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

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СКАЧАТЬ expected, the crowd heard what sounded like fighting. Then they saw the four condemned men burst forth from the prison. The crowd cried out as one—in awe, in fear—for surely something terrible was about to happen, these four prisoners looking like gladiators entering the ring.

      “I managed to push my way to the front row. I saw them cross the courtyard. They saw that the enormous gate was closed and that on the other side of it, in an unbreakable line, gendarmes were standing motionless with their rifles at their knees.

      “The four men stopped, put their heads together; seemed to confer for a moment.

      “Then Valensolles, the oldest, strode up to the gate, and with a gracious smile and noble bow, he greeted the horsemen: ‘Very well, gentlemen of the Gendarmerie.’ Then, turning toward his three companions, he said: ‘Adieu, my friends.’ And then he blew his brains out. His body did three pirouettes, and he fell facedown to the ground.

      “Next, Jahiat left his companions and walked over to the gate, where he cocked his own two pistols and pointed them toward the gendarmes. He did not shoot, but five or six gendarmes, thinking they were in danger, lowered their rifles and fired. Two bullets pierced Jahiat’s body. ‘Thank you, gentlemen,’ he said. ‘Thanks to you I can die like a soldier.’ And he collapsed onto Valensolles’s body.

      “In the meantime, Ribier had seemed to be trying to determine how he in his turn would die. Finally, he appeared to have come to a decision.

      “He eyed a column in the courtyard. Ribier walked straight over to it, pulled the dagger from his belt, placed the point against the left side of his chest and set the handle against the column. Then he took the column in his arms, and after he’d saluted the spectators and his friends one last time, with his arms he squeezed the column until the dagger’s blade had completely disappeared into his breast. For a moment he remained standing. Soon, though, his face turned ghastly pale, and his arms loosened their hold on the pillar. His knees buckled. He fell, dead.

      “The crowd stood mute, frozen in terror at the same time it was rapt in admiration. Everyone understood that these heroic men were willing to die, but that like ancient Roman gladiators, they wanted to die honorably.

      “My brother was the last of them. As he surveyed the crowd he caught sight of me. He put his finger to his mouth, and I realized that he was asking me to stay strong and keep quiet. I nodded, but in spite of myself tears coursed down my cheeks. He motioned that he wished to speak. Everyone grew silent.

      “When you witness a spectacle of that kind, you are as eager to hear words as to see action, for words help to explain actions. Still, what more could the crowd ask for? They had been promised four heads, all four falling uniformly and monotonously in the same manner. Instead, they were now being given four different deaths, each one more inventive, dramatic, and unexpected than the one before. The crowd knew that this last hero planned to die in a way at least as original as the other three.

      “Charles held neither pistol nor dagger in his hands, though his belt held both. He walked around Valensolles’s body, then stood between the bodies of the other two, Jahiat and Ribier. Like an actor in a theater, he bowed grandly and smiled at the spectators.

      “The crowd erupted in applause. Eager as everyone was to see what was coming, not a single person among them, I dare say, would not have given a portion of his own life to save the life of the last Companion of Jehu.

      “‘Gentlemen,’ said Charles, and God only knows the anguish I felt as I listened to him, ‘you have come to see us die, and you have already seen three of us fall. Now it is my turn. I ask nothing better than to satisfy your curiosity, but I’ve come to propose a deal.’

      “‘Speak! Speak!’ people shouted from all sides. ‘Whatever you ask will be granted.’

      “‘All but your life!’ cried a woman’s voice—the same voice that had expressed triumph and joy at the sentencing.

      “‘All but my life, of course,’ my brother repeated. ‘You saw my friend Valensolles blow out his brains, you saw my friend Jahiat get shot, you saw my friend Ribier stab himself, and you would like to see me die on the guillotine. I can understand that.’ His calm demeanor and sardonic words, spoken with no emotion, sent a shiver through the crowd.

      “‘Well,’ Charles went on, ‘like a good sport I would like to die at your pleasure as much as at my own. I am prepared to have my head fall, but I wish to walk to the scaffold on my own, as if I were going to a meal or a ball, and, as an absolute condition, without anyone touching me. If anyone comes near’—he pointed to the two pistols in his belt—’I shall kill him. Except for this man,’ Charles continued, looking over to the executioner. ‘This business is between him and me, and proper procedures need to be followed.’

      “The crowd seemed to accept the condition, for on all sides people shouted: ‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’

      “‘Do you hear?’ Charles addressed the officer of the gendarmerie. ‘Indulge me, Captain, and things will be fine.’

      “The officer wanted nothing better than to make some concessions. ‘If I leave your hands and feet free,’ he said, ‘do you promise to attempt no escape?’

      “‘I give you my word of honor,’ said Charles.

      “‘Well, then,’ said the officer. ‘Move aside and let us carry off the bodies of your companions.’

      “‘Yes, that’s only right,’ said Charles. Then, turning toward the crowd, he noted: “You see, it’s not my fault. I am not the cause of the delay; rather, these gentlemen are.’ He gestured toward the executioner and his two helpers loading the bodies on a cart.

      “Ribier was not yet dead. He opened his eyes, as if he were looking for someone. Charles took his hand. ‘Here I am, good friend,’ he said. ‘Rest assured, I am joining you!’ Ribier’s eyes closed again; and his lips moved, but no sound came from them, only a reddish foam.

      “‘Monsieur de Sainte-Hermine,’ said the brigadier when the three bodies had been removed. ‘Are you ready?’

      “‘I await you, monsieur,’ Charles answered, bowing with exquisite politeness.

      “‘In that case, please step forward.’ Charles moved to the middle of the gendarmes.

      “‘Would you prefer to go by carriage?’ said the officer.

      “‘By foot, monsieur. By foot. I want these people to know that I myself am allowing this extravaganza at the guillotine. Were I in a vehicle, people might think that fear kept me from walking.’

      “The guillotine had been set up on the Place du Bastion. They crossed the Place des Lices, which takes its name from the carousel that stood there in older times, and then walked along the walls beside the gardens of the Hôtel Monbazon. The cart came first, then a detachment of ten dragoons. Then the condemned man, who now and then glanced over at me. Then, about ten paces behind, the gendarmes, led by their captain.

      “At the end of the garden wall, the cortege turned to the left. And suddenly, through the opening between the garden and the grand hall, my brother caught a glimpse of the scaffold—and I could feel my own knees buckle. ‘Bah!’ he said. ‘I had never seen a guillotine. I did not realize they were so ugly.’

      “Then, as quickly as a passing thought, he pulled the dagger from his belt and plunged it to the hilt into his chest.

      “The СКАЧАТЬ