Perhaps the most challenging moment for Talleyrand was when Caulaincourt, accompanied by Marshals Ney and Macdonald, arrived at the rue Saint-Florentin with Napoleon’s offer to abdicate in favour of his son. Alexander’s chivalrous instincts and sentimental nature reacted with sympathy for the fallen Emperor, and he was inclined to accept. Talleyrand and others pointed out that this would be unworkable, as, short of imprisoning Napoleon on another continent, they could not expect him not to assume a dominant role again. Even that argument did not convince the Tsar. It was only when Talleyrand
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