Ambition and Desire: The Dangerous Life of Josephine Bonaparte (19 page)

Napoleon drew up careful plans, demanding 30,000 men and 3,000 horses. The Directory deemed the campaign impossible—the soldiers were needed to defend French interests in Italy. Aside from Talleyrand, the gray bankers of the Directory thought Egypt a romantic pipe dream. Undaunted, Napoleon deputized Josephine to win them around. She sent letters, entertained them, hung on their every word, and turned the full force of her seductive personality on Barras. “I wait in the hope that our friendship prompts you to sacrifice a quarter of an hour to come and see me, where you will find me absolutely alone. I hope, my dear Barras, that you will not refuse this mark of interest from a woman whom you care for.”
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Josephine smiled, caressed, fluttered submissive eyelashes, and lit candles for intimate suppers, but the men of the Directory remained unconvinced. Set on invading Britain, they sent Napoleon to survey the Channel ports in northern France and Belgium in February, leaving Josephine on her own again. She dined with Barras, saw Hippolyte, and met with Bodin, who was still earning money from his shady practices.

Napoleon returned on February 21, earlier than she had expected. She wrote to Barras’s secretary: “Bonaparte has come back tonight. Will you, my dear Bottot, express to Barras my regrets that I cannot dine with him tonight. Tell him not to forget me. You know better than anyone how I am placed. Farewell, I send you my sincere friendship.”
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Josephine greeted her husband warmly, and Bonaparte was delighted to see his wife so attentive. Unfortunately, the haze of passion did not
last long. In March, the newspapers erupted in fury over Bodin, his cheap horses and poor weapons, the exploited army, and the French people who had been let down by the greedy businessman. The Bodin Company became the bête noire of the French people. Napoleon, like most soldiers, hated army profiteers, “the scourge and leprosy of the service.”
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He was stunned by suggestions that his wife was linked to an organization that had been revealed to be so corrupt. Unfortunately, the dismissed maid, Louise Compoint, chose that moment to avenge herself by spilling the beans about Josephine’s relationship with Hippolyte. Normally, Napoleon would have paid no attention to a disgruntled servant, but now her words were yet another piece of evidence to Josephine’s disadvantage.

Joseph heard the news and struck fast. He went to Napoleon and told him that his wife had been working with Bodin through Hippolyte Charles. The two brothers confronted her, with Joseph relishing every moment. They demanded to know whether she was acquainted with Citoyen Bodin and if she had gained him contracts with the Army of Italy. Josephine denied it, and they moved on to more serious questions. Napoleon pushed his wife into a corner and asked whether Captain Charles lived with Bodin at 100 Faubourg Saint-Honoré, and did Josephine go there every day?

She resorted to her typically dramatic responses. She wept, railed, and cried that if he wanted a divorce, he had only to say so. She bewailed her fate and said that he was distressing her; then she pretended to faint and said she was cowering from his blows. Later, she wrote to Hippolyte in panic, describing the ruthless interrogation.

I said that what he was talking of meant nothing to me; if he wanted a divorce he had only to give the word; he had no need to use such means; and I was the most unfortunate of women and the most miserable.

Napoleon was won over, as delighted as ever by her theatrics and the tableau of her in tears, her rouge streaked over her face.
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But he had not forgiven her entirely. He made it very clear that she would not be allowed out and she must never see Hippolyte again.

Josephine wept again and thanked her husband. But behind her tears, she was desperately in love with Hippolyte.

Yes, my Hippolyte, they have my unalloyed hatred; you alone have my tenderness and my love; they must see now, as a result of the terrible state I have been in for days, how much I abhor them; they can see my sadness—my despair at not being able to see you as often as I wish. Hippolyte, I shall kill myself—yes, I wish to end a life that henceforth would be hopeless if it could not be devoted to you. Alas! What have I done to these monsters? But they are acting in vain, I will never give in to their disgraceful behavior!
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She was also thinking carefully.

Tell Bodin, I implore you, to say that he doesn’t know me; that it has not been through me that he got the contracts for the Army of Italy; let him tell the door-keeper at No. 100 that when people ask him if Bodin lives there he is to say that he doesn’t know him. Tell Bodin not to use the letters which I have given him for Italy until some time after his arrival when he needs them … Ah, they torment me in vain! They will never separate me from my Hippolyte!
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These few incredible letters, found among Hippolyte Charles’s papers, put her in a terrible light. Reckless and desperate to be with her lover, she said she would go clandestinely to Bodin’s.

I will do everything to see you today. If I cannot, I will spend the evening at Bodin’s and tomorrow I will send Blondin [a servant] to let you know the time when I can meet you in the garden of Mousseaux. Adieu, my Hippolyte, a thousand kisses, as burning as is my heart, and as devoted.
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I am going, my dear Hippolyte, to the country. I shall be back between half past five and six, to see you at Bodin’s. Yes, my Hippolyte,
life is a continual torture. You alone can make me happy. Tell me that you love me, and only me. I shall be the happiest of women.

Send me, by means of Blondin, 50,000 livres from the notes in your possession. Callot is demanding them. Farewell, I send you a thousand tender kisses.
Tout à toi.
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Josephine’s addiction to Hippolyte was pure danger. Underneath all her gentle smiles and flirtatious banter with Napoleon’s generals and political friends, she was craving adventure and rebellion. The deception, the undercover assignations, and the secrets that constituted her affair were intoxicating.

But Napoleon was touched by his wife’s kohl-streaked tears and believed her promises of fidelity. He cemented their reunion by promptly buying their house in rue de la Victoire on March 26 for just over 50,000 francs. Indeed, it would have been foolish not to, since Josephine had spent 300,000 on the decorations. She was also fortunate. The Directory abandoned the plans to invade Britain. Napoleon was told he could advance to Egypt, and all his energies were soon devoted to his new campaign.

The Directory set firm conditions for their brave young general. He could have 25,000 men, he must raise much of the money for the expedition, and he was forbidden to march on to India. Talleyrand would assure the authorities at Constantinople that Napoleon had no aims to attack the Ottoman Empire and merely wished to overthrow the Mamelukes of Egypt, allowing the French to trade in peace.

The Directory’s decision threw Napoleon into a frenzy of activity; he worked day and night, planning his strategy. His way of raising the money was simple: He would steal from the countries he had “liberated” from tyranny. Berthier, his chief of staff, traveled to Rome to rifle the Vatican; General Joubert did the same in Holland; and General Brune stole three million gold francs from the Swiss—the entire exchequer.

The greatest minds of Paris, including architects, artists, composers, astronomers, botanists, surgeons, literary scholars, cartographers, zoologists,
and printers were invited. The ships would be packed with everything from telescopes to chemistry sets. Napoleon even ordered one of the newest Montgolfier balloons—not to view enemy troop positions but in the hope of stunning the Egyptians into awe.

Bonaparte’s official line was that he was aiming to invade Britain. Only his inner circle of generals and Josephine knew the truth. Even the minister of war was kept in the dark. Indeed, some of the scholars refused Napoleon’s invitation because they thought Britain too chilly and lacking in scientific potential. Josephine had to keep her mouth closed and did not even tell Hippolyte of the plans. Hippolyte may have been her lover, but she was not prepared to betray her husband militarily—even if she could have profited from sharing such important information.

Finding money, discussing balloons, and drawing up strategies preoccupied Napoleon completely, though he did attend to pleasing Josephine’s children, finally winning over Hortense with gentle expressions of interest in her hobbies, and offering to take Eugène as his aide-decamp. And Bourrienne, who had been attempting to make himself useful to Napoleon since their school days at Brienne, received his reward: Napoleon appointed him his private secretary and agreed to take him to Egypt.

Josephine begged him to allow her to come too, telling him that her childhood on Martinique meant she would be accustomed to the heat. The Directory had commanded him to return in six months, but she knew that he had been suggesting he might stay six years, depending on the course of events. “I shall colonize that country,” he said. “We are only twenty-nine years old, we’ll be thirty-five then.”
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She would be in a vulnerable position if Napoleon was away for longer than six months. The credit she was given by shopkeepers and bankers was contingent on her promise that he would be present to pay her debts. While he was traveling around the Orient, her lenders might very well call in their loans. Napoleon refused her permission to come to Egypt and told her she could accompany him to see him off—but no farther.

As insurance, she begged Napoleon to buy the country estate of Malmaison before he left. This was the beautiful house she had admired from her window when she lived at Croissy with Madame Hosten. Napoleon
could certainly understand the appeal of a country estate. He agreed to view the house. The owners, the Couteulx du Molays, had bought the property in 1771 and once had thrown lavish receptions where they entertained members of the highest society and artists such as Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, the great painter of one of Marie Antoinette’s most celebrated portraits. But aristocratic fortunes had declined after the Revolution, and they needed to sell. Unfortunately for Josephine, the hero of France was scandalized by the asking price and told his wife to abandon her plans.

The house at 6 rue de la Victoire became overwhelmed by preparations for departure. Generals, messengers, scholars, and artists were constantly at Napoleon’s door as his brilliant mind oversaw the loading of thousands of men, horses, and civilians, and all their equipment, onto vessels at six different ports. Time was of the essence: He needed to be in Egypt before the annual flooding of the Nile made campaigning impossible. On the evening of May 4, the Bonapartes dined with Barras and saw
Macbeth
at the theater. Then they departed Paris at four in the morning, hoping that the early start would mean no British spies had spotted them leaving. Napoleon and Josephine hurried to Toulon, arriving on May 9. There she saw for the first time the French fleet bound for adventure. One hundred and eighty ships stretched for miles, their masts swaying in the breeze.

The crown jewel,
L’Orient,
was Napoleon’s flagship, the most powerful warship in the world. Made from 6,000 oak trees, it was 214 feet long, had 120 cannons, and carried 2,000 men.
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Napoleon’s fine chamber contained a library of nearly 300 books, carefully chosen by the poet Arnault. He had the Koran, the Hindu Vedas, and Volney’s
Voyage.
He also had a printing press on board, to make pamphlets declaring his excellence to the people of Egypt.

Bonaparte assumed his position on the admiral’s barge and boarded each warship to inspect it. After months of pretending retirement, Napoleon had his reward of setting off with a display of pomp and grandeur in front of thousands. His soldiers cheered him, along with the scholars and their instruments (who were finally beginning to wonder if they were really going to Britain). Stowed away on the ships were more
than three hundred women. Along with the washerwomen and seamstresses who officially accompanied the army were the wives of officers, bundled up in men’s uniforms while boarding and ensconced in cabins for the long journey. Napoleon proudly showed Josephine his quarters on
L’Orient,
which included a special bed on rolling casters to assist with seasickness and storage for eight hundred bottles of wine. This only intensified her desire to go, but he remained staunch in his refusal. Egypt was a voyage into the unknown and he wanted to play the great man—with no distractions.

Bonaparte was not yet thirty, and his mission to Egypt would be the first great seaborne invasion of the modern world. The following day, he inspected the troops and told them that the ideal of liberty of the Revolution meant France should conquer distant countries. If they succeeded, he promised, they would each be given six acres of land.

Bonaparte did not depart immediately, for there was a storm reported at sea. While they waited to leave, Josephine continued to beg to accompany him. At last he agreed that she could join him later at Naples, once he had passed the British fleet sailing under Nelson’s command, which he knew was heading into the Mediterranean. On May 19, the sea was calm, and the French fleet departed. Josephine watched from a balcony and wept as her husband left amid the firing of cannons, the shouts of people, and the music of brass bands.

N
APOLEON SET OFF
toward Egypt, the conquering hero at the front of the fleet funded by money he had stolen from half of Europe. For him, it was a time of hope and almost unbounded opportunity. On the journey over, he initiated conversations with fellow officers on topics ranging from the age of the world to whether other planets were inhabited. Even the realm of space travel seemed open to him!