‘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.’

‘No. I see things clearly enough, sire. You are a great man. Like all tyrants. That is why killing you would have changed everything.’

‘But you did not kill me. Nothing has changed, and you have wasted your life without purpose.’

‘Perhaps. But there is a chance that my death might inspire others.’

‘Inspire them to suicidal attacks?’ Napoleon laughed drily. ‘What makes you think that I have not learned from today’s attempt? In future it will be impossible for a man like you to get close to me.’

‘Impossible?’ Staps pursed his swollen lips. ‘Not impossible. Only more difficult. In time, another man . . .’ he paused and smiled faintly, ‘or woman will get close enough to you to make another attempt, and succeed where I failed. The odds are against you in the long run, sire. Surely you must see that?’

‘Supposing it is not a question of odds, but of fate,’ Napoleon countered. ‘Some men are chosen by fate for greatness, and fate alone decides when their time is over.’

‘If you believe that, then what need have you of bodyguards? I suspect that you have no wish to put it to the test.’ Staps looked at the Emperor shrewdly. ‘There’s something else that worries you, sire.’

‘Oh?’

‘The fear that stalks all great men. You believe in your greatness, and the thought that a man of no consequence, such as I, could put an end to your life is an effrontery to your sense of that greatness.’

Napoleon stared at him fixedly for a moment, and Staps stared back, unblinking. After a moment Napoleon smiled and patted the young man on the knee. ‘There’s some truth in what you say. Yet now it is you who diminish yourself.’

‘Me?’