NAPOLEON

Alexander inhales the fragrant night air.

ALEXANDER

The fall of a great man is a sad

sight to behold... He treated me

badly but, even in my religion did

not not forbid me to bear malice, I

would bear him none. I am a better

friend of his than he may know.

JOSEPHINE

You were the only monarch for whom

he had both affection and respect.

ALEXANDER

It was I who secured the sovereignty

of Elba for him, at a time when

treachery and desertion of his own

followers left him at the mercy of

those who would have done much worse

to him.

JOSEPHINE

I am certain you still hold his

affection and gratitude. I believe

he is only bitter about the

desertions to his cause of those who

were closest to him -- most

particularly, the Marshals. He

thought that, by giving them titles

and making them rich, he would

ensure their loyalty -- but in the

end, they thought only of saving

their titles and estates.

Alexander stops, takes her hands in his, moves very close

to her, and speaks in a whisper.

ALEXANDER

Madame, I hope you will allow me to

discuss a matter which I fear may be

distasteful to you at the present

time, but which, in fairness to

yourself and to your children, I

feel I must -- and that is the

subject of your own properties and

pensions.

Josephine is, of course, more than happy to discuss this.

JOSEPHINE

Oh?

ALEXANDER

Let me be as good a friend to you as

Napoleon ever was. If you will but

command me, I shall secure all that

is due to you and your children --

and even more, should you so desire.

He leans forward and kisses her.

EXT. ELBA BEACH - DAY

A sunny beach on the island of Elba. Napoleon is seated

at a folding table in front of a tent. He is talking with

General Bertrand. A few guards of the escort are visible

in the distance. Napoleon has not just heard the news but

has been talking about it for hours.

NAPOLEON

Josephine dead -- how unbelievable!

How impossible it is to believe it.

She was always physically so strong

-- she was never ill a day in her

life.

BERTRAND

It is a terrible shock.

The silences are punctuated by the sound of the gentle

surf.

NAPOLEON

But did she have the best doctors?

Wasn't there any chance at all to

save her?

BERTRAND

I don't know, sire -- she had the

Tsar's personal physician.

NAPOLEON

She should have had Larrey or

Corvisart. They might have saved

her... But why didn't anyone even

write to me? Can you believe that

no one even bothered to write to me?

Would you have believed that I

should read such news in a

newspaper? How incredible!

BERTRAND

That is incredible.

NAPOLEON

Ah, my poor Josephine. She was the

most alluring, most glamorous

creature I have ever known -- a

woman in every sense of the word,

and she had the kindest heart in the

world. She may have been a liar and

a spendthrift, but she had something

that was irresistible -- she was a

women to her very fingertips... How

impossible it is to believe that she

is dead.

BERTRAND

I have never heard an unkind word

about her spoken.

NAPOLEON

I suppose I might blame her for

opening her house to the men most

responsible to my downfall, but how

can I? She was on her own again,

she had to look after her own

affairs, and how can one blame her

for having her head turned by the

attention of Kings?

Pause.

NAPOLEON

She made me very unhappy when we

were first married, but when we are

young we become addicted to the pain

of love and, once having experienced

it, never want to be cured. For

afterwards, we dread the horrible

solitude of the heart, the emptiness

of feeling...

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a bill.

NAPOLEON

Look at this -- how incredible! My

last souvenir -- a bill I received

just two weeks ago from her

couturier -- 6,000 francs...!

Pause.

NAPOLEON

Now I have lost everything that is

precious to me. My dearest wife has

been locked away by her father, and

my poor baby grows up without me.

INT. SCHONBRUNN BEDROOM - NIGHT

Marie-Louise and General Neipperg, a handsome and virile

man, with a patch over one eye, making love.

NARRATOR

Marie-Louise would prove to be a

little more than a dull,

commonplace, sensual girl,

accustomed to obey the dictates of

her father, who easily dissuaded her

from joining Napoleon, and carefully

chose instead as her aide-de-camp,

the gallant and dashing General

Neipperg, who soon became her lover.

They would have two children

together before Napoleon's death.

INT. SCHONBRUNN NURSERY - DAY

A grotesquely large nursery in Schonbrunn Palace, over-

filled with expensive toys. The King of Rome, now four

years old, sits alone on the floor, playing with some

soldiers. Two nursemaids sit at some distance from him,

near the window.

NARRATOR

Napoleon would never see his son

again, and the child would grow up

in gilded isolation, melancholy,

ignored by his mother, in chronic

ill-health and haunted by the legend

of this father. He would die at the

age of 22.

INT. TUILERIES THRONE ROOM - DAY

Throne room of the Tuileries Palace. A large group of

marshals are swearing their loyalty to the King and

kissing his hand. We should see Berthier, Ney, Marmont,

MacDonald, Lefebver.

NARRATOR

When Louis XVIII returned to Paris

in 1814, he was as unknown in France

as an Egyptian Pharaoh. Marked by

clumsiness and disdain, he quickly

proved that the Bourbon dynasty had

learned nothing and forgotten

nothing. People said that he did

not return to the throne of his

ancestors but simply ascended the

throne of Bonaparte. By 1815, the

army and the people were ready to

rise against him and welcome the

return of Napoleon.

EXT. BEACH - DAY

Along shot of Napoleon walking with his mother. We are

too far away to hear what they are saying.

EXT. SHIP DECK - NIGHT

A cold, clear, brilliant moonlit night. Napoleon on the

deck, crowded with his troops who are writing

proclamations in long hand.

NARRATOR

Napoleon set sail, from Elba, on

February 26th, 1815, with his small

force of 700 soldiers, while the

governor of the island, Sir Neil

Campbell, was away in Florence. He

put his soldiers to work writing out

his proclamations in long hand.

EXT. ROAD - DAY

A regiment of government troops bars the road and the

fields bordering it. Some 300 yards away, Napoleon's

small army faces them.

An aide, of the general commanding the government troops,

gallops down the road, salutes and dismounts.

AIDE

(embarrassed)

General Cannet presents his

compliments to the Emperor, and

requests that he lay down his arms

and surrender himself and his men.

NAPOLEON

Thank you, Colonel. Please present

my compliments to General Cannet,

and tell him that I shall come

presently and bring the answer

myself.

The aide salutes, remounts and rides back.

General Cannet speaks to his troops, riding slowly back

and forth on his horse.

GENERAL CANNET

Bonaparte is on his way to attempt

to illegally reestablish himself

over the legitimate government of

our King, Louis XVIII. It is our

responsibility, as loyal soldiers of

France, to prevent him from doing

this, by whatever means are

necessary. His force numbers less

than 700 men.

At this remark, voices are heard from the back ranks.

VOICES

(derisively)

What about us -- don't we count?