Tom Burke Of "Ours" Volume Ii Part 45

This speech met with a sorry reception from the bystanders, and in the dissatisfied expression of their faces, a less confident speaker might have read his condemnation; but the general felt not this, or, if he did, he effectually concealed it.

"You have not inquired for Gustave de Me is in," said he, looking round at the circle.

"You have not seen him, surely?" cried several together; "we heard he was at Vienna."

"No, _parbleu!_ he lives about a league from his old home,--the very house we spent our Christmas at eighteen years ago. They have made a barrack of his chateau, and thrown his park into a royal _cha.s.se_; but he has built a hut on the river-side, and walks every day through his own ground, which he says he never saw so well stocked for many a year.

He is as happy as ever, and loves to look out on the Seine before his door when the bright stream is rippling through many a broad leaf; ay, Messieurs, of good augury, too,--the lilies of France." He lifted a b.u.mper to his lips as he spoke, and drank the toast with enthusiasm.

This sudden return to loyalty, so boldly announced, served to reinstate him in their estimation; and once again all their former pleasure at his appearance came back, and again the questions poured in from every quarter.

"And the abbe," said one; "what of him? Has he made up his mind yet?"

"To be sure he has, and changed it too, at least twice every twenty-four hours. He is ever full of confidence and br.i.m.m.i.n.g with hope when the wind is from the eastward; but let it only come a point west, his spirits fall at once, and he dreams of frigates and gunboats, and the hulks in the Thames; and though they offered him a cardinal's hat, he 'd not venture out to sea."

The warning looks of the bystanders, and even some signals to be cautious, here interrupted the speaker, who paused for a few seconds, and then fixed his eyes on me.

"I have no fears, gentlemen, on that score. I know my countrymen well, though I have lived little among them. My namesake here may like the service of the Emperor better than that of a king,--he may prefer the glitter of the eagle to the war-cry of Saint Louis,--but he 'll never betray the private conversations nor expose the opinions expressed before him in all the confidence of social intercourse.

"We are speaking, Mr. Burke, of an abbe who is about to visit Ireland, and whose fears of the English cruisers seem little reasonable to some of my friends here, though you can explain, perhaps, that they are not groundless. I forgot,--you were but a boy when you crossed that sea."

"But he will go at last," said Madame de Langeac; "I suppose we may rely on that?"

"We hope," said the general, shrugging his shoulders with an air of doubt, "because, when we can do nothing else, we can always hope." And so saying he arose from the table, and taking a courteous leave of each person in turn, pleading the fatigue of his journey, he retired for the night.

I left the saloon soon after, and went to my room full of all I had heard, and pondering many thoughts about the abbe and his intended voyage. I spent a sleepless night. Thoughts of home, long lost in the excitement of my career, came flocking to my brain, and a desire to revisit my country--stronger, perhaps, because undefined in its object--made me restless and feverish. It was with delight I perceived the day dawning, and dressing myself hastily, I descended into the garden. To my surprise, I found General Burke already there. He was sauntering along slowly by himself, and seemed wrapped in meditation.

The noise of my approach startled him, and he looked up.

"Ah! my countryman,--so early astir?" said he, saluting me courteously.

"Is this a habit of yours?"

"No, sir; I cannot claim the merit of such wakefulness. But last night I never closed my eyes. A few words you dropped in conversation in the drawing-room kept possession of my heart, and even yet I cannot expel them."

"I saw it at the time I spoke," replied the general, with a keen, quick glance; "you changed color twice as I mentioned the Abbe Gernon. Do you know him?"

"No, sir; it was his intended journey, not himself, for which I felt interested."

"You would wish to accompany him, perhaps. Well, the matter is not impossible; but as time presses, and we have little leisure for mysteries, tell me frankly why are you here?"

In few words, and without a comment on any portion of my conduct, I told him the princ.i.p.al circ.u.mstances of my life, down to the decisive moment of my leaving the army.

"After that step," said I, "feeling that no career can open to me here, I wish to regain my own country."

"You are right," said the general, slowly; "it is your only course now.

The venture is not without risk,--less from the English cruisers than the French, for the abbe is well known in England, and Ireland too; but his Royalist character would find slight favor with Fouche. You are willing to run the risk, I suppose?"

"I am."

"And to travel as the abbe's servant, at least to Falaise? there the disguise will end."

"Perfectly so."

"And for this service, are you also ready to render us one in return?"

said he, peering at me beneath his eyelashes.

"If it involve the good faith I once swore to preserve towards the Emperor Napoleon, I refuse it at once. On such a condition, I cannot accept your aid."

"And does your heart still linger where your pride has been so insulted?"

"It does, it does; to be his soldier once more, I would submit to everything but dishonor."

"In that case," said he, smiling good-naturedly, "my conscience is a clear one; and I may forward your escape with the satisfying reflection that I have diminished the enemies of his Majesty Louis the Eighteenth by one most inveterate follower of Napoleon. I shall ask no conditions of you. When are you ready?"

"To-day,--now."

"Let me see; to-morrow will be the 8th,--to-morrow will do. I will write about it at once. Meanwhile, it is as well you should not drop any hint of your intended departure, except to Madame de Langeac, whose secrecy may be relied on."

"May I ask," said I, "if you run any risk in thus befriending me? It is an office, believe me, of little promise."

"None whatever. Rarely a month pa.s.ses over without some one or other leaving this for England. The intercourse between Rome and Ireland is uninterrupted, and has been so during the hottest period of the war."

"This seems most unaccountable to me; I cannot understand it."

"There is a key to the mystery, however," said he, smiling. "The English Government have confidence in the peaceful efforts of the priesthood as regards Ireland, and permit them to hold unlimited intercourse with the Holy See, which fears France and the spirit of her Emperor. The Bourbons look to the Church as the last hope of the Restoration. It is in the Catholic religion of this country, and its traditions, that monarchy has its root. Sap one, and you undermine the other. Legitimacy is a holy relic,--like any other, the priests are the guardians of it; and as for the present ruler of France, he trusts in the spirit of the Church to increase its converts, and believes that Ireland is ripening to revolt through the agency of the priests. Fouche alone is not deceived. Between him and the Church the war is to the knife; and but for him the high seas would be more open than the road to Strasburg,--at least, to all with a shaven crown and a silk frock. Here, then, is the simple explanation of what seemed so difficult; and I believe you will find it the true one."

"But two out of the three parties must be deceived," said I.

"Perhaps all three are," replied he, smiling sarcastically. "There are some, at least, who deem the return of the rightful sovereign is more to be hoped from the sabre than the crosier, and think that Rome never was true except to Rome. As to your journey, however, its only difficulty or danger is the transit through France; once at the coast, and all is safe. Your pa.s.sport shall be made out as a retired sous-officier returning to his home. You will take Marboeuf in the route, and I will give you the necessary directions for discovering the abbe."

"Is it not possible," said I, "that _he_ may feel no inclination to enc.u.mber himself with a fellow-traveller, and particularly one a stranger to him?"

"Have no fear on that head. Your presence, on the contrary, will give him courage, and we must let him suppose you accompany him at our suggestion."

"Not with any implied knowledge or any connection with your views, however," said I. "This is well understood between us?"

"Perfectly so. And now meet me here this evening, after coffee, and I will give you your final instructions, Adieu, for the present."

He waved his hand and left me. Then, after walking a few paces, turned quickly round, and said,--

"You will remember, a blouse and knapsack are indispensable for your equipment. Adieu!"

CHAPTER x.x.x. AN OLD SAILOR OF THE EMPIRE

No circ.u.mstance of any interest occurred on my journey to Marboeuf; my pa.s.sport, made out in my own name as a sous-officier on leave, secured me against any interruption or delay; and on the third evening I reached the little wayside cabaret, about a league beyond the town, where I was informed by the count that the abbe would await me.

To my surprise, however, I discovered that the house was occupied by a detachment of the Marines of the Guard, proceeding from Marboeuf to the coast; with these, a.s.suming the "camaraderie" of the service, I soon made acquaintance, and being possessed of some information about the army, my company was at once coveted by the sailors, who had no opportunity of learning the events of the campaign.