Chapter Summaries

Joseph planned to expand Paris Angel across France and Europe through franchises, delegating negotiations to Brent. At a meeting with interested nobles and businessmen, Baudouin committed to opening two stores as the first franchisee.

• Joseph rejected opening a Paris Angel branch at Versailles and explained how exclusive locations would strengthen the brand.
• Joseph entrusted Brent with negotiating franchise agreements using the terms and techniques in his documents.
• Brent showed Count Albrau, Duke Lavalliere, Marquis Montes, and other business leaders the company’s facilities and pitched its franchise offer.
• The guests questioned the stores’ profitability and asked to sell other products, while Brent defended the business and explained its fees and limits on Paris locations.
• Baudouin recalled losing much of his fortune to English textile imports and announced that he would invest 300,000 livres in two franchise stores.

Joseph secured franchise investments for Paris Angel, then discovered France’s usual lenders were delaying or refusing a major government loan. With a debt payment approaching and few alternatives, he decided to establish a bank himself.

• Brent signed seven Paris Angel franchise contracts, and Count Albrau, Duke Lavalliere, and other investors followed with plans for more shops.
• Joseph signed the franchise contracts and met with Minister of Finance Brienne, who warned that the High Court would likely refuse to register the bill.
• Joseph learned that Lavier Bank had postponed loan negotiations and Laborde Bank might not have enough funds to lend the Government millions of livres.
• Joseph visited Paris Discount Bank, Paris Bank, and Royal Bank, but none could provide the needed large short-term loan.
• Joseph found only two medium-sized banks willing to lend 600,000 livres at 25% interest and decided to open a bank himself.

Joseph accelerated his plans to establish a bank and set Paris Angel Company’s expansion and share sale in motion to raise funds and build support. He left the chapter preparing to recruit powerful government allies as the bank’s first shareholders.

• Joseph finished planning the bank and summoned Brent to Versailles Palace.
• Joseph ordered Brent and his team to open Paris Angel franchise stores quickly, offering escalating bonuses for each store opened.
• Joseph gave Eman 15,000 livres to advertise the Paris Angel Company share sale, scheduled for Frost Month 30.
• Joseph invited Brienne, Mono, and Count Robert to dinner and asked them to buy shares in his planned bank.

Joseph attracted investors to his bank by offering them discounted Paris Angel shares, then secured backing from the royal family and powerful nobles. As interest in Paris Angel’s public offering spread, Lavier Bank’s manager wondered why the Crown Prince had not sought a loan ahead of the Government Bonds’ maturity.

• Joseph told Brienne, Mono, and Robert that investing in his bank would let them buy Paris Angel shares at 1 livre each before the public offering, and showed them the company’s franchise contracts.
• Brienne invested 250,000 livres, Mono invested 300,000 livres after Joseph limited his allocation, and Robert invested 200,000 livres; Joseph said the bank shares carried no management rights.
• Joseph sold Louis XVI and Queen Mary 5% each of the bank, accepting their available funds and IOUs for the remainder.
• Joseph met Prince of Condé and Duke of Artois, who each subscribed to 400,000 livres’ worth of bank shares.
• News of Paris Angel’s upcoming stock offering spread through France, and people began gathering money to buy its shares.
• At Lavier Bank, Etienne asked why no Finance Ministry official had come to negotiate a loan and wondered how the Crown Prince planned to handle the maturing Government Bonds.

Joseph reviewed the reorganization of the Paris police and approved key appointments as Besançon reported that the new force had taken over public security. Friant said the Police Academy would open in a week, leaving Joseph impressed by how quickly the new policing system was taking shape.

• Besançon presented Joseph with candidates for senior Police Department posts after completing the assessment, reorganization, and training of Paris police officers.
• Joseph approved Alden and several other candidates and let Besançon choose among the remaining nominees.
• Besançon said he had transferred former officers who had bought their positions to a Daily Affairs Team handling river supervision and sanitation.
• Joseph agreed to fund the new police uniforms and equipment if Besançon submitted a report of the costs.
• Friant reported that the Police Academy had enrolled 201 students and would begin classes in a week, while Besançon said one hundred officers a day had already been training there.

Joseph praised Friant’s work establishing the Police Academy and pledged substantial funding to expand it, while rejecting Lavier Bank’s attempt to reclaim a government loan. Besançon learned that Lavier Bank and Laborde Bank had obstructed Joseph and resolved to make them pay, as Etienne returned to Paris fearing for his position.

• Joseph ordered Friant to recruit talented students for an Elite Class, expand the Police Academy to more than three thousand students, and build it to the Paris Military Academy’s standard, promising over one million livres and a 5,000-livre staff reward.
• Etienne learned from Viscount Leon that the France Reserve Bank was taking over the six-million-livre government loan, and hurried to offer Joseph a lower interest rate.
• Joseph refused to meet Etienne, rejected Lavier Bank and Laborde Bank’s involvement in the loan, and ordered an investigation and a plan to transfer government loans away from the two banks.
• Besançon learned that the banks had obstructed Joseph and vowed to retaliate against Lavier Bank and Laborde Bank.
• Etienne left Versailles Palace realizing Lavier Bank could lose its government business, then rushed to report the crisis to the bank’s board of directors.

Laborde and Lavier Bank sought Necker’s advice after hearing that the Crown Prince planned to end the government’s loan business with them, and Necker urged them to resist what he believed was a bluff. At the Versailles commendation ceremony for the Battle of Amstelveen, Joseph learned that Captain Berthier had devised Diboa’s tactical plan.

• Delaud Laborde and Goldman discovered that the France Reserve Bank stood between their banks and the French Government’s loans, so they asked Necker what he knew about it.
• Necker warned that the Crown Prince was probably using the supposed bank to pressure them into lowering interest rates, and Labo and Goldman decided to hold out until the debt came due.
• At Versailles, Saint-Priest introduced the heroes of the Battle of Amstelveen, and Louis XVI promoted Diboa to major while Queen Mary placed a wreath on his head.
• Joseph praised Diboa’s command, but Diboa credited Joseph’s strategic deployment and said Captain Berthier had planned the tactics at Amstelveen.
• Joseph asked which Berthier Diboa meant, and Diboa identified him as Major Louis Alexander Berthier under General Custine.

Joseph identified Major Berthier and Lieutenant Davout’s younger brother Nikola as future military talents he wanted to recruit while planning to build a force loyal to himself. After the commendation ceremony, he kept Diboa and André Davout with him to hear about the fighting in the Netherlands.

• Diboa told Joseph that Alexander was an aristocratic officer who had fought in the American War of Independence and helped map the Battle of Yorktown, leading Joseph to recognize him as Berthier.
• Joseph considered how royal military power had been weakened by aristocrats and capitalists and planned to use the Paris Police Academy as a foothold for building his own force.
• Joseph praised Lieutenant Foucaud, then asked Lieutenant Davout whether his family had served in the Royal Cavalry Regiment.
• Davout told Joseph that his younger brother was Louis-Nicolas d'Avout, who was still attending military academy, and Joseph resolved to recruit him after graduation.
• After the ceremony, Joseph held back Diboa and André Davout and took them to the square outside Versailles Palace to discuss the fighting in the Netherlands.

Joseph explained how his actions in the Netherlands had forced the Prussians to retreat, then outlined his plans to reform and strengthen the French Army. He left Andre and Diboa astonished by his vision for surpassing Prussia.

• Andre asked Joseph how he had made the Prussians retreat, and Diboa learned that Joseph had arranged Wilhelmina's return to Prussia and the Prince of Orange's return to Amsterdam.
• Andre and Diboa described the fierce fighting in the Netherlands and warned that the Prussian Army was better trained and more capable than the French Army.
• Joseph said France needed to reform its outdated military system rather than blindly imitate Prussia.
• Joseph proposed unified army management, abolishing the Local Forces, expanding noncommissioned officer training, and developing new tactics.
• Andre and Diboa listened in amazement as Joseph laid out his plans for military reform.

Joseph recruited Diboa and Andre to help build a military reform effort while Paris Angel rapidly opened new boutiques and attracted public attention. The company prepared to sell its shares at Paris City Hall as five boutiques stood ready and more neared completion.

• Diboa enthusiastically copied Joseph’s military reform proposals, then agreed to help him develop them and bring in military expertise.
• Joseph asked Andre why he had left the Imperial Guards, and Andre pledged his loyalty and agreed to serve under Joseph.
• Paris Angel’s craftsmen worked around the clock on three new Paris stores for high wages and generous meals, drawing crowds and boosting the company’s popularity.
• A former homeless boy expanded his chair-rental business with his sister and other children, rented a room, and began saving to learn to read.
• Brent celebrated the completion of a Paris Angel boutique in seven days as two more Paris stores and a Reims franchise approached opening.
• Hundreds gathered outside Paris City Hall to await the official sale of Paris Angel Company shares.

Joseph secured royal approval for Paris Angel Company to go public, and its first share offering drew overwhelming demand. After the company sold 773,000 shares for 1.55 million Livre, Joseph ordered the funds transferred to the France Reserve Bank and told Brent to continue until they reached 6 million Livre.

• Joseph relied on support from the ministers, King, and Queen, and Louis XVI signed the proposal authorizing Paris Angel Company to sell shares publicly.
• Brent opened the share offering outside Paris City Hall, where investors rushed the trading counters to buy shares.
• Stock Exchange employees recorded the first trades as more than sixty Paris Police officers worked to control the crowd.
• Brent and the Crown Prince's Exclusive Accountant reported that 773,000 shares had sold for 1.55 million Livre.
• Joseph praised Brent and ordered him to transfer the proceeds to the France Reserve Bank and keep operating until the funds reached 6 million Livre.

Joseph used the France Reserve Bank and a managed surge in Paris Angel Company shares to raise enough money for the French Government to repay its 6 million Livre bonds. The Duke of Orléans learned that the bank had been acquired by the Crown Prince and wondered how Joseph had secured its capital.

• Joseph acquired a failing bank, renamed it the France Reserve Bank, and began operating it.
• A hired American market operator and Royal Guards drove up Paris Angel Company's share price, attracting investors and raising 6.15 million Livre by selling shares.
• Joseph signed a 6 million Livre government loan agreement with the France Reserve Bank at 15% interest, which already held more than 8.1 million Livre.
• The Duke of Orléans learned that the government bonds had been repaid and recalled his failed attempt to block the Crown Prince's loan.
• The butler told the Duke of Orléans that the France Reserve Bank had been Serto Bank before the Crown Prince acquired it, leaving the Duke puzzled about how Joseph had funded it.

The Duke of Orléans and banking leaders plotted to undermine Joseph’s France Reserve Bank and Paris Angel Company by forcing Minister Brienne from office and installing Necker. Unaware of the conspiracy, Joseph opened the Paris Police Academy’s first class of students.

• The Duke of Orléans realized that Joseph’s companies had raised substantial funds and saw the Crown Prince as a serious threat to his political ambitions.
• Orléans invited Count Isaac, Marquis Ludo, Count Capeville, and other banking leaders to a hunt at his estate.
• Count Isaac and the banking leaders proposed boycotting the France Reserve Bank and pressuring Brienne to leave his post as Minister of Finance.
• Necker offered to replace Brienne, end government cooperation with the France Reserve Bank, and revoke Paris Angel Company’s stock-issuing permission.
• Joseph presided over the opening ceremony for the first class at the newly completed Paris Police Academy.

Joseph opened the Paris Police Academy, appointed police commissioners, and ordered extensive upgrades to the school’s facilities and training. Meanwhile, Besançon approved a scheme against two banks, and police officers began disrupting Lavier Bank by claiming robbers were about to strike.

• Joseph congratulated the cadets, declared the Paris Police Academy open, and conferred police commissioner appointments on a group led by Alden.
• Besançon learned that a subordinate had prepared a new scheme against two banks and ordered him to act quickly.
• Joseph told Friant to build better academy facilities and acquire muskets, ammunition, training equipment, and horses.
• Joseph ordered Friant to find a larger plot near Paris and said Diboa could teach the police to use artillery.
• A group of uniformed policemen entered Lavier Bank, announced that robbers were expected, and sent customers fleeing before guarding the entrance.

Joseph sent Prosper to find Fouche and tested two clerics to identify which one matched the ruthless intelligence chief he wanted. The first refused to poison anyone, while the second asked whether helping the Secret Police would earn him a reward.

• The fat policeman accepted bribes from Lavier Bank's manager and Etienne but refused to leave, while police in Laborde Bank dug a costly pit around the building.
• A reporter published the fat policeman's claims about an Ottoman gang, driving Paris residents away from both banks.
• Prosper told Joseph he had found two men named Joseph Fouche who fit the description, and Joseph asked to meet them the next day.
• At the first monastery, a cleric refused Prosper's request to poison supposed foreign spies, so Joseph decided he was probably not the Fouche he sought.
• At a second monastery, another cleric asked Prosper whether helping the Secret Police would bring him a reward.

Joseph recruited Fouche to lead a new intelligence organization and established the Police Department Intelligence Division, which would report directly to him. The division began operations with Fouche as director, Prosper leading its Action Team, and Contain responsible for training intelligence personnel.

• Fouche proposed recruiting former Royal Police officers, university students, and others to build an intelligence organization, and Joseph offered him 500,000 livres in funding.
• Joseph identified Fouche as the capable intelligence chief he had been seeking and asked him to serve; Fouche recognized Joseph as the Crown Prince and agreed.
• Joseph took Fouche and the others to a villa in the western suburbs of Paris, which he had designated as the organization’s office.
• Joseph named the organization the Police Department Intelligence Division, placing it under his direct authority and appointing Fouche as its temporary director.
• Joseph appointed Prosper commander of the Action Team and assigned Contain to train intelligence personnel and recruit promising Police Academy students.

Duke of Orléans plotted to bring down Brienne and then arranged for Madame de Sambelange to seduce the Crown Prince and report on him. At Queen Mary's music hall, Madame de Sambelange began proposing a new idea for the St. Nicholas Day festivities, seeing it as a chance to approach the Crown Prince.

• Duke of Orléans prepared a political campaign to dismiss Brienne and restore Necker to power.
• Duke of Orléans discovered Little Philip with his piano teacher and recalled that Count Capeville had contracted syphilis after being with Madame de Sambelange.
• Duke of Orléans decided to use Madame de Sambelange to infect the Crown Prince and secretly instructed his steward to arrange it.
• Viscount Valles offered Madame de Sambelange fifteen thousand livres to seduce the Crown Prince and report on his movements.
• Madame de Sambelange recognized the upcoming St. Nicholas Day masquerade as an opportunity and announced that she had a better idea for the event.

Madame de Sambelange’s gender-swap masquerade ball drew Joseph into an exhausting night of dancing at Versailles. Perna finally used his lingering pneumonia as an excuse to pull him away from the crowd.

• Madame de Sambelange proposed a gender-swap theme for the masquerade ball, and Queen Mary and the nobles approved it.
• Madame de Sambelange began appearing around the Crown Prince’s Palace in hopes of attracting Joseph’s attention.
• On St. Nicholas Day, Joseph was dressed in a black gown and feathered wig for the ball, where Queen Mary and Louis XVI greeted him in costumes of their own.
• At the ball, noblewomen competed to dance with Joseph, who could only manage the Sarabande and repeatedly stumbled through nearly an hour of dancing.
• Madame de Sambelange sent a note to Viscount Valles while watching Joseph remain surrounded by his dance partners.
• Perna told the crowd that Joseph’s pneumonia had not healed and led him away from the dance floor.

Joseph escaped the ball and hid with Perna and Eman as they overheard Duke Emily Villar and Lieutenant Davout struggling against her family’s plans for her marriage. When Emily’s fiancé mocked Davout, Davout challenged him to a duel, leaving the confrontation poised to begin.

• Joseph left the crowded ball to get some air, and Perna and Eman followed him into the palace square.
• Joseph, Perna, and Eman hid behind a maple tree as Emily Villar and Lieutenant Davout met in the garden and confessed their love.
• Eman explained that Emily was the current Duke of Villars and that her granduncle was managing her family’s holdings.
• Emily’s fiancé arrived, claimed her family would accept their marriage because of his father’s thirty thousand Livre, and insulted Davout’s rank and poverty.
• Davout drew his sword and challenged Emily’s fiancé to a duel.

Joseph intervened in Andre and Roger’s duel, then wagered that Andre and Emily would become engaged the next day. After setting out to persuade Emily’s mother, Joseph received a mysterious note claiming its sender knew his greatest secret and went to meet her in the South Hall.

• Roger challenged Andre to a sword fight, and Emily was wounded when she rushed between them.
• Joseph stopped the conflict and bet Roger that Andre and the Duke of Villars would be engaged the next day, with the loser kissing the winner’s boots.
• Joseph told Perna he would persuade Emily’s mother and returned to the Hall of Mirrors with her and Eman.
• Madame de Sambelange sent Joseph a note claiming to know his greatest secret and inviting him to the South Hall.
• Joseph hurried to the meeting place, while a young man dressed as a fairy followed him.