Lucien was evidently expected. Bonaparte had not mentioned his name once since entering the study; but in spite of this silence he had turned his head three or four times with increasing impatience1 toward the door, and when the young man appeared an exclamation2 of contentment escaped his lips.
Lucien, the general’s youngest brother, was born in 1775, making him now barely twenty-five years old. Since 1797, that is, at the age of twenty-two and a half, he had been a member of the Five Hundred, who, to honor Bonaparte, had made him their president. With the projects he had conceived nothing could have been more fortunate for Bonaparte.
Frank and loyal, republican to the core, Lucien believed that, in seconding his brother’s plans, he was serving the Republic better than the future First Consul3. In his eyes, no one was better fitted to save it a second time than he who had saved it the first. It was with these sentiments in his heart that he now came to confer with his brother.
“Here you are,” said Bonaparte. “I have been waiting for you impatiently.”
“So I suspected. But I was obliged to wait until I could leave without being noticed.”
“Did you manage it?”
“Yes; Talma was relating a story about Marat and Dumouriez. Interesting as it was, I deprived myself of the pleasure, and here I am.”
“I have just heard a carriage driving away; the person who got in it couldn’t have seen you coming up my private stairs, could he?”
“The person who drove off was myself, the carriage was mine. If that is not seen every one will think I have left.”
Bonaparte breathed freer.
“Well,” said he, “let us hear how you have spent your day.”
“Oh! I haven’t wasted my time, you may be sure.”
“Are we to have a decree or the Council?”
“We drew it up to-day, and I have brought it to you—the rough draft at least—so that you can see if you want anything added or changed.”
“Let me see it,” cried Bonaparte. Taking the paper hastily from Lucien’s hand, he read:
Art. I. The legislative4 body is transferred to the commune of
Saint-Cloud; the two branches of the Council will hold their
sessions in the two wings of the palace.
“That’s the important article,” said Lucien. “I had it placed first, so that it might strike the people at once.”
“Yes, yes,” exclaimed Bonaparte, and he continued:
Art. II. They will assemble there to-morrow, the 20th Brumaire—
“No, no,” said Bonaparte, “to-morrow the 19th. Change the date, Bourrienne;” and he handed the paper to his secretary.
“You expect to be ready for the 18th?”
“I shall be. Fouché said day before yesterday, ‘Make haste, or I won’t answer for the result.’”
“The 19th Brumaire,” said Bourrienne, returning the paper to the general.
Bonaparte resumed:
Art. II. They will assemble there to-morrow, the 19th Brumaire,
at noon. All deliberations are forbidden elsewhere and before
the above date.
Bonaparte read the article a second time.
“Good,” said he; “there is no double meaning there.” And he continued:
Art. III. General Bonaparte is charged with the enforcement of
this decree; he will take all necessary measures for the safety
of the National Legislature.
A satirical smile flickered5 on the stony6 lips of the reader, but he continued almost immediately.
The general commanding the 17th military division, the guard of
the Legislature, the stationary8 national guard the troops of the
line within the boundaries of the Commune of Paris, and those in
the constitutional arrondissement, and throughout the limits of
the said 17th division, are placed directly under his orders, and
are directed to regard him as their commanding officer.
“Bourrienne, add: ‘All citizens will lend him assistance when called upon.’ The bourgeois9 love to meddle10 in political matters, and when they really can help us in our projects we ought to grant them this satisfaction.”
Bourrienne obeyed; then he returned the paper to the general, who went on:
Art. IV. General Bonaparte is summoned before the Council to
receive a copy of the present decree, and to make oath thereto.
He will consult with the inspecting commissioners11 of both
branches of the Council.
Art. V. The present decree shall be transmitted immediate7, by
messenger, to all the members of the Council of Five Hundred
and to the Executive Directory. It shall be printed and posted,
and promulgated12 throughout the communes of the Republic by
special messengers.
Done at Paris this....
“The date is left blank,” said Lucien.
“Put ‘the 18th Brumaire,’ Bourrienne; the decree must take everybody by surprise. It must be issued at seven o’clock in the morning, and at the same hour or even earlier it must be posted on all the walls of Paris.”
“But suppose the Ancients won’t consent to issue it?” said Lucien.
“All the more reason to have it posted, ninny,” said Bonaparte. “We must act as if it had been issued.”
“Am I to correct this grammatical error in the last paragraph?” asked Bourrienne, laughing.
“Where?” demanded Lucien, in the tone of an aggrieved13 author.
“The word ‘immediate,’” replied Bourrienne. “You can’t say ‘transmitted immediate’; it ought to be ‘immediately.’”
“It’s not worth while,” said Bonaparte. “I shall act, you may be sure, as if it were ‘immediately.’” Then, after an instant’s reflection, he added: “As to what you said just now about their not being willing to pass it, there’s a very simple way to get it passed.”
“What is that.”
“To convoke14 the members of whom we are sure at six o’clock in the morning, and those of whom we are not sure at eight. Having only our own men, it will be devilishly hard to lose the majority.”
“But six o’clock for some, and eight for the others—” objected Lucien.
“Employ two secretaries; one of them can make a mistake.” Then turning to Lucien, he said: “Write this.”
And walking up and down, he dictated16 without hesitating, like a man who has long thought over and carefully prepared what he dictates17; stopping occasionally beside Bourrienne to see if the secretary’s pen were following his every word:
CITIZENS—The Council of the Ancients, the trustee of the nation’s
wisdom, has issued the subjoined decree: it is authorized1............