"I would I had your youthful optimism," said the Bishop, with his cynical little smile, "for I would wager that in this you will do nothing with that woman." Then he added seriously: "Nevertheless, I wish you all good fortune in your efforts to save three countries from the horrors that war must bring."
For a further hour they talked of more general matters, then Roger returned to his hackney-coach and had himself driven to the Tuileries. There, he paid the man off, found his way up to the Princess de Lamballe's apartment, and sent his name in by her woman. A few minutes later the Princess received him in the salon where he had had his secret interview with Madame Marie Antoinette. It was only mid-morning, so the Princess had not yet completed her full toilette, and was wearing her beautiful golden hair unpowdered, in loose ringlets falling about her neck.
When they had exchanged greetings, he asked after the health of the Queen, and she replied: "Her Majesty's constitution is fortunately robust, but she shows signs of the great strain she has been under for the whole of the past year. Her only remaining joy lies in her children, and she gives all the time she can to teaching or playing with them."
He then asked if the Princess could arrange an audience for him on a secret matter; and when he stressed its urgency and importance she left him to go down to the floor below by the staircase hidden in the wall of her bedroom. After about ten minutes she rejoined him, and said:
"Her Majesty is now so closely watched that she has to be careful to give such audiences only at times when she is unlikely to be missed from her apartments; but she will receive you for a few moments if you will return here at six o'clock tomorrow evening."
Having thanked her, he left the Palace by its garden entrance. Seeing a small crowd in one corner of it he strolled over to ascertain the object of their interest. It was the little Dauphin, with Madame de Tourzel, and he was digging in his garden plot.
He was now a handsome, well-grown child of five with a gay and friendly nature. His garden was his principal joy and while he worked in it every day he entered into cheerful conversation with the bystanders, always giving away to them his few flowers as they became ready for picking. Madame de Tourzel told Roger that to see him at work had become one of the sights of Paris, and that when the generous child gave away his flowers he often apologized to the people that he could not give flowers to them all, as he would have done had he still had his much larger garden at Versailles.
That night Roger went to the Jacobin Club, and it proved to be a hectic session. The announcement in the National Assembly, earlier in the day, that the King had ordered fourteen sail-of-the-line to be prepared for immediate service had brought sudden realization that France now really stood on the brink of war. There were bitter denunciations of both England and Spain, but a general determination to fight, although a few speakers expressed the opinion that the King ought not to be allowed to give the word for hostilities to begin without first consulting the National Assembly.
At six o'clock on the Saturday evening Roger, a little nervous at the most unorthodox step he was taking, but feeling it more than ever justified by the rapid and menacing march of events, was in the Princess de Lamballe's apartment bowing over the hand that Madame Marie Antoinette graciously extended to him.
After he had kissed it she sat down in an elbow chair and motioned him to another. "Madame," he demurred. "You do me too much honour."
She smiled a little sadly. "Nay, Mr. Brook. The honours we have to bestow in these days are all too few; and we have been learning fast that friendship deserves them far more than rank. Tell me now, what led you to seek this private conversation?"
Roger produced Mr. Pitt's Letter of Marque, and handed it to her with a bow. She read it, handed it back to him, and gave him a thoughtful glance. "I was not aware that you were in the service of your Government."
"Madame, I have been so for some time. But may it please Your Majesty to recall that being so has never deterred me from doing my utmost to be of service to you."
"Monsieur, I recall it well, and my presence here is an earnest of the regard I have for you. I am certain that you would never say or do aught which you did not believe to be in my interest or that of the King; so you may speak freely of all you have in mind."
Roger then launched out on the subject he had come upon. Few people were now better acquainted with the genesis and development of the Nootka Sound dispute, and he had the gift of marshalling facts with point and fluency. He told her frankly that he had just come from Spain, and that in spite of Count Florida Blanca's dismissal of him he was still convinced that the Spaniards would not go to war unless they felt certain that they could rely on French backing; and he assured her that Mr. Pitt's dearest wish was to preserve the peace of Europe.
At that her eyebrows lifted. "Monsieur, your Prime Minister's words and acts do not conform to what you tell me. He is now openly preparing with all speed for war."
"Madame." He spread out his hands. "I do give you my most solemn assurance that these preparations are being taken solely in answer to those known to be going forward in Spain. We have no wish for war, but cannot allow the insult done to the British flag to pass. All might yet be well, and an accommodation be reached, if only France will stand aside; but these recent measures of His Most Christian Majesty can serve only to encourage the Spaniards in their preparations, and if continued must result in an explosion."
She shook her head. "His Majesty's having yesterday ordered a fleet to sea is the direct outcome of Mr. Pitt having five days ago required your Parliament to vote a million for war purposes."
"Madame, I beg you to believe me that Mr. Pitt's measure was taken solely in accordance with his policy of showing the Spaniards that we mean business if they force us to it; and was in no way aimed at France."
"You seem to forget, Monsieur, that France is Spain's ally and any measure taken against one must equally be a threat to the other."
Swiftly Roger changed his ground and strove to impress upon her how disastrous a war would prove for France in her present state; but the Queen replied a trifle haughtily:
"You would be very wrong to suppose, Monsieur, that the disturbances of the past year have in any way lessened the courage of the French people, or affected their loyalty to their country."
Roger quickly agreed with her; then, after a moment, he took his courage in both hands and said: "I trust you will forgive me, Madame, if I remark that certain people, who hold the restoration of His Majesty's authority a matter of more paramount importance than all else, are credited with pressing a war policy upon His Majesty, in the belief that the emergencies of war would enable him to dispense with the National Assembly."
The Queen stood up. "Monsieur," she said coldly. "His Majesty and I are well aware of the horrors and distresses that war inflicts upon any people who engage in it. And never would we be guilty of plunging France into war for our own selfish interests. At this very moment the King is doing his utmost to mediate between the Courts of London and Madrid, in the hope of arranging a peaceful solution between them."
Roger had come to his feet with the Queen; now he went down on one knee before her. "I humbly crave Your Majesty's pardon; but what hopes can be placed in such mediation while His Majesty encourages the Spaniards by such acts as ordering a fleet to sea ? I implore you, Madame, to use your great influence in the interests of peace, and dissuade His Majesty from all further measures of a provocative nature."