‘Not for a moment,’ Napoleon admitted.‘That is why you and the rest of my followers are going to propose an amendment to the tribunes’ motion offering me a renewal of my term of office.’ Napoleon folded his hands. ‘You will accept the motion, on condition that there is a plebiscite on my assuming the post of First Consul for life, with the right to choose my successor.’

For a moment the other men were silent, and then Fouché leaned forward with an excited glint in his eye. ‘Brilliant . . . Quite brilliant. They can hardly protest if the decision is passed over to the people. Not without making it look as if they were betraying democracy. They’ll have no choice but to vote for the amendment.’

Talleyrand nodded his appreciation. ‘They’ll be completely outflanked.’

Napoleon kept his silence as the other men reflected on his masterstroke. It was the perfect political manoeuvre and the fact that his opponents would be forced to support the plebiscite gave him a thrill of added pleasure.

‘There is one thing we must keep in mind,’ said Talleyrand. ‘The need to move swiftly. The public adulation will inevitably die away once they get used to peace. The amendment can be pushed through quickly enough, but we must insist that the popular vote takes place as soon as possible.’

‘Of course,’ Napoleon agreed. ‘There is no reason why it could not happen as early as August.’

Talleyrand considered this for a moment and nodded. ‘By August, then.’

As Napoleon had foreseen, the amendment was carried by a clear majority. When it was over his political opponents slunk out of their debating chambers seething with fury that they had been compelled to vote for it thanks to their own loudly proclaimed support for the voice of the people. Better still, the announcement of the result was scheduled for August, just as Napoleon had wanted.

In the following months he made sure that the people of Paris were provided with plenty of entertainment and military parades. He gave clear instructions that his subordinate officers were to appear in full dress, with flowing plumes fixed to their gold-braided bicorns. By contrast, he wore a plain coat, as an officer might wear on campaign, and fixed a revolutionary cockade to his hat. Newspapers throughout the country praised the improvements the First Consul was bringing to almost every sphere of French life. Behind the façade of peace and prosperity Fouché moved to silence his critics and enemies. Outspoken royalists and Jacobins were quietly arrested and taken before the military tribunals where their cases were hurriedly processed with little regard to legal niceties. Many were deported, or exiled. A handful of unrepentant prisoners were sentenced to death and taken to barracks outside Paris, shot and buried in unmarked graves.