The investigation of the Cadoudal affair was officially in the hands of Louis-Nicolas Dubois, the Prefect of Police. Fouché, formerly Minister of Police, had fallen out of favor with Napoleon in 1802. The First Consul closed the Ministry of Police, although, as a parting gift, he allowed Fouché to retain the 1.2 million francs from the Ministry’s coffers. Fouché used these funds to build an even more elaborate system of informers, setting himself up in direct opposition to the Prefect of Police, André Jaouen’s putative boss. Although Fouché was technically out of power and his Ministry of Police closed, he played a large role in the Cadoudal affair, even though the investigation was technically being run by Dubois at the Prefecture.
I tried to capture the flavor of the Fouché-Dubois rivalry by having André serve under Dubois at the behest of Fouché, working at the Prefecture but reporting to Fouché. To minimize confusion and avoid extra explanation, I retained Fouché in his old position as Minister of Police. Fouché was officially reinstated as Minister of Police later that same year—a role in which he continued for the duration of Napoleon’s ascendancy. For more about Napoleon’s legendary Minister of Police, I recommend Hubert Cole’s Fouché: The Unprincipled Patriot, as well as the relevant chapters on “Fouché’s Police” and “Fouché the Man” in Alan Schom’s Napoleon Bonaparte. Fouché’s contemporaries, such as Josephine’s lady-in-waiting, Mme. de Rémusat, and Bonaparte’s secretary, M. de Bourrienne, had a great deal to say about the Minister of Police in their memoirs from the period. One can read Fouché’s side of the story in his own memoirs, entitled Memoirs of Joseph Fouché, Duke of Otranto, although these, published after the Restoration, ought to be taken with several grains of salt.
Unlike the conspirators, who were, with the exception of André and Daubier, taken from the historical record, my artists and actors were all composite characters, based on a combination of contemporary personages. Jaouen’s wife, Julie Beniet, was inspired by Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun and Marguerite Gérard, among others. For a glimpse into the life of a female painter in Paris, I recommend Gita May’s Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun: The Odyssey of an Artist in an Age of Revolution and Mary D. Sheriff’s The Exceptional Woman: Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun and the Cultural Politics of Art, as well as Vigée-Lebrun’s own memoirs. For artists more generally, I relied upon Thomas Crow’s Painters and Public Life in Eighteenth-Century Paris and Warren Roberts’s Jacques-Louis David, Revolutionary Artist: Art, Politics, and the French Revolution. Moving from artists to actors, fellow devotees of old swashbucklers will have guessed that the escape via Commedia dell’Arte troupe was inspired by Rafael Sabatini’s classic novel of the French Revolution, Scaramouche. I tip my hat—and my keyboard—to him.
Many real places were pressed into service for this novel. The Hôtel de Bac was based on the building that now houses the Musée Carnavalet; Daubier’s studio was modeled on Victor Hugo’s apartments in the Place des Vosges (formerly known as the Place Royale); and the gallery in which Colin’s mother’s party was held can be found just around the corner from the Musée Victor Hugo. The Musée Cognacq-Jay was taken from life, as was the exhibit Artiste en 1789, featuring the work of Marguerite Gérard. I added on an extra “s,” stuck in the (pretend) oeuvre of Julie Beniet, and moved the exhibit from 2009, when I was fortunate enough to view it, to 2004. Beniet’s portrait of her husband was based very closely on Gérard’s Portrait d’Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson, which leapt out at me as the spitting image of André Jaouen. My understanding of André, in the context of his legal profession and political leanings, was deeply influenced by David A. Bell’s Lawyers and Citizens: The Making of a Political Elite in Old Regime France.
Last but not least, I can attest to the veracity, and the tastiness, of those marzipan pigs. Many were eaten in preparation for this novel.
Acknowledgments
This book was a long time in the writing, which means that I have even more people than usual who deserve a shout-out. The first and biggest thanks goes to my mother, who not only bore and raised me, but also submitted to being dragged through Paris and beyond to every Napoleonic monument/exhibit/tenuously related location, even with a broken wrist. Without you, I would never have found my Hôtel de Bac, tracked down the original location of the Abbaye Prison, or discovered those two-euro bottles of wine (perfect with marzipan pig). Thanks, Mom!
Thanks are also due to my little sister, for untangling the usual plot snarls; to Claudia, for long walks in cold weather; to Ryan and Lara, for Tuesday Coffee Club; to James, for keeping me saner than usual through Book Deadline Panic Month™; to my usual suspects (Liz, Emily, Alison, Abby, and Weatherly, that means you!) for always being there via cocktail or phone call; to Eve and Sebastian O’Neill, for being even more adorable than Gabrielle and Pierre-André; to Tracy Grant, Tasha Alexander, Michele Jaffe, and Sarah MacLean, for being not just amazing writers but equally amazing friends; to Andrea DaRif, for being the world’s best and most patient co-professor; to Lady Jane’s Salon and its founders, for providing a forum for romance writers and readers; and to the Badminton Club of NYC, for letting me take out my aggressions on the birdie rather than my characters.
While I was writing this book, I had the great privilege of co-teaching a seminar at my alma mater on the origins and development of the Regency romance novel. To my students in the Yale class, hugs and thanks. Your enthusiasm was a weekly reminder of how much I love this time period and this genre.
Finally, thank you to everyone who came to a reading, popped by my Web site, or visited the fan page on Facebook. Your commentary and feedback are a constant source of inspiration (and procrastination).
About the Author
The author of seven previous Pink Carnation novels, Lauren Willig received a graduate degree in English history from Harvard University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, though she now writes full-time. Willig lives in New York City.
ALSO BY LAUREN WILLIG
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation
The Masque of the Black Tulip
The Deception of the Emerald Ring
The Seduction of the Crimson Rose
The Temptation of the Night Jasmine
The Betrayal of the Blood Lily
The Mischief of the Mistletoe
Lauren Willig, The Orchid Affair
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