In winter, country people often flocked to the cities. It was the slack season for farming, and many came to the city for odd jobs. Besides, the city had a rich cultural life.
Especially in these famine years, the city also offered relief. Digging the Saint-Martin Canal required a great deal of manpower, and once the ground froze in winter, construction became even more difficult. During this period, workers' wages rose to four francs a day. Marshal Murat's farmer father had once earned only one franc a day.
While those workers sweated away at the construction site, nouveaux riches, celebrities, and wealthy people dressed respectably and "socialized" at the opera house. No wonder she had heard someone say while buying groceries that they had merely traded one "knife for digging meat" for another.
Because of Napoleon's sanctions against America, the price of indigo dye began to rise. Wearing a blue dress had become a symbol of luxury, and when Georgiana and Teresa appeared at the French Opera, they saw many women in blue gowns.
Although Teresa had encouraged Georgiana to wear men's clothing, she had no intention of actually doing it, especially when this "Madonna of Thermidor" so obviously had ulterior motives.
Napoleon was not someone who took jokes well. If she got too "mischievous," she would be in serious trouble. Georgiana was not entirely unafraid of Napoleon. It felt like facing a lion—if she turned and ran, the lion would certainly pounce and tear her apart.
She could almost imagine how awkward the little Corsican would have been upon entering such a glittering place for the first time. Like those pretty country girls, he was an adventurer; only the "capital" they carried was different.
A beautiful face was a pass into high society. Noblewomen were generally not particularly beautiful,