Pomona noticed a scarab amulet in Napoleon's coat pocket.
This amulet was exactly the same as the one Gong Saiyi had obtained from the Pensieve.
"Oh, you want to see this?" Napoleon followed Pomona's gaze to his coat pocket and took out the scarab amulet. "It was taken from a pharaoh's tomb. Scholars say the Ancient Egyptians used it to ward off evil."
"It is hard to imagine a Catholic carrying something like that," Pomona said blandly.
"It is always good to have something ready to plug the gaps. If God does not work, it will help me." Napoleon put the scarab amulet back into his coat pocket.
"Which pharaoh was it?" Pomona asked.
"I did not remember carefully. Is that important?" Napoleon asked.
"No." She found it strange, but did not show it. That was another special skill women possessed.
"You said you wanted to discuss serious business. What was it?" Napoleon asked.
"The same thing I mentioned last time: grain prices," Pomona said. "I remember that the Girondins were eventually driven from power by the Jacobin Club because they did nothing about speculators taking advantage of the chaos to drive up prices."
Napoleon sighed. "I would rather talk about Egypt."
"Fine, then let us talk about Egypt. When are you bringing your soldiers home?"
This time, Napoleon showed obvious displeasure.
"I know that not long after you left, the British occupied Egypt." And took the Rosetta Stone back to London, she thought. "But consider the situation they were in, General. You have abandoned them for a year already."
"What do you suggest?" Napoleon said coldly.
Pomona was not so tactless as to mention that piece of "history" now—the French expeditionary force would eventually be carried home by British warships.
Britain and France were still enemies at present. It