The 48 Laws Of Power

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326 LAW 39

TRANSGRESSIONOFTHELAW

In

January

of

1809,

an

agitated

andanxious

Napoleon

hurriedbackto

Parisfromhis

Spanish

wars.His

spies

andconfidants

hadconfirmeda

rumorthathis

foreign

minister

Talleyrand

had

conspiredagainst

himwith

Fouché,

theministerof

police.Immediately

on

arriving

inthe

capital

the

shocked

emperor

summonedhisministerstothe

palace.Following

them

intothe

meetingright

aftertheir

arrival,

he

beganpacingup

and

down,

andstarted

ramblingvaguely

about

plottersworkingagainst

him,

specula-

tors

bringing

downthestock

market,

legislatorsdelaying

his

policies—a.nd

hisownministers

undermining

him.

As

Napoleon

talked,

Talleyrand

leanedonthe

mantelpiece,looking

completely

indifferent.

FacingTalleyranddirectly,Napoleon

announced,

“Forthese

ministers,

treasonhas

begun

when

theypermit

themselvesto

doubt.”

At

theword“treason”theruler

expected

hisministertobeafraid.

But

Talleyrandonlysmiled,

calmandbored.

The

sight

ofasubordinate

apparently

sereneinthefaceof

charges

that

could

get

him

hangedpushedNapoleon

tothe

edge.

Therewere

ministers,

he

said,

whowantedhim

dead,

and hetooka

step

closerto

Talleyrand—

whostaredback

at

himunfazed.

FinallyNapoleonexploded.

“Youarea

coward,”

hescreamedin

Talleyrand’s

face,

“amanofnofaith.

Nothing

is

sacredto

you.

Youwouldsell

your

ownfather.Ihaveshowered

you

with

richesand

yet

thereis

nothingyou

wouldnotdotohurtme.”The

other

ministerslooked

at

eachother

in

disbelief—they

hadneverseenthisfear-

less

general,

the

conqueror

ofmostof

Europe,

so

unhinged.

“Youdeservetobebrokenlike

glass,”Napoleon

continued,

stamping.

“Ihavethe

power

todo

it,

butIhavetoomuch

contempt

for

you

tobother.

Why

didn’tIhave

youhanged

fromthe

gates

oftheTuileries?But

there

is

still

time

forthat.”

Yelling,

almostoutof

breath,

hisface

red,

his

eyes

bulging,

hewent

on,“You,

by

the

way,

are

nothing

butshitinasilkstock-

ing.

...Whatabout

your

wife?YounevertoldmethatSanCarloswas

your

wife’slover?”

“Indeed,

sire,

itdidnotoccurtomethatthisinformationhad

anybearing

onYour

Majesty’sglory

or

my

own,”

said

Talleyrandcalmly,

completely

unflustered.Afterafewmore

insults,

Napoleon

walked

away.

Talleyrandslowly

crossedthe

room,

moving

withhischaracteristic

limp.

Asanattendant

helped

himwithhis

cloak,

heturnedtohisfellowministers

(all

afraid

they

wouldnever

see

him

again),

and

said,

“Whata

pity,gentle

men,

thatso

great

amanshouldhavesuchbadmanners.”

Despite

his

anger,Napoleon

Hidnotarresthis

foreign

minister.

He

merely

relieved

him

ofhisduties dbanishedhimfromthe

court,

believ-

ing

thatforthismanhumiliationwouldbe

punishmentenough.

Hedidnot

realizethatwordhad

quicklyspread

ofhistirade—ofhowthe

emperor

had

completely

lostcontrolof

himself,

andhow

Talleyrand

had

essentially

hu-

miliatedhim

bymaintaining

his

composure

and

dignity.

A

page

had

been

turned:Forthefirsttime

people

hadseenthe

greatemperor

losehiscool

underfire.A

feeling

spread

thathewasonthe

way

down.As

Talleyrand

later

said,

“Thisisthe

beginning

oftheend.”