Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 233 045 The Saint's Battle Flag Flies in Toulon

France's war in Haiti was bound to fail because of the rampant plague in the Caribbean region, and Napoleon also lost his brother-in-law, General Leclerc.

The reason for this difference is that his elder brother is also a general.

This unfortunate general was probably the most talented among Napoleon's brothers-in-law. Except for his courage, which might not be as good as that of the strangely dressed Murat, he was outstanding in all aspects.

There was another reason why he was going to Haiti. His wife had been involved in too many scandals in Paris. Although they had a good relationship with each other, Pauline had a very bad problem. She would fall in love with any handsome man she saw, and sometimes she was not picky about food. She would even be jealous of Leclerc's subordinates and the housekeepers and servants in their mansion.
In short, her private life is extremely chaotic. Now she is still young and beautiful, and with the favor and protection of her second brother, she is somewhat arrogant.

Poor General Leclerc, his wife has now returned to France in mourning, along with his coffin.

However, although she was mourning her husband at this time and actually had some feelings for him, she was also involved with several generals.

No matter how much Napoleon doted on his second sister, he could not stand such behavior.

"Anyone who has sex with Polina should be sent to Italy, retired, or sent directly to the United States! Our family..."

"Napoleon, you should calm down. Paulina just lost her husband, but she is like this."

"Josephine, she has always been jealous of you and has a bad relationship with you. Why are you speaking up for her now?"

"I know what you're thinking. The new year is coming, and many people think that the status of the Triumvirate or the Regent for Life is not enough. I know something about what Joseph did."

"Yes, but the fortune teller said that you will be more noble than the queen, and I still believe it. But, Josephine, you still have to give me a child, whether it is a son or a daughter, we..."

However, Josephine's physical condition does have some problems. It may be that their physical conditions are incompatible, or there may be some other factors. Josephine is about to turn 40 years old now. Although she can maintain her temperament through makeup, she still looks more or less like a middle-aged woman with charm.

Of course, Napoleon was still very caring towards her. Although this wife had an outrageous personal life, a dissolute past and a luxurious present, she was a great help to him and he firmly believed that she would not betray him.

Paulina was the same, and Napoleon's mind was full of the image of his second sister, the little girl who followed her mother from Ajaccio in Corsica to Marseille for refuge.

But this little girl was very naive at the time and learned too quickly in France.

But compared with her elder sister Elisa, who was greedy for money and obsessed with power, and her younger sister Carolina, who was ambitious, Paulina was indeed her brother's most caring sister, and he always had to give her some compensation.

"When Paulina returns, I will arrange a good marriage for her after the mourning period. Poor Charles, if he had come back alive, he would have been a reliable helper to me, but the terrible plague has taken his life."

"What kind of young man are you going to arrange for Polina?"

"My poor Pauletta," Napoleon even muttered his second sister's real name in Corsica, "I must make her live comfortably and heal her spiritual wounds, and let my nephew Demid, the frail little guy, have a reliable stepfather to take care of him."

"Do you have an idea now?"

"No, Josephine, the current candidates are all too old. Polina has always looked down on those 'old men' who are much older than her, but she still likes heroes."

"It's a pity that General Moreau is married. He rejected Carolina and Hortense. If you win him over, you won't have a strong opposition in the army."

"It's a pity that this 'little lawyer' chose one of your friends, Josephine, to avoid misunderstandings. But it also made things very complicated."

"But what can we do about it? Among us Creoles, some people are very superstitious. My cousin Amy has been missing for more than ten years, and we don't know where she is. Some people also say that we sisters are all noble."

But Josephine's two younger sisters died young, so they did not have this blessing. As for her little cousin whose life or death was unknown, Josephine could not find out any news about her.

"Besides, fate can change. Prophets always say something ambiguous. I don't believe in that. I think fate should be in our own hands."

Solovyov, who slept with Sylvia in his arms in Rome, had similar views to his cheap uncle.

Napoleon still felt sorry for his second sister. Even though she had many faults and caused a lot of trouble, this poor little girl was really kind-hearted. Her mother and brothers doted on her very much.

"Josephine, I think it might be more appropriate to go to Italy, where we need to deploy our people to stabilize the situation."

"It seems that you have an idea too. Should Polina marry the president or the prince?"

"We will make arrangements after she comes back."

At this time, Paulina was taking a bath in her temporary residence in Toulon. Her body was indeed very beautiful. Except for a little flaw on her legs, she had a perfect body with just the right curves. Anyone who saw her would be fascinated by her, especially her pitiful look when she asked others for help, which was irresistible.

Of course, compared with the poor queen of St. Petersburg, what she wanted to do was already a bit unorthodox. She even wanted to follow the way of the Ptolemaic dynasty and love her second brother extremely, but she would definitely not succeed.

As soon as she arrived in Toulon, she sent an express letter to Napoleon.

However, she was still very sensitive to some physical problems, especially after she had a serious illness in Haiti. She would often feel abdominal pain, and once she felt uncomfortable, she would roll around in pain.

Her only son, Demid, who was 4 years old and not in good health, started crying when he saw his mother rolling on the carpet wrapped in a bath towel.

Although Polina indulges herself and likes to fool around, she still loves her son very much. She simply opens the bath towel and wraps the child in it.

"Mom, your stomach hurts."

"Good boy, mom will be fine soon. You are mom's little guard and little doctor."

Speaking of which, the child's health is not very good. Haiti is indeed a very torturous place. Not all islands in the Caribbean are honey-filled countries. There are always terrible epidemics.

Although Demid is physically weak, he is mentally strong at the age of 4. However, there is one thing that cannot be avoided: although he has stopped breastfeeding, his mother's embrace is what he longs for the most.

Polina recalled the time when her son was addicted to milk when he had just been weaned.

"Mom is the best."

"Demid, let's sleep together tonight."

When she saw her son, she thought of her husband. No matter what, Polina still had some feelings for her husband, but she really couldn't refuse him. She always fell in love with every man she met. However, when she saw her husband's body by the bed, she was heartbroken.

Her son could bring back many good memories for her, and her own flesh and blood were always the cutest in a mother's eyes, especially Demid, who was a very beautiful child. The family liked Polina and her children as well.

When she fell asleep, Polina always had nightmares. Her dead husband was always there, as was her father who had died many years ago. This made it impossible for her to sleep peacefully.

However, seeing her son sleeping so peacefully and sweetly in her arms, Polina couldn't sleep and wanted her son to sleep peacefully.

Especially now, the position in which she was holding the baby was like heaven to little Demid Leclerc, especially since mommy was still so soft and sweet-smelling.

The subsequent arrangement was to deal with the property left by Leclerc. The Montgobert Castle would be inherited by the children, but Paulina only planned to bury her husband there. The right to use the castle would be handed over to her husband's family because staying there would bring up her sad memories.

The castle was still under reconstruction, and Paulina planned to hand over the property to Leclerc's brother-in-law, Louis Nicolas Davout, a man who had become bald but not yet stronger. He had a strong life, and even in the eyes of the superstitious Paulina, nothing would happen to him.

The castle itself has hosted many people. In addition to Leclerc's relatives, Cambacérès and Alexandre Dumas were also guests here.

It is said that although old Alexandre Dumas was already suffering from mild hemiplegia, he was still as majestic as ever. Even in such a bad health, he still managed to get his wife to give birth to Alexandre Dumas père.

He may be more adapted to the climate of the Caribbean. Although the French army defeated the enemy in its "expedition" in Saint-Domingue, it was no match for the plague. Many outstanding generals died of yellow fever in the army.

The next morning, Polina was still holding her son. This child was like her lifeblood, this child was her angel. Of course, she suffered a lot when she gave birth to the child, so she didn't want to get pregnant again.
Speaking of which, many of the generals during the French Revolution came from small families of three or four. On the contrary, those civil servants who did not fight in the battlefield, unless they had strange tendencies like Cambaceres, all had many children and grandchildren.

Paulina thought of her third brother Lucien, who was like this. However, she was worried that her second brother had no offspring.

Although Hortense got along well with her, she particularly hated Josephine and they were jealous of each other.

Josephine was jealous of Napoleon's preference for Pauline, even that "he gave her more jewelry than his wife". On the other hand, Pauline, like Moreau's wife, was jealous of her second sister-in-law's status. She was jealous of any woman who was an obstacle between her brother and her, no matter who was Napoleon's wife or lover.

When she came out of Toulon, she also happened to meet Prince Dolgorukov and his family.

Although Prince Vasily's two sons are young, they are both very handsome. Paulina would definitely be fascinated by them when she saw them. Fortunately, they are all studying at the University of Strasbourg and did not travel to the Mediterranean coast with their parents and sisters.

"We sympathize with you, Madame Leclerc, but we are going to travel to Italy, and you know that when we are here, we have seen all the beautiful scenery of France, which is really very nice."

"If there is an opportunity, Your Excellency, your family may come to my house, whether in Paris or anywhere else."

Napoleon was so fond of his second sister that she had the actual right to reside in Petit Trianon.

Coincidentally, when the Dolgorukov family was in Saxony, they had been taking care of the daughter of the original owner of this place. When the Palace of Versailles and the surrounding palaces were mentioned, the little cake princess seemed to have lost her soul, which shows that the psychological trauma was not small.

"Thank you, ma'am, and I will certainly visit you if I have the chance."

"Thank you for agreeing to do this. I also hope to have foreign friends come to my home as guests."

"It's just that you need to take care of your body, Mrs. Leclerc, so I recommend you a specialty of our Petersburg, donkey hide glue, which is said to increase the blood flow in the blood vessels."

It was difficult for Prince Vasily, as he did not understand the wonderful oriental medical skills. What he said was all based on what Solovyov had translated, and Polina benefited greatly from it.

After all, there are such stores in Paris and Marseille.

She first lived in her sister-in-law Julie's house. Although her relationship with her second sister-in-law was quite bad, her eldest brother and sister-in-law always took good care of her.

Especially when Lucien made shocking remarks at the Jacobin Club in Corsica, which forced my family to flee to Marseille.

The eldest brother and the third brother were also here. They came to comfort Paulina. After all, she was the most unfortunate person in the family as she had lost her husband, while Lucien had lost a wife before. He was eloquent and had been giving psychological counseling to his sister.

"It's just that, brother, you have to send someone to buy me what I want. I met a Russian prince on the road, and he recommended some supplements to me. My poor husband is gone, brother, you are right, my child and I have to continue living, you buy them for me first, especially the kind of gum mixed with nuts. My poor son also needs nutrition, he is so weak and pitiful."

Demid is indeed very cute, and all his uncles like him, even his youngest uncle Jerome, who would greet his second sister and nephew when he wrote to him. Although he got into trouble and scolded the British, he is quite lucky in love. He recently became acquainted with an American girl and planned to get married there.

In other words, the second sister was different from her other brothers and sisters. She wrote him a letter from Saint-Domingo to express her support. No matter whether it was the eldest brother as the head of the family or the second brother as the first consul, no one would agree with his hasty arrangement, especially Napoleon himself.

But if Napoleon knew about this, he would be furious.

Polina has now started to nourish herself and her son, and now that their nutrition has been improved, their complexions are looking good. At least the damage caused by yellow fever to them has recovered to some extent.

In a few days, she will return to Paris with her son and continue her life as a social star.

But the Civil Code, a project created by Napoleon, has strict regulations on the mourning period, which is not a good idea for her.

(End of this chapter)