"Tis true she's been sadly crippled, but I'm told they are arming every man between the ages of sixteen and sixty, and that even women are volunteering.'
'I can well believe it. Two autumns ago their hatred against the French had already reached such a pitch that they were ripe for revolt. It was an anti-French riot by students that enabled me to escape from prison. It's on the cards that, now they've been given their heads, they'll fight as fanatically as the Spaniards.'
'I'm told, too, that in addition to von Yorck they have some good Generals.'
'Yes. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau are both most able men. There is also old Blucher. He is said to be a rough diamond with little education, but makes up for that by his fiery patriotism and fighting spirit. He is a veteran whom his men would follow anywhere.'
'Scharnhorst is no more. He was killed in Silesia.'
'That is bad.'
'He lost his life in one of the first clashes with the Prussians that occurred after Bonaparte arrived to take command of the French forces in person.'
'When was that?'
'Toward the end of April. He had mustered two armies, one commanded by Ney on the lower Main, and another by Eugene on the middle Elbe. They concentrated under him between Halle and Jena, then advanced on Leipzig. At that point he was greatly superior to the Russians and Prussians, having two hundred thousand men against their eighty thousand; and, at a place called Gross-Gorschen, near Lutzen, he inflicted a severe defeat on them.'
Roger sighed. 'It seems that other Generals stand little chance against his genius. Somehow he always succeeds in forming these concentrations against inferior forces at exactly the right place and time. What then?'
'Bonaparte passed on swiftly to Dresden, while Ney pushed back the Prussians under von Bulow. The allies withdrew behind the Spree to Bautzen and there, on high ground, made a stand. But you are so right, Roger. The Devil himself must inspire that Corsican brigand. The allies mustered only one hundred and ten thousand men. He attacked their centre himself with one hundred and twenty thousand, brought Ney up on the right with another eighty-five thousand, and still had Davout with thirty thousand more on the Elbe. Fortunately, he lost so many thousands of horses in Russia that he is still very weak in cavalry; whereas the allies are strong. It was that alone that saved them from complete defeat.'
'The picture is much worse than I had supposed,' Roger said glumly, 'and I see now why the allies agreed to an armistice.'
'It could prove of advantage to either side. The levies Bonaparte is calling up from France, Italy and Illyria will be reaching him in greater numbers, and the veterans he is recalling from Spain. On the other hand, further divisions are on their way from Russia; and, about a fortnight since, Prince Bernadotte landed in Stralsund with a Swedish Army of twenty-four thousand men, which has not yet been in action. But bringing about the armistice was mainly due to Prince Metternich.'
'Is Austria still allied to France?'
'Nay, she has become neutral, and the Prince is playing a most skilful game. He is greatly averse to Bonaparte continuing to dominate Europe, and equally so to Russia becoming more powerful. In the hope of preventing either, he is now acting as mediator, and hopes to bring about a permanent peace. Meanwhile, he is rebuilding the Austrian Army into so powerful a force that, if flung in on either side, it could prove the deciding factor.'
Roger nodded. 'With the one exception of my old friend, Talleyrand, I count him the cleverest diplomat of our age. Have you any idea what his proposals are for converting this armistice into a permanent peace?'
"Yes. I had them from m'Lord Castlereagh himself. The price Metternich is demanding of Bonaparte for Austria not joining the allies is that both the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and the Confederation of the Rhine, created by him as vassal states, should be abolished, the re-establishment of the Free Hanse Towns, the return to Prussia of the territories of which she has been robbed since 1805, and the return to Austria of her Illyrian provinces. Knowing the Corsican so well, Roger, think you he will agree?'
Roger helped himself to another glass of port before replying:
'I would were I in his shoes, Ned, for those conditions are not unreasonable. He would be left with a France considerably larger than when the Bourbons ruled it, Holland, Switzerland, the Belgian lands and the greater part of Italy; After twenty-odd years of war, France has been bled white, and I'd wager any money that her people would gladly give up every conquest the Emperor has ever made, if only he would give them peace. Spain has long been a running sore and, as I learned from Susan this noon when she told me young Charles is now there, the Duke is besting in turn every Marshal sent against him.
'Yet I greatly doubt if the Emperor will accept Metternich's terms. The devil of it is that these past few years he has become the victim of folie de grandeur. He'll no longer listen to the wise counsel of his old friends, and counts himself omnipotent. He will persuade himself that, as he has an Austrian Princess for wife, his father-in-law can be counted on to hold Metternich back and that then, with only the Russians, Prussians and Swedes against him, he'll be able to perform another miracle.'
'I pray God he doesn't,' Droopy said soberly. 'England
needs peace near as badly as France. His damnable Continental System has brought thousands of our merchants to ruin. Yet, whatever happens, we must see it through to the end. If only Austria would come in before the winter, we might hope for final victory.'
Roger raised his glass. 'Let's drink to that. But I've now played my part and, victory or defeat, I'll not be there to see it.'
12
Seen in a Crystal
On the Monday morning, while Judith took Mary shopping, Roger borrowed a mount and rode down to Richmond. For many years, during his long absences abroad, old Dan Izzard had acted for him as the faithful custodian of Thatched House Lodge; and eighteen months earlier, as he had not expected his mission to Sweden to take more than eight to ten weeks, he had kept on Mrs. Muffet, his cook-housekeeper and one maid, arranging for them to be paid by Hoare's Bank while he was away.
He found them all well, and happy to see him again after so long. Everything was in good order, the reception rooms needed only the removal of the covers from the furniture, and the garden was a blaze of flowers. Well pleased, he informed them of his marriage, and told Mrs. Muffet to engage two extra maids, then he sat down to write a letter to Georgina.
In it, having condoled with her about her accident, he told her that a strange twist of fate had enabled him to take her advice and many Mary; that he would tell her when they met of the unexpected happenings that had kept him abroad for so long and, with all the eagerness he would have felt had he been twenty years younger, he prayed that might be soon. He begged her, if she must yet remain unable to re-enter society for a few weeks, to remove forthwith to Stillwaters, or to her petite maison in Kensington, so that, 'by the world forgotten and the world forgot', they might glory once again in being alone together.
Giving Dan a handful of guineas, he sent him off with the letter to Newmarket, charging him to give it into Her Grace's own hand.
On his return to London, he told Mary that he had found everything at Thatched House Lodge in good shape, and the memory of how delightful she had thought it on the one brief occasion that she had been there made her eager to move at once into her new home. But Roger said they must give Mrs. Muffet a few days to install two more maids, and Droopy and Judith both pressed them to stay on at Amesbury House for at least a week, so it was agreed that they should not move down to Richmond until the following Monday.