Chapter Summaries

Georgiana considered how France could strengthen its economy and military while avoiding dependence on slavery, and searched for ways to fund public works and support widows. She chose to establish sugar beet farms and mills, leaving her broader financial problems unresolved.

• Bonaparte’s plans for national strength tied trade, railways, and infrastructure to France’s military ambitions, while the Continental System and slavery posed political and economic risks.
• Georgiana considered the Eastern Railway’s strategic role, the cost of construction, and selling Louisiana to ease France’s financial burdens.
• Georgiana reflected on Father Grégoire’s advocacy for Jewish civil rights and Chateaubriand’s religious writing as Bonaparte turned against the French Institute.
• Georgiana wanted widows of soldiers to receive pensions and spend them on household goods, but Leoncourt planned to distribute the funds through city halls during household registration.
• Georgiana rejected selling Belgian lands to Jews, farmers, or the Church, and decided to start sugar beet farms and mills in case Britain blockaded France’s colonies again.

Georgiana met with Merlin de Douai, who urged her to become a French citizen and swear an oath with Toussaint Louverture to keep Napoleon from making the pact himself. After rejecting Merlin’s demands and his pearl coronet, she left their meeting.

• Merlin de Douai gave Georgiana a pearl coronet and discussed forced labor, her ties to Britain, and the reforms in France.
• Merlin invited Georgiana to return to Mont Blanc with Madame de Montesquieu and Dermide, then proposed that she become a French citizen.
• Merlin told Georgiana that Toussaint Louverture wanted to make a binding Nexum oath with Napoleon, and asked for her loyalty.
• Georgiana realized Merlin intended for her to swear the oath with Louverture and bear its curse if it was broken.
• Georgiana refused the coronet, challenged Merlin’s motives, and left after accusing him of failing to learn from history.

Georgiana sought Caprara’s guidance as she tried to prevent Leon from being expelled from France and to oppose brutal suppression in Saint-Domingue. Their conversation revealed political plans and hinted that frightened French people might soon act against Jacobin rule.

• Georgiana left Napoleoni’s residence with Fiegel and went to Notre-Dame to meet Caprara.
• Caprara told Georgiana that the First Consul planned to rebuild Poland and use patriotic education in church services to win Polish support.
• Georgiana said Leon needed help and argued that brutal suppression in Saint-Domingue would not solve the crisis.
• Caprara described Napoleon’s upbringing and mother, then told Georgiana that Count Fersen was Sweden’s director of heraldry and had helped the royal couple escape Paris.
• Caprara warned that French fear of the Jacobins could provoke a historic upheaval, but Georgiana hurried away before he finished his blessing.

Georgiana listened as the Earl of Malmesbury argued that Napoleon’s government endangered peace and women’s rights, urging her not to risk herself for him. Shaken by his words and thoughts of her husband, she regained her composure and followed him into the market.

• Georgiana spoke with the Earl of Malmesbury, who asked what Merlin had wanted and warned that peace could soon collapse.
• The Earl of Malmesbury described Emma Hamilton’s past and compared Britain’s and France’s political and social conditions, criticizing Napoleon’s treatment of women and his military rule.
• Georgiana defended her husband and challenged the Earl of Malmesbury about Nelson, while he urged her to remember her past friendship with Mr. Smith and return home.
• Georgiana became overwhelmed and cried as the Earl of Malmesbury supported her and reminded her that she and her husband had both hurt each other.
• Fiegel steadied Georgiana, and she straightened up and followed the Earl of Malmesbury into the market.

Georgiana intervened when a bakery owner drove away a young staff officer who loved his daughter, Catherine, and made Catherine decide whether to accept him or reject him. After the crowd dispersed, an American calling himself Bob returned Georgiana’s bread knife.

• Georgiana heard a bakery owner accuse a young staff officer of pursuing his daughter, Catherine, and learned that the two were in love.
• Georgiana offered Catherine a knife and framed her choice as a way to defend her honor or accept the staff officer.
• Catherine trembled with the dagger but could not choose, and a stranger took it from her.
• The stranger persuaded Catherine’s father that having a soldier in the family would improve their safety, and the crowd dispersed.
• The stranger returned Georgiana’s knife and introduced himself as Bob, an American.

Georgiana stayed away from Napoleon while handling Ministry of Magic business in Saint-Germain, and she used fire magic to drive off attendants sent to retrieve her. After returning to the magical world, she learned a Norwegian Ridgeback had taken a young whale and began organizing a group to seize the dragon.

• Bob explained that Josephine's gambling had helped leave her deeply in debt, while Georgiana considered the risks facing Catherine and her family.
• Napoleon had Bernadotte recalled and monitored after a report accused him of plotting rebellion, then reconciled with him after Joseph pleaded on his behalf.
• The Saint-Domingue expedition faced criticism, and Napoleon had Fouché confiscate critical articles as losses mounted.
• Napoleon learned that an opera star had left Paris with her violinist lover for Russia after rejecting his offers and control.
• Georgiana went to Saint-Germain to handle Ministry business and refused to enter the green carriage sent for her, driving its attendants away with fire magic.
• Georgiana learned that a Norwegian Ridgeback had taken a young whale and contacted the head of the Lestrange family to organize a group to seize the dragon.

Georgiana learned that the plan to capture the Norwegian Ridgeback had been cancelled, but she was drawn into visiting a new arena where a dragon and an alchemist who had created the Shrake might be waiting. As she travelled there with her companions, she suspected the arena visit could be a trap and wondered when Severus would rescue her from France.

• Georgiana reflected on her loneliness, her political ambitions, and her need to prove herself by taming a dragon.
• Carolan told Georgiana that the Norwegian Ministry of Magic had cancelled the operation as poaching and that her uncle wanted her to meet an alchemist who had transformed dogfish into Shrakes.
• Georgiana became eager to meet the Shrake's creator and learned that he could be found at a new arena in the Bois de Boulogne, where a dragon and Muggle soldiers were also present.
• Carolan pleaded with Georgiana to visit the arena, and Georgiana agreed to go with Beryl, Fiegel, and Matilda.
• As Georgiana travelled to the arena, she considered the danger of a staged dragon attack and wondered when Severus would come to her rescue.

Georgiana faced a chained Welsh Green Dragon in a French arena and overcame her despair by transforming into a swan, freeing herself, and taking flight with the dragon. When broomstick riders surrounded the arena and blocked her escape to England, she chose to land rather than start a battle.

• Georgiana arrived at the arena and approached the chained Welsh Green Dragon despite Bailier's warning.
• She spoke to the dragon in goblin language, recognized its rotten tooth, and transformed into a swan before returning to human form.
• Georgiana removed the dragon's rotten tooth, blasted apart its chains, and climbed onto its back.
• The dragon flew around the arena, scattering the spectators, while Georgiana and the dragon refrained from attacking them.
• Broomstick riders rose from the surrounding forest, so Georgiana had the dragon land instead of fighting her way out.

Georgiana learned that Napoleon had not immediately accepted lifelong consulship, while political unrest over Saint-Domingue grew. Surrounded by French soldiers and wizards, she claimed the Welsh Dragon and met Toussaint Louverture, then left reflecting on the gap between his hopes and reality.

• Lannes told Georgiana that Napoleon's birthday had been met with public silence and that protests against tyranny and the Saint-Domingue campaign had spread.
• Georgiana considered the growing challenge of erasing French memories of her and the railway, while worrying that the French wizards would resist her.
• Lannes told Georgiana that the senators wanted her to duel someone, and soldiers and wizards closed in around her.
• Georgiana ordered the Welsh Dragon to go with the wizards and declared that it belonged to her.
• Toussaint Louverture approached Georgiana, spoke of his hopes for peace, and explained that he had wanted to meet her.
• Georgiana warned Louverture not to be fooled, then left reflecting on his declaration of lifelong consulship and the gulf between dreams and reality.

Georgiana and Goebel discussed the threats surrounding Napoleon, including political conspiracies, a possible sniper, and Toussaint Louverture. Georgiana ordered Goebel to keep the sharpshooter from being recruited by another force and to keep Toussaint alive, while Bernadotte’s intentions remained uncertain.

• The chapter described Napoleon’s troubled private life, his purge of Republicans, and the growing alliance between Royalists and Republicans against him.
• After Fournier threatened to shoot Napoleon and later fled police custody, Napoleon became furious over plots to overthrow the state.
• Georgiana heard Goebel’s report during a storm and refused to target Giuseppina, who was in Russia, as long as she kept silent.
• Georgiana told Goebel to watch the sharpshooter and prevent another force from hiring him, and instructed him to keep Toussaint Louverture alive for France’s sake.
• Goebel suggested Bernadotte was capable of rebellion, and Georgiana considered how Napoleon’s fall could preserve Europe’s old order while ending his influence.

Georgiana watched Napoleon consolidate his power through a public procession, an amnesty, and the exile of German princes. She recognized that his authority and carefully staged image would distract the public from the failure in Saint-Domingue.

• Georgiana offered Matagot work guarding the French Ministry of Magic, but insisted his magical cats must be territorial rather than bloodthirsty or endlessly reproducing.
• Napoleon marched from the Tuileries Palace to Luxembourg in a grand procession, with Toussaint Louverture among his officials.
• Municipal officials announced that Napoleon would become president of the Conservative Senate and had issued a general amnesty for eligible prisoners.
• Talleyrand read an order exiling German princes to Elba as the new constitution removed the Legislative Body’s authority to approve treaties.
• Georgiana and Carolan used Disillusionment Charms to enter Luxembourg, where Napoleon delivered his inaugural address under the guard of soldiers.
• Georgiana told Carolan that Napoleon’s pardons and the princes’ exile would help the public forget the failure in Saint-Domingue, then compared Napoleon to a beautiful lion.

Georgiana and Napoleon prepared a referendum and a public amnesty for Toussaint Louverture while concealing the reality of events in Saint-Domingue. Georgiana also developed plans for the colony’s economy and confronted the costs borne by women and workers, leaving her to drink alone.

• Napoleon prepared a nationwide referendum and arranged for Louverture to cooperate in a public performance of amnesty while exiling potential witnesses and identifying men excluded from the pardon.
• Martin de Chassiron inspected farms in Brittany and learned that local farmers tethered their livestock on their own plots rather than sharing pasture.
• Georgiana planned to reshape Saint-Domingue’s economy around livestock, dye crops, and trade in goods for formerly enslaved people, while acknowledging that abolishing slavery entirely would require armed resistance.
• Georgiana looked at women sheltered with support from the British church, raised her glass to the empty air, and drank alone.

Georgiana met Napoleon at the Tuileries, where he discussed adulterated bread, political intrigue, and new taxes while confessing that he had lied to her about the bombing. He sent her to investigate why Paris’s flour demand had suddenly surged, and she left in anger.

• Georgiana was summoned to the Tuileries and found Napoleon waiting with reports about adulterated bread and official corruption.
• Napoleon questioned Georgiana about her dealings with Chaptal, discussed Fouché’s false intelligence, and explained why he trusted Merlin.
• Napoleon confessed that he had lied about the Saint-Nicaise bombing and admitted that his actions toward Georgiana were motivated by love.
• Georgiana challenged Napoleon over proposed steel and salt tariffs, and he discussed easing political tensions through mercy rather than violence.
• Napoleon gave Georgiana the bread reports and asked her to investigate why Paris’s daily flour demand had risen from eighteen hundred sacks to three or four thousand.
• Georgiana curtsied and stormed out of the Tuileries while Napoleon whistled behind her.

Georgiana investigated the effects of trade, taxes, and grain shortages while reflecting on Napoleon’s deceptions and the dangers of temptation. After burning her bed in a fit of anger, she regained control of herself as Napoleon continued his work and settled into the Tuileries Palace.

• Georgiana studied the Methuen Treaty and learned how British control of Portuguese wine trade had weakened Portugal’s industry.
• Georgiana worried that grain hoarding, arrests, and higher salt taxes could worsen Paris’s food shortages and harm agricultural production.
• Georgiana remembered letting Napoleon hold her and sit her on his lap, then wept and burned her bed with magic.
• Matilda and Bailier found Georgiana beside the fire, and Georgiana doused it, vanished the debris, and warned them never to pity a Devil.
• Napoleon protected French interests, supported Italy’s recovery and education, and took up residence in the Tuileries Palace under the constitution.

Georgiana reflected on trade, taxation, dragons, and slavery while grieving over Napoleoni’s confession that he had visited Giuseppina. She left her tower to resume her farming experiments, but her longing for love and family remained unresolved.

• Georgiana considered how Napoleon used police arrests to stop grain exports and recalled the losses Portugal suffered under the Anglo-Portuguese Commercial Treaty.
• Georgiana thought about Severus’s Unbreakable Vow and remembered how much she missed him.
• Georgiana cried over Napoleoni’s honesty about secretly visiting Giuseppina and wondered whether she could ever have a family.
• Georgiana read about slavery in French-speaking America and reflected on teaching and Dumont’s role as Henry Petty’s attendant.
• Georgiana used her recovered magic to prepare farmland for October planting and noted that human manure fertilizer had nearly doubled yields in southern test fields.

Georgiana visited the industrial exhibition and library, where Ribot challenged her assumptions about Severus and their relationship. She insisted Severus would return for her, but a library ghost told her he would not.

• Georgiana ordered two Italian typewriters and arranged for Murdoch's gas lamps to replace streetlamps on a Paris street.
• While accompanying Fawkes and Ribot through the library, Georgiana saw an Italian copying The Wedding at Cana and considered the possibility of the original being replaced by a copy.
• Georgiana tried to remove her Fire Opal Ring, but Ribot told her not to and blamed her rejection for Severus seeking comfort elsewhere.
• Ribot asked whether Georgiana believed Severus would come back for her, and she insisted that he would.
• A library ghost told Georgiana that Severus would not come looking for her, and she shouted at him before leaving.

Georgiana watched Napoleon’s military inspection and learned from Maret that France was nearing another war, this time over Piedmont. Maret revealed Moreau would become Piedmont’s governor after Georgiana refused to cover up Napoleon’s scandal without imposing her own conditions.

• Georgiana watched Napoleon review the troops and reflected on how his soldiers might imitate his ambition if he became king.
• Maret told Georgiana that tensions with Britain had risen after France published military information about Egypt and Syria, and that a new war was approaching.
• Maret said Piedmont was the next target and asked Georgiana to cover up a scandal involving Napoleon in exchange for learning the new governor’s identity.
• Georgiana demanded that Napoleon be washed with wine and threatened to punish him, but said he was also a victim because he did not know Madame G had other lovers.
• Maret revealed that Moreau would become Governor of Piedmont, then left after asking Georgiana to keep the news secret.

Georgiana reviewed the failures of Moreau and Jourdan’s campaigns and considered Napoleon’s plans to appoint Moreau to govern Piedmont. She continued reading documents while reflecting on the intrigues and boredom of her life.

• Moreau’s delays and scattered deployments let Archduke Charles reinforce his army, defeat Jourdan’s Army of Sambre and Meuse, and nearly cut off Moreau’s retreat.
• Moreau withdrew across the Rhine, losing the gains his army had made, while Napoleon won victories in northern Italy.
• Napoleon’s government faced the question of governing Piedmont and could use Moreau’s obedience—or refusal—to justify its actions toward him.
• Napoleon sent Michel Ney to Switzerland with authority to occupy the country and order its factions to disarm.
• Georgiana reflected on Moreau’s ambitious wife, the people around her, and her own dull days before returning to her documents.

Georgiana struggled with the bloodstained bracelet Napoleon had sent and with her conflicted feelings about him and Severus. When Napoleon arrived, he invited her to the theater, and she followed him after they spoke about forgiveness, love, and the bloodshed behind his rule.

• Georgiana resisted wearing the rune-inscribed gold bracelet, remembering the bracelet containing Bonaparte's hair and the bonds she had tried to escape.
• Napoleon surprised Georgiana in her study and asked whether she liked his gift before inviting her to go out with him.
• Georgiana agreed to accompany him, asking whether their outing would help the scandal fade, and Napoleon said they were celebrating peace.
• Georgiana admitted she sometimes felt she was dreaming when she imagined being with him, and confessed that forgetting Severus made her feel guilty.
• Napoleon told Georgiana she would have to accept his flaws as well as his virtues, and admitted he already regretted sending Moreau to govern Piedmont.
• Napoleon left the study for the theater, and Georgiana followed him.

Georgiana accompanied Napoleon through Paris to the theatre, where she confronted his infidelity and calmed his anger at a play that mocked soldiers. She left him asleep on her lap as the performance of “The Marriage of Figaro” began.

• Georgiana rode with Napoleon through Paris, anxiously fearing an assassination attempt, before they arrived at the French Theatre.
• Georgiana saw Napoleon touch her thigh and then noticed Georgina watching from backstage, so she stung his hand with a jinx.
• Napoleon asked Georgiana not to stay angry, but she told him to watch the play and remained cold toward him.
• When a scene’s army joke angered Napoleon, Georgiana warned him that punishing the actors could look like an abuse of power, and Marmont suggested exile.
• Napoleon asked Georgiana what should be done, and she coaxed him to lie down and sleep with his head on her thighs.
• After the one-act play ended, Georgiana kissed Napoleon’s forehead and watched “The Marriage of Figaro” as he rested.