Uncle Bernac: A Memory of the Empire

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Артур Конан Дойл. Uncle Bernac: A Memory of the Empire

CHAPTER I. THE COAST OF FRANCE

CHAPTER II. THE SALT-MARSH

CHAPTER III. THE RUINED COTTAGE

CHAPTER IV. MEN OF THE NIGHT

CHAPTER V. THE LAW

CHAPTER VI. THE SECRET PASSAGE

CHAPTER VII. THE OWNER OF GROSBOIS

CHAPTER VIII. COUSIN SIBYLLE

CHAPTER IX. THE CAMP OF BOULOGNE

CHAPTER X. THE ANTE-ROOM

CHAPTER XI. THE SECRETARY

CHAPTER XII. THE MAN OF ACTION

CHAPTER XIII. THE MAN OF DREAMS

CHAPTER XIV. JOSEPHINE

CHAPTER XV. THE RECEPTION OF THE EMPRESS

CHAPTER XVI. THE LIBRARY OF GROSBOIS

CHAPTER XVII. THE END

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When a man has reached his mature age he can rest at that point of vantage, and cast his eyes back at the long road along which he has travelled, lying with its gleams of sunshine and its stretches of shadow in the valley behind him. He knows then its whence and its whither, and the twists and bends which were so full of promise or of menace as he approached them lie exposed and open to his gaze. So plain is it all that he can scarce remember how dark it may have seemed to him, or how long he once hesitated at the cross roads. Thus when he tries to recall each stage of the journey he does so with the knowledge of its end, and can no longer make it clear, even to himself, how it may have seemed to him at the time. And yet, in spite of the strain of years, and the many passages which have befallen me since, there is no time of my life which comes back so very clearly as that gusty evening, and to this day I cannot feel the briny wholesome whiff of the seaweed without being carried back, with that intimate feeling of reality which only the sense of smell can confer, to the wet shingle of the French beach.

When I had risen from my knees, the first thing that I did was to put my purse into the inner pocket of my coat. I had taken it out in order to give a gold piece to the sailor who had handed me ashore, though I have little doubt that the fellow was both wealthier and of more assured prospects than myself. I had actually drawn out a silver half-crown, but I could not bring myself to offer it to him, and so ended by giving a tenth part of my whole fortune to a stranger. The other nine sovereigns I put very carefully away, and then, sitting down upon a flat rock just above high water mark, I turned it all over in my mind and weighed what I should do. Already I was cold and hungry, with the wind lashing my face and the spray smarting in my eyes, but at least I was no longer living upon the charity of the enemies of my country, and the thought set my heart dancing within me. But the castle, as well as I could remember, was a good ten miles off. To go there now was to arrive at an unseemly hour, unkempt and weather-stained, before this uncle whom I had never seen. My sensitive pride conjured up a picture of the scornful faces of his servants as they looked out upon this bedraggled wanderer from England slinking back to the castle which should have been his own. No, I must seek shelter for the night, and then at my leisure, with as fair a show of appearances as possible, I must present myself before my relative. Where then could I find a refuge from the storm?

.....

You may think that I did not feel disposed to contradict him, though I could make nothing of this sudden and welcome change in his manner.

'I am much obliged to you, sir,' said I.

.....