The First Consul had been installed at Saint-Cloud only a short while,
when the chateau, which had thus again become the residence of the
sovereign at enormous expense, came near falling a prey to the flames.
The guard room was under the vestibule, in the center of the palace; and
one night, the soldiers having made an unusually large fire, the stove
became so hot that a sofa, whose back touched one of the flues which
warmed the saloon, took fire, and the games were quickly communicated to
the other furniture. The officer on duty perceiving this, immediately
notified the concierge, and together they ran to General Duroc's room and
awoke him. The general rose in haste, and, commanding perfect silence,
made a chain of men. He took his position at the pool, in company with
the concierge, and thence passed buckets of water to the soldiers for two
or three hours, at the end of which time the fire was extinguished, but
only after devouring all the furniture; and it was not until the next
morning that the First Consul, Josephine, Hortense, in short, all the
other occupants of the chateau, learned of the accident, all of whom, the
First Consul especially, expressed their appreciation of the
consideration shown in not alarming them.

To prevent, or at least to render such accidents less likely in future,
the First Consul organized a night-guard at Saint-Cloud, and subsequently
did the same at all his residences; which guard-was called "the watch."

During his early occupation of Saint-Cloud the First Consul slept in the
same bed with his wife; afterwards etiquette forbade this; and as a
result, conjugal affection was somewhat chilled, and finally the First
Consul occupied an apartment at some distance from that of Madame
Bonaparte. To reach her room it was necessary to cross a long corridor,
on the right and left of which were the rooms of the ladies-in-waiting,
the women of the service, etc. When he wished to pass the night with his