6. HOW THE BRIGADIER PLAYED FOR A KINGDOM
It has sometimes struck me that some of you, when you have heard me tellthese little adventures of mine, may have gone away with the impressionthat I was conceited. There could not be a greater mistake than this,for I have always observed that really fine soldiers are free from thisfailing. It is true that I have had to depict myself sometimes as brave,sometimes as full of resource, always as interesting; but, then, itreally was so, and I had to take the facts as I found them. It would bean unworthy affectation if I were to pretend that my career has beenanything but a fine one. The incident which I will tell you tonight,however, is one which you will understand that only a modest man woulddescribe. After all, when one has attained such a position as mine, onecan afford to speak of what an ordinary man might be tempted to conceal.
You must know, then, that after the Russian campaign the remains of ourpoor army were quartered along the western bank of the Elbe, where theymight thaw their frozen blood and try, with the help of the good Germanbeer, to put a little between their skin and their bones. There weresome things which we could not hope to regain, for I daresay that threelarge commissariat fourgons would not have sufficed to carry the fingersand the toes which the army had shed during that retreat. Still, leanand crippled as we were, we had much to be thankful for when we thoughtof our poor comrades whom we had left behind, and of the snowfields--thehorrible, horrible snowfields. To this day, my friends, I do not care tosee red and white together. Even my red cap thrown down upon my whitecounterpane has given me dreams in which I have seen those monstrousplains, the reeling, tortured army, and the crimson smears which glaredupon the snow behind them. You will coax no story out of me about thatbusiness, for the thought of it is enough to turn my wine to vinegar andmy tobacco to straw.
Of the half-million who crossed the Elbe in the autumn of the year '12about forty thousand infantry were left in the spring of '13. But theywere terrible men, these forty thousand: men of iron, eaters of horses,and sleepers in the snow; filled, too, with rage and bitterness againstthe Russians. They would hold the Elbe until the great army ofconscripts, which the Emperor was raising in France, should be ready tohelp them to cross it once more.
But the cavalry was in a deplorable condition. My own hussars were atBorna, and when I paraded them first, I burst into tears at the sight ofthem. My fine men and my beautiful horses--it broke my heart to see thestate to which they were reduced. 'But, courage,' I thought, 'they havelost much, but their Colonel is still left to them.' I set to work,therefore, to repair their disasters, and had already constructed twogood squadrons, when an order came that all colonels of cavalry shouldrepair instantly to the depots of the regiments in France to organizethe recruits and the remounts for the coming campaign.
You will think, doubtless, that I was over-joyed at this chance ofvisiting home once more. I will not deny that it was a pleasure to me toknow that I should see my mother again, and there were a few girls whowould be very glad at the news; but there were others in the army whohad a stronger claim. I would have given my place to any who had wivesand children whom they might not see again. However, there is no arguingwhen the blue paper with the little red seal arrives, so within an hourI was off upon my great ride from the Elbe to the Vosges. At last I wasto have a period of quiet. War lay behind my mare's tail and peace infront of her nostrils. So I thought, as the sound of the bugles died inthe distance, and the long, white road curled away in front of methrough plain and forest and mountain, with France somewhere beyond theblue haze which lay upon the horizon.
It is interesting, but it is also fatiguing, to ride in the rear of anarmy. In the harvest time our soldiers could do without supplies, forthey had been trained to pluck the grain in the fields as they passed,and to grind it for themselves in their bivouacs. It was at that time ofyear, therefore, that those swift marches were performed which were thewonder and the despair of Europe. But now the starving men had to bemade robust once more, and I was forced to draw into the ditchcontinually as the Coburg sheep and the Bavarian bullocks came streamingpast with waggon loads of Berlin beer and good French cognac. Sometimes,too, I would hear the dry rattle of the drums and the shrill whistle ofthe fifes, and long columns of our good little infantry men would swingpast me with the white dust lying thick upon their blue tunics. Thesewere old soldiers drawn from the garrisons of our German fortresses, forit was not until May that the new conscripts began to arrive fromFrance.
Well, I was rather tired of this eternal stopping and dodging, so that Iwas not sorry when I came to Altenburg to find that the road divided,and that I could take the southern and quieter branch. There were fewwayfarers between there and Greiz, and the road wound through groves ofoaks and beeches, which shot their branches across the path. You willthink it strange that a Colonel of hussars should again and again pullup his horse in order to admire the beauty of the feathery branches andthe little, green, new-budded leaves, but if you had spent six monthsamong the fir trees of Russia you would be able to understand me.
There was something, however, which pleased me very much less than thebeauty of the forests, and that was the words and looks of the folk wholived in the woodland villages. We had always been excellent friendswith the Germans, and during the last six years they had never seemed tobear us any malice for having made a little free with their country. Wehad shown kindnesses to the men and received them from the women, sothat good, comfortable Germany was a second home to all of us. But nowthere was something which I could not understand in the behaviour of thepeople. The travellers made no answer to my salute; the foresters turnedtheir heads away to avoid seeing me; and in the villages the folk wouldgather into knots in the roadway and would scowl at me as I passed. Evenwomen would do this, and it was something new for me in those days tosee anything but a smile in a woman's eyes when they were turned uponme.
It was in the hamlet of Schmolin, just ten miles out of Altenburg, thatthe thing became most marked. I had stopped at the little inn there justto damp my moustache and to wash the dust out of poor Violette's throat.It was my way to give some little compliment, or possibly a kiss, to themaid who served me; but this one would have neither the one nor theother, but darted a glance at me like a bayonet-thrust. Then when Iraised my glass to the folk who drank their beer by the door they turnedtheir backs on me, save only one fellow, who cried, 'Here's a toast foryou, boys! Here's to the letter T!' At that they all emptied their beermugs and laughed; but it was not a laugh that had good-fellowship in it.
I was turning this over in my head and wondering what their boorishconduct could mean, when I saw, as I rode from the village, a great Tnew carved upon a tree. I had already seen more than one in my morning'sride, but I had given no thought to them until the words of thebeer-drinker gave them an importance. It chanced that arespectable-looking person was riding past me at the moment, so I turnedto him for information.
'Can you tell me, sir,' said I, 'what this letter T is?'
He looked at it and then at me in the most singular fashion. 'Youngman,' said he, 'it is not the letter N.' Then before I could ask furtherhe clapped his spurs into his horses ribs and rode, stomach to earth,upon his way.
At first his words had no particular significance in my mind, but as Itrotted onwards Violette chanced to half turn her dainty head, and myeyes were caught by the gleam of the brazen N's at the end of thebridle-chain. It was the Emperor's mark. And those T's meant somethingwhich was opposite to it. Things had been happening in Germany, then,during our absence, and the giant sleeper had begun to stir. I thoughtof the mutinous faces that I had seen, and I felt that if I could onlyhave looked into the hearts of these people I might have had somestrange news to bring into France with me. It made me the more eager toget my remounts, and to see ten strong squadrons behind my kettle-drumsonce more.
While these thoughts were passing through my head I had been alternatelywalking and trotting, as a man should who has a long journey before, anda willing horse beneath, him. The
woods were very open at this point,and beside the road there lay a great heap of fagots. As I passed therecame a sharp sound from among them, and, glancing round, I saw a facelooking out at me--a hot, red face, like that of a man who is besidehimself with excitement and anxiety. A second glance told me that it wasthe very person with whom I had talked an hour before in the village.
'Come nearer!' he hissed. 'Nearer still! Now dismount and pretend to bemending the stirrup leather. Spies may be watching us, and it meansdeath to me if I am seen helping you.'
'Death!' I whispered. 'From whom?'
'From the Tugendbund. From Lutzow's night-riders. You Frenchmen areliving on a powder magazine, and the match has been struck that willfire it.'
'But this is all strange to me,' said I, still fumbling at the leathersof my horse. 'What is this Tugendbund?'
'It is the secret society which has planned the great rising which is todrive you out of Germany, just as you have been driven out of Russia.'
'And these T's stand for it?'
'They are the signal. I should have told you all this in the village,but I dared not be seen speaking with you. I galloped through the woodsto cut you off, and concealed both my horse and myself.'
'I am very much indebted to you,' said I, 'and the more so as you arethe only German that I have met today from whom I have had commoncivility.'
'All that I possess I have gained through contracting for the Frencharmies,' said he. 'Your Emperor has been a good friend to me. But I begthat you will ride on now, for we have talked long enough. Beware onlyof Lutzow's night-riders!'
'Banditti?' I asked.
'All that is best in Germany,' said he. 'But for God's sake rideforwards, for I have risked my life and exposed my good name in order tocarry you this warning.'
Well, if I had been heavy with thought before, you can think how I feltafter my strange talk with the man among the fagots. What came home tome even more than his words was his shivering, broken voice, histwitching face, and his eyes glancing swiftly to right and left, andopening in horror whenever a branch cracked upon a tree. It was clearthat he was in the last extremity of terror, and it is possible that hehad cause, for shortly after I had left him I heard a distant gunshotand a shouting from somewhere behind me. It may have been some sportsmanhalloaing to his dogs, but I never again heard of or saw the man who hadgiven me my warning.
I kept a good look-out after this, riding swiftly where the country wasopen, and slowly where there might be an ambuscade. It was serious forme, since 500 good miles of German soil lay in front of me; but somehowI did not take it very much to heart, for the Germans had always seemedto me to be a kindly, gentle people, whose hands closed more readilyround a pipe-stem than a sword-hilt--not out of want of valour, youunderstand, but because they are genial, open souls, who would rather beon good terms with all men. I did not know then that beneath that homelysurface there lurks a devilry as fierce as, and far more persistentthan, that of the Castilian or the Italian.
And it was not long before I had shown to me that there was somethingmore serious abroad than rough words and hard looks. I had come to aspot where the road runs upwards through a wild tract of heath-land andvanishes into an oak wood. I may have been half-way up the hill when,looking forward, I saw something gleaming under the shadow of thetree-trunks, and a man came out with a coat which was so slashed andspangled with gold that he blazed like a fire in the sunlight. Heappeared to be very drunk, for he reeled and staggered as he cametowards me. One of his hands was held up to his ear and clutched a greatred handkerchief, which was fixed to his neck.
I had reined up the mare and was looking at him with some disgust, forit seemed strange to me that one who wore so gorgeous a uniform shouldshow himself in such a state in broad daylight. For his part, he lookedhard in my direction and came slowly onwards, stopping from time to timeand swaying about as he gazed at me. Suddenly, as I again advanced, hescreamed out his thanks to Christ, and, lurching forwards, he fell witha crash upon the dusty road. His hands flew forward with the fall, and Isaw that what I had taken for a red cloth was a monstrous wound, whichhad left a great gap in his neck, from which a dark blood-clot hung,like an epaulette upon his shoulder.
'My God!' I cried, as I sprang to his aid. 'And I thought that you weredrunk!'
'Not drunk, but dying,' said he. 'But thank Heaven that I have seen aFrench officer while I have still strength to speak.'
I laid him among the heather and poured some brandy down his throat. Allround us was the vast countryside, green and peaceful, with nothingliving in sight save only the mutilated man beside me.
'Who has done this?' I asked, 'and what are you? You are French, and yetthe uniform is strange to me.'
'It is that of the Emperor's new guard of honour. I am the Marquis ofChateau St Arnaud, and I am the ninth of my blood who has died in theservice of France. I have been pursued and wounded by the night-ridersof Lutzow, but I hid among the brushwood yonder, and waited in the hopethat a Frenchman might pass. I could not be sure at first if you werefriend or foe, but I felt that death was very near, and that I must takethe chance.'
'Keep your heart up, comrade,' said I; 'I have seen a man with a worsewound who has lived to boast of it.'
'No, no,' he whispered; 'I am going fast.' He laid his hand upon mine ashe spoke, and I saw that his finger-nails were already blue. 'But I havepapers here in my tunic which you must carry at once to the Prince ofSaxe-Felstein, at his Castle of Hof. He is still true to us, but thePrincess is our deadly enemy. She is striving to make him declareagainst us. If he does so, it will determine all those who are wavering,for the King of Prussia is his uncle and the King of Bavaria his cousin.These papers will hold him to us if they can only reach him before hetakes the last step. Place them in his hands tonight, and, perhaps, youwill have saved all Germany for the Emperor. Had my horse not been shot,I might, wounded as I am----' He choked, and the cold hand tightenedinto a grip, which left mine as bloodless as itself. Then, with a groan,his head jerked back, and it was all over with him.
Here was a fine start for my journey home. I was left with a commissionof which I knew little, which would lead me to delay the pressing needsof my hussars, and which at the same time was of such importance that itwas impossible for me to avoid it. I opened the Marquis's tunic, thebrilliance of which had been devised by the Emperor in order to attractthose young aristocrats from whom he hoped to raise these new regimentsof his Guard. It was a small packet of papers which I drew out, tied upwith silk, and addressed to the Prince of Saxe-Felstein. In the corner,in a sprawling, untidy hand, which I knew to be the Emperor's own, waswritten: 'Pressing and most important.' It was an order to me, thosefour words--an order as clear as if it had come straight from the firmlips with the cold grey eyes looking into mine. My troopers might waitfor their horses, the dead Marquis might lie where I had laid himamongst the heather, but if the mare and her rider had a breath left inthem the papers should reach the Prince that night.
I should not have feared to ride by the road through the wood, for Ihave learned in Spain that the safest time to pass through a guerillacountry is after an outrage, and that the moment of danger is when allis peaceful. When I came to look upon my map, however, I saw that Hoflay further to the south of me, and that I might reach it more directlyby keeping to the moors. Off I set, therefore, and had not gone fiftyyards before two carbine shots rang out of the brushwood and a bullethummed past me like a bee. It was clear that the night-riders werebolder in their ways than the brigands of Spain, and that my missionwould have ended where it had begun if I had kept to the road.
It was a mad ride, that--a ride with a loose rein, girth-deep in heatherand in gorse, plunging through bushes, flying down hill-sides, with myneck at the mercy of my dear little Violette. But she--she neverslipped, she never faltered, as swift and as surefooted as if she knewthat her rider carried the fate of all Germany beneath the buttons ofhis pelisse. And I--I had long borne the name of being the besthorseman in the six brigades of l
ight cavalry, but I never rode as Irode then. My friend the Bart had told me of how they hunt the fox inEngland, but the swiftest fox would have been captured by me that day.The wild pigeons which flew overhead did not take a straighter coursethan Violette and I below. As an officer, I have always been ready tosacrifice myself for my men, though the Emperor would not have thankedme for it, for he had many men, but only one--well, cavalry leaders ofthe first class are rare.
But here I had an object which was indeed worth a sacrifice, and Ithought no more of my life than of the clods of earth that flew from mydarling's heels.
We struck the road once more as the light was failing, and galloped intothe little village of Lobenstein. But we had hardly got upon thecobblestones when off came one of the mare's shoes, and I had to leadher to the village smithy. His fire was low, and his day's work done, sothat it would be an hour at the least before I could hope to push on toHof. Cursing at the delay, I strode into the village inn and ordered acold chicken and some wine to be served for my dinner. It was but a fewmiles to Hof, and I had every hope that I might deliver my papers to thePrince on that very night, and be on my way for France next morning withdespatches for the Emperor in my bosom. I will tell you now what befellme in the inn of Lobenstein.
The chicken had been served and the wine drawn, and I had turned uponboth as a man may who has ridden such a ride, when I was aware of amurmur and a scuffling in the hall outside my door. At first I thoughtthat it was some brawl between peasants in their cups, and I left themto settle their own affairs. But of a sudden there broke from among thelow, sullen growl of the voices such a sound as would send EtienneGerard leaping from his death-bed. It was the whimpering cry of a womanin pain. Down clattered my knife and my fork, and in an instant I wasin the thick of the crowd which had gathered outside my door.
The heavy-cheeked landlord was there and his flaxen-haired wife, the twomen from the stables, a chambermaid, and two or three villagers. All ofthem, women and men, were flushed and angry, while there in the centreof them, with pale cheeks and terror in her eyes, stood the loveliestwoman that ever a soldier would wish to look upon. With her queenly headthrown back, and a touch of defiance mingled with her fear, she lookedas she gazed round her like a creature of a different race from thevile, coarse-featured crew who surrounded her. I had not taken two stepsfrom my door before she sprang to meet me, her hand resting upon my armand her blue eyes sparkling with joy and triumph.
'A French soldier and gentleman!' she cried. 'Now at last I am safe.'
'Yes, madam, you are safe,' said I, and I could not resist taking herhand in mine in order that I might reassure her. 'You have only tocommand me,' I added, kissing the hand as a sign that I meant what I wassaying.
'I am Polish,' she cried; 'the Countess Palotta is my name. They abuseme because I love the French. I do not know what they might have done tome had Heaven not sent you to my help.'
I kissed her hand again lest she should doubt my intentions. Then Iturned upon the crew with such an expression as I know how to assume. Inan instant the hall was empty.
'Countess,' said I, 'you are now under my protection. You are faint, anda glass of wine is necessary to restore you.' I offered her my arm andescorted her into my room, where she sat by my side at the table andtook the refreshment which I offered her.
How she blossomed out in my presence, this woman, like a flower beforethe sun! She lit up the room with her beauty. She must have read myadmiration in my eyes, and it seemed to me that I also could seesomething of the sort in her own. Ah! my friends, I was noordinary-looking man when I was in my thirtieth year. In the whole lightcavalry it would have been hard to find a finer pair of whiskers.Murat's may have been a shade longer, but the best judges are agreedthat Murat's were a shade too long. And then I had a manner. Some womenare to be approached in one way and some in another, just as a siege isan affair of fascines and gabions in hard weather and of trenches insoft. But the man who can mix daring with timidity, who can beoutrageous with an air of humility, and presumptuous with a tone ofdeference, that is the man whom mothers have to fear. For myself, I feltthat I was the guardian of this lonely lady, and knowing what adangerous man I had to deal with, I kept strict watch upon myself.Still, even a guardian has his privileges, and I did not neglect them.
But her talk was as charming as her face. In a few words she explainedthat she was travelling to Poland, and that her brother who had been herescort had fallen ill upon the way. She had more than once met withill-treatment from the country folk because she could not conceal hergood-will towards the French. Then turning from her own affairs shequestioned me about the army, and so came round to myself and my ownexploits. They were familiar to her, she said, for she knew several ofPoniatowski's officers, and they had spoken of my doings. Yet she wouldbe glad to hear them from my own lips. Never have I had so delightful aconversation. Most women make the mistake of talking rather too muchabout their own affairs, but this one listened to my tales just as youare listening now, ever asking for more and more and more. The hoursslipped rapidly by, and it was with horror that I heard the villageclock strike eleven, and so learned that for four hours I had forgottenthe Emperor's business.
'Pardon me, my dear lady,' I cried, springing to my feet, 'but I mustgo on instantly to Hof.'
She rose also, and looked at me with a pale, reproachful face. 'And me?'she said. 'What is to become of me?'
'It is the Emperor's affair. I have already stayed far too long. My dutycalls me, and I must go.'
'You must go? And I must be abandoned alone to these savages? Oh, whydid I ever meet you? Why did you ever teach me to rely upon yourstrength?' Her eyes glazed over, and in an instant she was sobbing uponmy bosom.
Here was a trying moment for a guardian! Here was a time when he had tokeep a watch upon a forward young officer. But I was equal to it. Ismoothed her rich brown hair and whispered such consolations as I couldthink of in her ear, with one arm round her, it is true, but that was tohold her lest she should faint. She turned her tear-stained face tomine. 'Water,' she whispered. 'For God's sake, water!'
I saw that in another moment she would be senseless. I laid the droopinghead upon the sofa, and then rushed furiously from the room, huntingfrom chamber to chamber for a carafe. It was some minutes before I couldget one and hurry back with it. You can imagine my feelings to find theroom empty and the lady gone.
Not only was she gone, but her cap and silver-mounted riding switchwhich had lain upon the table were gone also. I rushed out and roaredfor the landlord. He knew nothing of the matter, had never seen thewoman before, and did not care if he never saw her again. Had thepeasants at the door seen anyone ride away? No, they had seen nobody. Isearched here and searched there, until at last I chanced to find myselfin front of a mirror, where I stood with my eyes staring and my jaw asfar dropped as the chin-strap of my shako would allow.
Four buttons of my pelisse were open, and it did not need me to put myhand up to know that my precious papers were gone. Oh! the depth ofcunning that lurks in a woman's heart. She had robbed me, this creature,robbed me as she clung to my breast. Even while I smoothed her hair, andwhispered kind words into her ear, her hands had been at work beneath mydolman. And here I was, at the very last step of my journey, without thepower of carrying out this mission which had already deprived one goodman of his life, and was likely to rob another one of his credit. Whatwould the Emperor say when he heard that I had lost his despatches?Would the army believe it of Etienne Gerard? And when they heard that awoman's hand had coaxed them from me, what laughter there would be atmess-table and at camp-fire! I could have rolled upon the ground in mydespair.
But one thing was certain--all this affair of the fracas in the hall andthe persecution of the so-called Countess was a piece of acting from thebeginning. This villainous innkeeper must be in the plot. From him Imight learn who she was and where my papers had gone. I snatched mysabre from the table and rushed out in search of him. But the scoundrelhad guessed what I would do, an
d had made his preparations for me. Itwas in the corner of the yard that I found him, a blunderbuss in hishands and a mastiff held upon a leash by his son. The two stable-hands,with pitchforks, stood upon either side, and the wife held a greatlantern behind him, so as to guide his aim.
'Ride away, sir, ride away!' he cried, with a crackling voice. 'Yourhorse is at the door, and no one will meddle with you if you go yourway; but if you come against us, you are alone against three brave men.'
I had only the dog to fear, for the two forks and the blunderbuss wereshaking about like branches in a wind. Still, I considered that, thoughI might force an answer with my sword-point at the throat of this fatrascal, still I should have no means of knowing whether that answer wasthe truth. It would be a struggle, then, with much to lose and nothingcertain to gain. I looked them up and down, therefore, in a way thatset their foolish weapons shaking worse than ever, and then, throwingmyself upon my mare, I galloped away with the shrill laughter of thelandlady jarring upon my ears.
I had already formed my resolution. Although I had lost my papers, Icould make a very good guess as to what their contents would be, andthis I would say from my own lips to the Prince of Saxe-Felstein, asthough the Emperor had commissioned me to convey it in that way. It wasa bold stroke and a dangerous one, but if I went too far I couldafterwards be disavowed. It was that or nothing, and when all Germanyhung on the balance the game should not be lost if the nerve of one mancould save it.
It was midnight when I rode into Hof, but every window was blazing,which was enough it itself, in that sleepy country, to tell the fermentof excitement in which the people were. There was hooting and jeering asI rode through the crowded streets, and once a stone sang past my head,but I kept upon my way, neither slowing nor quickening my pace, until Icame to the palace. It was lit from base to battlement, and the darkshadows, coming and going against the yellow glare, spoke of the turmoilwithin. For my part, I handed my mare to a groom at the gate, andstriding in I demanded, in such a voice as an ambassador should have, tosee the Prince instantly, upon business which would brook no delay.
The hall was dark, but I was conscious as I entered of a buzz ofinnumerable voices, which hushed into silence as I loudly proclaimed mymission. Some great meeting was being held then--a meeting which, as myinstincts told me, was to decide this very question of war and peace. Itwas possible that I might still be in time to turn the scale for theEmperor and for France. As to the major-domo, he looked blackly at me,and showing me into a small ante-chamber he left me. A minute later hereturned to say that the Prince could not be disturbed at present, butthat the Princess would take my message.
The Princess! What use was there in giving it to her? Had I not beenwarned that she was German in heart and soul, and that it was she whowas turning her husband and her State against us?
'It is the Prince that I must see,' said I.
'Nay, it is the Princess,' said a voice at the door, and a woman sweptinto the chamber. 'Von Rosen, you had best stay with us. Now, sir, whatis it that you have to say to either Prince or Princess ofSaxe-Felstein?'
At the first sound of the voice I had sprung to my feet. At the firstglance I had thrilled with anger. Not twice in a lifetime does one meetthat noble figure, that queenly head, and those eyes as blue as theGaronne, and as chilling as her winter waters.
'Time presses, sir!' she cried, with an impatient tap of her foot. 'Whathave you to say to me?'
'What have I to say to you?' I cried. 'What can I say, save that youhave taught me never to trust a woman more? You have ruined anddishonoured me for ever.'
She looked with arched brows at her attendant.
'Is this the raving of fever, or does it come from some less innocentcause?' said she. 'Perhaps a little blood-letting--'
'Ah, you can act!' I cried. 'You have shown me that already.'
'Do you mean that we have met before?'
'I mean that you have robbed me within the last two hours.'
'This is past all bearing,' she cried, with an admirable affectation ofanger. 'You claim, as I understand, to be an ambassador, but there arelimits to the privileges which such an office brings with it.'
'You brazen it admirably,' said I. 'Your Highness will not make a foolof me twice in one night.' I sprang forward and, stooping down, caughtup the hem of her dress. 'You would have done well to change it afteryou had ridden so far and so fast,' said I.
It was like the dawn upon a snow-peak to see her ivory cheeks flushsuddenly to crimson.
'Insolent!' she cried. 'Call the foresters and have him thrust from thepalace'
'I will see the Prince first.'
'You will never see the Prince. Ah! Hold him, Von Rosen, hold him.'
She had forgotten the man with whom she had to deal--was it likely thatI would wait until they could bring their rascals? She had shown me hercards too soon. Her game was to stand between me and her husband. Minewas to speak face to face with him at any cost. One spring took me outof the chamber. In another I had crossed the hall. An instant later Ihad burst into the great room from which the murmur of the meeting hadcome. At the far end I saw a figure upon a high chair under a dais.Beneath him was a line of high dignitaries, and then on every side I sawvaguely the heads of a vast assembly. Into the centre of the room Istrode, my sabre clanking, my shako under my arm.
'I am the messenger of the Emperor,' I shouted. 'I bear his message toHis Highness the Prince of Saxe-Felstein.'
The man beneath the dais raised his head, and I saw that his face wasthin and wan, and that his back was bowed as though some huge burden wasbalanced between his shoulders.
'Your name, sir?' he asked.
'Colonel Etienne Gerard, of the Third Hussars.'
Every face in the gathering was turned upon me, and I heard the rustleof the innumerable necks and saw countless eyes without meeting onefriendly one amongst them. The woman had swept past me, and waswhispering, with many shakes of her head and dartings of her hands, intothe Prince's ear. For my own part I threw out my chest and curled mymoustache, glancing round in my own debonair fashion at the assembly.They were men, all of them, professors from the college, a sprinkling oftheir students, soldiers, gentlemen, artisans, all very silent andserious. In one corner there sat a group of men in black, withriding-coats drawn over their shoulders. They leaned their heads to eachother, whispering under their breath, and with every movement I caughtthe clank of their sabres or the clink of their spurs.
'The Emperor's private letter to me informs me that it is the MarquisChateau St Arnaud who is bearing his despatches,' said the Prince.
'The Marquis has been foully murdered,' I answered, and a buzz rose upfrom the people as I spoke. Many heads were turned, I noticed, towardsthe dark men in the cloaks.
'Where are your papers?' asked the Prince.
'I have none.'
A fierce clamour rose instantly around me. 'He is a spy! He plays apart!' they cried. 'Hang him!' roared a deep voice from the corner, anda dozen others took up the shout. For my part, I drew out myhandkerchief and nicked the dust from the fur of my pelisse. The Princeheld out his thin hands, and the tumult died away.
'Where, then, are your credentials, and what is your message?'
'My uniform is my credential, and my message is for your private ear.'
He passed his hand over his forehead with the gesture of a weak man whois at his wits' end what to do. The Princess stood beside him with herhand upon his throne, and again whispered in his ear.
'We are here in council together, some of my trusty subjects andmyself,' said he. 'I have no secrets from them, and whatever message theEmperor may send to me at such a time concerns their interests no lessthan mine.'
There was a hum of applause at this, and every eye was turned once moreupon me. My faith, it was an awkward position in which I found myself,for it is one thing to address eight hundred hussars, and another tospeak to such an audience on such a subject. But I fixed my eyes uponthe Prince, and tried to say just what I should h
ave said if we had beenalone, shouting it out, too, as though I had my regiment on parade.
'You have often expressed friendship for the Emperor,' I cried. 'It isnow at last that this friendship is about to be tried. If you will standfirm, he will reward you as only he can reward. It is an easy thing forhim to turn a Prince into a King and a province into a power. His eyesare fixed upon you, and though you can do little to harm him, you canruin yourself. At this moment he is crossing the Rhine with two hundredthousand men. Every fortress in the country is in his hands. He will beupon you in a week, and if you have played him false, God help both youand your people. You think that he is weakened because a few of us gotthe chilblains last winter. Look there!' I cried, pointing to a greatstar which blazed through the window above the Prince's head. 'That isthe Emperor's star. When it wanes, he will wane--but not before.'
You would have been proud of me, my friends, if you could have seen andheard me, for I clashed my sabre as I spoke, and swung my dolman asthough my regiment was picketed outside in the courtyard. They listenedto me in silence, but the back of the Prince bowed more and more asthough the burden which weighed upon it was greater than his strength.He looked round with haggard eyes.
'We have heard a Frenchman speak for France,' said he. 'Let us have aGerman speak for Germany.'
The folk glanced at each other, and whispered to their neighbours. Myspeech, as I think, had its effect, and no man wished to be the first tocommit himself in the eyes of the Emperor. The Princess looked roundher with blazing eyes, and her clear voice broke the silence.
'Is a woman to give this Frenchman his answer?' she cried. 'Is itpossible, then, that among the night-riders of Lutzow there is none whocan use his tongue as well as his sabre?'
Over went a table with a crash, and a young man had bounded upon one ofthe chairs. He had the face of one inspired--pale, eager, with wild hawkeyes, and tangled hair. His sword hung straight from his side, and hisriding-boots were brown with mire.
'It is Korner!' the people cried. 'It is young Korner, the poet! Ah, hewill sing, he will sing.'
And he sang! It was soft, at first, and dreamy, telling of old Germany,the mother of nations, of the rich, warm plains, and the grey cities,and the fame of dead heroes. But then verse after verse rang like atrumpet-call. It was of the Germany of now, the Germany which had beentaken unawares and overthrown, but which was up again, and snapping thebonds upon her giant limbs. What was life that one should covet it? Whatwas glorious death that one should shun it? The mother, the greatmother, was calling. Her sigh was in the night wind. She was crying toher own children for help. Would they come? Would they come? Would theycome?
Ah, that terrible song, the spirit face and the ringing voice! Wherewere I, and France, and the Emperor? They did not shout, thesepeople--they howled. They were up on the chairs and the tables. Theywere raving, sobbing, the tears running down their faces. Korner hadsprung from the chair, and his comrades were round him with their sabresin the air. A flush had come into the pale face of the Prince, and herose from his throne.
'Colonel Gerard,' said he, 'you have heard the answer which you are tocarry to your Emperor. The die is cast, my children. Your Prince and youmust stand or fall together.'
He bowed to show that all was over, and the people with a shout madefor the door to carry the tidings into the town. For my own part, I haddone all that a brave man might, and so I was not sorry to be carriedout amid the stream. Why should I linger in the palace? I had had myanswer and must carry it, such as it was. I wished neither to see Hofnor its people again until I entered it at the head of a vanguard. Iturned from the throng, then, and walked silently and sadly in thedirection in which they had led the mare.
It was dark down there by the stables, and I was peering round for thehostler, when suddenly my two arms were seized from behind. There werehands at my wrists and at my throat, and I felt the cold muzzle of apistol under my ear.
'Keep your lips closed, you French dog,' whispered a fierce voice. 'Wehave him, captain.'
'Have you the bridle?'
'Here it is.'
'Sling it over his head.'
I felt the cold coil of leather tighten round my neck. An hostler with astable lantern had come out and was gazing upon the scene. In its dimlight I saw stern faces breaking everywhere through the gloom, with theblack caps and dark cloaks of the night-riders.
'What would you do with him, captain?' cried a voice.
'Hang him at the palace gate.'
'An ambassador?'
'An ambassador without papers.'
'But the Prince?'
'Tut, man, do you not see that the Prince will then be committed to ourside? He will be beyond all hope of forgiveness. At present he may swinground tomorrow as he has done before. He may eat his words, but a deadhussar is more than he can explain.'
'No, no, Von Strelitz, we cannot do it,' said another voice.
'Can we not? I shall show you that!' and there came a jerk on thebridle which nearly pulled me to the ground. At the same instant a swordflashed and the leather was cut through within two inches of my neck.
'By Heaven, Korner, this is rank mutiny,' cried the captain. 'You mayhang yourself before you are through with it.'
'I have drawn my sword as a soldier and not as a brigand,' said theyoung poet. 'Blood may dim its blade, but never dishonour. Comrades,will you stand by and see this gentleman mishandled?'
A dozen sabres flew from their sheaths, and it was evident that myfriends and my foes were about equally balanced. But the angry voicesand the gleam of steel had brought the folk running from all parts.
'The Princess!' they cried. 'The Princess is coming!'
And even as they spoke I saw her in front of us, her sweet face framedin the darkness. I had cause to hate her, for she had cheated andbefooled me, and yet it thrilled me then and thrills me now to thinkthat my arms have embraced her, and that I have felt the scent of herhair in my nostrils. I know not whether she lies under her German earth,or whether she still lingers, a grey-haired woman in her Castle of Hof,but she lives ever, young and lovely, in the heart and memory of EtienneGerard.
'For shame!' she cried, sweeping up to me, and tearing with her ownhands the noose from my neck. 'You are fighting in God's own quarrel,and yet you would begin with such a devil's deed as this. This man ismine, and he who touches a hair of his head will answer for it to me.'
They were glad enough to slink off into the darkness before thosescornful eyes. Then she turned once more to me.
'You can follow me, Colonel Gerard,' she said. 'I have a word that Iwould speak to you.'
I walked behind her to the chamber into which I had originally beenshown. She closed the door, and then looked at me with the archesttwinkle in her eyes.
'Is it not confiding of me to trust myself with you?' said she. 'Youwill remember that it is the Princess of Saxe-Felstein and not the poorCountess Palotta of Poland.'
'Be the name what it might,' I answered, 'I helped a lady whom Ibelieved to be in distress, and I have been robbed of my papers andalmost of my honour as a reward.'
'Colonel Gerard,' said she, 'we have been playing a game, you and I, andthe stake was a heavy one. You have shown by delivering a message whichwas never given to you that you would stand at nothing in the cause ofyour country. My heart is German and yours is French, and I also wouldgo all lengths, even to deceit and to theft, if at this crisis I couldhelp my suffering fatherland. You see how frank I am.'
'You tell me nothing that I have not seen.'
'But now that the game is played and won, why should we bear malice? Iwill say this, that if ever I were in such a plight as that which Ipretended in the inn of Lobenstein, I should never wish to meet a moregallant protector or a truer-hearted gentleman than Colonel EtienneGerard. I had never thought that I could feel for a Frenchman as I feltfor you when I slipped the papers from your breast.'
'But you took them, none the less.'
'They were necessary to me and to Germany. I
knew the arguments whichthey contained and the effect which they would have upon the Prince. Ifthey had reached him all would have been lost.'
'Why should your Highness descend to such expedients when a score ofthese brigands, who wished to hang me at your castle gate, would havedone the work as well?'
'They are not brigands, but the best blood of Germany,' she cried,hotly. 'If you have been roughly used, you will remember the indignitiesto which every German has been subjected, from the Queen of Prussiadownwards. As to why I did not have you waylaid upon the road, I may saythat I had parties out on all sides, and that I was waiting atLobenstein to hear of their success. When instead of their news youyourself arrived I was in despair, for there was only the one weak womanbetwixt you and my husband. You see the straits to which I was drivenbefore I used the weapon of my sex.'
'I confess that you have conquered me, your Highness, and it onlyremains for me to leave you in possession of the field.'
'But you will take your papers with you.' She held them out to me as shespoke. 'The Prince has crossed the Rubicon now, and nothing can bringhim back. You can return these to the Emperor, and tell him that werefused to receive them. No one can accuse you then of having lost yourdespatches. Good-bye, Colonel Gerard, and the best I can wish you isthat when you reach France you may remain there. In a year's time therewill be no place for a Frenchman upon this side of the Rhine.'
And thus it was that I played the Princess of Saxe-Felstein with allGermany for a stake, and lost my game to her. I had much to think of asI walked my poor, tired Violette along the highway which leads westwardfrom Hof. But amid all the thoughts there came back to me always theproud, beautiful face of the German woman, and the voice of thesoldier-poet as he sang from the chair. And I understood then that therewas something terrible in this strong, patient Germany--this mother rootof nations--and I saw that such a land, so old and so beloved, nevercould be conquered. And as I rode I saw that the dawn was breaking, andthat the great star at which I had pointed through the palace window wasdim and pale in the western sky.
The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard Page 6