‘No chance,’ the sergeant replied bitterly. ‘War is all that kings, tsars and emperors understand. They love the uniforms, and pushing tokens round on maps, and all the time it’s the lot of common people to die. I thought the Revolution was supposed to put an end to all of that. We got rid of the King, and the aristos. Now look at us. Dukes, princes and barons as far as the eye can see, and Napoleon sitting on top of it all with his crown. What’s changed, tell me that?’

The first sergeant laughed.‘Ignore him. Pierre’s just an old-fashioned Jacobin. He’s always grumbling. I wonder . . .’ He looked eagerly at Masséna and Napoleon. ‘You must have seen him. What’s he like?’

‘The Emperor?’ Masséna puffed his cheeks at the awkward situation. ‘Well, he’s just a man, like any of us here. He may be Emperor when he’s in the palace in Paris, but here, in the field? Here, he’s a soldier. He takes his risks with the rest of us.’

‘And what about you?’ asked the sergeant called Pierre, staring directly at Napoleon. ‘What do you think?’

Napoleon stared back at him for a moment, tempted to reveal his identity, but at the same time loath to break the illusion that they were all comrades. He set down his cup and stood up, punching Masséna lightly on the shoulder. ‘I think it’s time we got back to our battalion. It’s going to be a busy night.’

Masséna handed back his cup and stood up. ‘Good luck to you all.’

‘And you,’ the first man nodded back.

‘What do you think?’ Napoleon asked quietly, as he and Masséna strode off.

Masséna glanced at him. ‘Sire?’

‘Don’t be a fool, Masséna. I’m talking about what those men said. Are they right? Have I betrayed the Revolution and simply created a new form of tyranny?’

‘You are talking about politics, sire, and I am a soldier. It’s not my field.’

‘You are evading the issue.’ Napoleon laughed softly. ‘When a man fears to speak the truth then he does indeed live in a tyranny. It seems that the sergeant was right.’

‘King or emperor, what difference does it make?’ Masséna responded. ‘The fact is, France is at war and it is the duty of every soldier to fight for his country. When the fighting begins there is no place for questioning the cause of it.’ He was quiet for a moment. ‘Besides, what use have I for peace? It would do me out of a fine living.’

Napoleon looked at him and shook his head. ‘Marshal Masséna, you have a brutally practical way of looking at life. Even so, I must admit I had hoped that a little idealism burned in your heart.’