The Irish Witch rb-11

by Dennis Wheatley

  On March 1st Castlereagh, greatly perturbed because it now looked as though the Coalition might break up, assembled another Conference at Chaumont. There on the 9th it was definitely agreed that Britain, Russia, Prus­sia and Austria should bind themselves by a solemn treaty not to negotiate separately with France for peace.

  Meanwhile, Blucher, with nearly fifty thousand men, had resumed the offensive. Napoleon, believing the army of his most inveterate enemy to be broken, received this news with consternation, but swiftly despatched Ney and Victor to fall on the veteran's rear. Blucher wisely retired northward, crossed the Marne and destroyed its bridges behind him. Having delayed the enemy in this way pro­bably saved him from defeat, as Marmont was hotly pur­suing him, Napoleon preparing to turn his right flank and his men were utterly exhausted by marching night and day through snowstorms and on roads made slippery by ice.

  On March 2nd, having got across the river to La Ferte, the Emperor resumed his pursuit of Blucher, in the opti­mistic belief that he could drive his enemies back into Lorraine, then rescue the garrisons that had been cut off in Verdun, Toul and Metz, which would have greatly added to his strength.

  But by then Blucher had reached the neighbourhood of Soissons and on the banks of the Aisne joined up with

  Biilow, who was able to furnish supplies for the veteran's famished men and add forty-two thousand troops to their numbers. Next day Soissons surrendered.

  The Emperor, still intent on relieving his beleagured garrisons, pressed on across the Aisne and forced Blucher to retire on Laon. There the veteran learned that Napoleon was approaching Craonne. Near that town rises a long, narrow plateau. Blucher ordered his Russian corps to occupy it and, on March 7 th, there ensued one of the bloodiest battles of the war.

  Five times the gallant Ney scaled the slope at the head of his men, only to be driven back by the defenders. Napo­leon then used his cavalry for a sixth assault. Blucher meanwhile had attempted to outflank the French, but the manoeuvre failed, upon which he ordered a general retreat to Laon. The casualties on both sides were very heavy. Grouchy, six other French Generals and Marshal Victor were among the wounded.

  In this campaign the Emperor was greatly handicapped by the absence of many of his most able Marshals: St. Cyr was a prisoner, Davout was shut up in Hamburg, Suchet was grimly hanging on to Catalonia, Augereau was de­fending Lyons, and Soult, who had recently suffered another severe defeat by Wellington at Orthez, was far away in the south. Of those with Napoleon: Ney, Oudinot, Mortier, Macdonald and Marmont, only the latter had come off best when left to engage the enemy without support, and even his corps was surprised and badly cut up in a night attack shortly after the Emperor, having on the 9th and 10th failed to dislodge Blucher from the stronghold of Laon, was forced to withdraw by the news that Schwarzenberg was advancing on Paris.

  The Emperor's force had been reduced to twenty thou­sand men, while Schwarzenberg had one hundred thou­sand. Yet such was Napoleon's prestige that, on learning that he had reached the Aube the Austrian, fearing an attack on his flank, hesitated to advance further or turn upon the wizard warrior. This delay gave Napoleon time to call up the corps of Macdonald and Oudinot. The fight­ing around Arcis-sur-Aube lasted two days and became ferocious. The Emperor rode about among his troops to urge them on. To the horror of those about him a shell burst just in front of his horse and, for a moment, he dis­appeared in a cloud of smoke. But he emerged unhurt, mounted another horse and continued to direct the battle.

  But God was indeed 'on the side of the big battalions'. By the 20th he was forced to fall back northward toward Sezanne. Still convinced that he could relieve his garrisons in the east—where the French peasantry had raised armed bands of irregulars to help defend their beloved France by harassing the enemy's supply routes—he hurried his army toward Vitry; but on the 23rd Cossacks captured one of his couriers carrying a letter to Marie Louise. In it he said, ‘I have decided to march toward the Marne in order to draw the enemy's army further from Paris and got nearer my fortresses. This evening I shall be at St. Dizier.'

  Made aware of the Emperor's plans, Blucher marched south and joined up again with Schwarzenberg. At the Czar's insistence it was decided that, instead of following Napoleon, they should renew the advance on Paris. The greatly weakened corps of Marmont and Mortier were all that barred the way to the capital. They fought well with great gallantry, but were brushed aside and the advance on the capital continued.

  When the ordinary citizens of Paris became aware that the enemy was within a few miles of the city they were amazed and horror-stricken. For over twenty years they had become accustomed to celebrating France's victories. Their armies had marched triumphantly into Milan, Vienna, Rome, Naples, Lisbon, Venice, Madrid, Berlin and even Moscow. It had been unthinkable to them that a day could come when barbarian Cossacks and jack-booted Prussians would, shoulder them off the pavements in the streets of Paris. Yet all the woe that could be in­flicted by an enemy army of occupation could be only days away.

  The better informed, Talleyrand and Roger among them, far from being surprised by the Allies' break­through, found it difficult to understand how even the genius of Napoleon had prevented it from happening long before. It was nine weeks since he had left Paris and for the past six they had been waiting impatiently to hear that his army, less than a third the size of that of the Allies, had been completely defeated.

  During these weeks of waiting the question upper­most in their minds had been what would happen in France after Napoleon had been vanquished. Through his secret sources Talleyrand knew the divergent views of the Allies. All of them were agreed that the Emperor must be deposed and France reduced to her old frontiers be­fore the Revolution, but there their agreement ended.

  Castlereagh was for giving the French liberal terms so that their good will/vvould result in a treaty of commerce with Britain, similar to that which had been signed with King Louis XVI in 1787, and that they should be allowed to choose their own future form of government by a plebiscite.

  The Czar also was not harshly inclined toward the French people. He was averse to a Republic, yet did not favour the return of the Bourbons. He would have prefer­red a limited monarchy under a new dynasty, and he had been heard to mention Bernadotte for that r61e.

  Frederick William agreed with the Czar about a limit­ed monarchy; but the Prussians generally were filled with hatred for the French and wished to impose upon them the harshest terms possible.

  Austria wanted to leave France strong and, as Marie Louise was die Emperor Francis's daughter, he proposed that she be made Regent for her little son, the King of Rome.

  Lastly, from January onward the Senate had at last thrown off its long subservience to Napoleon. A large majority in it wished to see the end of him, and many of the older members who had been Jacobins, eagerly hoped for the return of a Republic.

  Talleyrand and Roger had discussed the question exhaustively. For many years they had agreed that the only hope of a lasting peace in Europe lay in a treaty of friendship between France and England, They therefore favoured a strong France. Both were for a limited monarchy as the most stable form of government, fore­seeing that a return to a Republic would lead to dissen­sion and, if the extremists got the upper hand, the possible repetition of '93, with another reign of terror. Talleyrand was confident that, given the power he hoped to have, he could restrain the hotheads in the Senate and he aimed to bring about the restoration of the Bourbons.

  After Wellington's victory at Orthez, Soult had skil­fully withdrawn his army to the east, knowing that the Duke, not daring to risk an attack on his flank by advanc­ing further up the coast, must follow him, and hoping to join up with Suchet. But this had necessitated his aban­doning Bayonne and Bordeaux. Wellington had detached General Beresford's division to occupy the latter city, and on March 12th the Duc d'Angouleme had entered it with the British troops. This Prince, who had married Louis XVI's only daughter, the Princess Therese, having been welcomed by the
Royalist Mayor, had proclaimed his Uncle, Louis XVIII, King of France; upon which the majority of the citizens had shown their delight and donned the White Cockade.

  Soon afterwards the King's brother, the Comte d'Artois, had arrived in Nancy, and his emissary, the Baron de Vitrolles, had several times come in secret to Paris to con­fer with Talleyrand; but as long as Napoleon's Council of Regency remained in control of the capital, Talleyrand's hands were tied. Many senators were also strongly averse to the return of a monarchy. And, above all, each of the victorious Allies would have their say on what form the new government should take. So the future of France still lay on the knees of the gods.

  22

  Un Cri de Coeur

  On March 28th a meeting of the Imperial Council was called to debate the question of whether, now that the enemy was approaching the capital, the Empress, her son and King Joseph should or should not leave it. Six weeks earlier the Emperor had written from Nogent that if Paris was in danger they should retire via Rambouillet to Blois, taking with them the Great Dignitaries and Ministers. General Clarke, the Minister of War, stated that the garrison of Paris was incapable of resisting the enemy, so departure was decided upon.

  The decision placed Talleyrand in a very awkward position. As a Great Dignitary he should leave with the rest, otherwise he would have defied the Emperor, and he was loath yet to come out into the open. On the other hand he was determined to remain in Paris, otherwise he would be deprived of all chance of influencing events in the way he wished them to go.

  With his usual foresight he prepared a way out of this annoying dilemma. He drove in his coach to the Porte de la Conference, with the apparent intention of going to Rambouillet. But he was stopped at the gate by M. de Remusat, who was in command of the National Guard there, and refused permission to leave the city—a delight­ful little farce which had been arranged by these two friends the previous evening.

  By this time the Russians had reached Montreuil where, with the remnants of their corps, Marmont and Moncey were putting up a last desperate resistance; but it was now plain to everyone that the entry of the enemy into the capital could not be long delayed.

  That day, after his usual reception of a number of friends who were always to be found in the main hall of his mansion, Talleyrand drew Roger aside, into the small library, closed the door and said:

  'Although I have not yet definitely committed myself to the Bourbons, you and I are agreed that the best hope of securing peace and prosperity for France lies in the restoration to the throne of the legitimate heir. But whether this can be achieved still remains far from cer­tain. In my view, everything now hangs upon the Czar. Once he can be won over he will overrule his less power­ful fellow Monarchs; but to influence him I must have ready access to him when he arrives in Paris. Now, at last, has come the moment when your help can immensely strengthen our chances of bringing about the situation we both desire. I wish you to take a letter to him.'

  Roger nodded. 'There should be no great difficulty in doing so, if I approach the Allied troops under a flag of truce. What do you intend to say in your letter?'

  Taking the letter from a drawer in the desk, the Prince handed it to him with a smile. ‘I have had it from my friend, Count Nesselrode, his Minister of Foreign Affairs, that His Imperial Majesty intends to take up his quarters in the Elysee Palace. I have told him that this is also known to his enemies, and that they have mined the palace, with the intention of blowing him up. I have then said that my house is quite large enough to accommodate him and his personal entourage, and I humbly offer it to him as a residence in which I can guarantee his safety while in Paris’

  ‘I congratulate Your Highness upon this extraordinarily astute move,' Roger smiled back. 'And, I should have no difficulty in reaching the Czar through Count Nesselrode's good offices. I knew him when he was Russian Ambassador here. Now I will be off.'

  Before leaving he got from one of the footmen a white napkin and tied it to a malacca cane, to use as a flag of truce; then, in one of Talleyrand's carriages he drove to­ward Montmartre. From the heights there the smoke from the batde and formations of soldiers could clearly be seen, but in some sections there seemed to be little action. Roger directed his coachman toward one of those and when he showed his white flag he was allowed to pass through the lines. A Russian officer who spoke French gave him an escort to take him to the Czar's headquarters, which was only a few miles further on, and by early afternoon he reached them.

  After waiting for a while he was taken to Count Nesselrode, who greeted him politely as an old acquaintance. From the Count Roger learned that several of the French Generals had already capitulated, and it was hoped that Marshal Marmont could be persuaded to surrender the city, as that would save the inhabitants from the horrors of street fighting. Roger then disclosed the contents of Tal­leyrand's letter. At that Nesselrode's mouth twitched in a smile and he remarked:

  'His Highness the Prince de Benevent is a monstrous clever fellow. Come with me and I will present you to His Imperial Majesty.'

  When Roger had made his bow, the tall, handsome, curly-haired Alexander raised an eyebrow and said, 'It seems that you have a genius, Mr. Brook, for always popping up, as you English say of a bad penny, when least expected.'

  'Perhaps, Sire, but I hope your Imperial Majesty does not liken me to one,' Roger replied with a smile.

  'Nay.' The Czar extended his hand for Roger to kiss. 'There have been times when you have served us well. However, we had hoped that from Moscow you would re­turn to St. Petersburg, bringing us intelligence of Napo­leon's intentions.'

  'Alas, Sire, I would I could have, and so been saved from starving near to death in your Russian snows. But the retreat was decided upon within hours of my rejoin­ing the Emperor, and I became caught up in it.'

  'And now, what brings you here? Surely not only to tell us that Paris is as good as ours ?'

  Nesselrode produced the letter. 'Mr. Brook brought this from the Prince de Benevent, Sire. Have I your permis­sion to open it?'

  'Do so, Count, and read the contents to us.'

  When he had listened to the letter, Alexander asked, 'What is your opinion about this?'

  ‘I would advise Your Imperial Majesty to accept the Prince's offer. His mansion is commodious and you could reside there in greater comfort than in many palaces. There is also the fact that, now King Joseph has fled, Talleyrand has become the most powerful man in Paris. He will have great influence with the Senate, and if you deign to accord him your friendship, he can do much to further your Imperial Majesty's designs.'

  'So be it, then.' The handsome autocrat turned to Roger. 'We thank you, Mr. Brook, for bringing us the Prince's offer of his house. You may tell him that it is our pleasure to honour it by our acceptance.'

  Roger bowed himself away, and by five o'clock was back in Paris. He found the mansion in the Rue St. Florentin crowded with people; not only Tallyrand's friends, such as the Duc de Dalberg who, although hold­ing a post in Napoleon's government was secretiy a Royalist and had brought about the meetings between the Prince and d'Artois's agent, the Baron de Vitrolles, but many important men who for a long time past had thought it dangerous to associate themselves with the crafty states­man. Immediately it had become known that the Council of Regency had fled from Paris, Talleyrand had become the man of the hour and everyone was eager to stand well with him.

  Forcing his way through the crush toward him, Roger simply smiled and nodded. Returning the smile Talleyrand said in a low voice, 'France will owe you much, mon ami. The game is now as good as in our hands.'

  Next morning the house was equally crowded and Roger learned from the Abbe du Pradt, another of Talley­rand's intimates, that a mansion in the Rue de Paradis was the scene of equal excitement, with cheering crowds outside in the street. It was that of Marshal Marmont. A few hours earlier he had received Count Nesselrode, Prince Orlof and Schwarzenberg's chief adjutant at one of the gates of Paris, and signed a surrender of the city. Inste
ad of bewailing this humiliation, the fickle Parisians were acclaiming the Marshal as though he had won a great victory. They were to be spared the killings, the looting, the rape that had been the terrible lot of the in­habitants of the many great cities that the French troops had sacked without mercy. To render thanks to God was not enough, the population went delirious with joy - Meanwhile, Napoleon was distraught by the ill news that he was receiving from courier after courier. He had twice sent urgent despatches to Augereau requiring him to bring his army up from Lyon to aid in the defence of Paris, but the Marshal had ignored the order. Instead he had surrendered Lyon, and so betrayed his master. Napoleon's own contempt for Schwarzenberg had un­done him and the Allies were within a league of Paris. Not only had his beloved wife and son fled, but his brother Joseph, who should have remained to hold Paris, had be­trayed him and gone with them; although, under deter­mined leadership the many thousand National Guards in the city could have held it, at least until he arrived to their relief.

  Still refusing to consider himself beaten, he turned his army about By incredible exertions, on the 29th it re-­entered Troyes, next day it reached Fontainebleau. Late at night on the 30th he actually came in sight of the camp fires of Marmont's troops, only to be utterly stricken by the news that their Marshal, too, had turned traitor and surrendered.

  At ten o'clock on the morning of the 31st the Czar Alexander, with Francis of Austria and Frederick William of Prussia on either side of him, rode triumphantly down the Champs Elysees into Paris. The bulk of the city's popu­lation had hastily donned the White Cockade and groups of Royalists shouted 'Long live the Bourbons'.