At noon on Sunday, just after lunch, Armand took Joseph to a cafe near the Palais-Cardinal. The Palais-Cardinal was the private domain of the Duke of Orléans, a great nobleman, and his eldest son, His Royal Highness Duke Chartres, who also had 'Joseph' in his name, had transformed the promenade of the Palais-Cardinal into a variety of stores and cafes. Because these places are the private territories of the great nobles, the kingdom police are not authorized to enforce the law here, so this place has become an "extra-legal land" where ordinary civilians can freely enter and exit.
In this way, it became the center of "illegal activities" in all of Paris and none other. All sorts of smuggling and trading, buying and selling of contraband goods, as well as party activities of organizations plotting against the Church and the King, often took place here. This was an important meeting place for the later famous Jacobins.
And the man who provided it all, Duke Chartres (who later succeeded his father as the new Duke of Orleans), was himself, though a relative of the king and one of the greatest feudal lords of France, a staunch libertarian and a true believer in Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He was a firm believer in the Enlightenment, advocated the establishment of a democratic, secular, constitutional monarchy in France, believed in the abolition of the feudal system of estates and slavery, and was a good friend of many of the "conspirators".
Armand took Joseph and sat down in one of the seats by the window in the café. By this time, the afternoon sun was shining through the window on top of a bright red rose placed in the center of the dining table.
"Looks like we got here a little earlier than Mr. Denardi." Armand laughed.
A maid came forward and said, "What would you two gentlemen like to order?"
"Two coffees, please." Armand said.
That maid retreated and came over with a tray in a short while, placing two cups of coffee in front of each of them.
"Six sous." The maid said.
Duke Chartres rented out the stores for a fairly low rent, but he had his own requirements, and that was that the prices of the things in these stores had to be relatively inexpensive. Sometimes, the Duke himself would wear trunks and pretend to be a commoner, wandering around inside these cafes, bars, and other stores.
Armand put eight sous of coins into that maid's tray. That maid said thanks and turned to leave.
"Joseph, you can't stay in your house all the time, you need to come around here more often when you have time, you can meet all kinds of people and learn more here." Armand took a sip of his coffee and said.
Joseph was about to reply when he saw the door to the café pushed open, and a man about forty years old, dressed in a short gray tweed top, walked in. As soon as the man entered, he stretched his neck to look in all directions.
Armand then raised an arm and waved it at him. Then to Joseph: "That's Master Denardi, he's blinder than any brown bear in the Ardennes forest, and he can't see very well at a little distance."
Denardi, who had evidently seen them, came striding over, pulling over a chair with his own hand, and seated himself beside the two men, laughing: "Armand, it is true that I am as blind as a brown bear, but I have ears and a nose as keen as a brown bear, and I heard all that you said about me. Haha ... Well, this is Mr. Bonaparte, isn't it? I'm Denardi, Henri Denardi, head of the Dragon and Rose Theater Company. You can just call me Henri."
As he spoke, Denardi first reached his hand out to Joseph.
Joseph reached out and shook his hand, saying, "Joseph Bonaparte. I'm a classmate of Armand's..."
"Best friend." Armand added from the side.
"You can also just call me Joseph." Joseph said.
"Ah, Joseph, I think Armand has already told you about my coming." Denardi said, "Actually, for a long time, our theater troupe has been in need of a really well-educated screenwriter. I've been hitting on Armand before. But this guy, Armand, is a lazy guy with a lot of things to do, and when you ask him for a favor, you always have to wait a long time. That idea you gave us last time was really great, especially during the curtain call when the audience took the roof off with their applause. Also I've read some of the scripts you've translated, and with Armand's recommendation, Joseph, I think you're perfectly suited to fill Armand's role. I just wonder if you'd be interested, at this point, in taking a part-time job as a screenwriter for my little theater troupe."
While there was a discussion between these men about ways to work together, the door to the café was once again pushed open. This is also an unusual thing. The cafe is supposed to be a place where people come and go. Some people come in, some people go out, which is the most common thing, and people don't even bother to look there.
A middle-aged man in his thirties wearing a black hat with green eyes and a light red beard wearing long pants walked in. He looked in all directions and at once saw Armand and the others, so he came straight over and said: "Armand, I didn't expect to meet you here."
"Ah ... Mr. Philippe." Armand's words paused noticeably at the sight of this Mr. Philippe.
"Why, don't you introduce me to these two friends of yours either." The man, Mr. Phillipe, asked.
"Ah ... Mr. Philippe," Armand seemed a little flustered as he hurriedly stood up to introduce the other two men to Mr. Philippe, "This is my classmate Joseph, Joseph Bonaparte. This is ... This is Mr. Denardi, the leader of the Dragon and Rose Theatre Troupe ..."
When Joseph and Denardi saw how Armand behaved, they both knew that this Mr. Phillip must be something special, and they both followed suit and stood up to greet Mr. Phillip.
"There's no need to be so polite, everyone sit down." Mr. Philippe said, "Let me introduce myself, I am a friend of Mr. Lavoisier, Armand's uncle, so I recognize Armand. I have nothing to do today, I came here to sit down, and I happened to see Armand, so I came over to take a look. Well, what are you all talking about?"
"Mr. Denardi is the leader of the Dragon and Rose troupe and a friend of mine. He needed to find a screenwriter with a high artistic appreciation. And my classmate Joseph fit the bill, so I introduced them here to meet." Armand replied hurriedly.
"The Dragon and Rose Theater Troupe?" Phillip laughed, "Ah, that's the one who performed The Island Governor, isn't it? Well, it was well acted. I went to see it. It was especially funny at the final curtain call when that Sancho of yours suddenly stood up straight and was actually one of the tallest in the cast. But the best of all is your intention; the noble may not be wise and upright, and the lowly can be sublime. The script is good! Who wrote this script?"
Though Denardi did not know what this Mr. Philippe was about, he also judged from Armand's manner and Philippe's claim to be a friend of Armand's uncle, Lavoisier, that this Mr. Philippe, too, was not so ordinary as he was dressed. He was more than likely a man of great rank, and even ... a conjecture sprang up at once in the mind of Denardi.
So he replied respectfully: "Monsieur Philippe, I got the bottom of this script myself, and then Armand helped me to revise it, and it was quite different, and as for the use of the tall man as Sancho at the end, it was the idea of this Monsieur Bonaparte."
"Ah, Armand, I'm so glad to hear you're still doing something really worthwhile." Philippe laughed, "Mr. Denardi, well, Joseph, you're a classmate of Armand's, so I'll call you Joseph as well. Theater is a great art that can influence and educate many people. I hope to see more great work from you guys in the future."
At that, he stood up, lifted his hat slightly in the air, and said: "I see a friend of mine is here. I'll excuse myself."
With those words, he left their table and walked over to the other side.
When he saw Philippe walking away, Denardi lowered his voice: "Armand, this Mr. Philippe ..."
Armand similarly lowered his voice: "He is the owner of this place, His Royal Highness Louis-Philippe Joseph, Duke Chartres. I didn't expect to meet him here."
"Is this His Royal Highness Duke Chartres?" Joseph was also taken aback, "It's not at all obvious that it's a great nobleman."
"His Highness the Duke was already an exceptional nobleman, he and the Queen are exactly two extremes." Armand whispered.
Joseph had not been a student of history all his life, and he knew only a little about the Revolution that was soon to follow, unaware of the pivotal role that the Duke, later to be known as "Philippe Égalité," had played in the Revolution. The only people he can remember are the so-called "Jacobin Triumvirate" of Robespierre, Marat, and Danton.
But Joseph didn't really want to get too deeply involved with these people at this point. The situation was too chaotic for a while. After the Revolution started today, John cut off Luke's head, tomorrow Matthew cut off John's head, and no matter who you got too close to, it was all dangerous, and you could end up on the guillotine. Joseph even planned to make sure to find an excuse to hide back in Corsica before the Revolution began.
The three men continued to talk about the way of cooperation and remuneration and then took their leave of each other.
He returned to his lodgings, only to see Father Jean-Jacques approaching with a letter and saying: "Ah, Joseph, you're back? Well, your brother sent you a letter."
Joseph hurriedly took the letter, thanked Father Jean-Jacques, and went to his room. Sitting down at the table by his own little window, he picked up the small table knife that was sitting on the table, cut open the envelope, pulled out the letter, and read it.
The content of the letter was, in fact, something Joseph had known for a long time; Napoleon had received his recommendation without incident, and in about a month, around the twentieth of November, he would be able to leave for Paris.