Compared with Rouen City Hall, converted from a monastery, Rouen's courthouse was far more magnificent. But who would want to hold a ball in a courthouse?
After getting out of the carriage and facing Brumaire's biting wind, she looked up at the so-called College of Pharmacists before her. It was housed in a monastery—or rather, it was itself church property—and the nursery that had once belonged to the monastery was where herbs and medicine were studied.
The ladies of the Rouen Chamber of Commerce were already waiting for her, along with a small number of men, most of whom were also dressed in long robes. She paid particular attention to the few dressed as clergymen.
The Archbishop of Rouen was Étienne-Hubert Cambacérès, younger brother of the "poor" Second Consul Cambacérès. He was not yet a cardinal. Yesterday, before the military parade, he had conducted Mass at Rouen Cathedral.
The First Consul had been furious. By custom, after receiving Communion, the king was supposed to kiss the Golden Plate holding the sacrament. But Archbishop Cambacérès had not allowed him to do so, and he had brooded over it all morning.
The highest-ranking member of the entourage was Minister of the Interior Chaptal. After speaking with the archbishop for a while, he figured out the reason: it was merely part of the ritual. Chaptal later explained it to him, and he became less concerned about it, before holding another six-hour meeting.
Restoring the Church and maintaining order in the west were among Napoleon's chief achievements. Many vagrants, once arrested, were confined in poorhouses to await their fate.
Those wandering outside were almost always sick, so the herbs from the nursery were used on them. But now that "distinguished guests" had arrived, they had all been cleared away elsewhere, leaving only a few