Читать книгу A Night Of Secret Surrender - Sophia James - Страница 10

Author Note

Paris in 1812 was a city full of factions vying for political influence. Napoleon Bonaparte had departed from France to take the Grande Armée into Russia, leaving a power vacuum in his wake. Two men more than happy to extend their authority were Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke, the Minister of War, and Anne Jean Marie René Savary, the newly appointed Minister of Police.

Clarke was particularly good at encroaching upon weaker men and ministries, and in the absence of the Emperor he extended his considerable authority even further. A Frenchman of Irish descent, he was known as a wily opponent with the sort of cleverness that worried even Napoleon. But by the end of the year he would fall from favour.

The Ministry of Police had been set up by Joseph Fouché and, although Savary had the running of the ministry in 1812, Fouché’s omnipresence and calculated cunning was instilled into the culture.

Beneath the larger official ministries, smaller intelligence agencies flourished and it is here I have fashioned the fictional Les Chevaliers, of which my heroine Celeste Fournier is a part.

France in 1812 was at war with Britain, but America, under President Madison, had sent envoys to Paris to test the waters, so to speak.

The time was ripe for change and everyone wanted the chance to lead France into the new century. An Empire at risk made things in the country that much more volatile—the perfect place to set a story.