At midnight on Thursday the 22 August 1799 Bonaparte embarked at Alexandria on the frigate Muiron, which with three other smaller ships set sail at five o’clock in the morning. He was accompanied by Murat and Lannes, both recently wounded, as well as by Berthier, Bessières, Duroc, Lavalette and Marmont. He also took with him Eugène de Beauharnais, and his secretary, Bourrienne.

He had the same good fortune as on his outward voyage. The English fleet had gone to Cyprus for repairs and he slipped out unmolested. Contrary winds forced the little fleet to hug the African coast, and they only made three hundred miles in twenty days. The English ships cruising between Sicily and Cape Bon were eluded. Then the wind changed and better progress was made.

After a voyage of forty days Bonaparte entered the port of Ajaccio on the first of October. Here he was detained for a week by adverse winds. Finally, on the 7 October, he sailed for France. It was his last visit to his native island.

At noon on the 9 October Napoleon landed at Fréjus, and at six o’clock started for Paris. His journey was one long ovation. At every city through which he passed he was received with transports of enthusiasm. After a stop of half a day at Lyon, where he attended the theatre, at midnight he again set out, travelling in a post-chaise at great speed, not stopping by night or day. He reached Paris at six o’clock on the morning of the 16 October and went directly to his hôtel in the Rue de la Victoire, where, as upon his return from Italy, he found no one to receive him.

Joséphine was dining at the Luxembourg with Gohier, the president of the Directory, when the news was received of the unexpected landing of Bonaparte at Fréjus. She had almost forgotten that he existed, and seemed to think that he would never return. But there was no time now for hesitation: she immediately set out to meet her husband, and tell her story before he had a chance to see his brothers. She naturally took the usual route by Dijon and Mâcon, but Napoleon was travelling by way of the Bourbonnais, and she did not meet him. On her return to Paris, a few days later, Bonaparte locked his door and refused to see her. His brothers had taken advantage of her absence to tell Napoleon the story of her conduct, and he was fully resolved upon a divorce. For a whole day she knocked in vain, and cried and sobbed before the closed door. Finally, at the suggestion of her maid, she sent for Eugène and Hortense, who joined their supplications to those of their mother. The door at last was unlocked, and Bonaparte appeared with open arms, his eyes wet with tears, his face convulsed with the long and terrible struggle which he had had with his heart. When his brothers appeared the next morning they found that all had been forgiven and forgotten.

Notwithstanding all of Joséphine’s indiscretions Napoleon was wise to abandon the idea of a divorce, which would have interfered seriously with his plans. He did well to disregard the advice of his family, who had always disapproved of his marriage and done their best to bring about a rupture. During his absence, in spite of his orders to Joséphine not to mingle in public affairs, she had manœuvred like a skilled diplomatist, and had well prepared the way for his return. Although her relations with Barras had now ceased, she was on very cordial terms with her former admirer, as well as with Gohier, the new president of the Directory. Her salon was also frequented by Talleyrand, Fouché, Cambacérès, and many others whose support was essential to the success of his plans. It is possible that without the assistance of Joséphine, Napoleon might never have become emperor.

When Napoleon pardoned Joséphine, it was in no half-hearted way—it was a pardon generous and complete, an entire wiping out of all her errors. He had the remarkable faculty, when his confidence was renewed, of no longer remembering: of suppressing in his marvellous memory all recollections of faults which he did not wish to punish. Not only did he forgive his wife, but, a virtue even rarer, he disdained to punish her guilty accomplices, and never stood in the way of their advancement in life.

He was equally generous in the payment of the enormous debts contracted by Joséphine during his absence. He gave her the money to complete the purchase of Malmaison, and settled with the decorators their account of over a million francs, which, after a careful scrutiny of the bills, he reduced by one-half, for over-charges and articles not actually furnished. On the 12 November he also paid over a million francs for the national property in the department of the Dyle, which she had contracted to purchase. Five years later this estate was to furnish the dot for Adèle, the natural daughter of Alexandre de Beauharnais, when Joséphine arranged her marriage with a Captain Lecomte.

A husband willing to pardon his wife’s infidelity, and at the same time pay over two millions of her debts, is one not often found, and if Joséphine was incapable of fully appreciating such generosity, she at any rate, up to the time of her divorce, gave no further grounds for public scandal. In her own words, she was too much afraid of losing “her position.”

During the weeks of preparation for the coup d’état of the 18 Brumaire (9 November), Joséphine played an important rôle. In spite of all the precautions that were taken it was impossible to prevent rumors from reaching the ears of the three Directors who were not in the plot. Barras received warnings; also Gohier and Moulin, but they all ignored the reports. In order to keep Gohier out of the way on the critical day, Bonaparte took advantage of his admiration for Joséphine, to have his wife invite the Director to déjeuner. At midnight on the 17 Brumaire she wrote a short note, and sent it by Eugène to the Luxembourg:

But Gohier was alarmed over an invitation for so early an hour in the morning, and remained home, sending his wife in his place. While the stirring events of the morning were taking place, Joséphine used all of her charm to keep Madame Gohier at her house. The wife of the director finally succeeded in making her escape; and with some difficulty reached the Luxembourg, through the streets thronged with spectators and encumbered by the movements of the troops. As a profound secret, Joséphine had informed her visitor of the intention of Talleyrand to see Barras and demand his resignation. This information led Gohier to think that only Barras was to be eliminated, and from that moment he made no further efforts to oppose the plans of the conspirators. So this little plot did not entirely fail.

Late in the evening Bonaparte returned from the Tuileries to the Rue de la Victoire, and gave Joséphine a full account of the events of the day. The night passed quietly. Lannes guarded the Tuileries, and Moreau, the Luxembourg. The troops occupied all the strategic points of the capital. The theatres were crowded, as usual. Without, the rain fell in torrents, and the streets were practically deserted.

On Sunday morning, the 19 Brumaire, the air was clear and cool, after the storm of the night before. At dawn the troops began their march from Paris to Saint-Cloud, where the Councils were to meet at midday. The “army of generals” gathered at Bonaparte’s house to receive his final orders. He soon appeared upon the steps of the hôtel, in his uniform of general, wearing the little hat which was already legendary. Entering his carriage, with his aides de camp, he set out for Saint-Cloud, escorted by a small detachment of cavalry.

The day was long and tiresome, and for many hours the result was in doubt. It finally ended in the dissolution of the Directory, and the appointment of three temporary Consuls: Bonaparte, Sieyès and Ducos. It was after midnight before all the legislative work was finished, and the new Consuls took their oath of office.

“At three in the morning,” writes Bourrienne, “I accompanied Bonaparte in his carriage to Paris. Extremely fatigued after so many trials, and absorbed in his reflections, he did not utter a single word during the journey.... Back in the little house in the Rue de la Victoire he kissed Joséphine, who was in bed, and told her all the incidents of the day. Then he rested for a few hours, and woke up in the morning, the master of Paris and of France.”

The day following the 19 Brumaire, the 11 November by our calendar, was a décadi, or Republican day of rest. At ten o’clock in the morning, Bonaparte, dressed in civilian costume, left his house, and in a carriage, escorted only by six dragoons, proceeded to the Luxembourg, to join his two colleagues and set the new government in operation. During the course of the day Joséphine also left the little hôtel in the Rue de la Victoire, and moved across the Seine. In all but name, the “little Creole” was now sovereign of France!