Napoleon folded the letter Talleyrand had just handed to him and leaned back in his chair, exhaling deeply.
"So it has begun, huh?" Napoleon remarked.
"Indeed so, Your Majesty. I think it's best that we bring in your generals. We are a nation at war," Talleyrand said with a sense of urgency.
Napoleon nodded before reaching out to the new technology recently installed in the Palace of Versailles: the telephone.
He picked up the receiver and dialed a familiar number.
"Connect me to the Minister of War headquarters," Napoleon said.
He waited for a few moments. Finally, a voice on the other end responded,
"Minister of War headquarters, this is Minister of War, Berthier. To whom am I speaking?"
"Berthier, this is Napoleon."
"Oh, Your Majesty."
"I'm pretty sure that you know why I'm calling you right now," Napoleon said.
