Fargeon called Napoleon the First Consul, which was the form of address used by Georgiana's faction. It had been used during the final days of the Republic, before the Empire was established. Then there was also the Southern Alps Republic; Lyon was closer to it than Paris was, and its founding ceremony had been held in Lyon as well.
This was really a gamble. After all, Georgiana did not have the legal protections Josephine did, yet Bonaparte had repeatedly, almost jokingly, asked bishops to conduct religious wedding ceremonies for them.
Even if the formalities of secular law had been completed, a divorce would not take effect without the Pope's permission. Louis and Hortense's marriage, for instance, had both secular formalities and a religious ceremony, which amounted to double insurance. But if Louis was determined to break free, it was not impossible. Just as the Republican constitution did not permit the First Consul to lead troops, yet did not forbid him from accompanying them, as the legal maxim went: "What the law does not forbid may be done; what it does not authorize is forbidden."
Georgiana had not seen the contract drafted by the Dutch bankers and Bonaparte. She could only see the one she herself had signed. But that would have to wait until Fargeon left. He had bombarded her with so much information that her head hurt.
It was difficult for women at home to know clearly what men did outside. Napoleon's original intention in having Fargeon meet her was for her to arrange those exiled nobles. Fargeon was not as unpleasant as Bertin; he had never tried to collect debts from former clients. In broad terms, this was how it went: after the French crossed the ice into the Netherlands and established the Batavian Republic, they had kept