Founded in 1693, the Lyon Opera was far smaller in scale than the "Paris Opera" and the French Opera.
Besides the assassination attempt at Christmas in 1800, Joseph Fouché had also uncovered a plot to assassinate Napoleon. On October 10 of the same year, a group of unidentified men had planned to attack him at the exit of the French Theatre.
That was precisely why Napoleon held the Bal Masqué welcoming Lucien at the "Paris Opera," like a mistress.
When he went out incognito, he usually brought only two or three guards. But whenever he appeared as a "dignitary," he was invariably accompanied by a great many people. He had eight aides-de-camp alone, with Lebrun, the son of the Third Consul, serving as their captain. Every week, one of them had to be assigned to accompany him on duty.
The Imperial Guard included Lannes, Bessières, Davout, and Soult. Among these aides-de-camp and generals, none was the middle-aged officer who had taken Georgiana from the convent to the canal last time.
Now she knew who he was. He was Menou, who had taken command of the Egyptian expeditionary army after Kléber's death and was responsible for presiding over the review ceremony at Hundred Flowers Square.
The same soldiers achieved different results under different commanders. Napoleon's victories had been glorious, Kléber's were decent enough, while Menou's could only be described as miserable.
Social occasions such as the opera house were not always friendly. During the intermission, General Reynier, who had returned from Egypt, and General Destaing, likewise returned from Egypt, erupted into a fierce conflict. They had already quarreled bitterly in Egypt over Menou.
The First Consul had once said that he hoped everything that had happened during the expedition would be left in the past, and that no one would continue