Louis XVIII is in power in France. Schulmeister has gone to see Napoleon on the Island of Elba. Fouché has him arrested upon his return and asks him not to encourage the Emperor to come back to France, as he himself wishes to bring the Duke of Reichstadt to power and become Regent. However, Sir Horace Mills for England, Tchernitcheff for Russia, and Grüner for Prussia secretly agree to manipulate Napoleon’s entourage and urge him to return to France in order to destroy him more effectively. The trap is set.