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

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СКАЧАТЬ typical that he treated her as a good, loyal companion. She was as pleased by his familiarity as she had been put off by Fouché’s insolence. Everything was fixed in less than an hour, and they agreed to set out that very evening, on separate roads, for Bourg-en-Bresse, their headquarters.

      “You can be sure, with all the information she had, including the watchwords and passwords, along with letters from Cadoudal and Coster Saint-Victor, Diana de Fargas easily gained entry to the Seillon monastery, where the four leaders were meeting. She was dressed once again like a Chouan and was using the name Portia.

      “Nobody had the slightest suspicion, not that the messenger was a woman, because even the clothes of a man could not conceal that Diana was a woman, but that she was Mademoiselle de Fargas, the sister of the man they had killed in punishment for his betrayal.

      “Since the total amount Cadoudal was asking for, one hundred thousand francs, was not readily available in the abbey, they arranged to meet Diana at midnight in the Ceyzériat caves, where they would give her the forty thousand still wanting.

      “The first thing Roland did when Diana had told him about the arrangements was to summon the captain of the gendarmerie and the colonel of the dragoons garrisoned in the town. When they arrived, he showed them the papers giving him full authority.

      “He found the colonel to be a passive instrument ready to put himself, with the number of men required, at Roland’s disposal. On the other hand, the captain of the gendarmerie was an old soldier full of rancor toward the Companions of Jehu, who, as he himself said, for the past three years could not stop causing trouble for him. Ten different times he had seen them, talked to them, and pursued them. Every time, either because of their better horses, tricks, skills, or strategy, the old soldier had ruefully to admit, they had escaped.

      “Once, at a moment when they expected it least, the captain had happened upon them in the Seillon forest. The brigands had bravely engaged in combat, killed three of the gendarmerie men and then withdrawn, carrying off with them two of their own wounded. So he had come to despair of ever getting the better of Morgan and his men. Now he wanted one thing only: not to be forced by government orders to have to deal with them. And here was Roland, come to drag him out of his pleasant rest, to disturb him in his tranquility, or rather in the apathy into which he had settled.

      “But as soon as Roland had pronounced the Ceyzériat caves as the place the leaders of the Companions said they would meet Diana, the old officer sat thoughtfully for a moment, then removed the three-cornered hat from his head as if it were impeding his thought process, laid it on the table, and said, blinking as he spoke, ‘Wait a moment … wait a moment! The Ceyzériat caves, the Ceyzériat caves … we’ve got them.’ And he placed his hat back on his head.

      “The colonel broke into a smile. ‘He’s got them!’ he said.

      “Roland and Diana looked doubtfully at each other. They had less confidence in the old captain than did the colonel.

      “‘Let’s hear what you have to say,’ said Roland.

      “‘When the demagogues tried to demolish the church in Brou,’ said the old captain, ‘I came up with an idea.’

      “‘I’m not at all surprised,’ said Roland.

      “‘It was a way to save not only our church but also the magnificent tombs inside.’

      “‘By doing what?’

      “‘By turning the church into a storeroom for fodder for the cavalry.’

      “‘I understand,’ said Roland. ‘Hay saved the marble. You are quite right, my friend, that was a great idea.’

      “‘So they turned the church over to me. And then I decided to visit it inside and out.’

      “‘We’re listening religiously, Captain.’

      “‘Well, at one end of the crypt I discovered a small door opening onto a tunnel. After I walked about a quarter of a league, I found the tunnel was blocked by a gate, but on the other side were the Ceyzériat caves.’

      “‘I’ll be damned,’ said Roland. ‘I’m beginning to see what you mean.’

      “‘Well, not me,’ said the colonel of dragoons.

      “‘And yet it’s quite obvious,’ said Mademoiselle de Fargas.

      “‘Explain things to the colonel, Diana,’ said Roland, ‘and show him you did not waste your time while you were Cadoudal’s aide-de-camp for two years.’

      “‘Yes, please explain,’ said the colonel, spreading his legs apart, leaning on his sword, opening wide his eyes, and blinking, as he looked up.

      “‘Well,’ said Mademoiselle de Fargas, ‘with ten or fifteen men the captain will enter through the church in Brou and guard that entrance to the tunnel, whereas we will attack the outside entrance with twenty men or so. The Companions of Jehu will then attempt to escape by the other entrance which, they believe, is known only to them. There they will find the captain and his men. That’s it, they’re caught in the crossfire.’

      “‘Exactly,’ said the captain, astonished that a mere woman could have come up with such a plan.

      “‘How stupid of me!’ said the colonel in disgust. Roland nodded his agreement.

      “Then he turned toward the captain. ‘However, Captain, it is important for you to be at the church entrance ahead of time. The Companions don’t go to the caves before nightfall, and they use only the outside entrance, of course. I shall go in with Mademoiselle de Fargas, and we shall be disguised as Chouans. I shall get the forty thousand francs. As we’re leaving, thanks to the password that will let me approach the two sentinels, I shall silence them with my knife. We shall hide the forty thousand francs or entrust them to a gendarme. Then we shall turn around, go back into the caves, and attack the Companions. When they realize there’s a surprise attack, they will try to escape, but at the gate they will find their way blocked by the captain and his gendarmes. They will either have to surrender or be killed, from the first to the last man.’

      “‘I’ll be at my post this morning before daybreak,’ said the captain. ‘I’ll take along enough food for the entire day. And battle tonight!’ He drew his sword and struck the wall several times. Then he returned the sword to its sheath.

      “Roland allowed the old soldier some time for his heroic gestures, and when the soldier had calmed down, he slapped him on the shoulder. ‘There will be no changes to our plans. At midnight, Mademoiselle de Fargas and I shall enter the caves to get our money, and a quarter of an hour later, with the first gunshot you hear, there will be battle, as you say, my good captain.’

      “‘Battle!’ the colonel of dragoons echoed.

      “Once more Roland went over what they had agreed upon so that everyone knew exactly what to do. Then he took leave of the two officers, the captain of the gendarmerie, whom he would see only in the caves, and the colonel of dragoons, whom he would not see until two thirty.

      “Everything happened the way it had been arranged. Diana de Fargas and Roland, using the identities and costumes of Bruyère and Branched’Or, entered the Ceyzériat caves after exchanging the watchwords with the two sentinels, one at the base of the mountain and the other at the cave entrance.

      “Inside, they learned СКАЧАТЬ