them twenty-four hours to make a definite and final commitment, and
postponed the attempt until Saturday 9 November, since he was
superstitious about Fridays. On the seventh he lulled Jacobin suspicions
by dining at Bernadotte's with the other Jacobin lions, Jourdan and
Moreau, taking Talleyrand, Volney and Roederer as his entourage.
By the evening of I7 Brumaire (8 November I799) all was finally
ready. In return for forcing a change of constitution, Bonaparte had been
promised by Sieyes that he would be provisional consul. He and
Josephine dined early at the Ministry of Justice with Jean-Jacques
Cambaceres, one of Sieyes's henchmen. Cambaceres was an eminent
jurist, a Grand Master of the Freemasons and also the central figure in
the Parisian gay network. Cambaceres expressed anxiety about Berna
dotte, but Napoleon assured him he had found a way to marginalize him.
Back at home Napoleon made careful preparations for next day. His aim
was to force the Directors to resign; the two chambers of the Assembly
would then have to decree a new constitution; and meanwhile all potential
enemies had to be neutralized. But it is important to be clear that the
objectives of Napoleon and Sieyes were already divergent. Sieyes
envisaged an almost peaceful transfer of power backed by a show of force,
but Napoleon had in mind a more significant role for the Army.
Busy with the meticulous planning for next day, Napoleon could not
afford the time for the nightly meeting he had held with Barras for the
previous week, partly to gull him, partly to convince waverers that Barras
was with them. At I I p.m. he sent Bourrienne to inform Barras he would
not be coming because of a 'headache'. According to Bourrienne, this was
the moment when the truth of what was afoot first hit Barras and he
allegedly replied: 'I see that Bonaparte has tricked me. He will not come
back. It is finished. And yet he owes me everything.' Barras was at least
more perceptive than Gohier, who suspected nothing until the very
morning of I8 Brumaire. So contemptuous were Napoleon and Fouche of
him that they played an elaborate charade. Fouche one afternoon arrived
while the Bonapartes and Gohier were taking tea. Fouche, who had come
straight from a meeting of the conspirators, launched into a tirade to the
effect that he was tired of hearing rumours of a conspiracy. Gohier
reassured Josephine that there could not be any truth in the rumours, for
otherwise the Minister of Police would not have repeated such
frightening intelligence in the presence of a lady!
On 9 November (I8 Brumaire) Napoleon rose at 5 a.m. and began to
implement the coup proper. It was still dark, so first, ever superstitious,
he located his 'lucky star' in the sky. Reassured, he dressed hurriedly
while whistling (out of tune) a popular ditty of the time: 'Vous m 'avez jete
marcin
(Marcin)
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