July 23, 1802.
Milan.
Serbelloni Palace.
Prince Charles, dressed in magnificent formal attire, was delivering a speech at the closing ceremony of the Mediterranean Silk Exhibition when a young man squeezed through the crowd in the hall and bowed to him.
Charles immediately skipped a large portion of his speech, hastily wrapped things up, and stepped down from the podium. He then strode quickly to a secluded spot by the doors.
The young man followed him over, bowed again, and said in a low voice, "Your Highness, Father asked me to tell you that Archbishop Consalvi accepted the money and issued five passes."
He lowered his head. "It is only that your friends have steadfastly refused to leave Rome."
The smile on Charles's face instantly turned to anxiety. "Have they gone mad? If they do not leave, they will die!"
Not long ago, when he had learned from the French envoy in Milan that Naples was sending troops into Rome, he had sensed trouble. He had immediately asked his friend in Siena, Baron Bergeron, to take 200,000 francs to Rome and try to rescue Josiah and several senior members of the Free Rome Party. He had done everything he could, yet he had never expected them to refuse to flee for their lives.
Baron Bergeron's son said somewhat awkwardly, "Your Highness, your friends said, 'Their hearts will beat only alongside the Roman Revolution.'"
He truly did not know how to mention revolutionaries before the French Prince—he himself did not like those people, but Prince Charles seemed to care deeply about them.
Charles asked a few more questions about Rome, dismissed the young man, and felt as though a rat had burrowed into his heart, scratching and gnawing everywhere. He thought of the Free Rome Party members who had planned the