he said quietly. Their eyes locked for a moment, and then he grinned: 'You'd better fix us a small spatial displacement as well. If we come out of the clock in the salon in ten years'
time we'll give the next set of tenants a nasty shock!'
Serena's hands moved over the controls. Ten years is the blink of an eye to a time-travelling TARDIS. The only difficulty lay in the very shortness of the transition. In a matter of minutes, measured in the subjective time inside the TARDIS, Serena stepped back from the console.
'We're here, Doctor. Paris, July 1815.'
The Doctor drew a deep breath. 'Splendid! Splendid! Now, if history is on the right path, Paris will be under Allied occupation, Louis the Eighteenth will be back on his throne and Napoleon will be a prisoner on board HMS Bellerophon Bellerophon.'
'And if there's been interference?'
'Then we'll see, won't we?'
The Doctor and Serena came out of a small ornamental park, leaving behind them a musical hum and a little fountain with a tasteful statue of a water nymph. They made their way to the Champs Elysees. It was lined with cheering crowds.
'What's happening?' asked Serena. 'It sounds like some sort of parade.'
'I don't know, but it doesn't look too good,' said the Doctor.
'If history is unchanged, the Parisians of 1815 haven't too much to cheer about.'
Edging through the crowd they got near enough to the boulevard to peer between the ranks of guards lining the kerb.
A procession was passing by, squad after squad of marching soldiers and then an open carriage. From inside the carriage a familiar figure waved to the cheering crowds, to cries of 'Vive l'Empereur! 'Vive l'Empereur! ' '
The Doctor turned to his neighbour, a prosperous-looking man in a high-crowned hat. 'Excuse me, sir, we are travellers, newly arrived in Paris. Can you tell us the reason for this splendid procession?'
The man stared at him in astonishment. 'You must have travelled far, sir, not to know that! It's a victory parade to celebrate Emperor Napoleon's fabulous victory at Waterloo!'
'Splendid,' said the Doctor. 'So he finally defeated the English and their so-wonderful Wellington.'
'He would have defeated him I'm sure,' said the enthusiastic citizen. 'You know they had never been directly opposed in battle? However, it was not to be. The Duke of Wellington died mysteriously just before before the battle.' the battle.'
Chapter Twenty-four.
Questions
The Doctor looked at Serena. 'Well, now we know, don't we?'
He turned back to the patriotic citizen. 'That is astonishing news, sir! Is it known exactly how the Duke died?'
The citizen lowered his voice. 'Not for sure. There are many rumours. If I might offer a word of advice, sir, since you are strangers in Paris?'
'Yes, of course.'
The man's voice was still hushed. 'You would be wise not to ask such questions in public. The Emperor has forbidden any speculation on the matter and the spies of Monsieur Fouche, our Minister of Police, are everywhere. Two friends of mine were arrested recently. They have not been seen since.' He raised his voice. 'The Emperor of course, has denied any connection with the affair. He would not stoop to such means.'
'Naturally not,' said the Doctor. 'I thank you sir.'
He and Serena moved away.
'Let's find somewhere quiet to sit down,' said the Doctor. 'I need to think.'
They walked away from the crowded Champs-Elysees and made their way to a quiet back street with a pavement cafe.
They sat down and ordered coffee.
Once the coffee had arrived and the waiter had gone back inside, the Doctor said quietly, 'I don't like the sound of all that.'
'All what?'
'Public discussion forbidden, secret police on the streets, people disappearing. It has an all too familiar smell.'
'What kind of smell?'
'Fascism, repression, state terror. Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia, Mao's China. Napoleon seems to have invented it early.'
'Or the Countess,' said Serena. 'What next?'
'We need to find out who assassinated the Duke.'
'The Countess, surely?'
'Yes, but not in person. Her kind always move through human agents, they never act directly. I think it's one of their rules.'
'What about the vampire and the robot?'
'She was dealing with an exceptional opponent me!' said the Doctor modestly. 'And you, of course,' he added hurriedly. 'Exceptionally dangerous enemies call for exceptional methods.'
Serena thought for a moment. 'We have to remember we've been away ten years. What's been happening?'
'I can tell you what ought to have happened.' The Doctor paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. 'Well, for a start Napoleon abandoned his idea of invading England. He started to go off it even before Trafalgar, and the defeat at Trafalgar clinched it.'
'That's something we achieved,' said Serena. 'With no atomic submarine to sink his fleet, Nelson won.'
'He won,' said the Doctor. 'But he was killed though not till the battle was as good as won.'
Serena was silent for a moment, thinking of the little admiral, of the extraordinary force and charisma within that frail and wounded body.
'I expect he died happy,' she said.
'I'm sure he did. Nelson always wanted glory and nobody earned more.'
'And Napoleon?'
'He decided the Russians and the Austrians were the real menace, so he marched his armies east and defeated them at Austerlitz. He invaded Spain and Portugal, he defeated the Prussians and entered Berlin a whole string of victories one after the other. It lasted for years until it all went wrong.'
'How?'
'He over-extended himself, and made a disastrous attempt to invade Russia, losing millions of men. In the end there were just too many other countries ranged against him.
England, of course, but also Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Spain and Portugal in perpetual revolt. Everybody ganged up on him. In the end the Allies marched on Paris, Talleyrand did another quick change of sides and negotiated peace, and Napoleon abdicated in 1814.'
'If Napoleon was defeated in 1814, how did Waterloo happen in 1815?'
'That's the twist in the plot,' said the Doctor. 'The Allies sent Napoleon into exile, let him be ruler of Elba, a little island off the west coast of Italy. He had a staff, a little army, everything. Bit of a comedown of course, after ruling most of the world.'
'So he didn't stay there?'
'No indeed. A year later he lands in France with his little army. When the French Army arrives to capture him, Napoleon throws open his arms and cries, "Let him that has the heart, kill his Emperor!" Naturally they all rally round cheering and shouting "Vive l'Empereur! " and the whole country does the same. The restored king runs for his life and Napoleon's back in charge. They call it his Hundred Days. He reassembles his Grand Army, the Allies gather their forces...' " and the whole country does the same. The restored king runs for his life and Napoleon's back in charge. They call it his Hundred Days. He reassembles his Grand Army, the Allies gather their forces...'
'Then Waterloo.'
'Then Waterloo which Napoleon loses again, and he gets sent to St Helena, an even smaller island, where he eventually dies in exile.'
'But not here and now. And Sir Arthur Wellesley Wellington? What happened to him?'
'Wellesley had a long hard slog. He was sent to Portugal, in charge of an expeditionary force, and fought his way up through Portugal, into Spain and eventually into France. He defeated most of Napoleon's marshals, one after another, battle after battle, victory after victory. It took him ten years, and he ended up England's greatest soldier. They made him Duke of Wellington in 1814. When Napoleon made his comeback they made him supreme commander of the allied armies. After winning Waterloo he was Prime Minister for a while and died in 1852, in Queen Victoria's time.'
'But not here and now,' said Serena again.
'No, not here and now. We've got to find out what went wrong and put it right.'
'Where do we start?'
'We ask the man who knows.'
'Who's that?'
'Need you ask, Serena? However much history has been altered, I'm willing to bet that there's one man who's still around and in charge. And luckily, he's an old friend of ours.'
Prince Talleyrand, now Minister of Foreign Affairs to the newly restored Emperor, naturally had a suite of offices at the Tuileries Palace. When the Doctor and Serena sent in their names he received them immediately, and with his usual charm. He showed them into a small private salon, luxuriously furnished in the ornate Empire style.
'Doctor, Lady Serena! I had no idea you were back in Paris. And after so long.'
'It's very good of you to see us,' said the Doctor. 'I feel I am presuming on a very brief acquaintance.'
'Not at all, Doctor. How may I serve you?'
'I was forced to leave Paris very suddenly, and for a very long time. I have inevitably missed many momentous events.
The Emperor's temporary...setback, his triumphant return.
Above all the great victory at Waterloo.'
'It has been an eventful period certainly, particularly recently.'
'If anyone knows the truth behind events, particularly recent events, it is you, Prince Talleyrand. If I might ask one or two questions?'
'I shall be delighted to answer them if I can.'
'I am happy to see that you have once again risen above all these changes,' said Serena.
'Oh, I was out of favour for a while. The Emperor was extremely displeased that I had negotiated with the Allies when he was forced to abdicate. What else could I do? The situation was hopeless. However, when the Emperor had seized power again...' Talleyrand smiled. 'He discovered he still needed me.'
'I am particularly interested in the untimely death of the Duke of Wellington,' said the Doctor.
There was a sudden change in Talleyrand's attitude. 'That is a subject on which it would be wiser and safer not to enquire.'
'Some public account must have been given, surely?'
'Even the English are saying little. Apparently it occurred on the very eve of battle. Someone close to him became crazed...'
'Not a French assassin then hired by the Emperor?'
Talleyrand looked alarmed. 'Don't go around saying that, Doctor not if you value your head. The Emperor is most anxious to dissociate himself from this crime. The harm to his reputation could be incalculable. He has forbidden any speculation about indeed, any mention of the Duke's death.'
'So we've heard,' said Serena. 'He seems very sensitive on the subject for an innocent man.'
'It's a matter of self-esteem, I imagine,' said the Doctor.
'He wouldn't want people going round saying that he only won Waterloo because he got rid of Wellington first.'