At dinner he placed Balashev at his side and treated him well – treated him in fact like one of his own courtiers, like someone who could be counted on to sympathize with his plans and celebrate his successes. Amongst other things he talked about Moscow, and asked Balashev many questions about the Russian capital, speaking not just out of curiosity like a traveller wanting to know about a new place he intends to visit, but with the certain knowledge that since Balashev was Russian he must be flattered that anyone should be so interested.
‘How many people are there in Moscow? How many houses? Is it really known as “Holy Moscow”? Are there many churches in Moscow?’ he asked.
And when told there were over two hundred he said, ‘Why do you need so many churches?’
‘Russians are very religious people,’ replied Balashev.
‘And yet a large number of monasteries and churches is always a sign of backwardness in a people,’ said Napoleon, glancing at Caulaincourt to see what he made of this remark.
With great respect Balashev begged to differ from the French Emperor.
‘All countries have their own customs,’ he observed.
‘But there’s nothing like that anywhere else in Europe,’ said Napoleon.
‘Begging your Majesty’s pardon,’ said Balashev, ‘it’s not only Russia. Spain has a large number of churches and monasteries too.’ Balashev’s reply, a veiled reference to recent French defeats in Spain, proved very popular when Balashev came to repeat it back at the court of the Emperor Alexander, though at the time it was little appreciated at Napoleon’s dinner-table, where it passed unnoticed.
From the looks of indifference and bemusement on the faces of the marshals it was clear that they couldn’t make head or tail of the witticism implied by Balashev’s intonation. ‘If this is a joke we don’t get the point, or else it’s just not very funny,’ their expressions seemed to say. The impact of his response was so small that Napoleon did not notice, and he went on naively to ask Balashev which cities lay along the most direct road from there to Moscow. Balashev, always on the qui vive, said that just as all roads lead to Rome, all roads lead to Moscow – there were a lot of roads, including the road to Poltava chosen by Charles XII.8 Balashev felt an instinctive surge of pleasure at the sharpness of this reply, but the word ‘Poltava’ was scarcely out of his mouth when Caulaincourt launched forth on the awful state of the road from Petersburg to Moscow and his personal memories of Petersburg.
After dinner they withdrew for coffee into Napoleon’s study, which had been Emperor Alexander’s study only four days before. Napoleon sat down, toying with his Sèvres coffee cup, and motioned for Balashev to sit down beside him.
There is a well-known after-dinner state of mind which is more effective than the dictates of reason in making a man feel at peace with himself and well disposed to everyone else. Napoleon was now in this state. He felt surrounded by worshipping admirers. He was convinced that after his dinner even Balashev was a friend and admirer. Napoleon turned to him with a benevolent smile which had only a touch of mockery.
‘They say this is the room that belonged to the Emperor Alexander. Strange, isn’t it, General?’ he said, obviously taking it for granted that this comment could not be other than acceptable to the Russian, demonstrating as it did the superiority which he, Napoleon, enjoyed over Alexander.
Balashev, incapable of any response, bowed his head in silence.
‘Yes, this is the room where Wintzengerode and Stein were conferring four days ago,’ Napoleon went on, smiling the same confident and ironic smile. ‘What I can’t understand,’ he said, ‘is why the Emperor Alexander had to surround himself with all my personal enemies. That’s something . . . I simply don’t understand. Did it never occur to him that I might do the same thing?’ he asked Balashev, and this reversion clearly set him off again on the trail of that morning’s furious outburst, still fresh in his memory. ‘And I want him to know I shall do just that,’ said Napoleon, getting to his feet and pushing away his cup with one hand. ‘I’ll drive every last relative of his out of Germany – all those Württembergs, Badens and Weimars . . . Oh yes, I’ll drive them all out. Let him get a bolt hole ready for them in Russia.’
Balashev bowed his head in an effort to imply that he would be glad to take his leave of them, and if he was listening it was only because he had no alternative but to hear what was being said. Napoleon didn’t notice his expression. As he spoke to Balashev, he saw him not as an enemy envoy but as one of his devoted admirers who must surely rejoice at the humiliation of his former master.
‘And why has the Emperor Alexander taken personal command of his troops? What’s all this about? War is my business, but his job is to reign as a monarch, not command armies. What can have induced him to take charge like that?’
