Puzzled, but without questioning him, Georgina swung herself into the saddle and followed him down the track. Their horses having had a breather, were capable of cantering again, so they were soon only fifty yards behind the Hussars. Hearing them come up, the leader of the troop, a Corporal, turned in his saddle. Roger had not yet put on the coachman's coat and hat, but had them tied to the lead horse. Seeing his resplendent uniform, the Corporal called his men to attention, and saluted. Roger returned the salute, and gave him a friendly greeting. Then he said in a low voice to Georgina:
'Ease your pace. I don't want to have to talk to them, only remain near enough to them for it to appear that we are with them.'
Two miles further on, the spires of Coblenz were in sight.
But a minute later hoofbeats sounded on the road behind. They had just rounded another bend of the river, and Roger turned to see four horsemen flogging their steeds into a gallop. Their leader was Big Karl.
As they approached, Roger said to Georgina, 'Ride on, and leave this to me.' Then he reined in his horse, and turned it to face von Haugwitz's men. When Big Karl pulled up in front of him, Roger asked with a smile:
'Where are you off to in such a hurry?'
Karl's eyes glinted angrily, as he replied, ‘We have come to take you and my master's wife back to Schloss Langenstein.'
'Have you indeed?' Roger said quietly. 'Then I fear you will have had your ride for nothing. You will observe that the Gnadigefrau Baronin and I have an escort. Dare to lay a hand on us and, as a French Colonel, I will call on those soldiers of a country allied to France to seize you; then, in Coblenz, I'll charge you and your men with attempting to carry us off with intent to rob us.'
With a contemptuous smile, he turned his horse about, and cantered off to join Georgina. For a few minutes Big Karl and his men remained where they were, arguing heatedly. Then they too turned their horses about, and rode slowly away.
A mile further on, they entered the last village before Coblenz. Checking Georgina, Roger said a word of farewell to the Hussars who, quite unconsciously, had served them so well; then turned off down a side street. Beyond the last house there were again vineyards. Dismounting among the vines, he donned the coachman's coat and hat. Then they rode back to the main road and into the city. The bells of the churches were chiming midday as they walked their tired horses over the bridge of boats to the safety of French territory.
They had been up for most of the previous night, and the strain endured during their thirty-mile journey had been severe; so, at an inn on the outskirts of the city, they pulled up to rest themselves and their horses. After spending an hour drinking a bottle of wine and eating a platter of brodchen, they rode on again, as Roger was anxious to get away from
Coblenz where, despite his thin disguise, he might be recognised by an officer of the garrison.
Their way now lay along the beautiful, winding valley of the Moselle. On one bank there were lush green meadows with cattle grazing in them, and orchards of apple, cherry and plum; on the other steep gradients clothed with tall vines. Soon after they left the city, Roger took off the coachman's coat and hat as, wherever they stayed the night, he would have to reveal his uniform; but he removed his decorations and the insignia that showed him to be a Staff Colonel.
Some eight miles from Coblenz, they came to the village of Winningen. The inn there, with its vine-covered terrace, looked a pleasant place; so, deciding they had gone far enough, Roger took a room for them there in the name of Captain and Madame Bonthon.
Now, very, very tired, but marvellously content to be alone together, they ate an early supper, then went to bed and slept the clock round.
Next day they spent lounging on the terrace in the September sunshine. They spoke little, but smiled at each other frequently. It was not until the evening that Roger said:
'My love, we have to make a plan. When Lisala gets back to Vienna, she will cook my goose with Napoleon once and for all. She knows too much of the truth about me not to be believed. My career as M. le Colonel Baron de Breuc is finished.'
Georgina stretched out a hand, grasped his, pressed it and said softly, 'And you have sacrificed it in order to save me.'
He smiled. 'Dear heart, I am happy to have done so. It could well have ended on a battlefield, and that could have done no-one any good. In due course, I will make my way back to England; but the trouble is that did I attempt to go now it would be exceeding difficult to take you with me.'
'Then let us remain in these parts,' she suggested. ‘I brought my jewels with me in one of the valises. Their value far exceeds the sum needed to purchase a small property. We could give out that we are refugees from some part of the country that has been devastated, and fade into a rustic background until the war is over.'
Sadly he shook his head. 'No. There is nothing I would love more; but it is not practical. If one has to hide, it is easier to do so in a city than in the country. Villagers are inveterate gossips. The arrival of two well-born strangers such as you and me would incite their curiosity to the utmost. Our elopement from Schloss Langenstein and my having turned out to be a British spy will be talked of far and wide. Sooner or later, someone will recognise a description of one of us and our bliss would end in tragedy. I would be hauled up to be shot and you would be left without anyone to protect you. And, as an Englishwoman among your country's enemies, a protector you must have.'
'Roger, you know well that there is no-one whom I can rely on as a protector, except you.' ‘Yes, my love; there is ... the Archduke John.' 'Oh, John. Yes, but...'
With a wave of his hand, he cut her short. 'All today I have been thinking of this matter. Having your best interests at heart, I feel that the right thing to do is to take you to Pressburg, or wherever his headquarters may now be, and hand you over to him. He will, I am sure, see to it that no trouble befalls you; and, as soon as it is possible, he will be able to send you back to England under diplomatic protection.'
After a moment's thought, she said, 'Much as I was taken with John, I have never lived openly as any man's mistress, and am not prepared to do so, even for an Archduke. But you are right, that he could get me back to England. And I do wish that. I long to be with Charles during his teenage years that can do so much to form the character of a man. But what of you?'
He laughed. 'Don't worry your sweet head about me. Old campaigners never die. I'll procure civilian clothes and go into hiding for a while. But, sooner or later, I'll turn up on your doorstep at Stillwaters.'
So it was agreed that next day they should start to make their way to Upper Austria.
When morning came, they went down to breakfast in the little coffee room. The waiter handed Roger a news-sheet printed in Coblenz the previous afternoon. For a moment he glanced indifferently at the headlines. Then he exclaimed:
'God alive! Georgina, listen to this.'
'most mysterious tragedy of the century.
'It is reported that the Herr Baron Ulrich von Haugwitz, and a French lady, the Baronne de Breuc, were found dead yesterday in the most extraordinary circumstances. The questioning of the servants at the Herr Baron's Sc/doss Langenstein leads to the belief that the two were lovers. For some utterly inexplicable reason, they elected to consummate their passion for each other in a wine press. Presumably they fell asleep there, and failed to wake when, in the late afternoon, vintagers tipped hods of grapes into the press upon them. Or it may be that they were swiftly suffocated.
'Their presence at the bottom of the vat remained undiscovered until the must running from the press took on an unusual pinkish colour. The Kellermeister ordered the press to be emptied. Only then, when a ton of crushed grapes had been removed, there was revealed, to the amazement and horror of those present, the naked, flattened corpses of the Herr Baron and the French Baronne.'