Saved by An Angel

CHAPTER ONE - 1817-1

CHAPTER ONE

-

1817The Marquis de Castillon walked into the salon and sat down in the nearest chair. It creaked under him and he thought a leg must be loose, but it did not surprise him.

He looked round with an expression of despair and wondered what on earth he could do.

He had returned to his ancestral Chateau which he had not seen since he was a small boy, believing that it was at least habitable. Now as he looked at it he thought he had undertaken an impossible task.

Besides which he did not have the money to do very much to it or the estate.

The Marquis’s career would have filled a book of adventure and excitement.

His family was one of the oldest in France and prided itself on being one of the Ancien Regime. They had been part of the greatness of France for generations and respected in every part of the country.

When the Revolution had broken out with the storming of the Bastille in 1789, the reigning Marquis and his wife could not at first believe that the Revolution would affect them in any way.

Then the Guillotine was set up in Paris.

A number of their friends met their deaths and they realised that it was dangerous for them to remain in France.

The Marquis had travelled a great deal and so had his wife. They decided, after some thought, to seek sanctuary in England until the Revolution was over. They were not the only aristocrats who were fleeing from their country and they were welcomed in London by a number of their friends.

The young Prince of Wales went out of his way to entertain them and expressed most sincerely his horror over what was happening in France.

The Marquis and his wife had been married for some years but without family.

To their surprise and delight in 1792, three years after they had left France, a son was born to them.

They called him Jean-Pierre after his grandfather. He was brought up with the other émigrés in London and amongst many English aristocrats.

The Marquis had almost the experience and prestige of a diplomat.

As he had lived in England both before and after his marriage, he had made a great number of friends. They not only welcomed him on his arrival, but extended their hospitality to Jean-Pierre as he grew older and he was, in fact, a very happy and intelligent little boy.

Jean-Pierre attended a school in London where he became very popular and he took home numerous reports which his parents found most encouraging.

They talked of sending him to Eton where a number of his friends were studying and began discussions with the Headmaster about the possibility of him becoming a pupil at that distinguished school.

He was too young to be troubled with what was happening in France, but his father and mother were extremely worried when a Corsican called Napoleon Bonaparte took over the Army in 1796.

Before most people in England realised what was happening all of Europe was being threatened.

Napoleon’s troops, in spite of hunger, despondency and lack of equipment had been inspired by their leader’s own dazzling faith and vitality. Having been part of the Revolution Napoleon now managed to heal the wounds of France like a genius.

He gave new hope for the future.

Two years after Napoleon had taken over the country on the verge of collapse, he had defeated all her enemies with the exception of Britain and restored France’s natural unity.

He then brought in new and surprising laws, amongst which was the suspension of the law against the émigrés. He invited hundreds and thousands of exiles to come home.

In doing so, he conciliated the important families of the aristocracy who had survived the Guillotine. Yet although Napoleon was working for a restitution of the country, he parted with none of the unique powers gained by the Revolution and he used the goodwill of the Church and the émigrés to widen them.

Those who had returned from exile received only a fraction of their lands back and none of their feudal rights were restored, although at least something was saved and handed back to them after they thought that they had lost everything.

Jean-Pierre was too young to realise what a tremendous problem this situation presented to his family.

Every instinct in his father and mother told them they should grasp the chance of returning to their native land as they longed for the possessions they had owned before the Revolution. On the other hand they were obliged to ask themselves whether they could trust this upstart Corsican, who had made himself so powerful in such an unbelievably short time.

The Marquis de Castillon was a most intelligent man and he was more impressed than most people by the material benefits which Napoleon’s strong rule had secured for his country.

It was his victories and astonishing genius which guaranteed his hold over France.

By the Spring of 1802 his popularity had risen even higher. Victorious peace on the Continent was now crowned by peace with England. It marked the end of the blockade and a return of the French Colonial Empire.

The long discussions and the nights of worrying as to what the Castillons should do came to an end.

The Marquis and his wife decided they would return to France.

To Jean-Pierre aged ten, it was the end of one world as he moved into another. He was distressed and upset at leaving all his playmates and those with whom he had studied at school.

At the same time it was exciting to cross the English Channel and to set foot on a land he had heard talked about ever since he had been born, but had never seen.

The Castillons travelled straight to Paris where they learned that the house they had owned before the Revolution was empty and ready for them. It was of course not exactly as they had left it for the simple reason it had been commandeered and used as one of the many new Offices of State.

It was however in a better condition than most of those of their friends, who had come back to find their houses and chateaux empty and every piece of furniture as well as the carpets and curtains all stolen.

It was delightful for the Marquis to have returned to Paris, but he found, however, there had been a great many changes since he and his wife had hurried away in terror of being dragged to the Guillotine.

What was surprising was that English visitors began to pour across the Channel as they wanted to visit the country they had heard so much about.

Napoleon Bonaparte was now the First Consul and he used all his charm to captivate the visitors, who included a great number of aristocrats with whom the Castillons had been friendly in England.

Lady Elizabeth Foster and Sheridan were two of the British tourists to witness the dazzling celebrations on Napoleon’s birthday. There were reviews, levées and balls following one after another.

It was on this occasion that the great man called himself by his first name alone Napoleon and it marked the beginning of a legend.

The English became enchanted by the unaffected dignity and appeal of the man they had once despised as ‘a common upstart.’

Lord Abercorn was fascinated by his smile and young Lord Boringham went about saying that if Master Bonaparte chose to make this or that condition to his dominions what was that to an Englishman?

In fact, the British were only too eager to ‘kiss and make up’ after all the differences of the past.

The Castillons settled down. They wanted to make their life as comfortable and pleasant as it had been before they had been forced to leave the country.

The only matter which disturbed them was that they could not afford the luxuries which they had previously taken for granted.

For the moment for Jean-Pierre’s sake they must live in Paris and forget their estate in the countryside.

Jean-Pierre was sent to a French school, but had hated it after the one he had enjoyed in London. He was taken away and given tutors.

“He will settle down in a short time,” his father had said confidentially. “At the moment he is having to live in a world he has never known and we must make every allowance for him.”

The Marquis and the Marquise could not resist the many invitations they received from Napoleon. The First Consul conferred with the Marquis which was a compliment he could not ignore. They were, however, somewhat perturbed that Napoleon’s ambitions would carry him too far.

He had infused into his Army a disciplined enthusiasm, which made him the terror of the world.

As he said to the Marquis,

“I have behind me a nation of more than thirty million, drunk with military glory and greed for new conquests.”

The Marquis could understand in a way that this was inevitable.

The whole country was acclaiming Napoleon as a new Charlemagne and erecting a pillar like the column of Trajan in the Place Vendome to commemorate his victories.

A year later Napoleon was saying openly that Britain, like everyone else, would never resist France. Consuls began to move backwards and forwards with messages, suggestions and what the English thought of as unpleasant and somewhat sinister threats.

There were rows over the evacuation of Malta and over whether Napoleon would guarantee the integrity of the Turkish Empire.

But by this time even if Napoleon had given in to Britain unconditionally, nothing would have swayed the tide set in motion by his anger. He considered that Britain was defying him whilst the British were equally angry and on their guard.

A strange and very extraordinary drama took place in March in a Sunday drawing room.

Both the Castillons were present.

Napoleon arrived and bore down upon the British Ambassador to demand,

“So you are bent on war?”

The astonished Ambassador answered diplomatically that his countrymen after fighting for many years were only too well aware of the blessings of peace.

“But now,” Napoleon replied furiously, “you mean to force me to fight for many more years.”

Everyone gasped and looked at each other with concern.

Then he informed the Russian and Spanish Ambassadors that the British did not keep their word. Finally Napoleon left after shaking his stick at the tall stately Englishman who thought he was about to spike him.

“If you arm,” he shouted, “I shall arm too. If you fight I will fight also. If you seek to destroy France, you can never intimidate her.”

The Ambassador had remained calm, although he was wondering what he should do with his sword if Napoleon had assaulted him. He just replied quietly that his country did not wish to do either.

“We just want to live on good terms with France,” he finished.

Napoleon roared at him again and stormed out.

But as the Castillons went home they wondered for the first time if they had made a mistake in coming back to France. It did seem as if war, however much it was feared by both countries, might eventually take place.

“They cannot be so stupid,” the Marquise de Castillon commented. “Surely so many families have suffered that no one should ever want to fight anyone again.”

“I wish I could believe that was true,” her husband replied, “but I have a feeling that Napoleon will never rest until he has occupied the whole world.”

The following year just after Jean-Pierre’s eleventh birthday, war was declared.

The news that the Royal Navy had captured two French ships at sea threw Napoleon into a towering rage. He at once ordered the arrest of all British travellers in France and ten thousand civilians were seized.

There was a wild rush to escape.

The fourth Duke of Argyll only did so by crossing the Swiss-German frontier disguised as a chambermaid. A Baronet infatuated by a very pretty Parisienne delayed his departure for a few hours and found himself imprisoned for eleven years.

For Jean-Pierre it was yet another upheaval.

Among the tutors and teachers employed by his father for him were two Englishmen who were immediately thrown into jail and two others were recalled by the Army.