The news added greatly to his concerns over the report that an English army had landed in Egypt. The last hope of any French intervention in India had been crushed by the Governor General and his brother, a more than capable soldier who had done much to turn the military situation to England’s advantage. Then there was the matter of an uprising in the colony of San Domingo, and Spain was unwilling to return Louisiana to France. As long as the enemy controlled the seas, France would be denied ready access to her colonies.The time had come to cut cards with the devil, Napoleon concluded reluctantly. He turned towards his foreign minister.

‘We must have peace with England, as soon as possible. We need time to settle our overseas affairs. Time to build our navy up to strength.’

‘To what purpose?’ Talleyrand asked quietly.

‘So that when the conflict begins again - which it will - we can clear the Channel of enemy warships and land an army in England.’

‘I see.’Talleyrand shrugged.‘So it is not a lasting peace we shall be seeking, then?’

‘There can be no lasting peace with England. Either France prevails or England does. The world is too small for us to share.’

‘What are your instructions, First Consul?’

‘Send an envoy to Prime Minister Addington.Tell him France wants peace. I imagine that the English will be in no mood to turn down such an offer. They have been at war as long as we have.’

Napoleon had gauged the English mind well. The new Prime Minister agreed to begin talks, and as summer wore on the tentative negotiations gradually resolved into the drafting of a preliminary agreement. Napoleon was eager to sign the document, but the English managed to find one excuse after another to delay. By the end of the summer Napoleon had had enough. Just as he had done with Austria, he issued an ultimatum. The agreement was to be signed by October, or France would break off negotiations and renew the war. The English gave in. The document was signed and hostilities ended. In the weeks that followed, the representatives of France and England met at Amiens to settle the final details of the peace treaty.

Finally, at the end of March 1802, when the First Consul and his wife had retired to the château at St-Cloud for a brief rest from his duties, Talleyrand arrived one evening. He was shown into the orangery where Napoleon and Josephine were having tea and cakes beside a small stove.Talleyrand bowed graciously to Josephine before he gave his news to Napoleon.

‘The treaty has been signed.’ He smiled warmly. ‘The English put their seal on it a few days ago.’

‘No last-minute alterations to the terms?’ Napoleon asked in an equally good humour.