Napoleoni did not take Georgiana straight to the police station. He took her to the Tuileries Palace instead, to the dining room on the first floor. It looked like a carefully arranged café; the reception for the "Officers' Club" had been held here last time as well.
"Your office will be here from now on," Napoleoni said. "Before that, you need to redecorate this place. More than one person has complained to me that it does not look like the residence of a ruler of a great power."
Georgiana looked at the dreadful tassels. This sort of décor might appeal to young girls and was suitable for dates.
"Who designed it?"
"Fontaine and Percier. You do not have to use them." Looking at the small dining tables, he said, "You can replace the furniture too, but do not turn it into Versailles."
"You are not going to ask Josephine's opinion?"
"I liked the venue you arranged last time."
"You are not worried it will be too luxurious?" Georgiana reminded him.
"I need Lyon's machines to start operating."
Georgiana said nothing more. She began to examine the dining room, which was nearly as large as the Hogwarts Great Hall.
In the early eighteenth century, plagues such as the Black Death often ran rampant, severely disrupting urban life. Besides hearing ordinary cases, the high courts had to work with municipal institutions to deal with crises.
Their responsibilities covered a broad range, including physicians' wages during epidemics, charity, begging, even urban sanitation and garbage collection. The judges of the Parlement of Paris were also responsible for ensuring that the prices of necessities remained reasonable and for supervising food quality. For this, they constantly argued with bakers, fishmongers, butchers, and salt merchants.
Whenever supplies were in crisis, some judges had generously opened their purses.