The Colonel declared firmly that it was wrong for His Majesty to expose his own life and that of his subjects for such an unjustifiable cause, and that he and his friends refused to be .a party to it.
In vain the King upbraided the group as cowards. Then, turning to the troops he appealed to them in Swedish to follow him without their officers. Not a man would budge, and it was only with the greatest difficulty that he prevailed upon them not to lay down their arms there and then.
Gustavus, far from home, the major part of his fine fleet destroyed, his lines of communication cut and his army in a state of sullen mutiny, now seemed in a desperate situation; and as tidings of the parlous state to which he had so swiftly been reduced drifted through to St. Petersburg, Roger became extremely worried.
It was not that he felt any particular attachment to the Swedish King, although he had a considerable admiration for his courage. Moreover his personal sympathies naturally inclined towards the Russians, both because they had been attacked without justification or warning and owing to their ready acceptance of him in their midst as a friend and comrade. Yet he knew well enough that far deeper issues were involved. However unprincipled Gustavus might be, he was fighting Britain's battle. He alone among the Princes of the North had had the insight to see that unless a check could be put upon Catherine's lust for power, she would subjugate the whole of Scandinavia. Mr. Pitt had foreseen that the rise of the mighty Russian Empire now constituted a new menace to all Europe and had specifically laid it down that, unless Catherine could be induced to enter into a pact for the maintenance of lasting peace, no effort must be spared to assist those who were prepared to challenge Russian aggrandisement.
Apart from the Grand Turk, who was merely endeavouring to defend himself, Gustavus was the only monarch who had dared to defy the growing might of the unscrupulous Muscovites, and Roger knew that it was his duty to aid him if it were in any way possible to do so. The trouble was that he could think of no means by which anyone in his position could conceivably lessen the plight in which the Swedish King had landed himself.
In due proportion to the decline in Gustavus's fortunes, Catherine's elation soared. She had now succeeded in mustering twenty thousand men, and in view of the semi-mutinous state of the Swedish army, could consider St. Petersburg safe from attack by land as well as by sea. Moreover, with the' truly maternal desire not to hazard the lives of her soldiers needlessly, and the brilliant generalship which was one of her many gifts, she had been swift to seize upon the possibility of rendering further fighting redundant by causing Gustavus's own subjects to bring about his final destruction. To this end she sent secret agents to put certain proposals before her enemy's rebellious officers, and issued fresh orders that deserters from the Swedish army were now to be encouraged and allowed to pass through the Russian lines.
The result was that in mid-August a deputation of Finns, representing a considerable body of Gustavus's mutinous troops, arrived in St. Petersburg.
Since his return from the front Roger had assiduously attended all Court functions and exercised his social talents to cultivate the acquaintance of as many influential people as possible; so he was now au courantwith all the general gossip of the day. But he still relied mainly on Natalia Andreovna to supply him with the more intimate tid-bits which were let drop by the Empress when she was alone with her ladies. It was, therefore, from Natalia that he learned of the arrival of the Finnish deputation and that it was headed by Count Yagerhorn.
As it was not always easy for Natalia to drive as far as St. Petersburg in the afternoons to visit Roger at his lodgings, they sometimes met at the Krasnoe-Kabac, some eight verstsoutside the city. The place was a small red-painted inn with a pleasant garden, where tables were set in creeper-covered arbours giving a welcome seclusion to couples who wished to dine in private and afterwards linger there in amorous dalliance. It was a favourite haunt of the rich bourgeois of the city on Sundays, but on weekdays was usually almost deserted. They had dined there off sturgeon and a well-hung reindeer-steak, and were well into their second bottle of wine when Natalia told Roger about the Finns.
He said nothing for a moment, but his mind instantly quickened with the most lively emotions. He was far from having forgotten his last meeting with Count Yagerhorn, and had sworn to himself that sooner or later he would get even with him.
At first sight, the Count's arrival in St. Petersburg seemed to present a most welcome opportunity, but on turning the matter over in his mind, Roger realised that as duelling was contrary to custom in Russia, it was unlikely that his enemy would accept a challenge, and that, owing to the vigilance of the night-watch, it would be highly perilous to waylay him in the street and force a fight upon him.
Natalia broke in upon his thoughts. "Will you give me an extra long kiss if I tell you what you are thinking? 'Tis how you can revenge yourself on Erik Yagerhorn for the beating that he gave you."
He laughed. " 'Twas easy to guess, but you shall have your kiss and more like it as soon as we have finished this dish of creamed rowanberries. Tell me, what are your feelings now towards the Count?"
"I have none," she shrugged. "You know as well as I that-you have made me love you to distraction. There is no place in my heart for other lovers, old or new. Should it be your wish I will aid you to settle your score with him. But you must have a care how you set about it, for as a semi-official Ambassador he will be under the special protection of the Empress."
Knowing Natalia to be an habitual liar, Roger took most of her statements with a grain of salt, but for once he thought she was giving true expression to her feelings. He knew that since he had adopted Russian methods with her he now represented in her eyes the best combined qualities of east and west, which it would have been difficult for her to find in another lover; and he was as certain as any man could be that she was faithful to him. Moreover, any project of revenge was calculated to appeal to the vicious streak in her nature.
"You are an enchantress," he said, after a moment. "And since you could offer me no better proof of your love, I accept it. 'Tis certain that you will see the Count, so I would have you renew your old friendship with him. Mark you, 'tis far from my mind that you should once more become his mistress, and did I catch you out as having pleasured him I would beat you till you are black and blue. But make it appear that you have pleasant memories of your former intercourse, and lead him on to hope that you will give him an assignation."
Her green eyes brightened with amusement. "I take your thought; and when I eventually grant it to him 'twill be you that he will find tucked up in bed, instead of myself. So be it then; I make only one stipulation. I must be there hid behind a curtain to see the fun."
Roger readily agreed and they both laughed heartily at the thought of the Count's discomfiture.
In the ten days that followed Natalia kept him informed both of the progress of this intrigue and the Empress's negotiations with the Finns. It seemed that a deadlock had been reached, as the deputation was divided into two factions. Both were prepared to turn their arms against Gustavus if Catherine would give them her support by prosecuting the war more vigorously; but one group demanded complete independence for Finland as tile price of their treachery, while the other, led by Count Yagerhorn, was willing to see their country a Russian province provided only that she would assist them to expel the Swedes. Meanwhile Natalia had found it easy to enmesh Yagerhorn in her toils again, and he was pressing her ardently for a private meeting.