‘Really?’ Poucelle raised his eyebrows.‘What makes you think that? The man is a politician, after all.’

Poucelle had spoken without thinking, and glanced hurriedly at Lucien and Foudrier. ‘I meant no offence, gentlemen. It’s just that I trust some politicians less than others.’

‘No offence taken.’ Lucien shrugged. ‘I feel the same way about most soldiers.’

Poucelle glared back at him, lips compressed into a thin line. Napoleon could not help laughing, and wagged a finger at his brother.

‘Take care, Lucien. General Poucelle is more than a match for you, despite his years.’

The backhanded compliment made Poucelle add a frown to his expression as he grumbled,‘I did not come here to be insulted by a pair of young striplings. Be so good as to respect my rank and my experience, if not my person.’

Napoleon shot a warning look at his brother and Lucien nodded gently as he responded. ‘I apologise, General. It’s just that I don’t think that soldiers have an exclusive claim on morality and honour. They have as much predilection to corruption and personal ambition as the rest of us.’

‘Including your brother?’ Poucelle shot back.

Lucien looked quickly at Napoleon and nodded. ‘Including Napoleon. Otherwise we wouldn’t be meeting here.’

They were interrupted by the sound of the doors being wrenched open and turned to see Talleyrand entering the room. He shut the doors firmly and turned to limp across the room towards his guests. A birth defect had crippled his foot and he walked carefully and hid his pain behind a fixed smile.

‘Gentlemen, I apologise for keeping you waiting. I had a visitor who simply refused to leave my house until I had to be quite firm with her.’

‘I can imagine,’ Lucien muttered and Napoleon realised the implication in an instant, and looked more closely at Talleyrand. He was in his early forties, curly hair streaked with grey, yet he was the kind of fine-looking man Napoleon could imagine drawing admiring glances from the women of the salons Talleyrand frequented. He pulled up a chair and joined the others with polite nods of greeting.

‘Are we all present? Good. Then perhaps we should waste no time in pleasantries, since we are drawn here by common interest and not friendship.’ He turned to Napoleon.‘Now then, General, you have already spoken to me and some of the others, but perhaps you should explain the purpose of arranging this meeting to the rest.’