Читать книгу The Last Cavalier: Being the Adventures of Count Sainte-Hermine in the Age of Napoleon - Александр Дюма, Alexandre Dumas - Страница 21

“BARRAS NOW BEING totally powerless, Diana did not even think of going to him when she arrived in Paris. Instead, she asked for an audience with First Consul Bonaparte.

“It was two or three days after Roland had returned from his mission to Cadoudal. We know how little attention Roland paid to women, and he walked right past Diana without even wondering who she was.

“She said in her request for an audience that she had a means to catch the Companions of Jehu and that she would share it once certain conditions, which she wanted to discuss with the First Consul himself, were met.

“Bonaparte hated women who were involved in politics. Fearing that he was dealing with some adventuress, he sent her letter to Fouché and asked him to see what Mademoiselle de Fargas was like.”

Hector paused for a moment to ask, “Do you know Fouché, mademoiselle?”

“No, monsieur,” Claire answered.

“He represents supreme ugliness. Porcelain eyes that cross, thin yellow hair, ashen skin, a snub nose, a crooked mouth filled with ugly teeth, a receding chin, and a beard of the reddish sort that makes his face look dirty—that’s Fouché for you.

“Beauty has a natural abhorrence for ugliness. So, when Fouché came to see Mademoiselle de Fargas—his air both servile and insolent, beneath which one could spot the former seminarian’s false humility—the lovely Diana’s every moral and physical sense revolted.

“The Minister of the Police had been announced, and that title, which opens all doors, also opened Diana’s, until she saw the hideous creature. She pulled back on her sofa and did not even ask Fouché to sit down.

“He chose an armchair nonetheless, and with Diana staring at him, making no attempt to hide her revulsion, he said, ‘Well, my little woman, we have revelations to make to the police and a deal to propose?’

“Diana looked around with such great surprise that the skillful magistrate assumed immediately that he was right. ‘What are you looking for?’ he asked.

“‘I’m trying to determine to whom you might be speaking, monsieur.’

“‘To you, mademoiselle,’ said Fouché insolently.

“‘Then you are quite mistaken, monsieur,’ she said. ‘I am not a little woman. I am an important woman, daughter of the Comte de Fargas, murdered in Avignon, and the sister of the Vicomte de Fargas, murdered in Bourg. I did not come to make a revelation to the police or to arrange any kind of deal with them. I leave that to those who have the misfortune of being its employees or at its head. I have come to demand justice, and as I doubt,’ she said, getting to her feet, ‘that you have any relationship with that chaste goddess, I would be much obliged to you if you would kindly realize that you came to the wrong door when you came here.’

“When Fouché failed to move from his armchair, either out of stupefaction or insolence, she left him sitting there and returned to her bedroom. She locked the door.

“Two hours later, Roland de Montrevel, sent by the First Consul, arrived and escorted her to Bonaparte’s quarters. Having led her to the meeting room with every consideration due a woman, as his distinguished education, supervised by his mother, had taught him, he withdrew to tell Bonaparte she had arrived.

“A few minutes later Bonaparte entered. ‘Well,’ he said, as he responded to Diana’s bow with a benevolent nod, ‘apparently that oaf Fouché thinks he is still dealing with his typical low-class women. That he treated you quite inappropriately, please forgive him. What else can you expect from someone who was a homework supervisor for Oratorians?’

“‘From him, Citizen First Consul, I could not have expected anything better, but I would have expected a different messenger from you.’

“‘You are quite right,’ said Bonaparte. ‘And you have taught us two good lessons in the process. But now here I am. Apparently you have something interesting to tell me. Speak.’

“‘As you are apparently unable to listen without pacing about, and since I do need you to listen to me, shall we walk together?’

“‘As you please,’ said Bonaparte. ‘One thing I dislike when I give audience to women is that they never walk.’

“‘Perhaps. But when a woman serves as Cadoudal’s aide-de-camp for two years, she gets used to walking.’

“‘You have been Cadoudal’s aide-de-camp for two years?’

“‘Yes.’

“‘How is it possible, then, that Roland, my own aide-de-camp, knows you neither by sight or by name?’

“‘For the reason that in Brittany I was known only by the name of Portia; and because when he was with Cadoudal, I was always careful to keep my distance.’

“‘Ah, you’re the one who stabbed herself in the arm to gain acceptance among the ranks of the Chouans?’

“‘Here’s the scar,’ said Diana, pulling up her sleeve.

“Glancing at her lovely arm, Bonaparte seemed to notice only the scar. ‘A strange wound,’ he said.

“‘The dagger that caused it is stranger still,’ said Diana. ‘As you see.’ And she showed the First Consul the dagger, made entirely of metal, that was borne by the Companions of Jehu.

“Bonaparte carefully examined the unique design as he considered the damage, surely dreadful, its blade might inflict. ‘And how did you come by this dagger?’ he asked.

“‘I pulled it from my brother’s chest. It had been planted in his heart.’

“‘Tell me about it, but quickly, because my time is precious.’

“‘No more precious than the time of a woman who’s been waiting two years for her vengeance.’

“‘Are you Corsican?’

“‘No, but I am speaking to a Corsican, and he will surely understand me.’

“‘What do you want?”

“‘I seek the lives of those who took my brother’s life.’

“‘Who are they?’

“‘I told you in my letter. The Companions of Jehu.’

“‘And you even added that you knew a way to capture them.’

“‘I have their passwords and two letters, one from Cadoudal and one from Coster Saint-Victor, for Morgan, the Companions’ leader.’

“‘You are sure you can arrange their capture?’

“‘I am sure, provided that I can work with a brave, intelligent man such as Monsieur Roland de Montrevel and that we have a sufficient number of soldiers.’

“‘And you said that you would set some conditions. What are they?’

“‘First of all, that they not be granted pardon.’

“‘I never pardon thieves and assassins.’

“‘And also, that I be allowed to complete the mission entrusted to me.’

“‘What mission?’

“‘I am on my way to collect the money for Cadoudal. It’s a mission for which he had to reveal his secrets to me.’

“‘You are asking for the freedom to do with the money as you wish?’

“‘Ah, Citizen First Consul,’ Mademoiselle de Fargas said, ‘such words could ruin forever the good impression that I would otherwise have of our conversation.’

“‘Then what in the devil do you want to do with the money?’

“‘I want to be sure it reaches its destination.’

“‘You are asking me to allow you to deliver money to the very men who are making war on me? Never!’

“‘Well, then, General, please allow me to leave. There is nothing to keep us any longer.’

“‘Oh, what a hard head!’ said Bonaparte.

“‘You should say “what a hard heart,” General.’

“‘What does that mean?’

“‘That it is not the head that refuses shameful proposals, but rather the heart.’

“‘But I cannot furnish weapons to my enemies.’

“‘Do you have complete confidence in Monsieur Roland de Montrevel?’

“‘Yes.’

“‘Do you know that he will do nothing contrary to your honor and to the interests of France?’

“‘I am sure.’

“‘Well, then. Entrust this undertaking to him. I shall arrange with him the means to ensure its success and the conditions on which I shall lend a hand.’

“‘So be it,’ said Bonaparte.

“Then, as rapid as usual when making decisions, he immediately called to Roland, who had remained just outside the door. ‘Roland,’ he said as soon as the aide-de-camp had entered, ‘I’m giving you full authority. You will work together with Mademoiselle de Fargas, and whatever the cost, you will get rid of these highway gentlemen who, all the while that they are stopping and robbing stagecoaches, put on such grand aristocratic airs.’

“Then, with a slight bow to Diana de Fargas, he said, ‘Don’t forget. If you succeed, it will be a great pleasure to see you again.’

“‘And if I fail?’

“‘I never recognize those who fail.’ With those words he strode out and left Diana alone with Roland.

“Despite Roland’s distaste for any operation involving a woman, he found Diana de Fargas to be so far from the typical that he treated her as a good, loyal companion. She was as pleased by his familiarity as she had been put off by Fouché’s insolence. Everything was fixed in less than an hour, and they agreed to set out that very evening, on separate roads, for Bourg-en-Bresse, their headquarters.

“You can be sure, with all the information she had, including the watchwords and passwords, along with letters from Cadoudal and Coster Saint-Victor, Diana de Fargas easily gained entry to the Seillon monastery, where the four leaders were meeting. She was dressed once again like a Chouan and was using the name Portia.

“Nobody had the slightest suspicion, not that the messenger was a woman, because even the clothes of a man could not conceal that Diana was a woman, but that she was Mademoiselle de Fargas, the sister of the man they had killed in punishment for his betrayal.

“Since the total amount Cadoudal was asking for, one hundred thousand francs, was not readily available in the abbey, they arranged to meet Diana at midnight in the Ceyzériat caves, where they would give her the forty thousand still wanting.

“The first thing Roland did when Diana had told him about the arrangements was to summon the captain of the gendarmerie and the colonel of the dragoons garrisoned in the town. When they arrived, he showed them the papers giving him full authority.

“He found the colonel to be a passive instrument ready to put himself, with the number of men required, at Roland’s disposal. On the other hand, the captain of the gendarmerie was an old soldier full of rancor toward the Companions of Jehu, who, as he himself said, for the past three years could not stop causing trouble for him. Ten different times he had seen them, talked to them, and pursued them. Every time, either because of their better horses, tricks, skills, or strategy, the old soldier had ruefully to admit, they had escaped.

“Once, at a moment when they expected it least, the captain had happened upon them in the Seillon forest. The brigands had bravely engaged in combat, killed three of the gendarmerie men and then withdrawn, carrying off with them two of their own wounded. So he had come to despair of ever getting the better of Morgan and his men. Now he wanted one thing only: not to be forced by government orders to have to deal with them. And here was Roland, come to drag him out of his pleasant rest, to disturb him in his tranquility, or rather in the apathy into which he had settled.

“But as soon as Roland had pronounced the Ceyzériat caves as the place the leaders of the Companions said they would meet Diana, the old officer sat thoughtfully for a moment, then removed the three-cornered hat from his head as if it were impeding his thought process, laid it on the table, and said, blinking as he spoke, ‘Wait a moment … wait a moment! The Ceyzériat caves, the Ceyzériat caves … we’ve got them.’ And he placed his hat back on his head.

“The colonel broke into a smile. ‘He’s got them!’ he said.

“Roland and Diana looked doubtfully at each other. They had less confidence in the old captain than did the colonel.

“‘Let’s hear what you have to say,’ said Roland.

“‘When the demagogues tried to demolish the church in Brou,’ said the old captain, ‘I came up with an idea.’

“‘I’m not at all surprised,’ said Roland.

“‘It was a way to save not only our church but also the magnificent tombs inside.’

“‘By doing what?’

“‘By turning the church into a storeroom for fodder for the cavalry.’

“‘I understand,’ said Roland. ‘Hay saved the marble. You are quite right, my friend, that was a great idea.’

“‘So they turned the church over to me. And then I decided to visit it inside and out.’

“‘We’re listening religiously, Captain.’

“‘Well, at one end of the crypt I discovered a small door opening onto a tunnel. After I walked about a quarter of a league, I found the tunnel was blocked by a gate, but on the other side were the Ceyzériat caves.’

“‘I’ll be damned,’ said Roland. ‘I’m beginning to see what you mean.’

“‘Well, not me,’ said the colonel of dragoons.

“‘And yet it’s quite obvious,’ said Mademoiselle de Fargas.

“‘Explain things to the colonel, Diana,’ said Roland, ‘and show him you did not waste your time while you were Cadoudal’s aide-de-camp for two years.’

“‘Yes, please explain,’ said the colonel, spreading his legs apart, leaning on his sword, opening wide his eyes, and blinking, as he looked up.

“‘Well,’ said Mademoiselle de Fargas, ‘with ten or fifteen men the captain will enter through the church in Brou and guard that entrance to the tunnel, whereas we will attack the outside entrance with twenty men or so. The Companions of Jehu will then attempt to escape by the other entrance which, they believe, is known only to them. There they will find the captain and his men. That’s it, they’re caught in the crossfire.’

“‘Exactly,’ said the captain, astonished that a mere woman could have come up with such a plan.

“‘How stupid of me!’ said the colonel in disgust. Roland nodded his agreement.

“Then he turned toward the captain. ‘However, Captain, it is important for you to be at the church entrance ahead of time. The Companions don’t go to the caves before nightfall, and they use only the outside entrance, of course. I shall go in with Mademoiselle de Fargas, and we shall be disguised as Chouans. I shall get the forty thousand francs. As we’re leaving, thanks to the password that will let me approach the two sentinels, I shall silence them with my knife. We shall hide the forty thousand francs or entrust them to a gendarme. Then we shall turn around, go back into the caves, and attack the Companions. When they realize there’s a surprise attack, they will try to escape, but at the gate they will find their way blocked by the captain and his gendarmes. They will either have to surrender or be killed, from the first to the last man.’

“‘I’ll be at my post this morning before daybreak,’ said the captain. ‘I’ll take along enough food for the entire day. And battle tonight!’ He drew his sword and struck the wall several times. Then he returned the sword to its sheath.

“Roland allowed the old soldier some time for his heroic gestures, and when the soldier had calmed down, he slapped him on the shoulder. ‘There will be no changes to our plans. At midnight, Mademoiselle de Fargas and I shall enter the caves to get our money, and a quarter of an hour later, with the first gunshot you hear, there will be battle, as you say, my good captain.’

“‘Battle!’ the colonel of dragoons echoed.

“Once more Roland went over what they had agreed upon so that everyone knew exactly what to do. Then he took leave of the two officers, the captain of the gendarmerie, whom he would see only in the caves, and the colonel of dragoons, whom he would not see until two thirty.

“Everything happened the way it had been arranged. Diana de Fargas and Roland, using the identities and costumes of Bruyère and Branched’Or, entered the Ceyzériat caves after exchanging the watchwords with the two sentinels, one at the base of the mountain and the other at the cave entrance.

“Inside, they learned something disappointing: Morgan had had to leave. Montbar and the two other leaders, d’Assas and Adler, were governing in his absence. They suspected nothing and handed the forty thousand francs over to Diana and Roland.

“It was clear that the Companions were planning to bivouac that night in the caves. But without their chief leader. So no matter how successfully Roland and Diana accomplished their mission, their victory would be incomplete if they were unable to take Morgan along with the others.

“Might Morgan come back during the night? If he were to, when? With their plans already set in motion, Roland and Diana decided to proceed, as it would be better to capture three leaders than to let four of them escape. Further, unless Morgan left the country, it would be easier to take him alone rather than with three other leaders and their band. Once Morgan realized how isolated he was, perhaps he would surrender.

“Thanks to the watchwords, Roland was able to again approach the sentinel at the cave’s entrance without arousing suspicion. After a brief exchange, the sentinel collapsed and fell facedown on the ground. Roland had knifed him. The second fell like the first, without a cry.

“Then, on hearing the agreed-upon signal, the colonel appeared with his twenty dragoons. Though not an intelligent man, the colonel was a veteran soldier as brave as his sword, which he had drawn as he advanced at the head of his men. Roland joined him on his right, Diana on his left.

“They had not taken more than ten steps into the cave when two gunshots rang out. The fire came from one of the stagecoach thieves who, sent by Montbar to Ceyzériat village, had just then happened upon Roland’s dragoons. One of the shots went wild; the other broke a man’s arm.

“‘To arms!’ someone shouted; and a man rushed into one of the twenty or thirty rooms on either side of the main tunnel where torches flickered on the walls; his rifle was still smoking. ‘To arms!’ he shouted. ‘To arms! It’s the dragoons!’

“‘I’ll take command,’ cried Montbar. ‘Put out all the lights! Retreat toward the church!’

“They all promptly obeyed; they understood the danger. Hard on the heels of Montbar, who knew the tunnel’s every twist and turn, they followed him deeper and deeper into the caves.

“Suddenly, Montbar thought he heard, some forty yards ahead, someone whisper an order—and then the sound of guns being cocked. ‘Halt!’ he said, his voice tense, his hand raised.

“‘Fire!’ ordered a voice up ahead.

“‘Facedown!’ shouted Montbar.

“Scarcely had they dropped to the floor than the tunnel was lit by a terrible explosion. All those who’d had the time to obey Montbar’s order heard the bullets whistle over their heads. Among those who had not, two or three collapsed. In the light of the explosion, brief though it was, Montbar and his companions recognized the uniform of the gendarmes.

“‘Fire!’ Montbar shouted in turn.

“Twelve or fifteen shots rang out, and once again the dark vault grew bright. Three of the Companions of Jehu lay stretched out on the ground.

“‘Our escape has been cut off,’ said Montbar. ‘We must go back. Our only chance, if we have one, is through the forest.’

“As Montbar and his companions, at a run, started back, a second volley from the gendarmes shook the tunnel. A couple of sighs and the sound of a body hitting the ground evidenced that it had not been without effect.

“‘Forward, my friends!’ Montbar cried. ‘Let’s sell our lives for what they’re worth, as dearly as possible.’

“‘Forward!’ his companions repeated.

“But as they moved forward, Montbar was worried by the smell of smoke. ‘I think those scoundrels are trying to smoke us out,’ he said.

“‘I’m afraid so,’ Adler agreed.

“‘They must think they’re dealing with foxes.’

“‘When they see our claws, they’ll know we are lions.’

“The more they advanced, the thicker the smoke rose, and the brighter grew the glow. They made the final turn. About fifty paces from the opening to the cave, a large fire, set more for its light than for smoke, was burning. In the light of the fire, they could see the dragoons’ guns and swords gleaming.

“‘And now we shall die,’ cried Montbar. ‘But first let us kill!’

“He was the first to leap into the circle of light, shooting from both barrels of his shotgun into the dragoons. Then, the emptied shotgun tossed aside, he pulled his pistols from his belt and, lowering his head, rushed toward the dragoons.”

“I won’t even try,” said the young count to Claire, “to tell you everything that happened then. It was a horrible battle, the swearing and cursing and shouting like the skies rumbling, the pistol shots like bolts of lightning. And when the pistols had been all discharged, they turned to the daggers.

“The gendarmes joined the battle, wielding their weapons in the dense, smoky red air, stumbling, falling, getting back up, falling once more. You could hear roars of rage and cries of agony. And sometimes a man’s last gasp.

“The killing lasted about a quarter of an hour, maybe twenty minutes. At the end, twenty-two bodies lay dead in the Ceyzériat caves. Thirteen of them were dragoons or gendarmes; nine were Companions of Jehu.

“Overwhelmed by numbers, only five Companions had survived. They had been taken alive, and Mademoiselle de Fargas regarded them as might the ancients’ Nemesis, while the gendarmes and dragoons, swords in hand, surrounded them.

“The old captain’s arm was broken, and the colonel had been shot in the thigh. Roland, covered with the blood of his opponents, had not sustained even a scratch.

“Torches were lit, and they all started back toward town. Two of the prisoners had to be carried on stretchers because they were unable to walk.

“As the weary procession was reaching the highway, a horse came galloping toward them. Roland stopped. ‘Keep moving,’ he said. ‘I’ll stay to see who this is.’

“When the horseman was about twenty paces away, Roland called out, ‘Who’s there?’

“‘One more prisoner, monsieur,’ the horseman answered. ‘I was not able to be present for the battle, so I insist on being present at the scaffold! Where are my friends?’

“‘Here, monsieur,’ said Roland.

“‘Please excuse me, monsieur,’ Morgan said. ‘I would like to claim my rightful place with my three friends, the Vicomte de Jahiat, the Comte de Valensolles, and the Marquis de Ribier.… I am the Comte Charles de Sainte-Hermine.’

“The three prisoners cried out in admiration. Diana cried out in joy. She now had all her prey; not one of the four leaders had escaped.

“The same night, according to the promise Roland had made to Diana and she to Cadoudal, the one hundred thousand francs from the Companions of Jehu left for Brittany.

“Now that the Companions of Jehu were in the hands of justice, Roland’s mission was completed. He came back to his post with the First Consul, then left for Brittany, where in vain he tried to persuade Cadoudal to join the Republican cause, returned to Paris, and accompanied the First Consul on his Italian campaign, in which he was killed at Marengo.

“As for Diana de Fargas, she was too caught up in her hatred and too thirsty for vengeance not to savor it until the bitter end. The trial would soon get under way, come to its conclusion, and end with a quadruple execution that she would most assuredly not miss.

“In Besançon I was alerted that my brother had been arrested, and I hurried to Bourg-en-Bresse where the jury would be meeting. The investigation began. There were six prisoners in all, the five who had been taken in the caves and the one who had joined them voluntarily. Two were so seriously wounded that within a week of their arrest they died from their injuries.

“At first the four remaining Companions were to be judged by a military tribunal and condemned to the firing squad, but the law intervened, declaring that political crimes would now be tried by civil courts. Thus the sentence would be the scaffold. The guillotine is ignominious; the firing squad is not. In a military court, the prisoners would have admitted everything; in the civil court, they denied all.

“Arrested under the names d’Assas, Adler, Montbar, and Morgan, they declared that they did not recognize those names. They said they were: Louis-André de Jahiat, born in Bâgé-le-Châtel in the Ain, twenty-seven years of age; Raoul-Frédéric-Auguste de Valensolles, born in Sainte-Colombe in the Rhône, twenty-nine years of age; Pierre-Auguste de Ribier, born in Bollène in the Vaucluse, twenty-six years of age; and Charles de Sainte-Hermine, born in Besançon in the Doubs, twenty-four years of age.”