Free The Ravishing of Lady Mary Ware by Dennis Wheatley

boundlessly ambitious woman, with pretensions to being knowledgeable about literature. She owned a unique collection of bawdy books.
    Pauline, the beauty of the family, was as licentious as she was lovely. She was Napoleon’s favourite sister and the only one of the brood who had a real affection for him. She had had many lovers; and, seven years earlier, Roger had had a hectic affaire with her. It had ended with her marriage to Prince Borghese and, to her fury, being ordered by Napoleon to live with her husband in Italy. For some while she had been back in Paris, and lived in a magnificent mansion, which she had furnished with great taste; but her health had been undermined by a disease she had contracted while in San Domingo, and Roger found her sadly changed.
    As every member of the Bonaparte family, with the exception of Napoleon, detested Josephine on account of her superior birth, both the Princesses retailed to Roger with high delight all the rumours they had heard, which now made it as good as certain that their brother intended to divorce her.
    On October 14th, the Peace of Schönbrunn was signed, by Champaguy, Duc de Cadore, who had succeeded Talleyrand as Foreign Minister, and Prince Metternich; by the 20th Napoleon was back in France and arrived at Fontainebleau. With him came the news that, while at Schönbrunn, a young fanatic named Slaps had attempted to assassinate him. Before the attempt could made,Colonel Count Rapp had taken from the youth a long knife. Staps, who was perfectly sane, had then shouted that Napoleon was the curse of his Fatherland and, when offered pardon, told the Emperor that, if freed, he would again try to kill him.
    At Fontainebleau, poor Josephine’s marriage received its mortal blow. When she was about to go to her husband’s bedroom, she found that he had had a doorway in the passage leading to it bricked up.
    Now that the peace had at last been signed, there was a whole series of official celebrations, and
Le Moniteur
gazetted a long list of honours. For their special services in the campaign, Prince of Wagram was added to Berthier’s titles, and Davout, Duc d’Auerstadt was made Prince d’Eckmühl, while Masséna was raised to Prince d’Essling.
    The Kings of Holland, Westphalia and Naples all came to Paris, and many other royalties who now owed allegiance to Napoleon. But for these splendid fetes, parades and fireworks the ordinary people no longer showed their old enthusiasm. Even the double celebration on November 25th of the anniversary of the Emperor’s coronation and the victory of Austerlitz failed to draw from the crowds the frantic cheering with which the Emperor had been greeted in former years.
    Roger’s position as a friend of numerous people close to the Emperor enabled him to keep abreast with the moves in the matter that was now uppermost in everybody’s mind. On November 30th, Napoleon and Josephine parted. Their leave-taking was prolonged, and heart-rending on both sides.
    She had married him only because she had been persuaded to do so by her former lover, the then powerful Barras. After only a single night with her, Napoleon had been compelled to set out to take over the command of the Army of Italy, and she had promptly been unfaithfulto him. Again, during the many months he had spent in Egypt, she had carried on openly an affair with a handsome army contractor, named Hippolyte Charles. Yet, later she had come to love her husband deeply, and was caused great distress by his infidelities.
    He, on the other hand, during the early years of their marriage had loved her to distraction and, although he had arrogated to himself the right to take as a mistress any woman who temporarily appealed to him, he had never ceased to sleep with her frequently, and often she read him to sleep.
    He had elevated her to the position of the First Lady in Europe, grudged her nothing and smothered her with jewels. For her part, she had been