‘Then he did a bad job of teaching his son the ten commandments.’ Napoleon stood in front of the youth and shook his head slowly. ‘Whatever happened to “Thou shalt not kill”, eh?’

Staps swallowed the blood in his mouth and raised his head to look squarely at the French Emperor. ‘You tell me, sire. After all, I have attempted to kill one man. You have killed tens of thousands.’

Napoleon was silent for a moment. ‘That is different. That is war. What you tried to do was murder.’

‘That’s a matter of perspective,’ Staps replied.

‘Really?’ Napoleon smiled faintly. His curiosity was aroused by the young Saxon. He turned to Rapp. ‘Is he securely bound?’

‘Yes, sire. I checked his bonds myself.’

‘Then I want your men to wait outside. You stay.’

‘Yes, sire.’

The sergeants picked up their jackets and bowed their heads before marching across the room to the door of the storeroom. Napoleon waited until the door had closed behind them and then took one of the stools and dragged it round and sat directly in front of Staps. General Rapp stood to one side, behind the prisoner, ready to intervene should he try anything, even tightly bound as he was.

Napoleon stretched his shoulders, easing the strain, and then leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs and clasping his fingers together. ‘Young man, surely you can see that what you attempted was evil. Not only evil, but irrational. You could not hope to escape.’

‘I was not concerned by that,’ Staps replied, licking his lips and wincing at the pain this provoked.‘I merely wanted to kill you. Nothing else mattered.’

‘That is absurd,’ Napoleon countered.‘You were prepared to commit suicide?’

‘I am still alive.’

‘For now. But not for much longer.’ Napoleon tilted his head slightly to get a better view of Staps’s eyes. ‘You must know that you face execution for what you tried to do.’

Staps shrugged. ‘Of course. I expect nothing less.’

‘Then why do it? Suicide is not the act of a sane man.’

‘I beg to disagree, sire.’ Staps eased himself up, straightening his back so he could face the Emperor squarely. ‘I did not happen upon this course of action by chance. I am not inspired by madness. I believe that the German people must be freed from the shackles imposed on them by you. I considered how best this might be achieved. Clearly one man alone cannot take on an empire and win. However, one man might take on an emperor alone, and vanquish him.’

‘And if you had murdered me, do you think that would have won you freedom for your people?’ Napoleon shook his head. ‘If I had been killed, France would still hold sway over your German states.’

Staps smiled. ‘It seems to me that France is a monster with but one head. Remove that and the beast is beaten.’

‘You flatter me.’