When she did so, she gave a little gasp. ‘I…. I thought you dead! How … ? Oh, I am glad. But I will be patient.’
It took two hours’ steady rowing to reach Portillo. On their arrival there, Roger told Lieutenant Bouvard that his men were not to come near the casino, but could eat the rations with which they had come provided, and take it easy among the cypresses, until he should be ready, late in the afternoon, for them to take him back to Venice. Then, giving the Princess his arm, he escorted her up the steps to the casino.
The steward Crozier received them. He reported that in accordance with his instructions he had brought out an ample supply of food prepared by the Embassy chef that morning, then sent the barge back and remained alone there to serve it when required. Roger told him that they would like a light meal in about twenty minutes, dismissed him, led Sirisha to a couch, and sat down beside her.
Removing his mask, he said: ‘Since you thought me dead, I had best explain how my lucky star averted your husband’s design to have me shot. As we first met in England and I speak English perfectly, you naturally supposed me to be an Englishman; but I am not. At least, I am only half English by blood and, although I have a number of relatives and friends there, I have lived most of my life in France and regard myself as a Frenchman. Fortunately, among my French friends I can count General and Madame Boneparte. It was the latter’s recognition of me on her most opportune arrival in Venice, just as I was being marched off to be shot, that saved me and procured my release. I have since been made one of General Boneparte’s aides-de-camp, and it is at his wish that I have brought you to this casino.’
Her eyes were round with astonishment. ‘But…. but I have never even set eyes on the General. And you said this was a plot to rid me of my husband.’
‘It is.’ Roger smiled. ‘The two matters have a bearing on one another. Are you aware that Malderini is the head of a conspiracy to overthrow the French-sponsored régime in Venice?’
‘No. He tells me nothing. Of such things I know only what I read in the news-sheets.’
‘Well, that is the case; and for some time we have been anxious to nip this conspiracy in the bud before the conspirators can give us serious trouble. We have, therefore, laid a trap for them. Tonight, General Boneparte is coming here; they mean to attempt to kidnap him, but it is they who will be caught instead, and disposed of.’
‘You mean that Malderini will be caught and … and killed?’
‘Yes. I take it that you have not changed your mind about wishing for his death?’
‘No, no! He is horrible, malefic, evil! I would have killed him myself a hundred times, had he not this terrible power over me that makes me helpless in his presence.’
‘Then you may rest easy. Within six hours he will be dead. I intend to settle accounts with him myself.’
‘Oh, if only I could believe it!’ she burst out. ‘To be free! To be free at last after all these years. But it won’t happen. He’ll find some way to prevent it. He’ll know by now that you have carried me off. He’ll follow me here.’
‘He cannot. He can have no possible means of finding out where I have taken you.’
‘He has! He will! He’ll use his crystal to overlook me.’
‘I do not believe it. At half-past seven this evening, he will be told where you are, but not before. He should arrive here with his fellow-conspirators about nine o’clock. By that time, this casino will be surrounded by guards and you will be supping in it with General Boneparte; so you will be absolutely safe, and I…’
‘I don’t understand,’ she burst out again. ‘Why should I sup with this great General? He means nothing to me or I to him.’
‘I’ve had no chance yet to explain,’ Roger said quickly. ‘This is the way of it. General Boneparte is the bait in the trap to draw Malderini and his fellow-conspirators, to it. But I also had to dangle some bait to induce the General to come to Venice. You are that bait.’
‘I! But why? I tell you he has never even seen me.’
‘I am aware of that. But everything to do with the East holds an extraordinary fascination for him. He has never met an Indian lady of noble birth. I told him about you and suggested that I should arrange for you to sup together. The idea delighted him, and …’
She held up a slim coffee-coloured hand. ‘To sup. What do you mean by that? Although Malderini has kept me in purdah I am no longer a child. Speak plainly, please.’
Roger made a little bow. ‘I am glad that you should wish me to. General Boneparte asked me your circumstances. I told him only that you were so jealously guarded that I thought it unlikely that you had had any lovers, but that you hated your husband and would not repulse him on that account. I promised that I would arrange for you to sup with him; but no more. Should you refuse to allow him to kiss more than the tips of your fingers, he will have no grounds for complaint against either of us.’
‘He may endeavour to force me against my will. What then? Do you promise to come to my assistance?’
Again, Roger was entirely frank with her. ‘This, Madame, is our programme. Unless Malderini delays for some reason, he and his friends will make their attempt to kidnap General Boneparte while you are supping with him. Under my orders the guards, who will have been disposed about the casino in an ambush, will suddenly appear on the scene and defeat the attempt. Having killed Malderini, I shall then convey the other prisoners under escort back to Venice, leaving you alone with the General.’
‘Then it is your intention to leave me at his mercy.’
‘Permit me to observe,’ replied Roger quietly, ‘that you are a well-made woman, whereas he is much below the size of an average man. He is, in fact, shorter than yourself, although admittedly more muscular. Moreover, I am inclined to the belief that few men, large or small, derive much pleasure from taking a woman against her will. He has great personality. I should not be at all surprised if you find yourself strongly attracted to him. If so, well and good. If not, then you must risk the other thing, or accept the alternative.’
‘The alternative,’ she repeated. ‘What is that?’
Roger stood up. ‘Why, that since I brought you here without your permission I am responsible for you. As I shall not be here at the time when General Boneparte might seek to take advantage of you, it is for me to prevent such a situation ever arising.’
‘What do you mean? I do not understand.’
‘Simply that, should you not be prepared either to grant the General certain favours in the event of your finding him attractive, or repulse him if you do not, then I must take you back to the Malderini Palace this afternoon.’
No!’ she exclaimed. ‘No, no! Not that!’
He shrugged. ‘The choice is yours, Princess. The rôle that I am playing at the moment is repugnant to me. But I’ll not have it on my conscience that I acted the pimp for Bonepart to the extent of procuring a woman for him against her will. You are no child and, if you find his attentions distasteful, you should be capable of dealing with him. But either you face up to that as the price of being rid of the husband you hate before morning, or all I have done so far must go for nothing. I’ll have to face the General’s wrath when he finds I have disappointed him, and you will continue to be the slave of Malderini.’
She hesitated only an instant, then looked him squarely in the face. ‘Nothing could equal the horrors to which he has subjected me. I would give myself to a sweeper rather than return to him.’
There is no question of your being called on to do anything so disagreeable,’ Roger smiled. ‘I cannot vouch for the attitude General Boneparte will adopt towards you, any more than I could vouch for the attitude you will adopt towards him. I had though, as a matter of fairness, to assure myself that you understood the most unpleasant turn that events might take. But the General is by no means lacking in chivalry, and if you play your cards skilfully the game should remain in your own hands. And now, I think we might partake of some refreshment.’
At his call, Crozier whee
led in a small two-tier table loaded with all sorts of cold delicacies, fruit and wine. When he had withdrawn, Roger served the Princess and resumed the conversation in a lighter vein. He told her about Boneparte’s background as a young man, and of his better side: of his care to spare his wife pain from knowledge of his infidelities, of his great generosity to his family who did little but cause him annoyance of his loyalty to his friends, his thoughtfulness for his servants, and that, while he would wither with his viperish tongue men of the first rank of whose actions he disapproved, he was invariably courteous to women.
When they had finished their meal, Roger suggested that she should spend the afternoon resting in the bedroom. Then he added that he had some work to do which would take him an hour or so, after which he must return to Venice; so he would not disturb her but take leave of her now.
Instantly, she became panic-stricken and implored him to remain with her. Again she insisted that Malderini would use his crystal to find out where she was, and come out to the island to regain possession of her before Roger returned. In vain he tried to still her fears. He had intended to take the whole crew of the naval barge back to Venice and dismiss it there, so that none of them should become aware of Boneparte’s visit to the casino. But now, feeling that it was just possible that there was some grounds for her fears, he decided to leave Lieutenant Bouvard and two of the sailors, as well as Grozier, as a guard; and on his promising to do that, she reluctantly agreed to his leaving her.
When he had seen her into the bedroom, in which everything necessary to a lady’s toilette had been set out, he went round to the back of the boat-house. The previous day he had left there the two parcels of clothes he had bought. Having unpacked them, he collected from the boats a number of cushions and, slitting them open, used the stuffing from them to stuff the stockings, breeches, coat and hat on a framework of sticks. When he had done, he had a quite unmistakable effigy of Boneparte wearing a carnival mask. Wrapping it up in the big cloak, he hid it behind some garden chairs, then went to summon the crew of the barge.
He told Bouvard that he was leaving him there with two men and that the three of them were each to patrol a third of the islet’s coast until his return. In no circumstances was anyone to be allowed to land and, if anyone attempted to, they were to be shot on sight. He then put on his mask and had the remainder of the crew row him back to Venice.
At the Embassy steps he gave each of the crew five sequins, cautioned them against talking and sent them back to the dockyard. Villetard was in his office and greeted him with much concern. All Venice was talking of the Princess Sirisha’s kidnapping and, owing to the rumours which had already been spread, assumed that it had been done on General Boneparte’s orders. The resentment was intense, that he should abuse his power to have carried off in broad daylight a woman to whom he had taken a fancy, and Villetard made no secret of his opinion that, unless Roger had some means of justifying his act, the General-in-Chief’s rage would be unbounded when he learned that he had been made the central figure of such a scandal.
Roger needed no telling about that. He knew that to be revenged on Malderini he had taken a terrible gamble, and that there was many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip. If a single hitch occurred in his intricate plans now, by midnight he would be dead, on his way back to the Leads, or flying for his life. But what gave him greater concern at the moment was what Villetard had to say of a call that Malderini had paid him an hour earlier.
Malderini’s pudgy face had been quivering with anger as he had demanded to know why, when there were a thousand other beautiful women in Venice, General Boneparte should have shown such lack of decent feeling as to have carried off the wife of a man who was on the point of rendering France an important service.
In vain Villetard had attempted to soothe him by telling him that, for his own protection, he had observed the strictest secrecy about his being a French agent; and that the General-in-Chief was as yet unaware that it was he who would lead the conspirators into the trap that night. Malderini had talked of cancelling all his arrangements and, instead, going in pursuit of his wife.
Greatly surprised that he might be able to so do, Villetard had asked how he had found out where she was. To that he had replied that he was not quite certain, but he was sure she had been taken to an island with a casino on it. He had seen her there in his crystal with a tall masked man. He had yet to discover which of the many islands with casinos on them it was; but another session with his crystal might reveal that to him.
Villetard had urged him most strongly not to ruin everything by acting precipitantly, and argued that he had only to wait till evening to recover his wife unharmed, as it was certain that General Boneparte would return her to him when he knew that it was to him they would owe the capture of the conspirators. Villetard had also pointed out that unless he did wait and carry things through as arranged, he might get himself killed by whoever was guarding his wife, and in any case lose his reward. Even so, he had gone off still in a high dudgeon and refusing to promise anything.
At this news, Roger’s spirits sank to zero. Sirisha’s worst fears had been realised and, crystal or no crystal, Malderini had now only to become aware of the fact that the French Embassy owned an island with a casino on it, to realise that she had been taken to Portillo. Roger thanked his stars that he had left Bouvard on guard there, but Malderini was as cunning as a serpent, so might think of some way to fool him. In any case, if Malderini’s rage drove him to go out there within the next few hours, the whole plot would be blown sky high. It could only be hoped that the thought of losing his chance to become Doge would restrain him. In any case, there was nothing that Roger could do about it; so he took leave of Villetard and, once more a prey to acute anxiety, had himself rowed into Mestre.
For mid-October the weather was very hot and it looked like thunder. Vaguely he noticed it and hoped that there would not be a downpour which would drench Boneparte and himself when they were rowed out to Portillo, but his mind was too full of other matters for him to think much about it.
He reached the headquarters outside Mestre soon after five o’clock and learned from the adjutant there that the General-in-Chief was expected at about six. He then asked for a guard of twenty picked men who could be relied on to preserve secrecy to act as escort to the General on an evening excursion. Half an hour later they were paraded for him and he spoke to each of them individually, first questioning them about their service, then telling them that the General’s life would be in their hands; so they must obey any order given to them without a moment’s hesitation. He then arranged for boats to be ready down at the wharf at seven o’clock to take the whole party to one of the islands in the lagoon, and sent the men on ahead to the wharf.
These final details had only just been settled when Boneparte’s travelling carriage, escorted by a troop of cuirassiers, clattered into the yard. General Baraguay d’Hilliers received him, and he inspected the guard of honour, pausing here and there to speak to an old soldier and giving his ear a tweak. Then without a glance at Roger, he went inside with the General.
The handsome curly-haired Junot was with him and, dropping behind, gave Roger a grin, winked and whispered, ‘All well for this evening?’
Roger had good cause to fear that by this time all might be far from well, but he showed no sign of his anxiety and replied in a low voice, with a grin, ‘Yes, the lady awaits his pleasure. What sort of a mood is the little man in?’
Junot pulled a face. ‘Bad. The first snow was to be seen on the mountains up there this morning, and if we mean to break the armistice we are under obligation to give the Austrians twenty-five days’ notice. That would mean another campaign in deep snow and after the soft living the troops have had this past six months they’re not up to it.’
‘Then he’s no alternative but to agree to a peace pretty quickly now.’
‘That’s just the rub. I think he’d give a lot to, but these damned Austrians have dug their toes in over Venic
e. A despatch reached Cobenzl last night. The Emperor has agreed everything except that he insists on being given the city.’
They went into the mess together, had a glass of wine and talked to the officers there for an hour while Boneparte was in d’Hilliers’s office shooting questions at him about the state of his Command. Shortly after seven the two Generals emerged. The guard presented arms, Boneparte gave a glance round, beckoned to Roger and strutted to his carriage. Roger and Junot followed him, got in, and took the seat opposite to him. As the carriage drove off, he frowned at Roger and said:
‘Well?’
“All is arranged, mon Général’, smiled Roger, with a cheerfulness he was very far from feeling. ‘The Princess Sirisha awaits you in a charming casino on one of the smaller islands named Portillo.’
‘What! We are not going to Venice then?’
‘No. I thought it unwise for you to take the risk of going into Venice in case you were recognised and attacked.’
‘Nonsense. Who would wish to attack me? The Venetians have much to thank me for.’
‘Perhaps; but I learned from Villetard that some of them are showing base ingratitude, and even conspiring to overthrow the Republican regime you gave them.’
Boneparte grunted. ‘A few malcontents. There are such in every city.’
‘In any case, mon Général, for you to spend the night on this island will be more discreet.’
‘True. And that is important. I only hope this Princess proves up to my expectations. I am badly in need of a little relaxation.’
The drive to the wharf was a short one. A few minutes later the carriage pulled up and they descended from it. Twilight had fallen but there was still sufficient light to see some distance, and it was still hot and oppressive. The Embassy barge was drawn up at the bottom of some steps about thirty yards from where the coach had halted. In front and behind it were two other barges in which were seated the guard of twenty men that Roger had sent ahead. As the General-in-Chief appeared, a sharp order rang out, everyone in the barges stood up and came stiffly to attention.
The Rape of Venice Page 51