The Last Cavalier: Being the Adventures of Count Sainte-Hermine in the Age of Napoleon. Alexandre Dumas

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      ROLAND LISTENED.

      “The service I ask of you, monsieur, is to negotiate with General Harty for me.”

      “To what end?”

      “I have several proposals to make before we begin battle.”

      “I presume,” said Roland, “that among the proposals which you do me the honor of charging me with, you are not including one that asks him to lay down his arms?”

      “On the contrary, Colonel. You must understand that such a proposal is at the top of my list.”

      “General Harty will refuse,” said Roland, clenching his fists.

      “Probably,” Cadoudal answered calmly.

      “And then?”

      “And then I shall offer him the option of two other proposals that he will be perfectly free to accept without forfeiting his honor and without damaging his reputation.”

      “May I know what they are?” Roland asked.

      “You will know them at the appropriate time. Please be so good as to begin with the first proposal.”

      “Spell it out for me.”

      “General Harty and his one hundred men are surrounded by a force three times stronger. You know it, and you can say as much to him. I offer them safe conduct, but they must lay down their arms and swear that for five years they will not serve against the Vendée or Brittany.”

      “A useless message,” said Roland.

      “That would be better than getting crushed, both him and his men.”

      “True, but he will prefer to have them crushed and himself crushed with them.”

      “Beforehand, it would be good, however, to make him the proposal.”

      “As for that, you are right,” said Roland. “My horse?”

      They brought his horse to him. He leaped into the saddle and rapidly crossed the space separating them from the waiting group.

      General Harty’s surprise was great when he saw an officer wearing the uniform of a Republican colonel coming toward him. He moved three paces toward the messenger, who introduced himself, explained how he happened to be with the Royalist Whites, and conveyed Cadoudal’s proposal. As the young officer had predicted, the general refused.

      Roland galloped back toward where Cadoudal was waiting. “He refuses!” he shouted as soon as he was within earshot.

      “In that case,” said Cadoudal, “take him my second proposal. I don’t want to have anything to blame myself for afterwards, having to answer to an honorable judge such as you.”

      Roland bowed. “Let us move on the second proposal,” he said.

      “Here it is,” answered Cadoudal. “General Harty is on horseback, as am I. He will leave the ranks of his soldiers and ride out to meet me in the space between the two armies. Like me, he will be carrying his saber and his pistols. And then we can decide the issue between ourselves. If I kill him, his men will accept the conditions I’ve dictated, not to serve for five years against us; for you surely understand that I cannot take any prisoners. If he kills me, his men will have free passage to Vannes with their supplies intact and with no fear of attack by my troops. Ah! I hope this is a proposal you would be able to accept, Colonel?”

      “I do accept it,” said Roland.

      “Yes, but you are not General Harty. For the moment, just be content with your role as negotiator. And if this proposal—which, in his place, I would not pass up—is not enough to satisfy him, well, you will come back, and, good soul that I am, I shall make him a third one.”

      Roland galloped back to the Republicans and General Harty, who were waiting impatiently for him. He conveyed his message to the general.

      “Colonel,” the general answered, “I must give account to the First Consul for my actions. You are his aide-de-camp, and when you return to Paris, I charge you with being my witness when you speak to him. What would you do in my place? I will do what you would do.”

      Roland winced. An expression of deep gravity spread over his face. He paused to reflect. Then, a few moments later: “General,” he said, “I would refuse.”

      “Give me your reasons,” Harty answered, “so that I may see if they are in accordance with my own.”

      “The outcome of a duel is totally uncertain, and you cannot subject the destiny of one hundred brave men to such chances. In a business such as this, where each is engaged for himself, each man should defend his hide as best he can.”

      “Is that your opinion, Colonel?”

      “Yes, on my honor.”

      “It is mine as well. So, take my answer back to the Royalist general.”

      Roland returned to Cadoudal as fast as he had ridden to meet Harty.

      Cadoudal smiled when he heard the Republican general’s answer. “I suspected as much,” he said.

      “How could you suspect such an answer, since I’m the one who gave it to him?”

      “And yet you were of a different opinion a short while ago.”

      “Yes, but you accurately reminded me that I was not General Harty. Let us hear your third proposal,” Roland continued a little impatiently, for he was beginning to realize that ever since the negotiations had gotten under way, Cadoudal had been coming off the better.

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