The Ouroboros Cycle, Book One. G.D. Falksen

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СКАЧАТЬ not today.”

      “Hmph!” Alfonse snorted. “The son of a count—”

      “Is still not a baron,” Babette finished.

      Alfonse turned his eyes upon her, and Babette merely looked back with a smile. She fluttered her eyelashes as innocently as she could manage.

      “But you wear the uniform of an officer,” Korbinian said, as if trying to make amends for the slight.

      “Yes,” Alfonse said. “I am a captain in His Imperial Majesty’s cavalry.”

      “That is wonderful,” Korbinian said. “You see, I also am a military man.”

      “Yes, I see,” Alfonse said, eyeing Korbinian’s uniform. “A lieutenant I presume.”

      “Colonel,” Korbinian corrected.

      “What?” Alfonse’s eyes fairly bulged out of his head.

      “As Baron of Fuchsburg, I command the Fuchsburg Regiment of the Prussian Army. I am, of course, a hussar. I find that all brave men are either hussars or dragoons. Which are you?”

      Alfonse growled again.

      “I am a cuirassier,” he said.

      “Fine men, the cuirassiers,” Korbinian said. “Then again,” he added, “wearing that armor does seem rather cautious, don’t you find?”

      Alfonse was in the process of turning bright red. Babette wondered whether he would try to strike Korbinian. That would be an interesting thing to see. Far better than the opera, surely.

      “I didn’t know they had horses in Fuchsburg,” Alfonse said, speaking slowly as he struggled to reign in his temper. “From what I have heard, it is a very wooded land. With mountains.”

      “Yes,” Korbinian said. “And while we are discussing geography, you mustn’t forget that rather large river running through it.”

      “Quite. I only ever hear of your infantry. Your riflemen.”

      Alfonse clearly thought this was an insult. Korbinian seemed not to share his view.

      “Yes, the jägers,” he said proudly. “The finest light infantry in all of Europe. They killed a great many Frenchmen during the Wars of Liberation. Of course, that was during my grandfather’s time. And did you know, he once shot an officer of the cuirassiers dead in mid-charge?”

      “Really?” Babette asked, intrigued. Her excitement at the statement only made Alfonse look angrier, as she had intended.

      “Yes,” Korbinian said. “With a windbüchse—a wind rifle.”

      “A wind rifle?”

      “Ja,” Korbinian said proudly. “It used compressed air to fire a ball without smoke or noise. When our jägers set upon the French from the woods, the Frenchmen could not understand what was happening. They thought that it was witchcraft or the hand of God!”

      Alfonse grunted.

      “It sounds far-fetched to me,” he said. “But if you are an officer of cavalry and your regiment is nothing but infantry—”

      “We maintain a squadron of cavalry, of course,” Korbinian said. “How else could I be in the hussars? No, you see there is a major in command of the Fuchsburger infantry.”

      “Your younger brother, no doubt,” Alfonse said derisively. “Or a cousin.”

      “The gamekeeper, actually,” Korbinian said. “A fine man with a very good head for tactics. You would enjoy serving under him, Captain.”

      “Better a captain of noble birth than a peasant major,” Alfonse snarled. “And better a common soldier in the Empire of France than master of a third-rate state among the Germans.” He turned to Babette and bared his teeth at her. “Mademoiselle Varanus, I will take my leave. We will speak properly soon, and in better company.”

      With that, the big man turned and left.

      Babette looked up at Korbinian, who looked back at her.

      “What a peculiar person,” Korbinian said. “I did not say anything improper, did I? My French, you understand…”

      Babette smiled at him.

      “Not at all, Baron,” she said. “It was perfect.”

      * * * *

      Normandy, France

      Though the meeting with Korbinian that night was a welcome relief from the tedium of Society, it was to be a single island amid a sea of boredom. As the month progressed, she saw less and less of him. He called at their rooms of course, only to be politely refused by Father. And while he did make an appearance at other engagements, they were few. In the meantime, Alfonse redoubled his efforts to corner Babette and impose his company upon her in Korbinian’s absence. At first the challenge of politely rebuffing Alfonse was amusing, but it soon grew wearisome. Above all, Babette longed for intelligent conversation, and there was little of that to be had.

      At the end of the month, at Grandfather’s insistence, they departed for a brief respite back in the country, though Father spent the entire trip reminding Babette that their stay at home was only temporary. He phrased his words in the manner of reassurances, when they did quite the opposite. Without Korbinian at hand, Paris was simply intolerable.

      Babette felt a sense of calm come over her when the towers of the house came into view over the trees. She leaned out of the coach window and felt the warm sun on her face. She heard birds chirping and the scurrying of small animals in the brush as the driver turned onto the path leading up to the house. Even the clop-clop of the horses soothed her. Home was home: it would always comfort her.

      As they neared the house, Babette saw a figure dressed in a riding coat, standing in front of the fountain at the center of the circular drive, waiting for them. Her heart leapt. Even at a distance, she knew it was Korbinian.

      The coach had scarcely come to a stop before she flung open the door and leaped out. She was grateful that Grandfather had allowed her to change into the simpler, straighter garments she wore at home before they departed. In one of the new dresses, with their wide skirts and heaps of lace, she might have stumbled or even broken her neck on landing.

      But she kept her grace as she alighted, and she approached Korbinian with as much poise as she could muster in the excitement. He in turn beamed down at her, making no effort to conceal his delight. He bowed and she curtseyed in reply, and for a little while, they simply stood there enjoying their reunion.

      “Good day, Baron,” Babette said at length. “What brings you here? I thought you would be in Paris.”

      “I find Paris to be rather tedious,” Korbinian replied. “I found some relief in the company of scholars during my visit, but a young man is often looked at oddly when he prefers the company of books and bookworms to that of fashionable young ladies. I thought the country air would do me good. I see that you have had much the same revelation.”

      “My grandfather’s idea,” Babette said. СКАЧАТЬ