at Ajaccio, I sent for your records at the War Office.They make for interesting reading. Clearly you are an outstanding officer. But one other thing was very evident to me when I pieced together all the information about you.You are the kind of man who possesses a personal ambition that overrules his patriotism.That's the kind of man I need right now. What? Do you think I have misjudged you?'
Napoleon stared back at him. At first he felt insulted. Then he realised that Saliceti had seen through him and that the deputy was right. Napoleon had felt the touch of destiny on his shoulder and when a man had had that experience, the rules and values that tied the hands of normal men no longer applied.
'Very well. I'll return to Corsica. I'll be your spy.'
Saliceti slowly smiled. 'Of course you will.'
Chapter 66
'Sir,' Napoleon spoke patiently, 'we have to prepare the island's defences. France is already at war with most of Europe. If Britain should join our enemies then we will be facing the most powerful navy in the world.'
'The defence of Corsica is a French concern,' General Paoli said. 'Why should the people of this island be burdened with the task of turning their home into a fortress? Particularly against a nation such as Britain, which has been our ally in the struggles for liberation.' He smiled. 'Do not forget, my dear Napoleon, that it was Britain who offered me shelter when your father and I were defeated at Ponte Nuovo.'
'I know that, sir. But times change. If France and Britain go to war then Corsica will become a vital strategic asset for whichever side holds the island.'
Paoli stared hard at him. 'Not so long ago, you were set on freeing Corsica from the French.'
Napoleon shrugged.'At present it is in our best interest to side with France.'
'But only for the present?'
'As I said, the situation has changed. It is more than likely it will change again.'
'So I see,' Paoli smiled. 'It's only been a few months since you left Corisca in disgrace. Now you are a regular army captain and, since Ajaccio's volunteers have been reinstated, a colonel of volunteers once again.You're quite an opportunist, my boy.'
Napoleon stared back at him. 'If you say so, sir. Do you wish to discuss my report on the island's defences?'
Napoleon did not wait for a response but spread the map out across the table in Paoli's ostentatious office in the Palais National. Whilst Napoleon pulled out his notes from his saddlebag, Paoli wandered over to the doorway that led on to the balcony. Despite it being early in January, the doors were open and the room was cool. The general professed to like the clean, fresh mountain air. Below the balcony the hill town of Corte spread out in a labyrinth of streets. To one side loomed the ancient fortress that had protected the town for centuries, perched atop a rocky crag. Barren mountains surrounded Corte and the peaks were shrouded in dazzling white snow. General Paoli took a deep breath and turned back to Napoleon with another smile.
'Much as I appreciated the hospitality of my British hosts, there was not a day that passed when I did not dream of being back here in the mountains of Corte.'
'I understand, sir. I felt the same when I was being educated in France. It's in our blood. Wherever you transplant a Corsican, and however long you keep him there, at the end of the day he's still a Corsican.'
Paoli looked at him. 'Well said, young man. There are times when you remind me of your father.'
Napoleon was touched. 'Thank you, sir. I hope I do some honour to his memory.'
'You do. I'm sure Carlos would be proud of how you've turned out. And now you have been entrusted with surveying the island's defences for the French Government. The War Office must have a great deal of faith in you.'
Napoleon stirred uncomfortably. The survey was a cover concocted by Saliceti for the real purpose behind Napoleon's return to Corsica. The War Office, fearing that Britain would inevitably be drawn into a war against revolutionary France, had long been concerned about the fate of Corsica. If the island was seized from France it could be used as a base from which to attack the southern coast, or to intervene in Italy. So orders for a thorough survey of the defences had been given, and Saliceti had intervened and placed the survey in the hands of Captain Buona Parte.