The Deluge: An Historical Novel of Poland, Sweden, and Russia. Vol. 1 (of 2)

by Henryk Sienkiewicz

  CHAPTER XXII.

  That night, at the latest two hours after the departure ofVolodyovski's detachment, Radzivill himself came to Billeviche at thehead of his cavalry. He came to the assistance of Kmita, fearing lesthe might fall into the hands of Volodyovski. When he learned what hadhappened he took the sword-bearer and Olenka and returned to Kyedani,without even giving rest to the horses.

  The hetman was enraged beyond measure when he heard the story from themouth of the sword-bearer, who told everything in detail, wishing toturn from himself the attention of the terrible magnate. He dared notprotest, for the same reason, against the journey to Kyedani, and wasglad in his soul that the storm ended thus. Radzivill, on his part,though suspecting Billevich of "practices" (conspiracy), had in facttoo many cares to remember the matter at that moment.

  The escape of Volodyovski might change affairs in Podlyasye.Horotkyevich and Yakub Kmita, who were there at the head of squadronsconfederated against the hetman, were good soldiers, but not important;hence the whole confederacy had no weight. But now with Volodyovski hadfled such men as Mirski, Stankyevich, and Oskyerko, without countingthe little knight himself,--all excellent officers, enjoying universalrespect.

  But in Podlyasye was Prince Boguslav also, who with the castlesquadrons was opposing the confederates, waiting meanwhile for aid fromhis uncle the elector; but the elector delayed, evidently waiting forevents; and the confederated forces were gaining strength, andadherents came to them every day.

  For some time the hetman had been wishing to march to Podlyasyehimself, and crush the insurgents with one blow, but he was restrainedby the thought that let him set foot over the boundary of Jmud thewhole country would rise, and the importance of the Radzivills bereduced in the eyes of the Swedes to zero. The prince was meditatingwhether it were not better to abandon Podlyasye altogether for thetime, and bring Prince Boguslav to Jmud.

  That was necessary and urgent. On the other hand threatening news cametouching the deeds of the voevoda of Vityebsk. The hetman had tried tonegotiate and bring him over to his plans, but Sapyeha sent back theletters unanswered; and besides, as report said, the voevoda wasselling his effects at auction, disposing of what he could, meltingsilver into coin, selling his cattle for ready money, pawning tapestryand valuables to the Jews, renting his lands and collecting troops.

  The hetman, greedy by nature and incapable of making sacrifices ofmoney, refused to believe, at first, that any man would cast his wholefortune without hesitation on the altar of the country; but timeconvinced him that this was really the case, for Sapyeha's militarypower increased daily. Fugitives, settled nobles, patriots gatheredaround him,--enemies of the hetman, and still worse, his bloodrelatives, such as Prince Michael Radzivill, of whom news came that hehad ordered all the income of his estates still unoccupied by the enemyto be given to the voevoda of Vityebsk.

  In this way then did the edifice, built by the pride of YanushRadzivill, crack from its foundations and totter. The wholeCommonwealth was to find a place in that edifice, but now it appearedin advance that it could not contain even Jmud.

  The condition was becoming more and more like a vicious circle; forRadzivill might summon against the voevoda of Vityebsk Swedish forceswhich were occupying the country by degrees, but that would be toacknowledge his own weakness. Besides, the relations of the hetman withthe generalissimo of the Swedes were strained since the affair atKlavany, thanks to the plan of Zagloba; and in spite of allexplanations, irritation and distrust reigned between them.

  The hetman, when setting out to aid Kmita, had hope that perhaps hemight yet seize Volodyovski and destroy him; therefore, when hisreckoning was at fault, he returned to Kyedani angry and frowning. Itastonished him too that he did not meet Kmita on the road toBilleviche; this happened because Pan Andrei, whose dragoonsVolodyovski did not fail to take with him, returned alone, andtherefore chose the shortest road through the forest, avoiding Plemborgand Eyragoly.

  After a night spent entirely on horseback the hetman came back toKyedani on the following day at noon with his troops, and his firstquestion was about Kmita. He was informed that Pan Andrei had returned,but without soldiers. Of that last circumstance the prince knewalready; but he was curious to hear from the lips of Kmita himself thestory, therefore he gave command to call him at once.

  "There was no success for you, as there was none for me," said he, whenKmita stood before him. "The sword-bearer told me that you fell intothe hands of that little devil."

  "That is true," answered Kmita.

  "And my letter saved you?"

  "Of what letter are you speaking, your highness? For when they had readthemselves the one found on me, they read to me in return anotherletter, written to the commandant of Birji."

  The gloomy face of Radzivill was covered as it were with a bloody skin."Then do you know?"

  "I know!" answered Kmita, emphatically. "Your highness, how could youact so with me? For a common noble it is a shame to break his word, butwhat is it for a prince and a leader?"

  "Silence!" cried Radzivill.

  "I will not be silent, for before the eyes of those men I had to takeyour place. They were urging me to join them; but I would not, andsaid, 'I serve Radzivill; for with him is justice, with him virtue.'Then they showed me that letter: 'See what a man your Radzivill is!' Ihad to shut my mouth and gulp shame."

  The hetman's lips began to quiver from fury. A wild desire seized himto wring that insolent head from its shoulders, and he was alreadyraising his hands to clap for the servants. Rage closed his eyes,stopped the breath in his breast; and surely Kmita would have paiddearly for his outburst were it not for the sudden attack of asthmawhich at that moment seized the prince. His face grew black, he sprangup from the chair and began to beat the air with his hands, his eyeswere coming out of his head, and from his throat rose a hoarse bellow,in which Kmita barely heard the word, "Choking!"

  At the alarm the servants and the castle physicians ran in. They triedto restore the prince, who had lost consciousness. They roused him inabout an hour; and when he showed signs of life Kmita left the room.

  In the corridor he met Kharlamp, who had recovered from the wounds andbruises received in the battle with Oskyerko's insurgent Hungarians.

  "What news?" asked Great Mustache.

  "He has come to himself," answered Kmita.

  "H'm! But any day he may not come! Bad for us, Colonel; for when theprince dies they will grind out his deeds on us. My whole hope is inVolodyovski. I trust that he will shield his old comrades; therefore Itell you" (here Kharlamp lowered his voice) "that I am glad heescaped."

  "Was he cornered so closely, then?"

  "What, cornered! From that willow grove in which we surrounded himwolves could not have sprung out, and he sprang out. May the bulletsstrike him! Who knows, who knows that we shall not have to grasp holdof his skirts, for there is something bad about us here. The nobles areturning away terribly from our prince, and all say that they wouldrather have a real enemy, a Swede, even a Tartar, than a renegade. Thatis the position. And, besides, the prince gives more and more orders toseize and imprison citizens,--which, speaking between us, is againstlaw and liberty. To-day they brought in the sword-bearer of Rossyeni."

  "Have they indeed?"

  "Yes, with his niece. The lady is a beauty. You are to becongratulated!"

  "Where are they lodged?"

  "In the right wing. Five rooms are assigned them; they cannot complain,unless of this,--that a guard walks before their doors. And when willthe wedding be, Colonel?"

  "The music is not yet engaged for it. Farewell!" added Kmita.

  Pan Andrei went from Kharlamp to his own room. A sleepless night withits stormy events, and his last meeting with the prince had wearied himto such a degree that he was barely able to stand. And as every touchcauses pain to a wearied, bruised body, so had he a soul full ofanguish. Kharlamp's simple question 'When will the wedding be?' piercedhim sorely; for before his eyes at once appeared, a
s if alive, the icyface of Olenka, and her fixed lips when their silence confirmed thedeath-sentence against him. Even a word from her would have saved him.Volodyovski would have respected it. All the sorrow and pain whichKmita felt at that moment consisted in this, that she did not say thatword. Still she had not hesitated to save him twice before. Such nowwas the precipice between them, so utterly quenched in her heart wasnot merely love, but simple kind feeling, which it was possible to haveeven for a stranger,--simple pity, which it is incumbent to have forevery one. The more Kmita thought over this, the more cruel did Olenkaseem to him, the greater his complaint against her, and the deeper hiswrong. "What have I done of such character," asked he of himself, "thatI am scorned, like one cursed by the church? Even if it were evil toserve Radzivill, still I feel innocent, since I can answer on myconscience, that not for promotion, not for gain, nor for bread do Iserve him, but because I see profit to the country from my service. Whyam I condemned without trial? Well, well! Let it be so! I will not goto clear myself of uncommitted offences, nor to beg love," repeated hefor the thousandth time.

  Still the pain did not cease; it increased. On returning to hisquarters Pan Andrei cast himself on the bed and tried to sleep; but hecould not, despite all his weariness. After a while he rose and beganto walk through the room. From time to time he raised his hands to hisforehead and said aloud to himself,--

  "Oh, the heart of that woman is hard!"

  And again,--

  "I did not expect that of you, young lady,--May God reward you!"

  In these meditations an hour passed, and a second. At last he tiredhimself out and began to doze, sitting on the bed; but before he fellasleep an attendant of Radzivill, Pan Skillandz, roused him andsummoned him to the prince.

  Radzivill felt better already, and breathed more freely, but on hisleaden face could be seen a great weakening. He sat in a deep armchair,covered with leather, having before him a physician whom he sent outimmediately after Kmita entered.

  "I had one foot in the other world and through you," said he to PanAndrei.

  "Your highness, it was not my fault; I said what I thought."

  "Let no further mention be made of this. But do not add to the weightof the burden which I bear; and know this, that what I have forgivenyou I would not forgive another."

  Kmita was silent.

  "If I gave order," added the prince, after a while, "to execute inBirji these men whom at your request I pardoned in Kyedani, it was notbecause I wanted to deceive you, but to spare you pain. I yieldedapparently, because I have a weakness for you. But their death wasimperative. Am I an executioner, or do you think that I spill bloodmerely to feast my eyes on red? But when older you will know that if aman would achieve anything in this world, he is not free to sacrificegreat causes to smaller. It was imperative that these men should diehere in Kyedani, for see what has happened through your prayers:resistance is increased in the country, civil war begun, friendshipwith the Swedes is strained, an evil example given to others, fromwhich mutiny is spreading like a plague. More than this, I had to go ona later expedition in my own person, and be filled with confusion inthe presence of the whole army; you came near death at their hands, andnow they will go to Podlyasye and become chiefs of an uprising. Beholdand learn! If they had perished in Kyedani, nothing of all this wouldhave happened; but when imploring for them you were thinking only ofyour own feelings. I sent them to die at Birji, for I am experienced, Isee farther; for I know from practice that whoso in running stumbles,even against a small stone, will easily fall, and whoso falls may notrise again, and the faster he was running the less likely is he torise. God save us, what harm these people have done!"

  "They are not so important as to undo the whole work of your highness."

  "Had they done no more than rouse distrust between me and Pontus, theharm would be incalculable. It has been explained that they, not mymen, attacked the Swedes; but the letter with threats which Pontuswrote to me remains, and I do not forgive him that letter. Pontus isbrother-in-law of the king, but it is doubtful whether he could becomemine, and whether the Radzivill thresholds are not too high for him."

  "Let your highness treat with the king himself, and not with hisservant."

  "So I intend to do; and if vexation does not kill me I will teach thatlittle Swede modesty,--if troubles do not kill me; and would that thatwere all, for no one here spares me thorns or pain. It is grievous tome, grievous! Who would believe that I am the man who was at Loyovo,Jechytsa, Mozyr, Turoff, Kieff, Berestechko? The whole Commonwealthgazed at me and Vishnyevetski, as at two suns. Everything trembledbefore Hmelnitski, but he trembled before me. And the very men whom intime of universal disaster I led from victory to victory, forsake meto-day and raise their hands against me as against a parricide."

  "But all are not thus, for there are some who believe in your highnessyet," said Kmita, abruptly.

  "They believe till they stop," added Radzivill, with bitterness. "Greatis the love of the nobles! God grant that I be not poisoned by it! Stabafter stab does each one of you give me, though it occurs not to anythat--"

  "Consider intentions, not words, your highness."

  "I give thanks for the counsel. Henceforth I will consider carefullywhat face each common man shows me, and endeavor with care to pleaseall."

  "Those are bitter words, your highness."

  "But is life sweet? God created me for great things, and look at me; Imust wear out my powers in district struggles, which village might wageagainst village. I wanted to measure myself with mighty monarchs, and Ihave fallen so low that I must hunt some Volodyovski through my ownestates. Instead of astonishing the world with my power, I astonish itwith my weakness; instead of paying for the ashes of Vilna with theashes of Moscow, I have to thank you for digging trenches aroundKyedani. Oh, it is narrow for me, and I am choking,--not alone becausethe asthma is throttling me; helplessness is killing me, inactivity iskilling me! It is narrow for me and heavy for me! Do you understand?"

  "I thought myself that affairs would go differently," answered Kmita,gloomily.

  Radzivill began to breathe with effort.

  "Before another crown can come to me they have crowned me with thorns.I commanded the minister, Aders, to look at the stars. He made a figureand said that the conjunctions were evil, but that they would pass.Meanwhile I am suffering torments. In the night there is somethingwhich will not let me sleep; something walks in the room, faces of somekind stare at me in the bed, and at times a sudden cold comes. Thismeans that death is walking around me. I am suffering. I must beprepared for more treason and apostasy, for I know that there are menstill who waver."

  "There are no longer such," answered Kmita, "for whoso was to go hasgone."

  "Do not deceive yourself; you see that the remnant of the Polish peopleare beginning to take thought."

  Kmita remembered what he had heard from Kharlamp and was silent.

  "Never mind!" continued Radzivill, "it is oppressive and terrible, butit is necessary to endure. Tell no one of what you have heard from me.It is well that this attack came to-day, for it will not be repeated;and especially to-day I need strength, for I wish to have a feast, andshow a glad face to strengthen the courage of people. And do youbrighten your face and tell nothing to any man, for what I say to youis for this purpose only, that you at least refrain from tormenting me.Anger carried me away to-day. Be careful that this happen not again,for it is a question of your head. But I have forgiven you. Of thosetrenches with which you surrounded Kyedani, Peterson himself would notbe ashamed. Go now and send me Myeleshko. They have brought indeserters from his squadron,--common soldiers. I shall order themhanged to a man. We need to give an example. Farewell! It must bejoyful to-day in Kyedani."