#lavalette

Le Lavalette mansion in the 4th district of Paris

At the period I am now speaking of, Barras was the most violent of the three members of the Directory who wished for an alteration in the councils. His hatred of Carnot was so strong that, a few days before the 18th Fructidor, one of his confidants, to whom I made the observation that Carnot would undoubtedly find means of escaping from persecution, answered, "We will kill him." He had continually in his mouth the most insulting expressions against those whom he suspected of being Royalists. On the other hand, how is it possible to reconcile that hatred of the Bourbons and their friends with the revelations published by Fauche Borel since the Restoration, and which Barras never denied. The above-mentioned agent of Louis XVIII has asserted that the Director had consented to the plan of the Count of Lille to bring about a Royalist revolution ; that a formal pardon had been sent to him, and an amnesty for his vote in the trial of the late King ; finally, that several millions had been promised him to make up for the loss of his rank as Director. If the assertion of Fauche Borel be true, the animosity of Barras against the Royalist party can only be explained by the impossibility in which he found himself of accomplishing his promises, or by his grief at being obliged to share glory and the profit of a Restoration with persons whom he detested, and whose reputation and talents would offer the King better pledges than he could present. The conduct of Napoleon in regard to Barras, during his reign, may also be explained by the knowledge he had acquired of his treason.

— Memoirs of Count Lavalette, 1894, p. 132 - 133

Given that these are memoirs, their reliability must be taken with caution. I found these revelations extremely interesting nonetheless.

A few pages later Lavalette also mention that while in Geneva Bonaparte secretly sent notice to Carnot to leave the town - he was hiding there - as soon as possible:

Bonaparte crossed Switzerland, and went to Rastadt : his travelling companions were Generals Marmont, Duroc, myself, his secretary Bourrienne, and Ivan his physician. The only place at which he stopped was Geneva, where the Directory was already beginning, by underhand manoeuvres, to augment the number of its adherents, who were one day to effect the union of that Republic with France. Carnot had sought refuge in that city, and General Bonaparte privately sent him advice to leave it as soon as possible, so as to prevent a persecution he was not able to prevent.

— Memoirs of Count Lavalette, 1894, p. 148

The day before leaving for Russia, he called his faithful postmaster, Count Lavalette, and entrusted him with a first nest egg to keep under his belt. “Go to the Grand Marshal,” he ordered, “he will give you treasury bonds for the sum of one million six hundred thousand francs. You will secretly convert them into gold…” No sooner said than done, which certainly stressed out poor Lavalette who didn’t know where to hide all this gold.

According to Constant, present during this scene, the Emperor even added a chest filled with diamonds, taken directly from the Tuileries treasure. In the process, Lavalette decided to have a collection of false hollow books made (no less than 54 volumes!) under the banal title of Ancient and Modern History, to hide the Emperor's gold. When the French campaign occurred in 1814, the count hid his fabulous library under the parquet floor of his castle.

And when three hundred Prussians camped for two months within its walls, they had no idea that part of the imperial fortune was sleeping under their feet! The loyal director ended up giving half of it to Prince Eugène de Beauharnais, and deposited four hundred thousand francs in the name of the Emperor in the coffers of the banker Laffitte, for greater security. He was well inspired, we will see later (...).

Le tresor perdu de Napoleon_Ier (herodote.net)