‘She is old enough,’ Napoleon replied.‘There are many women who are capable of bearing children at such an age. Besides, if she proves to be fertile then we can be guaranteed an extended period of child-bearing age. The Grand Duchess may well provide us with a good many heirs to the throne over the years.’

‘That is true,’ Joseph conceded. ‘However, we must consider her stock. The Romanovs are renowned for producing many sickly offspring, as well as a small number afflicted with insanity. We would not want to risk contaminating your bloodline with such specimens.’

‘No, we would not.’ Napoleon nodded thoughtfully. ‘Even so, we must bear in mind the political advantages of a union between France and Russia. Particularly now when England is so close to collapse. Fouché’s agents report that the embargo on English trade is causing goods to pile up in their ports. Factories are closing and their workers are going hungry. Soon they will begin to starve, and when the people starve, they begin to demand change.’

‘We have heard this all before from the Minister of Police,’ Joseph said wearily. ‘How long is it that he has been promising us that the common people of England are close to revolt? Two years? Three?’

Minister Fouché pursed his lips and shrugged.‘I trust what my agents say. The problem is that the English have a distressing capacity for endurance, and a lack of appetite for revolution. But trade is their Achilles’ heel. Cut that and they are hobbled.’

‘And still they fight on,’Talleyrand intervened from the far end of the table. Despite the deepening rift between them, Napoleon had summoned his former Foreign Minister with the rest. Talleyrand’s advice was too precious to overlook. ‘Indeed, far from showing any sign of weakening, their influence grows from strength to strength in the Peninsula. They defeated us at Talavera.’ He raised a hand as he saw Napoleon lean forward to protest. ‘I know that Marshal Jourdan and Victor claim it was a victory, and that is how you ordered it to be represented in our newspapers, but the truth is that our forces were repelled by the English.’

‘Really?’ Napoleon’s lips curled into a faint sneer.‘Then how do you explain why General Wellesley felt compelled to retreat all the way back to Portugal, if he won the battle?’

‘Strategic necessity, sire. All the English have to do is maintain an army in the Peninsula in order to tie down French forces many times their number.’