Once people grew older, they tended to become mature and steady—or, put another way, indecisive.
Young people, on the other hand, were prone to impulsiveness, which also meant decisiveness.
Given Napoleon's usual temperament, he would not have delayed this long in sending out the ambassador to England.
He was playing chess, and everyone else could only wait for him to decide. Yet everyone at headquarters could sense the tension in the air.
If France lost the war against the Anti-French Coalition, then, to use a rather imperfect comparison, one could look at the Republic of Florence. Even though the people supported the republic, with the Pope and Spain backing them, the Medici family had still retaken power, ruling until their line died out.
What did it take for a country to be considered destroyed?
Bonaparte had once told Georgiana that, during the negotiations for the Treaty of Campo Formio, Austria had sent Count Cobenzl as its representative because the electors had been openly and covertly fighting among themselves, discussing matters for months without reaching a conclusion. Meanwhile, Vienna continued dancing its waltzes. Unable to wait any longer, he had gone and established the Southern Alps Republic.
Although Louis XVIII had been restored and the white fleur-de-lis reinstated, he had driven from the army those loyal to Napoleon—or those who claimed to be loyal to him on the surface—thus avoiding the fragmentation of power among warlords. It was only the soldiers at the Medusa Valve who were pitiful, abandoned by their aristocratic officers.
The republican system had cut away some people, improving administrative efficiency. At the same time, it meant that positions had to be held by capable people. The old Ancien Régime way of getting things done through mistresses and connections no longer suited the new age.
In the old