'It was crazy to invade Russia anyhow,' Roger replied. 'Even if we'd won and forced a peace on the Czar, he wouldn't have carried out its terms, and we couldn't have made him. Russia's not like Holland or one of the German States. It's too vast for any army to hold down, and with our old commitments we are over extended already.'
The Alsatian nodded. 'That's what everyone is saying. From the Marshals down to the drummer boys, everyone is asking the same question. "What the devil are we doing here? There's naught to be gained, so why the hell can't the so-and-so let us march home?" Now you've brought him this final fart in the face from the Czar, I take it we'll be packing up tomorrow.'
'We will, unless he qualifies for a strait jacket. He ordered me to tell you to summon all our military Dukes who are available, for a conference at nine o'clock in the morning.'
'Good. I'll do that. Did you have a good time in St. Petersburg?'
Roger grinned. 'It meant a pleasant change of fare, anyhow. For dinner on my last night there I had caviar, borsch, a bear steak and a jam omelette.'
Donnerwetter! And with several nights there, I'll wager you found one or more pretty bottoms to smack after you'd got all that good food inside you.'
Roger gave a slight wink. 'As a matter of fact, I've brought one back with me, but not the kind of whom you're thinking. He's a young Flemish lad and on the way home, when the cold sets in, he'll serve as a fine hot-water bottle.'
'I didn't know you were one of those,' Rapp remarked in mild surprise.
'Not habitually, Roger laughed. 'But variety is the spice of life. The sort of women I care for are not to be had on this kind of campaign. And if I'd brought a girl she would soon have become an annoying liability; whereas this youngster will make himself useful as my servant.
Roger had been very loath to let his friends believe him to be a homosexual, but he had decided that it was the only way that he could give Mary maximum protection. When it got round that Hipe was his 'girl', no one would dare bully her. And few people would think the worse of him; for on long campaigns in which few women were available, homosexual relationships, although officially frowned upon, were by no means unusual. By this device, too, his companions would not think it strange if he spent much more time with Mary than he would have with an ordinary soldier servant.
Giving a little shrug, Rapp said, 'There's a lot in what you say, if one cares for that sort of fun. How about a drink?'
'Not for the moment, thanks. I have to see Sergeant Loriel about putting my young protégé on the strength for rations.'
A few minutes later he was saying to the Mess Sergeant, 'This youth I have taken on is a pleasant lad, but I don't think he is the sort who could stand up for himself very well, and I won't have him bullied. In fact, I've ordered him to let me know if anyone makes things unpleasant for him, and if anyone does I'll come down like a ton of bricks on them. But I'm sure I can leave it to you, Sergeant, to keep a fatherly eye on him.'
Roger had always treated his inferiors with an easy politeness, so he was popular with the N.C.O.s with whom he had to deal. The Sergeant replied at once, 'AyeColonel; you leave it to me. Tell him to come to me and make his number, and I'll take good care of him.'
Leaving the Mess, Roger walked down several long corridors to the Camp Commandant's office. There he told one of the soldier clerks that he had taken on a civilian servant whom he desired to sleep in his room, and said that a palliasse was to be sent there at once for the youth to doss down on.
Retracing his steps, he went down the magnificent grand staircase and ran into Duroc, who was on his way up. The Marshal of the Palace hailed him with evident pleasure, then said, 'Mon vieux, I am delighted to see you. The Emperor told me of the mission on which he sent you, and I feared you lost to us. I only pray that you were successful.'
Roger shook his head. 'Nay, the Czar proved adamant. There's to be a conference tomorrow at nine, and my bet is that afterwards we'll be ordered to pack up and go.
Glumly Duroc observed, 'If that is so, 'twill be none too soon. The days are shortening and, unless we make good speed, winter will be upon us. But we should have time to get back to Smolensk before the blizzards.'
'With luck, we should. But what then? We left the city in ruins, so will be little better off there than we are here.'
'At least we will be the best part of four hundred kilometers nearer the Polish frontier, so supplies will reach us with greater ease.'
'If Kutuzov lets them. I gather that he now has an army that in numbers exceeds ours.'
'Ah! That's the rub. But as we retreat we'll pick up reinforcements. The corps of Oudinot and Macdonald and Schwarzenberg's Austrians could be called in. That would again give us parity with the Russians.'
'Should we do that, how are we to feed such a host all through the winter months?'
'God knows, mon ami! God knows! We can only hope that Victor and St. Cyr will succeed in keeping our lines of communication open so that sufficient supplies will reach us. Augereau should be able to send several divisions across the frontier from north Germany, to assist in maintaining our hold on Vilna and Vitebsk.'
'Should we denude Germany, I'll warrant that country will blow up behind our backs.'
'To replace the garrisons there, His Majesty might decide to withdraw further troops from Spain.'
'Could he afford to do so? Are things going better in the Peninsula?'
'Alas, no. Suchet alone seems to have read the Spanish riddle, and Valencia remains peaceful under him. Soult has again fallen back on Seville, and has come no nearer to taking Cadiz. As you must have heard, after the fall of Badajoz, poor Marmont was heavily defeated outside Salamanca, and grievously wounded by a cannon ball. He brought his defeat upon himself by being too impetuous. Had he waited but another three days before giving battle, he would have had under his hand another fifteen thousand men that King Joseph was bringing up from Madrid. As things were, he came near to losing his whole army. It was only owing to the skill displayed by General Clausel, who took over after Marmont became a casualty, that a good part of the army was saved. But it received a terrible battering and, even with King Joseph's fifteen thousand, was in no condition to give battle again. Our latest information is that our people are still retiring, and milord Wellington advancing on Madrid.'
To Roger this was excellent news, but he naturally concealed his pleasure at hearing it, and simply said, 'Then things go really badly for us at both ends of Europe, and I know not in which army I would rather have to face the future. But you must excuse me now. Having but just returned I have a number of things to see to.'
His several conversations had each lasted only a few minutes. Mary was standing where he had left her, and he took her across to another big building in which his room was situated. All he wished to do for the moment was to show her where it was, and make certain she could find it again. When he had done so, they walked back the way they had come and into the main block. There he led her up to the second floor and along to the room in which the Mess waiters had their quarters. Halting outside, he told her to go in, ask for Sergeant Loriel and tell him who she was. She would then be given supper, and when she had finished it she was to go to their room.