As the door closed Carnot read back over the document he had just signed and nodded with satisfaction before he slipped it across the desk into the out tray. Then he raised his head.

On the other side of the desk stood a slight figure, short and thin with dark hair that fell to his collar. The fringe was cut severely across the top of his pale head in a straight line.The grey eyes gleamed and darted round the office, seeming to take in every detail before they settled on Carnot. The young officer’s nose was fine and narrow and his lips reposed in a faint pout, then parted in an impulsive smile before he forced his features into an impassive expression and stiffened to attention.

Carnot stared at the brigadier, rueing the fact that so many young men had achieved such rapid advancement through the ranks in the space of a few years. Many officers had fled the country during the revolution and Robespierre had culled the ranks of those that remained. Inevitably, a shortage of officers had arisen and promotion was thrust upon any man who demonstrated raw courage, or the least indication of a sound military brain. Brigadier Bonaparte was one of the few who possessed both.

‘Welcome, Bonaparte. I’ve been wanting to meet you for some time.’

‘Thank you, citizen.’

The voice was soft, and agreeable to Carnot’s ear, and he relaxed his face into a smile. ‘I had not expected you to arrive in Paris so soon. How long have you been here?’

‘We arrived last night, citizen.’

‘We?’

‘My staff officers and I. Captain Marmont and Lieutenant Junot.’

‘I see. And you have found comfortable quarters?’

The brigadier tilted his head to one side and shrugged.‘I have taken some rooms in a hotel in the Latin quarter. It’s cheap, but comfortable enough. I might find something more suitable,’ Bonaparte paused to add emphasis to the words that followed, ‘once I am returned to full pay, citizen.’

Carnot shifted in his chair as he recalled the circumstances of the brigadier’s reduction in pay. Bonaparte had been a protégé of the Robespierre brothers and when they had fallen many of their followers had been executed. Others, like Napoleon’s fellow Corsican, Antoine Saliceti, had gone into hiding. Others, like Napoleon Bonaparte, who openly espoused Jacobin politics, had been proscribed. Trumped-up charges of corruption and selling information to foreign powers had been enough to see Bonaparte sent to prison for several days. Even though the charges had been dismissed, Bonaparte had been only provisionally released on half-pay to continue his service in the army. No wonder the brigadier sounded bitter, Carnot reflected.

‘I assure you, I am doing what I can to restore your rights.’ Carnot opened out his hands.‘It’s the least France can do for one of its most promising young officers.’