He had also always enjoyed his visits to St. Petersburg, as it was no ancient city with narrow, smelly streets. It had been built as a new capital only a little over a hundred years earlier, by Peter the Great. Instead of wood, all the principal buildings were of stone, and it was crisscrossed with splendid, wide boulevards, having on either side raised walkways of wood, so that the citizens should not have to trudge through slush in springtime, or be splashed with mud from passing vehicles.
During the next few days Roger called upon many of the friends he had made on previous visits: the Vorontzoffs, the Pahlens, the Panins, the Dolgourskis, the Galitzins and others, including a special friend he had made-a Captain Muriavieff of the Samenourki Guards. They all welcomed his return to St. Petersburg and he was soon enjoying a round of dances and receptions. Muriavieff was a member of the gayest younger set, and Roger accompanied him with his brother officers and numerous attractive young women, on skating and sleighing parties the last of the season as the thaw was now setting in and was his guest at several gala dinners in the Guards' Club.
The life he was leading was a most pleasant change after the two months he had spent in the puritanical society that inhabited the draughty Royal Castle at Stockholm. But, by the end of March, he was considerably worried about having made no progress with his mission. A week after his arrival in St. Petersburg, the Czar had left his capital, to carry out a series of reviews of his troops, which were concentrating in the neighborhood of Moscow, and had not since returned. He did so on the 1st April, but only for one night and, to Roger's chagrin, refused him the audience he requested.
The Czar did not get back until the 12th April. Again Roger persistently applied for an audience, but in vain; and he had, for another eight days, to distract his mind as well as he could with amusements. This further delay increased his concern, although he had now even better reason to hope that when he did see the Czar his reply would be favourable; for, soon after Roger had left Stockholm, Napoleon had overrun Swedish Pomerania, and Bernadotte had already broken with him.
It was not until the evening of April 20th that Alexander sent for Roger. Having politely hoped that he had been enjoying his stay in St. Petersburg, he said with a smile:
'Well, Mr. Brook, the affair on which you came here has been satisfactorily settled, at least as far as Sweden is concerned.'
Roger bowed. 'I am delighted to hear that, Sire. But I confess myself somewhat surprised that you did not send me back to the Prince Royal with your answer.'
'We preferred to settle the matter ourselves. At our request the Prince Royal crossed the Baltic to Abo. A fortnight since, we had a most amicable discussion there. The recent failure of the Swedish Army to hold Pomerania has convinced him that, although his troops displayed bravery, they are not yet qualified to face Napoleon's veterans; and a campaign against Norway will prove excellent training for them. In return for our agreement to make no objection to his annexing that country, he has signed a pact of friendship with us. Later, when his army has become more reliable, he will enter into a full alliance with us, and personally bring his troops to aid us in defeating Napoleon.'
'Then permit me to congratulate Your Imperial Majesty, The acquisition of the Prince Royal as a commander in the field should prove most valuable. When he was Marshal Bernadotte, he was accounted one of Napoleon's most able generals, and one cannot suppose that he has lost his flair for winning victories. And now, Sire, if I may enquire, what are your intentions toward England?'
'There, too, we have acted. We decided to send one of our most able diplomats secretly to London. He has our authority to enter into negotiations for an alliance.'
Roger looked distinctly aggrieved. 'Again, Sire, I am delighted. But you must forgive me if I take it a little hard that you did not allow me to carry this good news to London.'
Alexander shook his curly head and smiled. 'For that you must forgive us, Mr. Brook. Our reason for not doing so is that we have another use for you.
19
Caesar versus Caesar
Roger was seized with awful apprehension. What now? His conscience had driven him into going to Sweden as the Marquess Wellesley's secret envoy. Bernadotte had made it next to impossible for him to leave his task half done, by refusing to go on to Russia. He should have been back in England long since. Spring was already here. In a little over a fortnight it would be May; the great mansions of London open again and teeming with gaily dressed, laughing people. Georgina would be among them, and it was the one time in the year when, for ten weeks, he could definitely count on being constantly with her. And here was the Czar, who had obviously deliberately detained him in St. Petersburg, now affably stating that he had a use for him.
Continuing to smile, Alexander said, 'No doubt you will recall our meeting in Tilsit, Mr. Brook, in the spring of 1807. Anticipating a possible further advance by Napoleon, we were then removing our prisoners into the interior of Russia. You were among them, and still lame from a wound you had received. It was your good fortune that we elected to review the prisoners as they were marched out of the town. You seized the opportunity to throw yourself at our feet, and begged to be spared from the long march which, in your condition, would almost certainly have brought about your death. Do you remember that occasion?'
'Yes, Your Imperial Majesty,' Roger admitted huskily.
'You will also then remember that we and our then Minister, Prince Adam Czartoryski, had several talks with you. Some years earlier, in St. Petersburg, you had been presented to me as an Englishman; so it was clear to us that "Colonel Breuc", as you called yourself at Tilsit, had penetrated Napoleon's entourage as a spy. Realising the great value you could be to us in that capacity, we agreed that instead of detaining you indefinitely as a prisoner we would arrange for your exchange with an officer of equivalent rank. In return you agreed to find out Napoleon's intentions for us then allow yourself to be recaptured or, in some other way, inform us of them. Are we correct?'
Roger's mouth was dry. He swallowed hard. 'Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.'
'But you failed to carry out your promise.'
'That I admit,' Roger replied quickly. 'But only because it proved impossible for me to do so. No sooner had I rejoined the Emperor at Finckenstein than he dispatched me with a military mission he was sending to Turkey and Persia. From Persia I made my way back to Lisbon and there became so involved with the flight of the Portuguese Royal Family to Brazil that I was forced to accompany them.'
'We are aware of that, Mr. Brook. You informed us of it when we met again later, at the Conference of Erfurt. May we remind you that, on that occasion, you expressed the hope that at some future time you might be of service to us?'
'Yes, Your Imperial Majesty,' Roger murmured, feeling slightly sick, for he now realised what was coming.
'Well; now is that time. We would here remark that yours is a case unique in our experience. Spies are ordinarily regarded as despicable people, and quite outside the pale, yet you give the impression of being a gentleman.
Roger bridled. 'That, Sire, at least I can claim. My father was an Admiral, and while I do not suggest that I am the equal of a Romanoff, the McElfics have an ancestry as old as theirs. My grandfather was the last but one of a long line of Earls of Kildonan. As for spies, I find nothing despicable in a man who serves his country by obtaining information about the intentions of his country's enemies.'