Chapter 25 - Summit
The troops in the camp split into two groups early the next morning. The two hundred infantry were ordered to remain at the camp site in the Nanoux valley until the return of the king or until a pre-arranged time a few days hence, whichever occurred first. Eight scouts attached to Jason’s party of three hundred riders had already departed half an hour earlier. The column of three hundred riders galloped off after them soon afterwards. They were required to cover forty-five miles a day. Jason and the Marquis positioned themselves in the first third of the column. As they passed a lone farmhouse to the right the Marquis pointed to it.
‘There’s a man in there who stole from me and who nearly succeeded in having my son and I killed by the revolutionaries. Mark my words! If we chance to come back this way, I will make it my business to pop into his home to slit his throat. Nobody endangers my son without one day answering to me.’
As the party descended through the Nanoux valley and onto flatter land, the farmland gave way in places to smaller settlements and villages. The oncoming sound of twelve hundred galloping hooves was evidently heard well before the arrival of the King and the royal guards. Most of the local villagers came out to see what the commotion was about. They had never before seen the uniforms of the Montugan royal guard. The ensigns held by two of the riders were also unfamiliar to them. After ten miles or so the column switched from a gallop to a slower walk. As the column advanced towards the outskirts of the first small town on their route they saw a small military checkpoint which the scouts had reported about earlier. The French soldiers at the checkpoint saluted the king and his party smartly and waved them through without any formalities. Jason returned the salute.
As they progressed along their route they did not encounter many signs of the animosity which they had initially expected in Republican France. The people and the soldiers they encountered seemed to be most respectful. Some were curious, some waved and smiled. Surprisingly, a small minority even bowed or nodded deferentially as the king passed. All along the route, pairs of scouts who had ridden ahead would wait for the main party to catch up. They then delivered their reports as a fresh pair of scouts replaced them and took the lead. The scouts’ initial anxieties about what lay ahead were gradually replaced by a more relaxed, although still watchful attitude.
‘Has it not occurred to your majesty that we might be heading into a trap?’ The Marquis had verbalised a question lurking in the back of some of their minds.
‘Napoleon’s reputation as a general certainly precedes him. By all accounts, however, he is not believed to be dishonourable.’
Three days later, and after an uneventful journey through southern France, the column arrived at the castle Chateau de Saint Etienne outside Lyon. There was no sign of any French military presence near the castle. The scouts also informed Jason that they were unable to spot any French troops closer to Lyon itself. As they approached the castle the drawbridge descended. The French tricolour and the Montugan royal ensign each flew from two of the four towers. Four of the scouts galloped across the drawbridge and into a massive courtyard whilst Jason and the main party remained motionless outside. Jason scanned the top of the castle walls for signs of artillery. There was no indication of any activity at all. One of the scouts returned to Jason after an hour and fifteen minutes. He reported that they had conducted a proper search for any signs of a trap or anything else untoward. They had also carried out their instructions to search for explosives which might have been placed in the roof, the walls, or in any of the subterranean sections of the castle.
‘It is safe,’ he said. ‘They were only expecting us tomorrow but they are nonetheless ready to receive us. We can all go in. There are stables for the horses at the back against the outside walls of the castle. The exit to the stables is at the back of the courtyard. The enlisted men’s barracks are next to the stables. Your majesty and the officers have been allocated rooms in the castle itself.’
Throughout the evening, Jason’s scouts and a few royal guards left the chateau to scout the area around it. The reports remained constant. There were no signs of any French troops. The news permitted Jason and his senior officers to enjoy their first sit down meal in a proper dining room in several days.
The meeting between Napoleon and Jason was due to start at eleven o’clock the next day. The study in which Jason was sitting commanded a view of the moat surrounding the front of the castle and in addition to a view of the clay road leading up to a point where it connected with the drawbridge. At five to eleven two riders on horseback galloped down the road and on to the open drawbridge. Napoleon was accompanied by a junior officer. Apart from the sword carried by the junior officer, neither of them seemed to be armed. They disappeared out of view below the study as they entered the palace courtyard. Jason was unsure whether Napoleon’s decision to arrive without a larger escort was a sign of confidence or arrogance. Maybe both, he ultimately concluded. He looked out of the window to see if he could spot any other French soldiers in the distance. He could not. This also concerned him a little. Surely Napoleon had not travelled all the way here from Paris accompanied only by one officer. If Napoleon did have other men with him in Lyon, he wondered where they were.
‘Your majesty, the First Consul asks if you can join him alone in the drawing room.’ The custodian of the Castle stood in front of the entrance to the study. He gestured towards a room further down the passage towards his right. Jason was ushered into a bright drawing room. Napoleon stood in the middle of the room. He had removed his hat and held it in his left hand. He was an impressive man of ordinary height. He had short black hair and a roundish yet, striking face. His weight exceeded that the average for a man of his height by a few pounds. Napoleon’s most outstanding feature, however, was his powerful bearing and his commanding stare. After considering Jason for a few moments he smiled and even bowed slightly.
‘Your majesty, it is indeed a pleasure to meet you!’
Jason grasped Napoleon’s outstretched hand and firmly shook it.
‘First Consul.’ Jason nodded slightly in Napoleon’s direction. ‘Or do you prefer General.’
‘I prefer General only when I am being addressed by my officers or when I am invading a country or such like,’ Napoleon smiled wryly. ‘Since we are in France, may I be permitted to suggest that we dispense with formalities? May I call you Jason and would you please call me Napoleon.’ Jason noted that, for a man who was rumoured to be responsible at times for widespread bereavement and destruction, Napoleon was surprisingly gallant.
‘Of course.’
‘Please sit down. I see they have opened a bottle of the wine I brought along. It is from Sicily. I was there recently. I love the place and this wine is one of my favourites.’ Napoleon’s passing referral to his successful military invasion of Sicily was made in a manner so casual that one might have been forgiven for assuming that he had simply popped over to the Italian island for a brief visit as a tourist. Jason accepted the offer of wine and took a seat opposite Napoleon.
‘I thank you for agreeing to see me at this venue. Paris is a most beautiful city but unfortunately, it is located at a considerable distance from Montuga.’
‘Thank you for suggesting Lyon as a compromise.’ Napoleon sipped a little wine and then continued. ‘You and your men were supposed to arrive today. I hear, however, that you arrived yesterday?’
‘Yes,’ Jason replied. ‘We decided it would be wise to arrive a little earlier.’ He thought it wise not to elaborate. Napoleon studied him thoughtfully for a while before responding.
‘You draw the integrity of the safe passage guaranteed by the First Consul of France into question?’ Napoleon’s tone remained even.
‘Your integrity is of course beyond reproach.’ Jason’s response was immediate. ‘However, I am a king traveling in a republican country accompanied by royal guards. You can understand my officers’ insistence on taking every precaution.’
‘As fortune
would have it, my presence is required in these parts in any event,’ mentioned Napoleon as he swiftly changed the subject. ‘I am informed that a possible royalist insurrection may be fermenting in parts of Southern France.’ Napoleon observed Jason with closely as he delivered the last sentence. It was as though he were trying to establish whether this revelation represented news to the king.
‘You may wish to consider deporting some of your troublesome royalists to Montuga and I, in turn, could let you have some of our republicans,’ Jason offered without blinking.
‘I would. But once I am finished with them I am afraid there will not be anything left with which to trade.’ Napoleon’s tone became more business-like. ‘Whilst we are on the subject of royalists and royalty, it would seem fitting for me to ask why it was you, and not the crown prince, who became king.’
‘The crown prince did not wish to be burdened by the responsibility. I did. It is as simple as that.’
‘Jason you and I both know that very few things are as easy as that. Ruan could have been a ceremonial king whilst you could have fulfilled the functions of government. I am told that this was the palace’s plan. What changed?’ Without waiting for a response Napoleon continued. ‘What about the missing Cardinal and the four bishops. They would certainly have been able to tell me the true story. But they are reputed to have mysteriously vanished.’
‘I understand that the Cardinal and the delinquent bishops you are referring to are apparently on the run somewhere in France.’
‘Somehow, I find that to be most unlikely. If they had reached France, they would not need to be on the run. I consider the circumstances of their disappearance to be most suspicious. In particular, the timing of their disappearance is peculiar – coming as it did at the time of the death of one king and the highly irregular coronation of another.’
‘You are entitled to believe what you wish. I assume you have freedom of religion in France?’
‘As opposed to the freedom of the religious,’ Napoleon glibly retorted. The last remark was a less than subtle attempt to return to the subject of the missing clerics. ‘In any event since you, as king, are not the male heir, I have to presume that the monarchy has now fallen away in terms of the treaty of Montuga.’
‘The treaty of Montuga only falls away in the absence of a male heir. Ruan remains both a crown prince and he is an existing and legitimate male heir of the former king.’
‘Your argument is more interesting than convincing.’ Napoleon’s tone was dismissive.
‘Let us not beat about the bush. Ruan is the crown prince and as long as he remains so, Montuga has an existing male heir. That is all the treaty requires. I suspect you realise this. I suggest that you tell me what it is that you want and what it is that you are offering in return?’
Napoleon was unmoved by Jason’s invitation to get down to business. He considered Jason for a few moments before he responded.
‘Okay. I have reason to believe that Britain intends to come to the assistance of a French royalist uprising in Toulon. If you use your army and fleet to assist me to prevent or to repel any British advance on Toulon, I would be prepared to sign an agreement revoking the Treaty of Montuga. Instead I will declare Montuga an independent kingdom totally unconnected with France.’
‘I have already been approached by the royalists and the British, indirectly of course, to assist them,’ Jason announced. That Jason’s candour had amazed Napoleon was apparent from the expression of astonishment on his face. Jason enjoyed the fact that his remark had so obviously caught the First Consul off guard.
‘What was your response to this approach?’ Napoleon enquired carefully as he recomposed himself.
‘I indicated that I have no axe to grind with France. I told the royalists that I cannot assist them as long as France stays out of Montugan affairs.’ Napoleon seemed amused but still a little unsettled by Jason’s directness. ‘I brought this up because I feel we were heading to that part of the conversation where you say that if I do not assist you, you will be unable to guarantee that France will not invade Montuga in the near future. You were going to say something like that were you not?’
‘I wanted to clothe it in greater subtlety,’ Napoleon admitted. All trace of amusement had vanished from his expression.
‘That is most unfortunate. Your failure to rule out an invasion constitutes a threat to invade. As a response, I cannot rule out Montugan assistance to the royal navy.’ Jason stared threateningly at Napoleon. ‘You are undoubtedly a better general than I. I am sure you have worked out that if I support the royalists and Britain, and if your fleet at Toulon is destroyed, your threat to invade Montuga will be rendered impotent for years to come. Maybe even permanently. The biggest navies in the Mediterranean will be the royal navy and the Montugan navy. France cannot invade Montuga without a powerful Mediterranean fleet.’
‘You underestimate the French military at your own risk. You will be surprised as to how easily I can arrange for it to turn up in places which my adversaries least expect.’ Napoleon became unable to disguise his annoyance. He was clearly neither used to being threatened nor to being told that might be powerless in any given situation. He attempted to retain a modicum of self-control. ‘There is something else that Montuga might do well to consider. Let us assume that you side with the British and let us assume further that you are fortunate enough to succeed in eliminating France as a naval power in the Mediterranean. Once Britain has no enemies in the Mediterranean, how long do you imagine it will be before the Montugan navy becomes the next target of the royal navy? I think you know Britain probably desires the destruction of the trade centre in Monte Vista. I believe it wishes to relocate the trade centre to London. Montuga’s increased naval fleet will be tolerated by Britain for only as long as it is seen as a counterweight to the French fleet.’
‘You may be correct,’ Jason agreed. ‘I find that arguments relating to our common interests and to respective self-interests to be infinitely more persuasive than threats,’ he added.
‘Do not ignore the value of threats. I have saved the lives of many of my own soldiers not to mention thousands of the lives of my enemies by employing well directed threats.’
‘Fair enough,’ Jason conceded.
‘Do we have a pact?’ Napoleon’s tone became insistent.
‘France remains a republic. If Montuga sides with France and France wins, what guarantee does Montuga have that France will not turn on Montuga once the dust settles?’
‘You have my word,’ Napoleon replied. ‘I know that many in France regard me as a defender of the republic. However I do have my reservations about the practicality of government by the people. I sometimes wonder whether benevolent dictatorship might not better serve the interests of the masses.’ Napoleon noticed Jason’s raised eyebrows. ‘You should not forget that, like you, I am of noble birth. I originate from Corsican nobility.’
‘I will have to return to Montuga where I will discuss your proposal with the Council of Six.’
‘You are a king. Montuga is not a constitutional monarchy. You have the power to decide now. I need to know now,’ Napoleon insisted. His raised eyebrows added extra emphasis to his words.
‘That sounds very much like a threat. As you correctly pointed out, I have to weigh up whether my kingdom’s best long term interests lie with Britain or France. The royal navy undoubtedly poses a potential threat to Montuga’s navy in the not too distant future. These are things which will need to be discussed and considered. I will not do that here and now simply because France is, or you are desperate.’
As the last words left Jason’s mouth he realised that should not have said them. If Napoleon was feeling pressurised, pointing it out would serve only to make him feel more so. In the absence of a solid undertaking of Montugan assistance, Napoleon might decide that a tactical attack upon Jason and his men before or, soon after their departure from the castle was his only option. Jason considered an apology for the last remark but show
ing weakness was probably also inadvisable. ‘I will let you have my answer in one week after my return to Montuga.’ Jason eventually added, trying to sound decisive. ‘Until then I undertake not to assist your enemies in return for your undertaking that France will not attack Montuga.’
Napoleon stared at Jason intently without answering. The silence persisted for a long while. Eventually he spoke.
‘If my position is at all one of desperation, then so is yours, as you have no doubt realised. If you and all the men who have accompanied you to Lyon are dead, what would the Montugan navy profit from capturing Toulon with the British navy?’
‘We are here in Lyon for talks. We are your guests. Attacking us now would be contrary to the rules of parley which apply in peace and in war. This is not the Napoleon I have heard of. Besides, you have guaranteed our right of safe return in writing.’
‘You are right.’ Napoleon agreed, much to Jason’s relief. The relief was short lived. ‘I will not attack you and your men in this castle or even in this town. You will be permitted to leave today. But once you do, I and my army will chase you down. We can get fresh horses each day along the way. You and your men will be followed, encircled and eliminated before you can return home.’ He stopped for a few seconds before he rose. ‘We are not too unlike, you and I. You are not an indecisive man. I cannot escape the conclusion that if you were going to side with France you would have said so already. Of course it is so that as a man of honour, I should allow you and your men to first return to your kingdom. That woud have been the decent thing to do. But… as you so kindly pointed out, France, and I find ourselves in a most desperate situation.’ Napoleon then stood up left the study without another word.