‘Once it is felt that I no longer pose a threat to peace, I shall be free to leave.’ Napoleon turned to his secretary with a glint in his eyes. ‘I am finished in France, but I am sure that my talents can be put to good use in another sphere. You’ll see. Perhaps I will even be permitted to resume my rule over Elba.’

‘I hope so, sire.’

‘In the meantime, we must create a good impression on our hosts. Wave, man. Show them they have nothing to fear from us.’

The pair returned the waves from a number of the nearest boats. Even as he put on an act for his captors, Napoleon’s heart seethed with bitterness. At the end, he had been betrayed by Fouché and his marshals, who had refused to rally to his side.

‘The next time I have the chance to exercise any power, I will be certain to be more careful about those I trust,’ he muttered. ‘I tell you, if I had hanged just two men,Talleyrand and Fouché, I would still be on the throne today.’

‘Deck there!’ a voice cried out from above and Napoleon turned and leaned his head back to see one of the sailors pointing towards the shore. ‘Captain’s returning!’

The lieutenant of the watch nodded his acknowledgement and hurriedly gave orders for one of the mates to assemble a sideguard to greet Maitland. Looking out across the water Napoleon could make out the Bellerophon’s launch, stroking neatly across the calm surface. Maitland sat stiffly in the stern, with a civilian at his side. The launch picked its way through the crowd of small vessels and made for the side of the warship. A short distance away the sailors raised their oars and the man in the bows caught on to the ship’s chains with a boathook and drew the launch up against the side. Captain Maitland climbed up the rungs on the side of his ship and as his head drew level with the entry port the mates blew their whistles and the side guard of marines and sailors stood to attention.

Napoleon nodded approvingly. ‘They are well drilled. Like clockwork, as with everything else on the ship.’

The civilian rose unsteadily in the stern of the launch and had to be helped up the warship’s side by two of the sailors. As he clambered on to the deck and joined Maitland the captain was talking to the lieutenant on watch in a low urgent tone, and he nodded briefly at Napoleon before striding towards the entrance to his cabin, followed by the civilian.

‘Looks like he’s had some news from London,’ de Las Cases suggested.