His fingers flicked back a bit further. ‘Leviticus, chapter 10, verses l and 2: “And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them,

and they died before the Lord/”

Lefine felt uncomfortable. He did not believe in Cod. But if He did in fact exist and if the Bible was His word, He did not seem exactly ‘the God of bounty and love’ which He was usually taken to be ... Margont, undeterred, went on and his apparently random quotes started to form a coherent and unsettling whole.

‘Deuteronomy, chapter 5, verses 23 and 24: “And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders; And ye said, ‘Behold, the Lord our Cod hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.”’

‘Isaiah, chapter 66, verses 15 and 16: “For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many/”

More pages turned. The more the passages mounted up the more impact they made as if each were a fire, which, added to all the others, formed a blazing inferno.

‘Jeremiah, chapter 5, verse 14: “Wherefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.”

‘And finally, of course, Revelation, chapter 8, verse 5: “And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.” What do you conclude from all that?’ ‘That I prefer to think about the button ...’

Margont slammed the Bible closed. ‘Fire has a double symbolism in the Holy Scriptures. It is either a positive force, the incarnation of the Word of God, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God ... Or, it’s the opposite, the illustration of his all-powerfulness, the instrument of his anger, the Anger of God ... And supposing Jean-Baptiste de Chatel believes he’s been charged with a divine

mission? To overcome the Antichrist, Napoleon, with fire.’

‘But what exactly is the Antichrist?’

‘A man in the pay of the devil. He starts off quietly, then launches into a frenetic series of conquests. “He shall subdue three kings” - according to Daniel - and will himself become a king. His power will grow still greater and will spread “over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations,” as Revelation says.’

There are strange similarities, actually ... coincidences ... but that’s all that would be needed to stir up a religious fanatic.’

‘He will wage war on God and the Church - Napoleon annexed the pontifical states to the Empire and, by his order, Pius VII spent almost five years in a supervised residence, at Savone, then at Fontainebleau. He will try to pass himself off as a god. But his reign will not last. God will easily and rapidly overturn it. Most of that comes from Revelation, also known as the Apocalypse of St John, because it’s the coming of the Antichrist that sets off the Apocalypse.’

He paused for a moment before going calmly on: ‘Jean-Baptiste

Chatel seems to want to follow the Bible to the letter. Because of that, when I immerse myself in the Bible it’s as if I can read his thoughts ... If you think about it, it’s hardly surprising that he has nothing in his head except for the Holy Scriptures. He spent several years imprisoned by the Inquisition with only the Bible for company.’

‘So you think that’s the “third plan” - to assassinate the Emperor with flames?’

‘Aren’t the damned supposed to burn in hell? It’s a suggestion. Chatel would have mystical motives but the other members might support it for political reasons. However, there is someone else who might well be influenced by the Bible ...’

‘Who’s that?’

‘Louis de Leaume. Like all aristocrats, his childhood would have been steeped in religion. His family must have taken him to church, spoken of Cod, quoted the Bible ... I don’t know how much importance he attached to his faith at the time. But later he was in a way dead, and then brought to life again. He pulled

himself out from amongst the dead ... It’s unimaginable that he would not have made a connection between his resurrection and that of Christ. So the question is: what sort of connection exactly? Did he just see it as a coincidence? Or a sign from God? Did it tip him into religious fanaticism as well?’

‘One should never mix religion and politics ...’

‘How right you are.’

‘Alas, not right enough, obviously. How did you find all those passages in the Bible? You couldn’t have read it all.’

‘I spent part of my nights reading it. But I was able to find the parts I wanted quite easily because I know it well. My years of apprenticeship in the monastery have proved very useful.’

As far as Lefine was concerned, Margont’s religious training constituted a useless episode from his past, a splinter he had given up trying to remove from Margont’s soul. Margont, on the other hand, drew great strength from it, more than he would have liked to admit.

‘I’m sure we haven’t explored the fire connection sufficiently,’ concluded Margont. ‘We’re going to have to find another way of approaching this investigation ...’

They agreed to meet the next day and Lefine left.

He had not been gone many minutes when there was a knock at the door. Margont grabbed a pistol and pointed it straight in front of him.

‘It’s me again,’ Lefine called.

Margont opened the door and Lefine crashed into him, pushed from behind by several people. The little room was suddenly overcrowded. There was Louis de Leaume, Jean-Baptiste de Chatel and Honoré de Nolant, as well as two other men whom Margont did not know. They were all armed and Margont’s pistol was immediately seized, much to Vicomte de Leaume’s delight.

Lefine declared: ‘I brought a few friends ...’

CHAPTER 20

LOUIS de Leaume was exultant, as if he and Margont were playing a game of chess and he had just checked his adversary. ‘Who is this man?’ he asked Margont, pointing at Lefine.

‘My name is Fernand Lami, Monsieur le Vicomte,’ the latter replied. ‘I know everything and I’m one of you.’

Jean-Baptiste de Chatel smiled ironically. ‘Oh, but you don’t know everything ...’

Margont noticed that this comment annoyed Louis de Leaume, and took it as another sign that the group was preparing a third plan, which he had not been told about. Lefine kept his cool.

‘I’ve known Monsieur le Chevalier de Langes for many years. We served in the same regiments, the 18th and then the 84th. Facing death together inevitably forges bonds ... You want a return to the monarchy? So do l! Not for the same reasons, but so what?’

‘And what are your reasons?’

‘I want an end to war so that I can leave the army and work for

Monsieur de Langes, as he’s promised me. I’m going to look after the forests on his future lands! A well-paid but not too taxing job. Perhaps my ambitions are small, but that is my dream.’

‘You hid him from us,’ Louis de Leaume told Margont.

He seemed unwilling to address someone of the lower classes. That irritated Margont but he knew he had to take it in his stride and pretend to find it normal.

‘But Monsieur le Vicomte, you hid those men from me.’ He indicated the two unknown men who had started to search the room. They lifted up the mattress, turned the pages of the books, moved things around, emptied the trunk ...