The 48 Laws Of Power

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380 LAW 44

lievedFouchéwasinsecretcontactwithministersof

foreign

countries,

in-

cluding

MetvernichofAustria.Afraidthathismostvaluableministerwas

betraying

himtohis

enemies,

Napoleon

hadtofindout

the

truth

beforeit

wastoolate,HecouldnotconfrontFouché

directly—inperson

theman

wasas

slippery

asaneel.Heneededhard

proof.

Thisseemedtocomein

April,

whenthe

emperor’sprivatepolicecap

turedaViennese

gentleman

whohadcometoParisto

pass

infonnationon

toFouché.

Ordering

theman

brought

before

him,

Napoleon

threatenedto

shoot

him

thenandthereunlesshe

confessed;

themanbrokedownand

admitted

hehad

given

Fouché

a

letterfrom

Metternich,

writtenininvisible

ink,

arranging

forasecret

meeting

of

specialagents

inBasel.

Napoleon

ars-

cordingly

orderedoneofhisown

agents

toinfiltratethis

meeting.

IfFouché

wasindeed

planning

to

betray

him,

hewould

finally

be

caught

red-handed

andwould

hang.

Napoleon

waited

impatiently

forthe

agent’s

return,

buttohisbewil-

dermentthe

agent

showed

updays

later

reporting

thathehadheardnoth-

ing

thatwould

implicate

Fouchéina

conspiracy.

Infactitseemedthatthe

other

agentspresentsuspected

Fouchéof

double-crossing

them,

asifhe

were

working

for

Napoleon

all

along.Napoleon

didnotbelievethisforan

instant—Fouchéhad

somehowoutwitted

him

again.

The

followingmorning

Fouchévisited

Napoleon,

and

remarked,

“By

the

way,

sire,

Inevertold

you

thatIhadaletterfromMetternichafew

daysago;my

mindwassofullof

things

of

greater

moment.

Besides,

his

emissary

omittedto

give

methe

powder

neededtomakethe

writinglegi-

ble... .Hereat

length

istheletter.”SurethatFouchéwas

toying

with

him,

Napoleon exploded,

“Youare a

traitor,

Fouché! I

ought

tohave

you

hanged.”

Hecontinuedto

harangue

Fouché,

butcouldnotfirehimwithout

proof.

Fouché

onlyexpressed

amazementatthe

emperor’s

words,

butin-

wardly

he

smiled,

for

all

along

hehadbeen

playing

a

mirroringgame.

Interpretation

Fouchéhadknownfor

years

that

Napoleonkept

on

top

ofthosearound

him

byspying

onthem

day

and

night.

Theministerhadsurvivedthis

game

byhaving

hisown

spiesspy

on

Napoleon’sspies,

thus

neutralizingany

ac-

tion

Napoleonmight

take

against

him.Inthecaseofthe

meeting

in

Basel,

heeventurnedthetables:

Knowing

about

Napoleorfs

double

agent,

heset

it

up

sothatitwould

appear

asifFouchéwerea

loyal

double

agent

too.

Fouché

gainedpower

andflourishedina

period

of

great

tumult

by

mirroring

thosearoundhim.

Duning

theFrenchRevolutionhewasaradi-

cal

jacobin;

aftertheTerrorhebecameamoderate

republican;

andunder

Napoleon

hebecame

a

committed

imperialist

whom

Napoleon

ennobled

andmadethedukeofOtranto.If

Napoleon

took

up

the

weapon

of

digging

up

dirton

people,

Fouchémadesurehehadthedirton

Napoleon,

aswell

ason

everyone

else.Thisalsoallowedhimto

predict

the

emperor’splans

and

desires,

sothathecouldechohisboss’ssentimentsbeforehehadeven

utteredthem.

Shielding

hisactionswithamirror

strategy,

Fouchécould

also

plot

offensivemoveswithout

beingcaught

intheact.

Thisisthe

power

of

mirroring

thosearound

you.

First,

yougivepeople