Tom Burke Of Ours, Volume II

by Charles James Lever

  CHAPTER VII. THE ARMISTICE.

  As I sat thus watching with steadfast gaze the features of the sleepingman, I heard the clattering of a horse's hoofs on the pavement beneath,and the next moment the heavy step of some one ascending the stairs.Suddenly the door was flung wide open, and an officer in the handsomeuniform of the Austrian Imperial Guard entered.

  "Excuse this scant ceremony, Monsieur," said he, bowing with muchcourtesy, "but I almost despaired of finding you out. I come fromHolitsch with despatches for your Emperor; they are most pressing, as Ibelieve this note will inform you."

  While I threw my eye over the few lines addressed by General Savary tothe officer in waiting at Holitsch, and commanding the utmost speed inforwarding the despatch that accompanied them, the officer drew near thebed where De Beauvais was lying.

  "_Mere de ciel_, it is the count!" cried he, starting back withastonishment.

  "Yes," said I, interrupting him; "I found him here on my arrival. He isbadly wounded, and should be removed at once. How can this be done?"

  "Easily. I 'll despatch my orderly at once to Holitsch, and remain heretill he return."

  "But if our troops advance?"

  "No, no! we're all safe on that score; the armistice is signed. The verydespatch in your hands, I believe, concludes the treaty."

  This warned me that I was delaying too long the important duty intrustedto me, and with a hurried entreaty to the Austrian not to leave DeBeauvais, I hastened down the stairs, and proceeded to saddle for theroad.

  "One word, Monsieur," said the officer, as I was in the act of mounting."May I ask the name of him to whom my brother officers owe the life of acomrade much beloved?"

  "My name is Burke; and yours, Monsieur?"

  "Berghausen, _chef d'escadron_ of the Imperial Guard. If ever you shouldcome to Vienna--" But I lost the words that followed, as, spurring myhorse to a gallop, I set out towards the headquarters of the Emperor.

  As I rode forward, my eyes were ever anxiously bent in the direction ofour camp, not knowing at what moment I might see the advance of a columnalong the road, and dreading lest, before the despatches should reachthe Emperor's house, the advanced vedettes should capture the littleparty at Holitsch. At no period of his career was Napoleon more incensedagainst the adherents of the Bourbons; and if De Beauvais should fallinto his hands, I was well aware that nothing could save him. TheEmperor always connected in his mind--and with good reason, too--themachinations of the Royalists with the plans of the English Government.He knew that the land which afforded the asylum to their king wasthe refuge of the others also; and many of the heaviest denunciationsagainst the "perfide Albion" had no other source than the dread, ofwhich he could never divest himself, that the legitimate monarch wouldone day be restored to France.

  While such were Napoleon's feelings, the death of the Duc d'Enghien hadheightened the hatred of the Bourbonists to a pitch little short ofmadness. My own unhappy experience made me more than ever fearful ofbeing in any way implicated with the members of this party, and Irode on as though life itself depended on my reaching the imperialheadquarters some few minutes earlier.

  As I approached the camp, I was overjoyed to find that no movementwas in contemplation. The men were engaged in cleaning their armsand accoutrements, restoring the broken wagons and gun-carriages, andrepairing, as far as might be, the disorders of the day of battle. Theofficers stood in groups here and there, chatting at their ease; whilethe only men under arms were the new conscript? just arrived fromFrance,--a force of some thousands,--brought by forced marches from thebanks of the Rhine.

  The crowd of officers near the headquarters of the Emperor pressedclosely about me as I descended from my horse, eager to learn whatinformation I brought from Holitsch; for they were not aware that I hadbeen stationed nearly half-way on the road.

  "Well, Burke," said General d'Auvergne, as he drew his arm within mine,"your coming has been anxiously looked for this morning. I trust thedespatches you carry may, if not Contradict, at least explain what hasoccurred."

  "Is this the officer from Holitsch?" said the aide-decamp of theEmperor, coming hurriedly forward. "The despatch, sir!" cried he; andthe next moment hastened to the little hut which Napoleon occupied ashis bivouac.

  The only other person in the open space where I stood was an officer ofthe lancers, whose splashed and travel-stained dress seemed to say hehad been employed like myself.

  "I fancy, Monsieur," said he, bowing, "that you have had a sharp ridealso this morning. I have just arrived from Goeding--four leagues--inless than an hour; and with all that, too late, I believe, to remedywhat has occurred."

  "What, then, has happened?"

  "Davoust has been tricked into an armistice, and suffered the Russiansto pass the bridge. The Emperor Alexander has taken advantage of thenegotiations with Austria, and got his army clear through; so, at least,it would seem. I saw Napoleon tear the despatch into fragments, andstamp his foot upon them. But here he comes."

  The words were scarcely spoken when the Emperor came rapidly up,followed by his staff. He wore a gray surtout, trimmed with dark fur,and had his hands clasped within the cuffs of the coat. His face waspale as death, and save a slight contraction of his brows, there wasnothing to show any appearance of displeasure.

  "Who brought the despatch from Goeding?"

  "I did, Sire," said the officer.

  "How are the roads, sir?"

  "Much cut up, and in one place a torrent has carried away part of abridge."

  "I knew it,--I knew it," said he, bitterly; "it is too late. Duroc,"cried he, while the words seemed to come forth with a hissing sound,"did I not tell you, 'Grattez le Russe, et vous trouverez le Tartare!'"

  The words were graven in my memory from that hour; even yet, I canrecall the very accents as when I heard them.

  "And you, sir," said he, turning suddenly towards me, "you came fromGeneral Savary. Return to him with this letter. Have you written, Duroc?Well, you'll deliver this to General Savary at Holitsch. He may requireyou to proceed to Goeding. Are you well mounted?"

  "Yes, Sire."

  "Come, then, sir. I made you a captain yesterday; let us see if you canwin your spurs to-day."

  From the time I received the despatch to that in which I was in thesaddle not more than five minutes elapsed. The idea of being chosen bythe Emperor himself for a service was a proud one, and I resolved toacquit myself with credit. With what concert does one's heart beat tothe free stride of a mettled charger! how does each bold plunge warmthe blood and stir up the spirits! and as, careering free over hill andvalley, we pass in our flight the clouds that drift above, how does thesense of freedom, realized as it is, impart a feeling of ecstasy toour minds! Our thoughts, revelling on the wayward liberty our coursesuggests, rise free and untrammelled from the doubts and cares ofevery-day life.

  Onward I went, and soon the old mill came in sight, rearing its ruinedhead amid the black desolation of the plain. I could not resist theimpulse to see what had become of De Beauvais; and leading my horse intothe kitchen, I hastened up the stairs and through the rooms. But allwere deserted; the little chamber lay open, the granary too; but no onewas there.

  With a mind relieved, in a great measure, from anxiety, I remountedand continued my way; and soon entered the dark woods of Holitsch. Thechateau and demesne were a private estate of the Emperor Francis,and once formed a favorite resort of Joseph the Second in his huntingexcursions. The chateau itself was a large, irregular mass of building,but still, with all its incongruity of architecture, not devoid ofpicturesque effect,--and the older portion of it was even handsome.While I stood in front of a long terrace, on which several windowsopened from a gallery that ran along one side of the chateau, I wassomewhat surprised that no guard was to be seen, nor even a singlesentinel on duty. I dismounted, and leading my horse, approached theavenue that led up between a double range of statues to the door. Anold man, dressed in the slouched hat and light blue jacket of a Bohemianpeasant, was busily engaged in
wrapping matting around some shrubs,to protect them from the frost. A little boy--his second self incostume--stood beside him with his pruning-knife, and stared at me witha kind of stupid wonder as I approached. With some difficulty I made outfrom the old man that the Emperor occupied a smaller building calledthe Kaiser-Lust, about half a league distant in the forest, having givenstrict orders that no one was to approach the chateau nor its immediategrounds. It was his favorite retreat, and perhaps he did not wish itshould be associated in his mind with a period of such misfortune. Theold peasant continued his occupation while he spoke, never lifting hishead from his work, and seeming all absorbed in the necessity of what hewas engaged in. As I inquired the nearest road to the imperial quarters,he employed me to assist him for a moment in his task by holding one endof the matting, with which he was now about to envelop a marble statueof Maria Theresa.

  I could not refuse a request so naturally proffered; and while I didso, a little wicket opened at a short distance off, and a tall man, in agray surtout and a plain cocked hat without a feather, came forward. Heheld a riding-whip in his hand, and seemed, from his splashed equipment,to have just descended from the saddle.

  "Well, Fritz," said he, "I hope the frost has done us no mischief?"

  The old gardener turned round at the words, and, touching his hatrespectfully, continued his work, while he replied,--

  "No, Mein Herr; it was but a white hoar, and everything has escapedwell."

  "And whom have you got here for an assistant, may I ask?" said he,pointing to me, whom he now saw for the first time.

  As the question was asked in German, although I understood it I left thereply to the gardener.

  "God knows!" said the old fellow, in a tone of easy indifference; "Ithink he must be a soldier of some sort."

  The other smiled at the remark, and, turning towards me, said, inFrench,--

  "You are, perhaps, unaware, sir, being a stranger, that it is theEmperor of Austria's desire this chateau should not be intruded on."

  "My offending, sir," interrupted I, "was purely accidental. I am thebearer of despatches for General Savary; and having stopped to inquirefrom this honest man--"

  "The general has taken his departure for Goeding," he broke in, withoutpaying further attention to my explanation.

  "For Goding! and may I ask what distance that may be?"

  "Scarcely a league, if you can hit upon the right path; the road liesyonder, where you see that dead fir-tree."

  "I thank you, sir," said I, touching my hat; "and must now ask my friendhere to release me,--my orders are of moment."

  "You may find some difficulty in the wood, after all," said he; "I 'llsend my groom part of the way with you."

  Before I could proffer my thanks suitably for such an unexpectedpoliteness, he had disappeared in the garden through which he entered afew minutes before.

  "I say, my worthy friend, tell me the name of that gentleman; he's oneof the Emperor's staff, if I mistake not. I 'm certain I 've seen theface before."

  "If you had," said the old fellow, laughing, "you could scarcely forgethim; old Frantzerl is just the same these twenty years."

  "Whom did you say?"

  Before he could reply, the other was at my side.

  "Now, sir," said he, "he will conduct you to the highroad. I wish you agood journey."

  These words were uttered in a tone somewhat more haughty than hisprevious ones; and contenting myself with a civil acknowledgment of hisattention, I bowed and returned to my horse, which the little peasantchild had been holding.

  "This way, Monsieur," said the groom, who, dressed in a plain dark brownlivery, was mounted on a horse of great size and symmetry.

  As he spoke, he dashed forward at a gallop which all my efforts couldnot succeed in overtaking. In less than ten minutes the man halted,and, waiting till I came up, he pointed to a gentle acclivity before me,across which the highroad led.

  "There lies the road, sir; continue your speed, and in twenty minutesyou reach Goeding."

  "One word," said I, drawing forth my purse as I spoke,--"one word. Tellme, who is your master?"

  The groom smiled, slightly touched his hat, and without uttering a word,wheeled round his horse, and before I could repeat my question, was faron his road back to the chateau.

  Before me lay the river, and the little bridge of Goeding, across whichnow the Russian columns were marching in rapid but compact order. Theircavalry had nearly all passed, and was drawn with some field-guns alongthe bank; while at half-cannon-shot distance, the corps of Davoust weredrawn up in order of battle, and standing spectators of the scene. On aneminence of the field a splendid staff were assembled, accompanied by atroop of Tartar horsemen, whose gay colors and strange equipment werea remarkable feature of the picture; and here, I learned, the EmperorAlexander then was, accompanied by General Savary.

  As I drew near, my French uniform caught the eye of the latter, and hecantered forward to meet me. Tearing open the despatch with eagerness,he rapidly perused the few lines it contained; then, seizing me by thearm in his-strong grasp, he exclaimed,--

  "Look yonder, sir! You see their columns extending to Serritz. Go backand tell his Majesty. But no; my own mission here is ended. You mayreturn to Austerlitz."

  So saying, he rode back to the group around the Emperor, where I sawhim a few minutes after addressing his Majesty; and then, after a formalleave-taking, turn his horse's head and set out towards Brunn.

  As I retraced my steps towards the camp, I began to muse over the eventswhich had just occurred; and even by the imperfect glimpses Icould catch of the negotiations, could perceive that the Czar hadout-manoeuvred Napoleon. It is true, I was not aware by what meansthe success had been obtained; nor was it for many a year after that Ibecame cognizant of the few autograph lines by which Alexander inducedDavoust to suspend his operations, under the pretence that the Austrianarmistice included the Russian army. It was an unworthy act and illbefitting one whose high personal courage and chivalrous bearing gavepromise of better things.