Amid all the stirring duties of the next day, amid all the excitement
of a new position, my mind recurred continually to the events of
the previous twenty-four hours: now dwelling on the soiree at the
Palace,--the unaccustomed splendor, the rank, the beauty I had
witnessed; now on that eventful moment I spent behind the screen; then
on my strange rencontre with my antagonist, and that still stranger
supper that followed it.
It was not, indeed, without certain misgivings, which I could neither
account for nor dismiss from my mind, that I reflected on the character
and conversation of my new associates. The tone of levity in which
they dared to speak of him whose name was to me something bordering on
idolatry,--the liberty with which they ventured to canvass his measures
and his opinions, even to ridiculing them,--were so many puzzles to
my mind; and I half reproached myself for having tamely listened to
language which now, as I thought over it, seemed to demand my notice.
Totally ignorant of all political intrigue,--unconscious that any party
did or could exist in France save that of the First Consul himself,--I
could find no solution to the enigma, and at last began to think that I
had been exaggerating to myself the words I had heard, and permitting my
ignorance to weigh with me, where with more knowledge I should have seen
nothing reprehensible. And if the spirit in which they discussed the
acts of Bonaparte differed from what I had been accustomed to, might it
not rather proceed from my own want of acquaintance with the usages of
society, than any deficiency in attachment on their sides? The préfet
was, of course, as an officer of the Government, no mean judge of what
became him; the abbé, too, as a man of education and in holy orders, was
equally unlikely to express unbecoming opinions; the Russian scarcely
spoke at all; and as for De Beauvais, his careless and headlong
impetuosity made me feel easy on his score. And so I reasoned myself
into the conviction that it was only the ordinary bearing and everyday
habit of society to speak thus openly of one who in the narrower limits
of our little world was deemed something to worship.
Shall I own what then I could scarcely have confessed to myself, that
the few words De Beauvais spoke at parting,--the avowed cousinship
with her they called “La Rose de Provence,”--did much to induce this
conviction on my mind? while his promise to present me was a pledge I
could not possibly believe consistent with any but right loyal thoughts
and honest doctrines. Still, I would have given anything for one friend
to advise with,--one faithful counsellor to aid me. But again was I
alone in the world; and save the short and not over-flattering reception
of my colonel, I had neither seen nor spoken to one of my new corps.
That evening I joined my regiment, and took up my quarters in the
barracks, where already the rumor of important political events had
reached the officers, and they stood in groups discussing the chances of
a war, or listening to the “Moniteur,” which was read out by one of
the party. What a strange thrill it sent through me to think that I was
privy to the deepest secret of that important step on which the peace of
Europe was resting,--that I had heard the very words as they fell from
the lips of him on whom the destiny of millions then depended! With what
a different interpretation to me came those passages in the Government
journal which breathed of peace, and spoke of painful sacrifices to
avoid a war, for which already his very soul was thirsting! and how to
my young heart did that passion for glory exalt him who could throw all
into the scale! The proud position he occupied,--the mighty chief of
a mighty nation; the adulation in which he daily lived; the gorgeous
splendor of a Court no country in Europe equalled,--all these (and more,
his future destiny) did lie set upon the cast for the great game his
manly spirit gloried in.
In such thoughts as these I lived as in a world of my own. Companionship
I had none; my brother officers, with few exceptions, had risen from the
ranks, and were of that class which felt no pleasure save in the coarse
amusements of the barrack-room or the vulgar jests of the service. The
better classes lived studiously apart from these, and made no approaches
to intimacy with any newly joined officer with whose family and
connections they were unacquainted; and I, from my change of country,
stood thus alone, unacknowledged and unknown. At first this isolation
pained and grieved me, but gradually it became less irksome; and when
at length they who had at first avoided and shunned my intimacy showed
themselves disposed to know me, my pride, which before would have been
gratified by such an acknowledgment, was now wounded, and I coolly
declined their advances.
Some weeks passed in this manner, during which I never saw or heard
of De Beauvais, and at length began to feel somewhat offended at the
suddenness with which he seemed to drop an intimacy begun at his own
desire; when one evening, as I had returned to my barrack-room after
parade, I heard a knock at my door. I rose and opened it, when, to my
surprise, I beheld De Beauvais before me. He was much thinner than when
I last saw him, and his dress and appearance all betokened far less of
care and attention.
“Are these your quarters?” said he, entering and throwing a cautious
look about. “Are you alone here?”
“Yes,” said I; “perfectly.”
“You expect no one?”
“Not any,” said I, again, still more surprised at the agitation of his
manner, and the evident degree of anxiety he labored under.
“Thank Heaven!” said he, drawing a deep sigh as he threw himself on my
little camp-bed, and covered his face with his hands.
Seeing that something weighed heavily on him, I half feared to interfere
with the current of his thoughts, and merely drew my chair and sat down
beside him.
“I say, Burke, mon cher, have you any wine? Let me have a glass or
two, for save some galette, and that not the best either, I have tasted
nothing these last twenty-four hours.”
I soon set before him the contents of my humble larder, and in a few
moments he rallied a good deal, and looking up with a smile said,--
“I think you have been cultivating your education as gourmand since I
saw you; that pasty is worthy our friend in the Palais Royal. Well, and
how have you been since we met?”
“Let me rather ask yow,” said I, “You are not looking so well as the
last time I saw you. Have you been ill?”
“Ill! no, not ill. Yet I can't say so; for I have suffered a good deal,
too. No, my friend; I have had much to harass and distress me. I
have been travelling, too, long distances and weary ones,--met some
disappointments; and altogether the world has not gone so well with me
as I think it ought. And now of you,--what of yourself?”
“Alas!” said I, “if you have met much to annoy, I have only lived a dull
life of daily monotony. If it has had little to distress, there is fully
as little to cheer; and I half suspect the fine illusions I used to
picture to myself of a soldier's career had very little connection with
reality.”
As De Beauvais seemed to listen with more attention than such a theme
would naturally call for, I gradually was drawn into a picture of my
barrack life, in which I dwelt at length on my own solitary position,
and the want of that companionship which formed the chief charm of my
schoolboy life. To all this he paid a marked attention,--now questioning
me on some unexplained point; now agreeing with me in what I said by a
word or a gesture.
“And do you know, Burke,” said he, interrupting me in my description
of those whose early coldness of manner had chilled my first
advances,--“and do you know,” said he, impetuously, “who these
aristocrats are? The sons of honest _bourgeois_ of Paris. Their fathers
are worthy men of the Rue Vivienne or the Palais,--excellent people,
I 've no doubt, but very far better judges of point lace and pâté, de
Périgord than disputed precedence and armorial quarterings. Far better
the others,--the humble soldiers of fortune, whose highest pride is
their own daring, their own undaunted heroism. Well, well,” added he,
after a pause, “I must get you away from this; I can manage it in a day
or two. You shall be sent down to Versailles with a detachment.”
I could not help starting with surprise at these words, and through all
the pleasure they gave me my astonishment was still predominant.
“I see you are amazed at what I say; but it is not so wonderful as you
think. My cousin has only to hint to Madame Bonaparte, who is at present
there, and the thing is done.”
I blushed deeply as I thought of the agency through which my wishes were
to meet accomplishment, and turned away to hide my embarrassment.
“By the bye, I have not presented you to her yet. I 've had no
opportunity; but now I shall do so at once.”
“Pray, tell me your cousin's name,” said I, anxious to say anything to
conceal my confusion. “I 've only heard her name called 'La Rose de
Provence.'”
“Yes, that was a silly fancy of Madame la Consulesse, because Marie is
Provengale, But her name is De Rochfort,--at least her mother's name;
for, by another caprice, she was forbidden by Bonaparte to bear her
father's name. But this is rather a sore topic with me; let us
change it. How did you like my friends the other evening? The abb, is
agreeable, is he not?”
“Yes,” said I, hesitating somewhat; “but I am so unaccustomed to hear
General Bonaparte discussed so freely--”
“That absurd Polytechnique!” interrupted De Beauvais. “How many a
fine fellow has it spoiled with its ridiculous notions and foolish
prejudices!”
“Come, come,” said I; “you must not call prejudices the attachment which
I, and all who wear an epaulette, feel in our glorious chief. There,
there! don't laugh, or you 'll provoke me; for if I, an alien, feel
this, how should you, who are a Frenchman born, sympathize with such a
proud career?”
“If you talk of sympathy, Burke, let me ask you. Have you ever heard
speak of certain old families of these realms who have been driven
forth and expatriated to seek a home among strangers,--themselves the
descendants of the fairest chivalry of our land, the proud scions of
Saint Louis? and has your sympathy never strayed across sea to mingle
with their sorrows?” His voice trembled as he spoke, and a large tear
filled his eye and tracked its way along his cheek, as the last word
vibrated on his tongue; and then, as if suddenly remembering how far
he had been carried away by momentary impulse, he added, in an altered
voice, “But what have we to do with these things? Our road is yet to be
travelled by either of us,--yours a fair path enough, if it only fulfil
its early promise. The fortunate fellow that can win his grade while yet
a schoolboy--”
“How came you to know--”
“Oh! I know more than that, Burke; and, believe me, if my foolish
conduct the first day we met had led to anything disastrous, I should
have passed a life of sorrow for it ever after. But we shall have time
enough to talk over all these matters in the green alleys of Versailles,
where I hope to see you before a week be over. Great events may happen
ere long, too. Burke, you don't know it; but I can tell you, a war with
England is at this moment on the eve of declaration.”
“Perhaps,” said I, somewhat piqued by the tone of superiority in which
he had spoken for some minutes, and anxious to assume for myself a
position which, I forgot, conferred no credit by the manner of its
attainment, “I know more of that than you are aware of.”
“Oh,” replied he, carelessly, “the gossip of a mess is but little to be
relied on. The sabreurs will always tell you that the order to march is
given.”
“I don't mean that,” said I, haughtily. “My information has a higher
source, the highest of all,--Greneral Bonaparte himself!”
“How! what! Bonaparte himself!”
“Listen to me,” said I; and hurried on by a foolish vanity, and a
strange desire I cannot explain to make a confidant in what I felt to
be a secret too weighty for my own bosom, I told him all that I had
overheard when seated behind the screen in the salon at the Tuileries.
“You heard this,--you, yourself?” cried he, as his eyes flashed, and he
grasped my arm with an eager grip.
“Yes, with my own ears I heard it,” said I, half trembling at the
disclosure I made, and ready to give all I possessed to recall my words.
“My friend, my dear friend,” said he, impetuously, “you must hesitate no
longer; be one of us.”
I started at the words, and growing pale with agitation as the very
thought of the importance of what I had related flashed across me, I
stammered out, “Take care what you propose to me, De Beauvais. I do not,
I cannot, fathom your meaning now; but if I thought that anything like
treachery to the First Consul--that anything traitorous to the great
cause of liberty for which he has fought and conquered--was meditated, I
'd go forthwith and tell him, word for word, all I have spoken now, even
though the confession might, as it would, humble me forever, and destroy
all my future hope of advancement.”
“And be well laughed at for your pains, foolish boy!” said he, throwing
himself back in his chair, and bursting out into a fit of laughter. “No,
no, Burke; you must not do anything half so ridiculous, or my pretty
cousin could never look at you without a smile ever after. And _à
propos_, of that, when shall I present you? That splendid jacket, and
all that finery of dolman there, will make sad work of her poor heart.”
I blushed deeply at the silly impetuosity I had betrayed myself into,
and muttered some equally silly apology for it. Still, young as I was, I
could perceive that my words made no common impression on him, and would
have given my best blood to recall them.
“Do you know, De Beauvais,” said I, affecting as much of coolness as I
could, “do you know, I half regret having told you this. The manner
in which I heard this conversation--though, as you will see, quite
involuntary on my part--should have prevented my ever having repeated
it; and now the only reparation I can make is to wait on my colonel,
explain the whole circumstance, and ask his advice.”
“In plain words, to make public what at present is only confided to a
friend. Well, you think the phrase too strong for one you have seen but
twice,--the first time not exactly on terms such as warrant the phrase.
But come, if you can't trust me, I 'll see if I can't trust you.”
He drew at these words a roll of paper from his pocket, and was
proceeding to open it on the table when a violent knocking was heard at
my door.
“What 's that? who can it be?” said he, starting up, and growing pale as
death.
The look of terror in his face appalled me; and I stood, not able to
reply, or even move towards the door, when the knocking was repeated
much louder, and I heard my name called out. Pointing to a closet which
led from the room, and without speaking a word, I walked forward and
unlocked the door. A tall man, wrapped in a blue cloak, and wearing
a cocked hat covered with oilskin, stood before me, accompanied by a
sergeant of my troop.
“This is the sous-lieutenant, sir,” said the sergeant, touching his cap.
“That will do,” replied the other; “you may leave us now.” Then turning
to me he added, “May I have the favor of a few minutes' conversation
with you, Mr. Burke? I am Monsieur Gisquet, chef de police of the
department.”
A trembling ran through me at the words, and I stammered out something
scarce audible in reply. Monsieur Gisquet followed me as I led the
way into my room, which already had been deserted by De Beauvais; and
casting a quick glance around, he leisurely took off his hat and cloak
and drew a chair towards the table.
“Are we alone, sir?” said he, in a measured tone of voice, while his eye
fell with a peculiar meaning on a chair which stood opposite to mine, on
the opposite side of the stove.
“I had a friend with me when you knocked,” I muttered, in a broken and
uncertain accent; “but perhaps--”
Before I could finish my sentence the door of the cabinet slowly
opened, and De Beauvais appeared, but so metamorphosed I could scarcely
recognize him; for, short as the interval was, he had put on my old
uniform of the Polytechnique, which, from our similarity in height,
fitted him perfectly.
“All safe, Tom,” said he, stealing out, with an easy smile on his
countenance. “Par Saint Denis! I thought it was old Legrange himself
come to look for me. Ah, Monsieur, how d' ye do? You have given me a
rare fright tonight. I came to spend the day with my friend here, and,
as ill luck would have it, have outstayed my time. The _école_ closes at
nine, so that I 'm in for a week's arrest at least.”
“A cool confession this, sir, to a minister of police!” said Gisquet,
sternly, while his dark eyes surveyed the speaker from head to foot.
“Not when that minister is called Gisquet,” said he, readily, and bowing
courteously as he spoke.
“You know me, then?” said the other, still peering at him with a sharp
look.
“Only from your likeness to a little boy in my company,” said he, “Henri
Gisquet. A fine little fellow he is, and one of the cleverest in the
school.”
“You are right, sir; he is my son,” said the minister, as a pleased
smile passed over his swarthy features. “Come, I think I must get you
safe through your dilemma. Take this; the officer of the night will be
satisfied with the explanation, and Monsieur Legrange will not hear of
it.”
So saying, he seized a pen, and writing a few lines rapidly on a piece
of paper, he folded it note fashion, and handed it to De Beauvais.
“A handsome ring, sir!” said he, suddenly, and holding the fingers
within his own; “a very costly one, too.”
“Yes, sir,” said De Beauvais, blushing scarlet. “A cousin of mine--”
“Ha, ha! an amourette, too. Well, well, young gentleman! no need of
further confessions; lose no more time here. Bonsoir.”
“Adieu, Burke,” said De Beauvais, shaking my hand with a peculiar
pressure.
“Adieu, Monsieur Gisquet. This order will pass me through the barrack,
won't it?”
“Yes; to be sure. You need fear no interference with my people either,
go where you will this evening.”
“Thanks, sir, once more,” said he, and departed.
“Now for our business, Mr. Burke,” said the minister, opening his packet
of papers before him, and commencing to con over its contents. “I shall
ask you a few questions, to which you will please to reply with all the
accuracy you can command, remembering that you are liable to be called
on to verify any statement hereafter on oath. With whom did you speak on
the evening of the 2d of May, at the soiree of Madame Bonaparte?”
“I scarcely remember if I spoke to any one save Madame herself. A
strange gentleman, whose name I forget, presented me; one or two others,
also unknown to me, may have spoken a passing word or so; and when
coming away I met Monsieur de Beauvais.”
“Monsieur de Beauvais! who is he?”
“_Ma foi_ I can't tell you. I saw him the day before for the first time;
we renewed our acquaintance, and we supped together.”
“At Beauvilliers's?” said he, interrupting.
“Pardieu, Monsieur!” said I, somewhat stung at the espionage on my
movements; “you seem to know everything so well already, it is quite
needless to interrogate me any further.”
“Perhaps not,” replied he, coolly. “I wish to have the names of the
party you supped with.”
“Well, there was one who was called the préfet, a large, full, elderly
man.”
“Yes, yes, I know him,” interrupted Gisquet again. “And the others?”
“There was an abbé, and a secretary of the Russian mission.”
“No other?” said he, in a tone of disappointment.
“No one, save De Beauvais and myself; we were but five in all.”
“Did no one come in daring the evening?
“No, not any.”
“Nor did any leave the party?”
“No; we separated at the same moment.”
“Who accompanied you to the barracks?”
“No one; I returned alone.”
“And this Monsieur de Beauvais,--you can't tell anything of him? What
age is he? what height?”
“About my own,” said I, blushing deeply at the thought of the events
of a few moments back. “He may be somewhat older, but he looks not much
more than twenty-one or two.”
“Have you mentioned any of these circumstances to any of your brother
officers or to your colonel?”
“No, sir, never.”
“Very right, sir. These are times in which discretion is of no common
importance. I have only to recommend similar circumspection in future.
It is probable that some of these gentlemen may visit you and write
to you; they may invite you to sup or to dine. If so, sir, accept the
invitation. Be cautious, however, not to speak of this interview to any
one. Remember, sir, I am the messenger of one who never forgave a breach
of trust, but who also never fails to reward loyalty and attachment. If
you be but prudent, Mr. Burke, your fortune is certain.”
With these words. Monsieur Gisquet threw his cloak over his shoulder,
and raising his hat, he bowed formally to me and withdrew; leaving me to
meditations which, I need not say, were none of the happiest.
If my fears were excited by the thought of the acquaintances I had so
rashly formed, so also was my pride insulted by the system of watching
to which my movements had been subjected; and deeper still, by the
insulting nature of the proposal the minister of police had not scrupled
to make to me,--on reflecting over which, only, did I perceive how base
and dishonorable it was.
“What!” asked I of myself, “is it a spy--is it a false underhand
betrayer of the men into whose society I have been admitted on terms of
friendly intercourse--he would make of me? What saw he in me or in my
actions to dare so far? Was not the very cloth I wear enough to guard me
against such an insult?” Then came the maddening reflection, “Why had
I not thought of this sooner? Why had I not rejected his proposal with
scorn, and told him that I was not of the stuff he looked for?”
But what is it that he wished to learn? and who were these men, and what
were their designs? These were questions' that flashed across me; and I
trembled to think how deeply implicated I might become at any moment in
plans of which I knew nothing, merely from the imprudence with which I
had made their acquaintance. The escape of De Beauvais, if discovered,
would also inevitably involve me; and thus did I seem hurried along by a
train of incidents without will or concurrence, each step but increasing
the darkness around me.
That Gisquet knew most of the party was clear; De Beauvais alone seemed
personally unknown to him. What, then, did he want of me? Alas! it was a
tangled web I could make nothing of: and all I could resolve on was, to
avoid in future all renewal of intimacy with De Beauvais; to observe the
greatest circumspection with regard to all new acquaintance; and since
the police thought it worth their while to set spies upon my track, to
limit any excursions, for some time at least, to the routine of my duty
and the bounds of the barrack-yard. These were wise resolutions, and
if somewhat late in coming, yet not without their comfort; above all,
because, in my heart, I felt no misgivings of affection, no lack of
loyalty, to him who was still my idol.
“Well, well,” thought I, “something may come of this,--perhaps a war. If
so, happy shall I be to leave Paris and all its intrigues behind me,
and seek distinction in a more congenial sphere, and under other banners
than a police minister would afford me.”
With thoughts like these I fell asleep, to dream over all the events
of the preceding day, and wake the next morning with an aching head and
confused brain,--my only clear impression being that some danger hung
over me; but from what quarter, and how or in what way it was to be met
or averted, I could not guess.
The whole day I felt a feverish dread lest De Beauvais should appear.
Something whispered me that my difficulties were to come of my
acquaintance with him; and I studiously passed my time among my brother
officers, knowing that, so long as I remained among them, he was
not likely to visit me. And when evening came, I gladly accepted an
invitation to a barrack-room supper, which, but the night before, I
should have declined without hesitation.
This compliance on my part seemed well taken by my companions; and in
their frank and cordial reception of me, I felt a degree of reproach
to myself for my having hitherto lived estranged from them. We had just
taken our places at table, when the door was flung wide open, and a
young captain of the regiment rushed in, waving a paper over his head,
as he called out,--
“Good news, mes braves, glorious news for you! Listen to this: The
English ambassador has demanded his passports, and left Paris. Expresses
are sent off to the fourth corps to move towards the coast; twelve
regiments have received orders to march; so that before my Lord leaves
Calais, he may witness a review of the army. '”
“Is this true?”
“It is all certain. Read it; here 's the 'Moniteur,' with the official
announcement.”
In an instant a dozen heads were bent over the paper, each eager to scan
the paragraph so long and ardently desired.
“Come, Burke, I hope you have not forgotten your English,” said the
major. “We shall want you soon to interpret for us in London; if,
pardieu, we can ever find our way through the fogs of that ill-starred
island.”
I hung my head without speaking; the miserable isolation of him who has
no country is a sad and sickening sense of want no momentary enthusiasm,
no impulse of high daring can make up for. Happily for me, all were
too deeply interested in the important news to remark me, or pay any
attention to my feelings.