with the insolent young cub. He brought up the subject of Lucien's
illegal under-age recruitment to the Council of 500. To save face yet not
be expelled Lucien had to continue his bluster while backtracking on the
accusations against Barras. The absurd result was that he ended up
accusing his co-conspirator Talleyrand alone of sending his brother and
his army to their deaths.
By August Sieyes felt reasonably confident that events were moving his
way. Veteran of the 1789 National Assembly, the Fructidor coup of 1797,
in which he had had a hand, and a diplomatic mission to Berlin in 1798,
Sieyes was a long-time opponent of the 1795 Constitution of the Year
Three. Supported by his minion Roger Ducos he nursed his hatred of the
Constitution and had long wanted to subvert it; since there was a waiting
period of nine years before the Constitution could be amended, Sieyes's
only chance to achieve his aims was through a coup.
The arrival of Napoleon in Paris on r6 October added a fresh
ingredient of uncertainty to this turbid stew of ideologies, policies and
personalities. Perhaps as a result of Josephine, Gohier greeted him
cordially on the r6th and scouted Bernadotte's suggestion of a court
martial. However, at a meeting next day with the full Directory the
atmosphere was decidedly frosty. Dressed in a round hat, an olive cloth
frock-coat, with a Turkish scimitar at his waist, Napoleon affected not to
notice and assured the Directory he was on its side. But immediately
afterwards, at his house in the rue de Ia Victoire, he was importuned by
rival groups of plotters and conspirators, each trying to make him over.
During 19-20 October he was positively besieged by visitors: Talleyrand,
Roederer, Reynaud, Maret, Bruix, Boulay de Ia Meurthe and Brueys
were some of the elite names who called during a twenty-four-hour
period. Napoleon affected to be interested only in the newly reconciled
Josephine, and when the trio of Talleyrand, Brueys and Roederer made
an after-dinner call at the rue de Ia Victoire, they found Bonaparte
playing tric-trac with Josephine.
Napoleon's camouflage in the last fortnight of October 1799 was clever.
He returned to his old ploy of appearing interested only in the affairs of
the Institute, meanwhile taking soundings from the principal Directors.
At first he made overtures to Gohier, intending to become one of the
Directors. Gohier, who was all affability and reported a conversation in
which Sieyes had recommended that Napoleon be shot, expressed his
regret that there was no way round the rules stipulating a minimum age
of forty for a Director. Influenced by Josephine, Napoleon then inclined
towards Barras. Barras wanted to get rid of this dangerous interloper and
suggested that he take the field again. Napoleon replied blandly that he
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