After breakfast, Alice and Madame Leoncourt took a carriage to the Grand Trianon, while Georgiana remained at home with Leoncourt and his grandson.
They did not speak in the study in the secret chamber, but chose the garden facing the street instead. That way, not only could the household servants see them, but passersby on the road could also see that they were properly dressed and discussing serious matters.
Widow's clothing had its advantages and disadvantages. Widows could sometimes inherit and manage their fathers' or husbands' properties, but they could also easily become involved in romantic scandals with younger men, like Josephine and Lucien's newlywed wife.
Monsieur Leoncourt was old, Lance was still a child, and with the two women, they looked exactly like a family of hostages. If Leoncourt's son caused any trouble in the provinces, his family would be the first to suffer.
Pomona guessed that the families of the financiers and bankers involved in his scheme, whom he had heard about in the study yesterday, had also been placed under control. Just as before the Coup of 18 Brumaire, he had used Josephine to control the wife of Director Barras.
The more one understood Napoleon, the more terrifying he seemed. Yesterday, those men had only been thinking about the two percent commission they could earn from the deal, forgetting that the grain would be calculated according to the amount that arrived in Paris.
The French Navy had been destroyed and Napoleon was rebuilding it with all his might. Yet before it could break through the British Navy's blockade again, French merchant ships could not put to sea, and fishing boats could not fish. Napoleon loved Mediterranean fish, but because of the British blockade, he had not eaten any for a long time.
How could anyone possibly leave