Before she even reached Bonaparte's suite, while she was still in the corridor, she heard Bonaparte roaring.
She glanced at Mr. Ségur, the adjutant on duty today. He looked at Georgiana with lingering fear, and then the two of them looked at the tightly closed door.
"Madam."
Georgiana followed the voice and found Constant hiding furtively behind a vase at the corner.
"What happened?" Georgiana asked him.
Constant beckoned to her.
Though she had no idea what he was up to, she still went over. Constant handed her a newspaper.
She took it. The headline, printed in large bold black letters, read: If the "Monster" Dies, Where Will We Go?
The newspaper gave a detailed account of Bonaparte's assassination attempt. The difference was that Pichegru had become a "dragon-slaying hero," while Bonaparte had become the "monster."
She involuntarily drew in a sharp breath and kept reading. The article analyzed the "future"—such as who was most likely to take Bonaparte's place—and commented on the speech he had delivered at City Hall that day: "Though he, Bonaparte, speaks endlessly of peace and grand order, claiming he will give Europe a new face and usher in a happy century, if those goals are truly to be achieved, he had best die soon in the wars he started. People have had enough of this pale, weak, scrawny foreigner, and the exhaustion his work has brought them. He will not restore the glory of science and culture; instead, he is trampling Europe underfoot..."
"Where did this come from?" Georgiana asked Constant, lowering the newspaper.
"It appeared everywhere overnight," Constant said wearily. "The police are confiscating them."
Georgiana did not know what to say either.
After a while, she looked at Constant and felt that he seemed to have something he wanted to say.
"What is