The Firebrand

by S. R. Crockett

  CHAPTER XXXI

  THE QUEEN'S ANTE-CHAMBER

  Out of the darkness Rollo and the Sergeant stepped quickly into theroom. Whereupon, small wonder that the lady should scream and fall backinto her chair, the waiting-maid drop upon the floor as if she had beenstruck by a Carlist bullet, or the gentleman with the long and glossywhiskers suspend his caresses and gaze upon the pair with dropped jawand open mouth!

  At his entrance Rollo had taken off his hat with a low bow. The Sergeantsaluted and stood at attention. There was a moment's silence in theroom, but before Rollo had time to speak the Queen-Regent recovered herself-possession. The daughter of the Bourbons stood erect. Her long hairstreamed in dark glossy waves over her shoulders. Her bosom heavedvisibly under the thin pink wrapper. Anger struggled with fear in hereyes. Verily Maria Cristina of Naples had plenty of courage.

  "Who are you," she cried, "that dare thus to break in upon the privacyof the Regent Queen of Spain? Duke, call the guard!"

  But her husband only shrugged his shoulders and continued to gaze uponthe pair of intruders with a calm exterior.

  "Your Majesty," said Rollo, courteously, naturally resuming theleadership when anything requiring contact with gentlefolk came in theway, "I am here to inform you that you are in great danger--greater thanI can for the moment make clear to you. The palace is, as I understand,absolutely without defence--the town is in the same position. It iswithin our knowledge that a band of two hundred gipsies are on the marchto attack you this night in order to plunder the chateau, and put todeath every soul within its walls. We have come, therefore, togetherwith our companions outside, to offer our best services in yourMajesty's defence!"

  "But," cried the Queen-Regent, "all this may very well be, but you havenot yet told me who you are and what you are doing here!"

  "For myself," answered Rollo, "I am a Scottish gentleman, trained frommy youth to the profession of arms. Those who wait without are for thepresent comrades and companions, whom, with your Majesty's permission, Ishall bid to enter. For to be plain, every moment is of the utmostimportance, that we may lose no time in putting the chateau into such astate of defence as is possible, since the attack of the gipsies may beexpected at any moment!"

  Rollo stepped to the window to summon his company, but found themalready assembled on the balcony. It was no time for formalintroductions, yet, as each entered, Rollo, like a true herald,delivered himself of a brief statement of the position of the individualin the company. But when La Giralda entered, the stout waiting-maid rosewith a shriek from the floor where she had been sitting.

  "Oh, my lady," she cried, "do not trust these wicked people. They havecome to murder us all. That woman is the very old goatherdess with whomthe Princess Isabel was so bewitched this morning! I knew some evilwould come of such ongoings!"

  "Hush, Susana," said her mistress with severity; "when you are asked forany information, be ready to give it. Till then hold your peace."

  Which having said she turned haughtily back again to the strangers,without vouchsafing a glance at her husband or the trembling handmaiden.

  "I can well believe," she said, "that you have come here to do us aservice in our present temporary difficulty, and for that, if I find youof approved fidelity, you shall not fail to be rewarded. Meantime, Iaccept your service, and I place you and the whole of your men under theimmediate command of his Excellency the Duke of Rianzares!"

  She turned to the tall exquisite who still continued to comb hiswhiskers by the chimney-piece. Up till now he had not spoken a word.

  Rollo scarcely knew what to reply to this, and as for the Sergeant, hehad the hardest work to keep from bursting into a loud laugh.

  But they were presently delivered from their difficulty by the newlynominated commander-in-chief himself.

  "This scene is painful to me," said Senor Munoz, placidly, "it irritatesmy nerves. I have a headache. I think I shall retire and leave thesegentlemen to make such arrangements as may be necessary till the returnof our guards, which will doubtless take place within an hour or so. Ifyou need me you can call for me!"

  Having made this general declaration he turned to Rollo and addressedhimself particularly to him.

  "My rooms, I would have you know, are in the north wing," he continued;"I beg that there shall be no firing or other brutal noise on thatside. Anything of the kind would be most annoying. So pray see to it."

  Then he advanced to where his wife stood, her eyes full of anger at thisdesertion.

  "My angel," he said, calmly, "I advise you sincerely to do the same.Retire to your chamber. Take a little _tisane_ for the cooling of theblood, and leave all other matters to these new friends of ours. I amsure they appear very honest gentlemen. But as you have many littlevaluables lying about, do not forget to lock your door, as I shall mine.Adieu, my angel!"

  And so from an inconceivable height of dandyism his Excellency the Dukeof Rianzares would have stooped to bestow a good night salutation on hiswife's cheek, had not that lady, swiftly recovering from her stupor,suddenly awarded him a resounding box on the ear, which so fardiscomposed the calm of his demeanour that he took from his pocket ahandkerchief edged with lace, unfolded it, and with the most ineffablegesture in the world wiped the place the lady's hand had touched. Then,with the same abiding calm, he restored the cambric to his pocket, bowedlow to the Queen, and lounged majestically towards the door.

  Maria Cristina watched him at first with a haughty and unmovedcountenance. Her hands clenched themselves close to her side, as if shewished the blow had been bestowed with the shut rather than with theopen digits.

  But as her husband (for so he really was, though the relationship wasnot acknowledged till many years after, and at the feet of the HolyFather himself in the Vatican) approached the door, opened it, and wason the point of departing without once turning round, Cristina suddenlybroke into a half hysterical cry, ran after him, threw her arms tenderlyabout his neck, and burst out weeping on his broad bosom.

  The gentleman, without betraying the least emotion, patted hertolerantly on the shoulder, and murmured some words in her ear, at thesame time looking over her head at the men of the company with a sort ofhalf-comic apology.

  "Oh! Fernando, forgive me," she cried, "life of my life--the devil musthave possessed me! I will cut off the wicked hand that did the deed.Give me a knife, good people--to strike the best and handsomest--oh, itwas wicked--cruel, diabolical!"

  Whatever may have been the moral qualities of the royal blow, Rollo feltthat in their present circumstances time enough had been given to itsconsideration, so he interposed.

  "Your Majesty, the gipsies may be upon us at any moment. It would be aswell if you would summon all the servants of the palace together and armthem with such weapons as may be available!"

  Maria Cristina lifted her head from the shoulder of her Ferdinand, as ifshe did not at first comprehend Rollo's speech, and was resolved toresent an intrusion at such a moment. Whereupon the Scot repeated hiswords to such good purpose that the Queen-Regent threw up her hands andcried, "Alas! this happens most unfortunately. We have only old Eugenioand a couple of lads in the whole palace since the departure of theguards!"

  "Never mind," said Rollo; "let us make the best of the matter. We willmuster them; perhaps they will be able to load and fire a musket apiece!If I mistake not, the fighting will be at very short range!"

  It was upon this occasion that Senor Fernando Munoz showed his firstspark of interest.

  "I will go and awake them," he said; "I know where the servants are wontto sleep."

  But on this occasion his fond wife would not permit him to stir.

  "The wicked murderers may have already penetrated to that part of thecastle," she palpitated, her arms still about his neck, "and you mustnot risk your precious life. Let Susana go and fetch them. She is old,and has doubtless made her peace with religion."

  "Nay, it is not fitting," objected Susana with spirit. "I am a woman,and not so old as my lady says. I cannot go gadding abo
ut into thechambers of all and sundry. Besides, there has been purpose of marriageopenly declared between me and the Senor Eugenio for upwards of thirtyyears. What then would be said if I----"

  "Nay, then," cried Maria Cristina, "stay where you are, Susana. For me,I am none so nice. I will go myself. Do not follow me, Fernando!" Andwith that she ran to the door, and her feet were heard flitting up thestairway which led to the servants' wing of the palace. Munoz made as ifto accompany her, but remembering his wife's prohibition, he did notproceed farther than the door, where, with a curious smile upon hisface, he stood listening to the voice of the Queen-Regent upraised inalternate appeal and rebuke.

  During the interval, while the Sergeant and El Sarria were looking totheir stores and munitions, Rollo approached the waiting-maid, Susana,and inquired of her the way to the armoury, where he expected to findstore of arms and powder.

  "If this young maid will go also, I will conduct you thither, youngman!" said Susana, primly.

  And holding Concha firmly by the hand, she took up a candle and led theway.

  But to Rollo's surprise they found the armoury wholly sacked. All thevaluable guns had been removed by the deserting guards. The gun rackswere torn down. The floor of beaten earth was strewed with flints ofancient pieces of last century's manufacture. The barrels ofbell-mouthed blunderbusses leaned against the wall, the stocks, knockedoff in mere wantonness, were piled in corners; and in all the chests andwall-presses there was not an ounce of powder to be found.

  While Rollo was searching, Senor Munoz appeared at the door, languid andcareless as ever. He watched the young Scot opening chests and rummagingin lockers for a while without speaking. Then he spoke slowly anddeliberately.

  "It strikes me that when I was an officer of the bodyguard, in theservice of the late Fernando the Seventh, my right royal namesake (andin some sort predecessor), there was another room used for the privatestores and pieces of the officers. If I mistake not it was entered bythat door to the right, but the key appears to be wanting!"

  He added the last clause, as he watched the frantic efforts of Rollo,who had immediately thrown himself upon the panels, while the Senor wasin the act of rolling out his long-drawn Castilian elegances ofutterance.

  "Hither, Cardono," cried Rollo, "open me this door! Quick, Sergeant!"

  "Have a care," said the Duke; "there is powder inside!"

  But Rollo, now keen on the scent of weapons of defence, would not admita moment's delay, and the Sergeant, inserting his curiously crookedblade, opened that door as easily as he had done the French window.

  Munoz stepped forward with some small show of eagerness and glancedwithin.

  "Yes," he said, "the officers' arms are there, and a liberal allowanceof powder."

  "They are mostly sporting rifles," said Rollo, looking them over, "butthere is certainly plenty of powder and ball."

  "And what kills ibex and bouquetin on the sierras," drawled Munoz, "willsurely do as much for a mountain gipsy if, as you said just now, therange is likely to be a short one!"

  Rollo began somewhat to change his opinion about the husband of theQueen. At first he had seemed both dandy and coward, a combination whichRollo held in the utmost contempt. But when Rollo had once seen himhandle a gun, he began to have more respect for his recent Excellencythe Duke of Rianzares.

  "Can you tell us, from your military experience," Rollo asked, "which isthe most easily vulnerable part of this palace."

  "It is easily vulnerable in every part," answered Munoz, carelesslysnapping the lock of a rifle again and again.

  "Nay, but be good enough to listen, sir," cried Rollo, with some heat."There are women and children here. You do not know the gipsies. You donot know by whom they are led. You do not know the oaths of death andtorture they have sworn----"

  "By whom are they led?" said Munoz, still playing carelessly with therifle. "I thought such fellows were mere savages from the hills, andmight be slaughtered like sheep."

  "Perhaps--at any rate they are led by your own daughter!" said Rollo,briefly, growing nettled at the parvenu grandee's seeming indifference.

  "_My daughter!_" cried Munoz, losing in a moment his bright complexion,and becoming of a slaty pallor, "my daughter, that mad imp of hell--whothrice has tried to assassinate me!"

  And as he spoke, he let the gun fall upon the floor at his feet. Then herallied a little.

  "Who has told you this lie?" he exclaimed, with a kind of indignation.

  "A man who does not make mistakes--or tell lies--Sergeant Cardono!" saidRollo. "He has both seen and spoken to her! She has sworn to attack thepalace to-night."

  "Then I am as good as dead already. I must go directly to my wife!"answered Munoz.

  But Rollo stepped before him.

  "Not without carrying an armful of these to where they will be of use,"he said, pointing to the guns. And the Duke of Rianzares, without anyfurther demur, did his will. Rollo in turn took as many as he couldcarry, and the Sergeant brought up the rear carrying a wooden box ofcartridges, which had evidently been packed ready for transportation.

  They returned to the large lighted room, where Mortimer, Etienne, and ElSarria had been left on guard. Concha and the waiting-maid secondedtheir efforts by bringing store of pistols and ammunition.

  On their way they passed through a hall, which by day seemed to belighted only from the roof. Rollo bade them deposit the arms there, andbring the other candles and lamps to that place.

  "Every moment that a light is to be seen at an outside window adds toour danger," he said, and Concha ran at his bidding.

  Before she had time to return, however, the Queen-Regent came in withher usual dignity, the three serving-men following her. Rollo saw atonce that nothing was to be expected of Eugenio, whose ancient andtottering limbs could hardly support the weight of his body. But therewas more hope of the two others. They proved to be stout young fellowsfrom the neighbourhood, and professed the utmost eagerness for a boutwith the gipsies. From their youth they had been accustomed to the useof firearms--it is to be feared without due licence--in the royalhunting preserves of Penalara and the Guadarrama.

  But this made no difference to Rollo, who instantly set about equippingthem with the necessary arms, and inquiring minutely about thefastenings of the lower doors and windows. These it appeared werestrong. The doors themselves were covered without with sheet-iron, whileall the windows were protected not only by shutters but by solidstanchions of iron sunk in the wall.

  On the whole Rollo was satisfied, and next questioned the servantsconcerning the state of the town and whether any assistance was to behoped for from that quarter. In this, however, he was disappointed. Itappeared that the whole municipality of San Ildefonso was so utterlyplague-stricken that scarce an able-bodied man remained, or so much as ahalfling boy capable of shouldering a musket. Only the women stood stillin the breach, true nursing mothers, not like her of Ramah, refusing tobe comforted, but continuing rather to tend the sick and dying till theythemselves also died--aye, even shrouding the dead and laying out thecorpses. A faithful brother or two of the Hermitage abode to carry thelast Sacraments of the Church through the deserted and grass-grownstreets, though there were few or none now to fall on their knees at thepassage of _Su Majestad_, or to uncover the head at the melancholytolling of the funeral bell.

  With characteristic swiftness of decision Rollo made up his mind thatthe best plan for the defence of the palace would be to place his scantyforces along the various jutting balconies of the second floor,carefully darkening all the rooms in their rear, so that, till themoment of the attack itself, the assailants would have no idea that theywere expected. It was his idea that the small doors on the garden sideof the house, which led right and left to the servants' quarters, wouldbe attacked first. He was the more assured of this because the Sergeanthad recognised, in the bivouac of the gipsies, a man who had formerlybeen one of the royal grooms both at La Granja and at Aranjuez. He wouldbe sure to be familiar, therefore, with that part of the i
nterior of thepalace. Besides, being situated upon the side most completely removedfrom the town, the assailants would have the less fear of interruption.

  While Rollo was thus cogitating, Concha came softly to his side,appearing out of the gloom with a suddenness that startled the youngman.

  "I have pulled up the ladder by which we ascended and laid it across thebalcony," she said. "Was that right?"

  "You--alone?" cried Rollo in astonishment.

  She nodded brightly.

  "Certainly," she answered; "women are not all so great weaklings as youthink them--nor yet such fools!"

  "Indeed, you have more sense than I," Rollo responded, gloomily; "Iought to have remembered that before. But, as you know, I have had manythings to think of."

  "I am glad," she said, more quietly and submissively than ever in herlife, "that even in so small a matter I am permitted to think a littlefor you!"

  Whereupon, though the connection of idea is not obvious, Rolloremembered the moment when he had faced the black muzzles of Cabrera'smuskets in the chill of the morning, and the bitter regret which hadthen arisen to his mind. Out there in the dark of the palace-garden,death fronted him as really though not perhaps so immediately. Heresolved quickly that he should not have the same regret again, if theworst came to the worst. There was no one in the alcove where Concha hadfound him. The Queen-Regent had disappeared to her suite of rooms, andthither after a time Senor Munoz had followed her. The rest were at thatmoment being placed in their various posts by the Sergeant according toRollo's directions.

  So he stooped quickly and kissed Concha upon the mouth.

  It was strange. The girl's inevitable instinct on such matters seemed tohave deserted her. In a somewhat wide experience Concha could alwaystell to a second when an attempt of this kind was due. Most women can,and if they are kissed it is because they want to be. (In which, sayeththe Wise Man, is great wisdom!) A fire-alarm rings in their brain withabsolute certainty, giving them time to evite the conflagration by ahealthy douche of cold water. But Rollo the Firebrand again provedhimself the Masterly Incalculable. Or else--but who could suspectConcha?

  It is, again sayeth the Wise Man, the same with kicking a dog. The brutesees the kick coming before a muscle is in motion. He watches the eye ofhis opponent and is forearmed. He vanisheth into space. But when Rollointerviewed an animal in this fashion, he kicked first and thoughtafterwards. Hence no sign of his intention appeared in his eye, and thedog's yelp arrived almost as a surprise to himself.

  So, with greatly altered circumstance, was it in the present instance.Rollo kissed first and made up his mind to it some time after.Consequently Concha was taken absolutely by surprise. She uttered alittle cry and stepped back indignantly into the lighted room where thespare muskets were piled.

  But again Rollo was before her. If he had attempted to make love, shewould have scathed him with the soundest indignation, based onconsiderations of time, place, and personality.

  But the young Scot gave her no opportunity. In a moment he had againbecome her superior officer.

  "Take your piece," he said, with an air of assured command, "togetherwith sufficient ammunition, and post yourself at the little staircasewindow over the great door looking towards the town. If you see any oneapproaching, do not hesitate to fire. Good-bye. God bless you! I willsee you again on my rounds!"

  And Rollo passed on his way.

  Then with a curious constraint upon her tongue, and on her spirit a newand delightful feeling that she could do no other than as she wasbidden, Concha found herself, with loaded musket and pistol, obedientlytaking her place in the general defence of the palace.