I can never remember the ceremonies.”
“Listen. I don’t know precisely what happened to Leon Martel, and I don’t care, but don’t pretend he didn’t disappear while in your company. He was a rascal but a useful rascal, so you can save yourself only by taking his place. Every attempt you make to wriggle from Napoleon’s control will only enmesh you deeper. And don’t pretend you don’t know a great deal about flight and firearms. You escaped Egypt in a balloon, worked with Martel to find this Aztec flying machine, and there are even stories you befriended an English scholar of flight named Cayley. Not to mention the American inventor Robert Fulton.”
“I like smart people.”
“Bonaparte wants your expertise again. He says you’ve occasionally been unwittingly inspirational, such as provoking his brilliance in crossing the Alps for the Marengo campaign.”
“He gives me too much credit.” Requisite modesty again. “I did remind him about Hannibal.” Napoleon wanted to see me? And would I accuse him of jeopardizing my family if I did? Should I shoot him and be done with it? Every time I stayed in Paris, life became more complicated. “He’s a difficult chap. Napoleon, I mean. Hannibal, too, I suppose.”
Réal was impatient. “Should we guillotine you instead?”
“I am a fount of intriguing ideas. You know, your emperor once gave me a mark of favor.” I pulled the pendant out like a trump card. It was a golden N, surrounded by a golden wreath. “I worked on negotiations for Louisiana and kept pirates from a dangerous weapon.” The trinket glittered.
“So you’re warming to my proposal.”
“I’m just trying to save my family.”
“Napoleon doesn’t fear that you can provide anything truly useful to the British. But he does want your thoughts on military matters. He said you’re a thinker when pressed.”
“Then perhaps I should earn a thousand francs.”
“Be prudent, not ridiculous.”
The trouble with hurling yourself into a conspiracy is that once it collapses, you have few options. I stewed only because my weakness was so humiliating. Then I remembered another possible sign of favor. “By the way, Pasques said Bonaparte wants to give me a present?”
He scowled. “Yes. A joke of sorts, from one soldier to another. But not a joke, as well.” He picked up a twin-bladed dagger on his desk of the kind a murderer might wield—had it been confiscated?—and used the blade to ring a small brass bell. Another policeman entered, carrying a long package bound in a cotton sheet.
I perked up. Everyone likes a gift.
“The emperor said you claim you lost your long rifle to a dragon, a story that has provoked a great deal of amusement at dinner parties.”
“Well, I did.”
“He’s decided to offer you a replacement.”
“A gun?” It was the last thing I expected.
“More than just a gun. It is, after all, from an emperor.”
I was presented with a German Jaeger hunting rifle, which had been the Old World inspiration for the Pennsylvania long rifle I’d once brandished. The Prussian weapon is grooved in its barrel like the American version but is shorter, making it easier to carry in brush or on horseback.
“More indeed,” I admitted. This particular piece was gorgeous, its stock carved with stags and unicorns. “The brass plating is really quite brilliant,” I said. “The entire piece is pretty as a Spanish saddle.”
“Not brass. Gold, like your pendant.” He watched me like a horse trader.
Good heavens. A man I’d vowed to kill had just given me a weapon perfectly suited to do it with, and worth a diadem besides? “Solid?”
“Plated. But more than you could afford.”
The rifle had the same N with engraved laurel wreath, I saw. The generosity was embarrassing, the bribe clear, and the arrogance annoying. Pure Napoleon. “You first have me followed and then trust me with this weapon?”
“Rest assured it’s unloaded.” The tone was dry. “And men like Napoleon never give without expecting something in return. You know that. The emperor actually does want your advice about tactics and aerial maneuvers. And he thinks you’ve become confused about what each side stands for. Therefore, he commands you and your wife to attend him in the first public display of imperial ceremony.”
“Astiza as well?”
“He’s created a new Legion of Honor to which every Frenchman will aspire, and he’s betting it will remind you of what the new France is all about.”
“And what is it you are about again?”
“Reforming Europe, restoring honor, and institutionalizing ideals. This country is the future, Monsieur Gage. And despite your transgressions, you’re still invited to be a part