It was only the second time Gourgaud had seen her—he was impressed enough the first time to rush home and sketch her—and now he was completely infatuated: ‘She has a charming face; a mixture of sweetness, intelligence and distinction. She salutes me as she dances past. Ah! Why am I a prisoner?’ Poor Gourgaud wanted to get married. He was tormented by erotic fantasies involving various women. He was not mollified when Napoleon told him, ‘When you don’t think about them you don’t need them.’ He did think about them, and his covert and hasty sexual encounters were not enough; he hoped to woo a young lady such as Laura Wilks for a wife. But alas, her dance card was filled and he was instructed by the admiral to escort Madame De Fountain, the dull wife of a councillor, to supper.
What was worse, he considered that he and his French compatriots were snubbed in the table seating, and the six quadrilles to which he was committed dragged on until five thirty in the morning. There were other annoyances: ‘A rosy young lady made a terrible fart as she was dancing.’26 In the November heat, the energetic, perspiring couples on the floor were observed by some to be ‘not safe to approach . . . literally swimming through the dance’.27
The sun was rising as the Balcombes came down the castle steps to the courtyard to find a cart blocking the archway and only exit, with a group of carousing midshipmen on top, singing at the top of their voices ‘Lord W’s carriage stops the way’.28
While the dancing was still in progress that night, the admiral and Governor Wilks had received an alarming message. Bonaparte had slipped past the captain and duty sergeant at The Briars earlier that evening and clambered down the mountain track to Maldivia farmhouse in the valley below. His unexpected visit astounded its occupant, Major Charles Hodson of the St Helena regiment, who did his best to be hospitable, as he later recalled: ‘I, of course, went out to meet him; he came into the house, looked about, and seemed very well pleased with it and the garden, which he walked over, paid Mrs Hodson a great many fine compliments, and took a great deal of notice of the children.’29
Napoleon joked that his tall and imposing host should be called ‘Hercules’, and was loaned an Arab pony for the ride home. He gave the servants who accompanied him some French coins. He was asleep at the pavilion, exhausted by the adventure, by the time the intelligence reached the castle.
No harm had been done. This time. But security would need to be stepped up at The Briars.
CHAPTER 9
LAST DAYS AT THE PAVILION
The main street of Jamestown leads up from the waterfront and the archway over the old drawbridge, past the castle and its gardens, the courthouse, church and gaol, the Georgian buildings now housing offices, hotels and stores, to the tourist office at the crossroads. Market Street leads off to the right and Napoleon Street to the left. At this central point, in front of the casement windows of the office, are two gnarled trees with bolts driven into their trunks. These were for the purpose of securing human beings in manacles.
At the time of Napoleon’s arrival, St Helena was the last outpost of Britain’s empire where slavery was still legal, although the importation of slaves was not. But on the island the practice continued. Every child born of a slave automatically became a slave also, the property of the owner, who could buy, sell and barter them at will. Slave auctions were held under the trees, centre stage for the town, as late as 1829. In the castle archives there are dozens of notices such as this:
TO BE SOLD & LET BY PUBLIC AUCTION
THE FOLLOWING SLAVES
Hannibal, about 30 Years old, an excellent House Servant
William, about 35 Years old, a Labourer
Nancy, an excellent House Servant and Nurse
Philip, an Excellent Fisherman
Clara, an Excellent Washerwoman
Fanny, about 14 Years old, House Servant1
Some horses had arrived from the Cape and Napoleon was given a handsome black stallion called Hope. He liked the name and said it was a good augury. He rode it around The Briars’ front lawn, cutting up the turf. Soon he was enjoying a daily outing on horseback and frequently led Captain Mackay a merry chase, cantering on the ill-made roads and skirting perilously close to the edge of ravines. He was at his most imposing when mounted, as he was well aware, and people in the little cottages scattered among the hills looked forward to the sight of him in his high boots, green coat and cocked hat. They felt that to wave to him was to insert themselves into a small place in history. Sometimes he would rein in to talk to people on the road, startling a soldier, seaman, Chinese labourer or slave carrying building materials up to Longwood. As Dr O’Meara observed: ‘Every day bodies of two or three hundred seamen were employed in carrying up from Jamestown, timber and other materials .
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