CHAPTER TWELVEFrom the very first day Napoleon addressed the Senate as First Consul,
he made it clear that he had a new era in mind. A shrewd observer could
have deduced a lot from significant little touches. A double row of troops
lined the streets from the Tuileries to the Luxembourg Palace. An eight
horse coach carried the First Consul. Behind him came six more
carriages, containing the Second and Third Consuls, the Ministers of
State and a military retinue designed to be representative of the whole
army: generals, aides, inspector-generals. At the foot of the steps of the
Senate ten of the elders greeted him deferentially.
Napoleon was already aiming at a quasi-imperial style, and Josephine
too was caught up in it. Now that she was the spouse of the First Consul,
Napoleon insisted on correct sexual behaviour and refused to let her see
any women of less than spotless behaviour, which meant that all her old
friends were excluded. The staff at Malmaison were under strict orders to
admit nobody who did not have the oval ticket or laissez-passer signed by
Bourrienne.
But if he could curb her sexual promiscuity to some extent, Napoleon
could do little about her profligate spending. Even with her various
retainers from shady military suppliers and her lavish allowance from her
husband, Josephine spent money like a woman possessed. She bought
nine hundred dresses a year - at her most extravagant Marie-Antoinette
bought no more than 170 - and a thousand pairs of gloves. When ordered
by Napoleon to investigate her finances, Bourrienne discovered a bill for
thirty-eight hats in one month alone, another bill of r8o francs for
feathers and another of 8oo francs for perfume. The incorrigible
Josephine would regularly buy new jewellery and, when Napoleon
commented on it, would claim she had had it for years. As in all such
cases of husbands with wives, he believed her.
Bourrienne discovered that Josephine's total debt was r,zoo,ooo francs
of which she admitted half. She told Bourrienne she could not face her
husband's anger if he knew the truth and asked for his help. As
predicted, Napoleon flew into a rage even when informed of the reduced