Chapter Summaries

Georgiana and Bonaparte discussed the Order, political legitimacy, and her fears about raising a child while they stood atop the bell tower in Mechelen. When Georgiana spotted strange figures circling overhead, she grabbed Bonaparte and hurried downstairs without explaining why.

• The archbishop led Bonaparte, Georgiana, and the German princes up the bell tower as they discussed the Holy Roman Empire’s shrinking free cities and the princes’ territorial ambitions.
• At the top of the tower, Bonaparte asked Georgiana whether Margarita of Austria had loved Charles V and questioned her about her whereabouts and whether she had revealed his itinerary.
• Bonaparte asked Georgiana to assess Roquelaure’s refusal to bless the Order’s ceremony, and she said he might be trying to remain neutral.
• Georgiana named the organization the Order of Saint Catherine’s Aid, then reflected on trust, secrecy, and the risks of raising a child.
• After Georgiana noticed several black dots circling in the sky, she seized Bonaparte’s arm and ran downstairs without explaining the danger.

Georgiana fled the burning bell tower with Bonaparte as Maria and the Batavian Legion attacked, and she helped drive off the Garudas amid a storm. After the fighting ended, Bonaparte confronted her about her behavior, and she fainted when she saw that the attackers had taken poison and died.

• Georgiana, Bonaparte, and Lieven Bauwens hurried down the bell tower as a Garuda crashed into it and flames surged through the stairwell.
• A Batavian Legion fighter blocked the way out and attacked Bonaparte, so Georgiana returned upstairs as the bells began driving the Garudas away.
• Georgiana struck two Garudas with levitated bricks, and lightning hit the birds as Maria cursed her and fled.
• After the fighting, Bonaparte questioned Georgiana about where she had gone and accused her of behaving inappropriately, before leaving with Augereau.
• Georgiana descended and learned from Fiegel that the attackers had taken poison, then fainted as Bonaparte ordered their bodies removed.

Georgiana woke in Margaret of Austria's palace, where Edgeworth explained the region's history of revolution, occupation, resistance, and persecution. Maria's public outburst had made her a target for rumors among people hiding in the forests, and she postponed her plans until morning, hoping no mob would come for her overnight.

• Edgeworth told Georgiana about the Brabant Revolution, the French conquest of the Low Countries, and the 1798 conscription revolt.
• He recounted how Charles Jacqmain and Peter Colbert were arrested and executed for resisting French rule.
• The account described the history of witch hunts and the book by Martin Delio that guided judges during trials.
• Maria's appearance and disturbance in the square made her vulnerable to hostile rumors and pamphlets.
• Georgiana decided to wait until daylight to act and hoped no torch-bearing mob would arrive during the night.

Georgiana witnessed a public burning and reflected on how people turned death into a spectacle, then found a murdered man in a vision and watched him die. She woke beside Bonaparte, learned he had withheld his help at Saint Maudi Church because the church was an ambush, and left her anger unexplained.

• Georgiana watched a crowd gather to burn a woman accused of witchcraft and concluded that no one had cared about James's feelings or hers.
• The burning scene shifted into a Paris alley, where Georgiana questioned a dying man who said he had been stabbed for voting to kill the king.
• Georgiana reflected on death, redemption, and the danger of changing a story by saving someone whose death had already occurred.
• Georgiana woke beside Bonaparte and asked why he had not accompanied her to Saint Maudi Church or gone up the bell tower.
• Bonaparte explained that he had avoided the church because the archbishop's whereabouts had revealed his location and enabled an ambush.
• Georgiana said her anger came from another matter, refused to explain it, and got out of bed despite being unable to sleep.

Georgiana reviewed the identities and crimes of six men killed by poison and proposed turning their bodies into medical specimens, while debating how public punishment could be used to inspire fear. The meeting ended with local security concerns unresolved, and she planned to ask the archbishop about her dream at dawn.

• Michele de Lando ordered Ser Nuto brought before him, and the crowd tore Nuto apart while he hung upside down from a gallows.
• Georgiana and Bonaparte arrived at a palace conference, where Georgiana sat beside him and received a dossier identifying six men.
• Georgiana learned the six men had been involved in robberies, assaults, and murders amid Belgium’s political upheaval, and she questioned how quickly the Bow Street Runner had found them.
• Georgiana asked whether the men’s bodies had been examined and proposed dissecting them for surgical education and displaying them with records of their crimes.
• Bonaparte interrupted Georgiana’s conversation with Jean-Baptiste van Beethoven and an old lady, while the meeting left the question of expanding arrests to Bonaparte.
• Georgiana considered Mechelen’s security needs and planned to visit the archbishop at dawn to ask about her dream.

Georgiana wrestled with her guilt over Bonaparte’s violence and asked whether he still intended to retire. After riding to a lake with him, she explored underwater, found a blood-red, rusted sword, and returned without resolving her feelings about him.

• Bonaparte woke Georgiana and took her on horseback from the city to a lake.
• Georgiana entered the lake with a Bubble-Head Charm and found a rusted sword that seeped red liquid when she pulled it from the mud.
• Georgiana asked Bonaparte whether his promise to retire still counted, and he said he would serve again if the country needed him.
• Georgiana punched Bonaparte twice and stayed upset, while he gathered her clothes and urged her to dress before they rode back.

Georgiana considered Joseph II’s ambitious reforms and the risks of harsh punishment and military exemptions before asking Bertin to help create a new Belgian police uniform. Bertin was left to decide whether to take on menswear design and find a tailor who had won the Golden Scissors Award.

• The chapter described Joseph II’s reforms, including recognizing Protestantism and Judaism and replacing Latin with German as the empire’s official language.
• Georgiana reflected on poverty, released prisoners, forgiveness, and the danger of treating people who became robbers as beyond redemption.
• Georgiana recalled Fantine’s mistreatment and worried that exempting married men from military service could expose women to harm.
• Margarita announced Bertin’s arrival, and Georgiana asked her to find a tailor who had won the Golden Scissors Award.
• Georgiana asked Bertin to design a new Belgian police uniform, and Bertin asked what Georgiana intended to do.

Georgiana listened as Bertin recounted Marie Antoinette’s failed escape and execution, then considered whether hauntings in the Tuileries and Austria were echoes of past events. After finding a needle in her dress and briefly seeing a boy in the mirror, she wondered whether someone had planted something in Josephine’s room.

• Bertin told Georgiana how Marie Antoinette’s hair turned white in prison and described the failed escape, her arrest, and the hostility she faced.
• Bertin explained that she had survived by identifying herself with the workers and said she still protected the legal rights of twenty women.
• Georgiana asked Bertin about the ghost said to haunt the Tuileries, and Bertin recalled a woman who had desecrated Marie Antoinette’s bed and hat.
• Georgiana considered whether reports of hauntings in the Tuileries and Austria repeated events from the past, and reflected on her own choice to stay behind during an earlier escape opportunity.
• Georgiana felt a prick while dressing, and Bertin removed a needle from her back; Georgiana said the dress had come from Paris.
• Georgiana saw a boy in the mirror who vanished when she turned, then wondered whether someone had planted something in Josephine’s room.

Georgiana reflected on loneliness and self-acceptance before dancing alone to escape her despair. Richard Edgeworth arrived with William Cockerill, whose new loom and plans for a factory in Verviers brought a potential investment opportunity to her.

• Georgiana sat by the fire with Mango and thought about Marie Antoinette, Josephine, and the ghosts of Tuileries Palace.
• She danced alone, praying for a way out and reminding herself not to deny herself, while someone shouted and threatened outside her door.
• When she finished dancing, Richard Edgeworth applauded and introduced William Cockerill, an inventor seeking investors for his new loom.
• Georgiana spoke with Cockerill about his plans to help a wool-weaving workshop in Verviers transition into a factory, and learned that he considered the city his second hometown.

Georgiana considered William Cockerill’s proposal and brought him into the orbit of her bankers, then visited the Archbishop of Mechelen to ask for a Mass. Father Roquelaure refused, and after the others left, he pressed Georgiana to explain why she had chosen Saint Catherine for her order.

• Georgiana judged William Cockerill’s technical expertise and future plans promising, but did not agree to his request for unsecured credit; she arranged for him to visit Liège Castle with the bankers and added him to the banquet invitation list.
• Georgiana traveled with Richard to meet the Archbishop of Mechelen and donated money toward repairing the damaged bell tower of Saint Maudi Church.
• Georgiana asked Father Roquelaure to conduct a Mass for her, but he refused, implying that he knew what she was.
• Georgiana invoked the difference between obedience to the Pope and loyalty to a secular ruler, while Father Roquelaure asked why she had chosen Saint Catherine as the order’s patron.
• Edgeworth and Father Grégoire left the room, and Father Roquelaure asked Georgiana to speak plainly; she wondered whether to claim she had seen heaven, hell, and purgatory.

After leaving the archbishop’s office, Georgiana reflected on rebellion, family conflicts, and the uncertainty of happiness before listening to a choir with Edgeworth and Grégoire. Edgeworth made her laugh, then suggested they leave the church and visit Fargeon to see his experiment.

• Georgiana thought about how parental pressure had fueled Draco and Hermione’s rivalry and how attempts to suppress rebellion could make it worse.
• After leaving the archbishop’s office, Georgiana joined Edgeworth and Grégoire near the choir and complained that men did not understand what women wanted.
• Georgiana recalled Erasmus’s In Praise of Folly and said that happiness depended on one’s own opinion rather than on knowing the truth.
• Edgeworth acted out the gestures of a giant speaking with his fingers, making Georgiana laugh.
• Edgeworth proposed visiting Fargeon to see his experiment, and Georgiana and Grégoire agreed to go with him.

Georgiana visited Mechelen’s bookstore and town hall while Fargeon and Fresnel investigated the optical trick behind Carl Onslang’s ghostly stage act. As the experiment continued, Georgiana read a Beguine nun’s courtly romance and reflected on family, identity, and whether immortality could become a curse.

• Georgiana suggested finishing St. Rumbold’s Tower and adding a lightning rod, but the archbishop refused and agreed to establish a post office opposite the church.
• Georgiana visited a small bookstore, reflected on Hermione’s choices and the burdens children faced from their parents, then bought a book alongside Grégoire and Edgeworth.
• Georgiana and the others reached town hall, where Fargeon and Fresnel tested an optical device to explain Carl Onslang’s lifelike apparitions of Frederick the Great and Margaret of Austria.
• Fargeon maintained that the ghostly performance was an optical phenomenon, while Georgiana read a Beguine nun’s romance and questioned Edgeworth’s confidence that created things would bring pleasure rather than disaster.

Georgiana left a magic-show experiment with Fargeon and the others, then cooked lunch for them. Afterward, Fargeon warned her that Napoleon’s partnership in a planned bank could expose her and the Belgians and Dutch to financial danger, while questions about her choice of Saint Catherine revealed the political meaning of her actions.

• Georgiana declined Fargeon’s café suggestion, bought groceries, and prepared lunch at her residence.
• After lunch, Fargeon asked to see the document Georgiana had signed transferring Napoleon’s Belgian assets to her, warning that Napoleon’s bank partnership could put depositors and partners at risk.
• Georgiana summoned Feilier to bring the document but pulled it back before Fargeon could take it, saying she would consult him if she had questions.
• Fargeon told Georgiana that Edgeworth wanted to know why she had chosen Saint Catherine as the order’s saint.
• Georgiana explained that Arenberg’s family cemetery was at Saint Catherine’s Church and that the order guarding it belonged to the Capuchin Order, recalling the Archbishop’s criticism of her treatment of the dead.

Georgiana learned from Fargeon about Napoleon’s banking plans, European coin reforms, and schemes involving agricultural loans and Louisiana, then considered the risks and motives behind the people around her. The chapter left her weighing whether she could still trust Napoleon and Josephine, while rejecting the idea of becoming an excuse for war.

• Fargeon explained Napoleon’s dealings with Dutch bankers, the history of European indemnities, and the proposed Industrial Credit Bank and coin reform.
• Georgiana considered how agricultural loans might help French farmers but also create debt servitude, drawing parallels with colonial Mexico.
• The Louisiana sale failed, and Baring and Hope Bank proposed dividing North America between Britain and France and making Napoleon King of America.
• Georgiana reflected on Harry Potter’s treatment at Hogwarts and on how public loyalties could turn against someone who had done nothing wrong.
• Georgiana considered whether Edgeworth and Josephine had known of secret plots, but concluded that trust mattered and that she did not want to become a pretext for war.

Georgiana welcomed Bonaparte and General Jean-Mathieu Sérurier, served them dinner, and later confronted Bonaparte about her disappearance and his criticism of her dancing. They reconciled enough for him to fall asleep in her lap, though she remained angry with him.

• Georgiana had Matilda warm leftovers and serve wine after Bonaparte arrived with Sérurier and asked for food.
• Georgiana removed Bonaparte’s Mamluk sword and belt, then cooked dinner while he and Sérurier talked.
• Georgiana kept Sérurier company through dinner while Bonaparte finished eating and went to the study.
• Bonaparte questioned Georgiana about where she had gone in the fog, and she explained that she had wanted fresh air after he criticized her.
• Georgiana told Bonaparte she had wanted praise for her dancing, and he admitted she had danced well before suggesting she find a teacher.
• Bonaparte lay in Georgiana’s lap and asked her to wake him in fifteen minutes, while she muttered angrily about him.

Napoleon and his allies crushed the Royalist threat during the Fructidor Coup, but one assassin escaped and the cause of Andre’s death remained unknown. Georgiana then urged Feilier to choose someone trustworthy to protect her as she took responsibility for an important document.

• Napoleon prepared the army to defend the Republic as the Directory faced growing Royalist influence and political turmoil.
• Hoche led troops to Paris, but the Directory’s plans fell apart, and he later died suddenly.
• Augereau led the Imperial Guard to stop Pichegru’s remaining men from destroying the bell tower during the Fructidor Coup.
• Six assassins were found dead, while a seventh escaped, prompting Napoleon to search the northern free cities.
• Bonaparte told Georgiana that Andre’s cause of death was still unknown and asked for Vienna rolls and fried chicken.
• Georgiana asked Feilier to choose a trustworthy protector for the important document she had accepted responsibility for.

Georgiana listened as Fargeon explained the Dutch West India Company's history and its plan to reopen Mocha coffee trade, while the company's representatives sought her support. She reflected on wealth, trust, and the risks of becoming involved, then left the palace to buy vegetables for dinner.

• Fargeon explained how the Dutch West India Company had profited from precious metals and the slave trade before its debt crisis and revival.
• Fargeon described the company's opportunity to supply Napoleon with coffee by reopening trade through Mocha Port.
• Georgiana considered the company's request and the dangers of entrusting assets to others, deciding she could sell her partnership status if she wished.
• Georgiana criticized Lyon's table manners, took her vegetable basket, and left the palace for the market.

Georgiana shopped in Mechelen and considered how trade could build wealth and alliances, then reflected on the Trojan War and the deaths of its survivors. She returned to the palace kitchen, content to stay away from the noblewomen’s drawing room.

• Georgiana bought cheese, cabbage, and other food at the Mechelen market as peddlers crowded around her and slipped extra goods into her basket.
• Georgiana considered how the West India Company could profit from Mocha coffee and the strategic routes around the Suez Canal and Mandeb Strait.
• Georgiana thought about ancient trade ties, the Trojan War, and why Troy’s allies and Egypt had not intervened against Mycenae.
• Georgiana recalled Polyxena’s sacrifice and the Greek fleet’s disastrous return, then wondered why Achilles had returned but Hector had not.
• Georgiana sorted the ingredients in the palace kitchen and decided she would rather leave the drawing-room socializing to Madame de Vaudey.

Georgiana weighed the Dutch West India Company’s proposal against the Hope family’s history of using trade, loans, and war to shape European politics. As she made cheese pies, she remained wary of hidden motives and reflected on the dangers of financial entanglements and the distance they created from ordinary people.

• Georgiana considered whether the Dutch West India Company’s proposal was sincere and recalled the Hope family’s influence over banking, trade, and governments.
• She traced the Hope family’s dealings in slavery, national loans, Brazilian diamonds, and Russian trade, and remembered that Russia had replaced its agents in the grain trade.
• Georgiana connected plans for the Suez Canal and railways with European rivalries, war debts, and the dangers of using finance to influence political affairs.
• She considered the unresolved suspicions surrounding the Treaty of Amiens, Malta, and Saint-Domingue, and worried that the people supporting her might eventually leave.
• Georgiana thought about the risks of Napoleon taking precious metals and about how market disruptions could make goods costlier and invite accusations of corruption.
• She reflected on historic wool trade restrictions, her own isolation from others, and her reluctance to accept even small gifts before examining a carrot left in her basket.

Georgiana reflected on France’s financial weakness, Britain’s credit reforms, and how competition and power shaped Leviathan. The chapter ended with her cooking cutlets when the First Consul came into the kitchen, embraced her, and helped prepare for their meal together.

• Joseph de Villemont told Georgiana about his family’s Champagne business and his experiences visiting French prisoners in Britain.
• Georgiana considered government debt, Britain’s recoinage under Newton, and how sound coinage could help restore France’s credit.
• Georgiana reflected on competition, unequal rules, and how power and obedience gave rise to Leviathan.
• Georgiana pounded and fried cutlets while waiting, then the First Consul startled her by entering the kitchen in his court uniform.
• The First Consul embraced Georgiana and offered to help, and she asked him to take the tableware to the dining room.
• Georgiana rescued the over-fried cutlets from the pan and accepted that they would be tough rather than waste them.