Women should stay away from politics.
Josephine had said that herself, yet she had not entirely followed her own advice, just as Leon was not truly a French national hero.
The couple really did have a lot in common.
Belligerence was in a man's nature. Since Napoleon had decided to fight Prussia, no one could make him change his mind. Fortunately, he was not like those lawyers in the Directory. He knew that wars could not be started lightly, that one should not make enemies everywhere and fight everyone one met.
He knew how to form alliances, win people over, and divide his opponents. Commerce was only one part of it. His stepson Eugene, commander of a brigade in the Consular Guard, would marry a Bavarian princess. The broader arrangement of friendship between France and Germany had already been settled.
He had given Georgiana German sweets, so Georgiana had to offer Germany something sweet in return. The next Feast of the Pheasant at Rambouillet would certainly invite Germans to attend.
They might not launch a Crusade, but they could join forces against Prussia. Otherwise, why would Beethoven, a German composer, write the Eroica Symphony for France's First Consul?
Georgiana was a British woman. She loved peace and hated war, but she was not foolish enough to advise Napoleon against declaring war on Prussia.
A peaceful environment benefited commercial growth, which favored trade-oriented Britain, just as Cecilia had made the Sudan treat Venice more favorably in diplomacy.
Britain happened to breed Thoroughbreds as well. Georgiana could buy British Thoroughbreds to pull her carriage, or even form her own female cavalry guard.
Female cavalry were basically decorative in the eyes of male soldiers, but they truly were a dazzling sight in the city. Since it was all just for fun anyway, it