Выбрать главу

Roger had not heard of him for a dozen years and, sit­ting up, exclaimed in surprise, 'Moreau ? I thought he was in the United States.'

Caulaincourt shook his head. 'Nay. He was, but had recently returned, hoping that the time had come to take his revenge on the Emperor. He was received with the highest honours by the three Allied monarchs, and has since been acting as military adviser to the Czar Alexan­der. I must take these great tidings to our master. Personal feelings apart, he will be delighted, for Moreau was a very able General, and so a danger to us. Come with me and you can be assured of a good reception from His Majesty.'

Ten minutes later they were both in the presence of the Emperor. In the nine months since Roger had last seen "him, he seemed to have aged several years. His paunch was even more prominent, the dark hair brushed across his big head was thinner, his stoop more pronounced and his face, always pale, now had an unhealthy look.

When Caulaincourt announced his news, Napoleon's fine eyes suddenly lit up, and he cried, 'So that treacherous pig is dead, eh? What a splendid bonus to our recent vic­tory. God be praised for yet another mercy.'

Then his glance lit on Roger, who had been standing a little behind Caulaincourt and in his shadow from the big lantern that lit the marquee. Leaning forward he scowled for a moment and thrust out his powerful jaw. Then he suddenly laughed:

'Breuc, or I'll be damned! I swear you have nine lives like a cat. How did you get out of Russia?'

Bowing low, Roger started off, 'May it please Your Imperial Majesty . . .' then gave the account of himself that he had told both Clarke and Caulaincourt. That Roger had been in England did not surprise the Emperor, as his memory was prodigious, but when it emerged that, from Sweden, Roger had been carried off to the United States, Napoleon's interest immediately quickened.

'Ha! Then you can tell me about the war the Ameri­cans are waging against the accursed English. You shall do so while I eat.' Turning, he called in his heavily-accented French to his secretary, Baron Meneval, who was working at a desk at the far end of the marquee, 'Have my dinner brought.'

Meneval was absent only a few minutes. During that time Roger continued his account of how he had suc­ceeded in rejoining his master by way of Spain. Then Rustom, the Mameluke slave whom Napoleon had brought back from Egypt as his personal body servant, came in carrying a single dish under a silver cover.

Napoleon had never had any interest in food and at meals in his Palaces had tended to embarrass his guests by the swiftness with which he despatched course after course, evidently grudging the time that had to be given to eating. When in the field he ate irregularly and, in order that he should not be kept waiting whenever he felt hungry, day and night his chefs put a fresh chicken on the spit every ten minutes or so, in order that one should always be sufficiently roasted to be served immediately.

While he ate voraciously of this single course, washing the meat down with gulps of red wine, Roger told him all he had gathered about the Anglo-American war on land and sea. When he had exhausted the subject, he went on smoothly:

'You will recall, Sire, that I have English relatives. While I was in London I learned that a young nephew of mine, the Earl of St. Errnins, a Lieutenant in the Cold­stream Guards, who was attached to the Duke of Bruns­wick's contingent, had been taken captive. I have reason to believe that he is now in one of the Prince d'Eckmuhl's prisoner-of-war camps. The boy's mother is a dear friend of mine, so I should take it as a great personal favour if Your Imperial Majesty would give me an order for his release. It could be executed without his becoming aware that I am in fact a loyal Frenchman and in your service. He could be told that his liberty has been restored owing to an exchange with the Prussians, on condition that they send him home and he remains a non-combatant for the duration of the war.'

The Emperor considered for a moment, wiped his mouth on a napkin, then replied, 'Why not? It will make one less mouth for us to feed and, God knows, supplies in this damn' country are devilish hard to come by. My poor army is now living on starvation rations.' Turning to Meneval, he added:

'Write an order to Davout, or whom it may concern, in accordance with Breuc's wishes, and let him have it.'

Ten minutes later, with the order in his hand and greatly elated by his success, Roger was bowing himself out of the marquee. But his elation was short-lived, as Napoleon said curtly:

'I can't let you go off to Davout to arrange such a minor matter yet, though. The campaign has already proved most costly, and I am short of A.D.C.s. With your long experience you will prove most valuable to me. You must remain until I've taught those treacherous Austrians a lesson and dealt with the rest of the rabble that has combined against me. When I've done that, it will be time enough for you to restore this youth to his mother's arms.'

'To hear is to obey, Sire.' Roger forced himself to use cheerfully the Gasconade with which he had often before taken the Emperor's orders. But, as he made his way to find the quarters which Caulaincourt had promised to have allotted to him, he was greatly worried. It was al­ready September. Charles was menaced by death when the leaves began to fall, and that would not now be long. It might be months before a decisive battle was fought, and he dared not flout the Emperor's orders by leaving him at once. He must remain for a week or two at least, but it had become imperative that he should not remain longer with Napoleon. He made up his mind there and then that at the first chance, during a reconnaissance or skirmish, he would disappear, leaving it to be believed that he had been killed or captured, and make off with all speed to Davout's headquarters.

Next day Roger learned that the Emperor, still obsessed with his desire to defeat and humiliate Bernadotte, had, on the 5th, sent Ney with his corps to reinforce and take over the command from Oudinot for another attempt to capture Berlin. On the 7th Napoleon, with further divi­sions and his staff, including Roger, left Dresden to sup­port this new opposition.

The Emperor's position was now a far from favourable one. Since the recommencement of hostilities, he had lost one hundred and fifty thousand men and three hundred guns. His communications were under constant attack from German irregulars, it was becoming more and more difficult to supply his army, and he had at least three hostile armies of mixed Allies threatening him from dif­ferent quarters, the exact positions of which were unknown to him.

Not long after leaving Dresden he received a despatch from Ney, reporting that his opening move had proved successful and he had driven the enemy back on Jiiterberg. But on the following day intelligence was received that the army of Silesia was again advancing on Dresden; so, in­stead of continuing north to join Ney for a concerted attack on Berlin, Napoleon turned his army about, to defend the Saxon capital again.

The Emperor's failure to support his Marshal, coupled with Ney's misjudgement in ordering Oudinot to rein­force their front on the north bank of the marshy Ahebach, brought about disaster. Courier after courier brought tidings of the ever-worsening situation. In the neighbour­hood of Dennewitz, Bulow's Prussians drove in the French right. Ney made a desperate attempt to break through the Prussian centre, but failed. Oudinot was unable to get his troops back across the marshy little river in time to turn the tide of battle. Before he could do so, the cautious Bernadotte had decided to commit his Swedes. As dark­ness fell, the French broke and fled. The second attempt to take Berlin had failed lamentably and cost the French twenty-two thousand men.