THE PRINCE'S ENVOY
The chasseur Falou and the corporal Faraud have not, I hope, made you
forget the citizen Fenouillot, commercial traveller for the house of
Fraissinet at Châlons, nor the six bottles of champagne which he in his
gratitude offered to Pichegru.
There was still one of these bottles to empty when the general returned
to his place at table. Citizen Fenouillot opened it, or rather tried to
do so, but in so unskilful a manner that Pichegru smiled and took the
bottle from his hand; then cutting the cords, he opened the wires with
the thumb of his left hand, which had retained all its strength.
"Come, citizen," said he, "a last glass to the prosperity of the arms of
the Republic."
The commercial traveller raised his glass higher than any of the others.
"And," he added, "may the general finish gloriously what he has already
gloriously begun."
All the officers joined noisily in the proposed toast.
"And now," said Pichegru, "as I agree with the toast which the citizen
has just proposed, we have not an instant to lose. To-day's fight is but
the prelude to two more serious battles; for we must win two more in
order to regain the lines of Weissembourg, which were lost by my
predecessor. The day after to-morrow we will attack Froeschwiller; in
four days the line, in five we shall be at Weissembourg, and in six we
shall have relieved Landau." Then, addressing Macdonald, he said: "My
dear colonel, you are, as you know, my right hand. I intrust to you the
duty of visiting all the posts, and of telling each corps which one it
is to occupy. You are to command the left wing, and Abatucci the right;
I will be in the centre. See that the soldiers want for nothing. No
superfluities, but they must have a little more than the necessaries."
Then he said to the other officers: "You all know the regiments under
your command, citizens; you know those on whom you can depend. Call
their officers together and tell them that I am writing to-day to the
Committee of Public Safety that we shall sleep at Froeschwiller the day
after to-morrow. Also that in eight days at the latest we shall be at
Landau; and let them remember one thing, that if that promise is broken,
my head will pay the forfeit."
The officers rose, and, buckling on their swords, they prepared to leave
the room to execute the orders they had received.
"As for you, Charles," continued Pichegru, "go into the room which has
been made ready for us, and see if the mattresses are in their proper
places. You will find on a chair a little package addressed to you; open
it, and, if the contents pleases you, use it at once, for it belongs to
you. If you feel any pain from the concussion you have received, tell me
of it, and not the surgeon."
"Thanks, general," answered Charles; "but I do not need any other
compresses there than the one which stopped the bullet. As for the
bullet itself," continued the boy, taking it from his pocket, "I shall
keep it to give to my father."
"And you can roll it in the certificate that I shall write for you. And
now, my boy, go."
Charles went out. Pichegru glanced at citizen Fenouillot, who was still
sitting in his place, went to the doors that gave access to the
dining-room, bolted them, and then returned to his place opposite his
guest, who had watched his movements with the utmost astonishment.
"There," said he, "now we are alone, citizen."
"Alone, general?" asked the commercial traveller.
"Let us play above-board."
"I ask nothing better."
"Your name is not Fenouillot, you are not related to the lawyer at
Besançon, you were not the Prince de Condé's prisoner, you are his
agent."
"That is true, general."
"And you remained by his order to make me some proposals from the
royalists at the risk of being shot."
"That is also true."
"But you said to yourself, 'General Pichegru is brave and he will
understand that it requires a certain degree of courage to do what I am
doing; perhaps he will not shoot me, though he may refuse; and then he
will send me back to the prince with his refusal.'"
"That is also true; but I hope that after having heard me--"
"After having heard you there is just one case in which I shall have you
shot; of that I warn you."
"What is that?"
"If you should put a price on my treason."
"Or your devotion."
"We will not discuss the words, but the thing. Are you disposed to
answer all my questions?"
"I am, general."
"I am going to cross-examine you, I warn you."
"Go on."
Pichegru drew his pistols from his belt and laid one on either side of
his plate.
"General," said the pretended clerk, laughing, "I hope those are not
your cards that you are laying on the table."
"Have the goodness to put my pistols on the mantel-shelf, since you are
nearer to it than I am," replied Pichegru, "they are not comfortable in
my belt." And he pushed his pistols within the other's reach, who
carried them to the mantel-shelf and returned to his seat.
Pichegru bowed slightly and the other did the same.
"Now," said Pichegru, "let us begin."
"I am waiting."
"What is your name?"
"Fauche-Borel."
"Where do you come from?"
"Neuchâtel. Only my name might have been Fenouillot, and I might have
come from Besançon, since I belong to a Franche-Comté family which did
not leave until after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes."
"In that case I should have recognized you for a fellow-countryman by
the accent."
"Excuse me, general, but how did you know that I was not a commercial
traveller for champagne."
"By the way you opened the bottles. Citizen, another time choose another
character."
"What one, for instance?"
"A bookseller."
"You know me, then?"
"I have heard of you."
"In what way?"
"As an uncompromising enemy of the Republic, and the author of royalist
pamphlets. Excuse me if I continue to question you."
"Continue, general; I am at your service."
"How did you become an agent for the Prince de Condé."
"My name first attracted the attention of the Regent[3] in a royalist
pamphlet of M. d'Antragues, entitled 'Memoirs of the Regency of Louis
Stanislas Xavier, son of France, uncle of the King, and Regent of
France.' He noticed it a second time when I induced the inhabitants of
Neuchâtel to sign the Act of Union."
[3] A title which Louis XVIII. bore while Louis XVII. lived.
"And I know that from that time your house became the resort of the
emigrants and the hotbed of the anti-revolutionists."
"The Prince de Condé knew it also and sent a certain Montgaillard to
know if I would join him."
"Do you know that Montgaillard is an intriguer?" asked Pichegru.
"I fear so," replied Fauche-Borel.
"He serves the king under two names--Roques and Pinard."
"You are well informed, general; but M. de Montgaillard and I have
nothing in common except that we both serve the same prince."
"Let us return to him then. You were just saying that he sent M. de
Montgaillard to know if you would join him."
"Yes; he told me that the prince had his headquarters at Dawendorff, and
would receive me with pleasure. I started at once. I went first to
Weissembourg, to throw your spies off the scent by making them think
that I was going to Bavaria. I then went down toward Haguenau, and from
there I reached Dawendorff."
"How many days have you been here?"
"Two."
"And how did the prince broach the subject to you?"
"In the simplest manner possible, the Chevalier de Contyre presented me
to him. 'M. de Fauche-Borel,' he said. The prince rose and came toward
me.--You wish me to repeat his exact words, do you not, general?"
"Yes."
"'My dear Monsieur Fauche,' he said to me, 'I know you through all my
companions in arms, who have told me over and over of your hospitality
to them. I have therefore wished for some time to see you, and to offer
you a mission that would be as advantageous as it is honorable. I have
recognized for a long time that I cannot depend on foreigners. The
reinstatement of our family upon the throne is not an end but a pretext;
foreigners are foreigners, and will do everything for their own
interests and nothing for the interests of France. No, it is from within
that we must bring about the restoration; and,' he continued, laying his
hand upon my arm, 'I have chosen you to carry the king's message to
General Pichegru. The Convention, in ordering the union of the armies of
the Rhine and the Moselle, have placed him under Hoche. He will be
furious at this. Profit by this moment to persuade him to serve the
cause of the monarchy, by making him understand that the Republic is
nothing but a chimera.'"
Pichegru listened to all this with the greatest calmness, and when it
was finished, he smiled. Fauche-Borel had expected some kind of answer,
and had purposely introduced this mention of Hoche at the end; but as we
have seen, Pichegru only replied to this part of the speech by his most
benevolent smile.
"Go on," he said.
Fauche-Borel continued:
"It was in vain that I told the prince how unworthy I felt myself of
this honor; and that I had no other ambition than to serve him as an
active and zealous man. He only shook his head and said: 'M. Fauche, you
or no one.' And putting his hand upon my heart, he added: 'You have
there what will make the best sort of diplomat for this mission.' If I
had not been a royalist I would have resisted, and would in all
probability have found excellent reasons for my refusal. But being a
royalist, I was desirous of serving the royal cause in any way
whatsoever, and so I yielded. I have told you how I went to
Weissembourg, from there to Haguenau, and from there to Dawendorff; I
had only to go from there to Auenheim, your headquarters; but this
morning your advance-guard was signalled. 'Pichegru spares us the
trouble of going to him,' said the prince. 'It is a good omen.' Then it
was agreed that if you were defeated I was to go to you, and you know
the destiny which the Convention reserves for its defeated generals. If
you were victorious, I was to wait for you, and with the help of the
little scheme of which you already know, I was to gain access to you.
You have conquered, and have discovered the ruse; I am at your mercy,
general, and shall only offer one excuse for my conduct--my profound
conviction that I acted for the best interests of France, and my intense
desire to spare the shedding of blood. I await with confidence the
decision of your justice."
Fauche-Borel rose, bowed, and seated himself again, as calm, at least
to all appearances, as if he had just proposed a toast at a patriotic
banquet.