‘Where is Paul Barras?’

‘Barras?’The sergeant turned and pointed towards the old royal quarters in the centre of the Tuileries. ‘In there, with the other officers, sir.’

‘Fine. Come on, Junot.’

Keeping low, they hurried across the courtyard and up the steps to the main entrance. Behind them the exchange of musket fire kept going a moment longer and then eased off into the odd desultory shot. Inside the palace a young orderly escorted them up the grand staircase to the first floor suite that Barras had chosen for his headquarters. The door was open and the two officers strode in. It was a large chamber, decorated with gilt and fine wallpaper. Little of the original furnishings had survived the mob’s assault on the royal palace a few years earlier and Barras sat at a plain desk. Around him stood or sat several officers, only one of whom Napoleon recognised, and his heart sank.

‘That’s General Carteaux,’ Junot whispered.

Napoleon nodded. The last time they had met, Carteaux had been commanding the army laying siege to Toulon - until the Committee of Public Safety had relieved him of the post for his complete incompetence. Napoleon turned his gaze towards Barras as the latter stood to greet the new arrivals.

‘And who may you two be?’

Once Napoleon had introduced himself and Junot Barras nodded. ‘Any combat experience?’

‘Yes, sir. We served with the army that took Toulon. I commanded the artillery.’

Barras raised his eyebrows. ‘Ah! I remember. So you are that artillery officer. Robespierre could not have praised you more highly. Still, given the way things turned out I’m not so sure how much stock I should place in his judgement.’

The other officers laughed.There was a harsh nervous edge to the sound that made Napoleon’s spirits sink. If this was a sign of how far morale had fallen then the odds against their beating the royalists had lengthened. Barras sat back down.

‘Well then, Brigadier, I expect you want me to tell you about our little predicament?’

Napoleon nodded.

‘From the latest reports it seems that General Danican has gone over to the royalists. My agents tell me that at first light tomorrow over twenty thousand militia men and royalist sympathisers are going to march on the Tuileries. They intend to massacre every soldier and member of the government that they find here.’

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

‘How many men do you have under your command?’ Napoleon asked.

‘Five thousand,’ Barras replied. ‘Although a thousand of those are volunteers and have no weapons and another five hundred are reservists. They don’t have weapons either.’

‘So, three and a half thousand muskets against twenty thousand.’ Napoleon shook his head. ‘Not good odds. Not unless we can restore the balance some other way.What about cannon? How many pieces do you have?’

‘None.’ Barras shrugged. ‘This is the seat of government, not a bloody arsenal.’