Evil in a Mask

The Emperor stared at Roger. 'Gardane told me nothing of this.'

* Historical note. The prophecy did come true. For thirty-one years Mahmoud ruled the Turkish Empire. During his reign he revolutionised Turkey by introducing many reforms and Western customs. But this normally mild man never forgave the Janissaries. Aimee died, venerated by all, in 1817. Nine years after her death, Mahmoud, having slowly created a new body of Household troops loyal to him, decided to deal with the Janissaries, who were again giving serious trouble. He had five thousand of them slain in a single night and abolished the corps for ever.

Roger bowed. 'Why should he, Sire? It was, like my last, a private venture; and differs only in that it did not fail. As a result of it I am happy to think that I preserved not only the Empress' dear friend, -but a Sultan whose pro-French leaning should prove of value to Your Majesty.'

'You must decorate him I' Josephine cried. 'Make him a Count, or at least a Baron.'

Frowning, Napoleon said curtly, 'On the contrary, Madame, I have sentenced him to five years in prison.'

'Prison! No; it is unthinkable. What can he possibly have done to incur so great a measure of your displeasure?'

'He is a deserter. Instead of obeying my orders to go to India, he came to Lisbon and has since absented himself from my service for many months.'

Josephine's big dark eyes flashed angrily. 'Is that so great a crime when, for many years, he has served you faithfully? And I doubt not he had a good reason for absenting himself.'

'He did so to pursue a woman.'

The anger in Josephine's eyes swiftly disappeared. Throwing back her head, she laughed, for once showing her only bad feature—uneven, discoloured teeth. 'Now I am truly amazed,' she said to her husband. 'Even my great Eagle does not give all his life to waging war and affairs of State. How can he expect lesser men not at times to give way to the most natural of temptations?'

Roger knew what that laugh had cost her. During the early years of her marriage, Josephine had been flagrantly unfaithful to Napoleon. But time had wrought a change in her. Not only had she become devoted to him, but his infidelities to her pained her greatly. She had made light of a man neglecting his duty for a woman only to strike a spark of sympathy in Napoleon's mind for the frailty of which Roger was accused.

A cynical smile twisted Napoleon's lips for a second. 'In one sense you are right, my dear. Certain impulses must be satisfied unless a man's work is to suffer from their repression. But Breuc has overstepped the mark by indulging his own inclinations for far too long.'

'Sire,' Roger protested swiftly, 'I erred only in going to Lisbon, as I thought in your best interests, instead of to India. To Brazil I was carried off against my will.'

'Do you swear that?'

'I do, Sire; upon my honour.'

Coming round from behind the desk, Napoleon stretched out his plump, beautifully-modelled hand, seized the lobe of Roger's left ear and tweaked it painfully. While making this curious gesture of approbation, he said, 'Very well, then, you amorous scoundrel. You are reprieved. For that you must thank the Empress.'

Hardly daring to believe that he had heard aright, Roger went down on one knee and kissed the hand Josephine extended to him. Quickly she raised him and cried, 'You owe me nothing. I felt sure that all the time the Emperor was only trying to frighten you. He has far too big a heart to behave harshly to an old friend.'

Roger admired her tact, but had the gravest doubts about her statement as applying to himself before she had come upon the scene. Meanwhile, she was going on, 'You must join us for supper and it will be quite like old times. Afterwards I will read you Aimee's letter, and you must tell us all about your recent adventures.'

Napoleon nodded, and said, 'You were right about the state of Spain. It is causing me considerable concern. Tomorrow you can go into the matter with Berthier. He will find plenty of ways in which we can make good use of you.'

Bowing his acquiescence, Roger suppressed a sigh. Although he had had a miraculous escape, gone was all prospect of a speedy return to England. Once more he had been caught in that tangled web, on the unravelling of which depended the future of Europe.

Josephine proved right, in that supper was very reminiscent of the informal meals that Roger had enjoyed in the old days at Malmaison, with only a few intimate friends present. As a raconteur he was at his best and, rallying himself after the ordeal through which he had just passed, he held the interest of the small company with an account of the trials and tribulations he had suffered both voyaging to and in Brazil.

Then he told them about his marriage. Everyone congratulated him, and Josephine cried, 'Now I can reward you myself for saving dear Aimee. You must send for your wife, and I will make her one of my ladies.'

But Napoleon habitually ate fast, so the meal was soon over, and they adjourned to a small drawing room. After such suppers at Malmaison, they had often played charades or the First Consul had had all the candles but one put out and frightened the ladies by telling ghost stories. Those days were gone and, having listened with slight signs of impatience while Josephine read Aimee's letter, he began to fire questions at Roger about Syria, Mesopotamia and Persia. Roger's replies were always swift and to the point; and, by the end of the evening, he was confident that he had again established himself in the Emperor's good graces.

Next morning he reported to Berthier. The dome-headed little Chief of Staff spread out a map on which were marked the places in Spain where there had been outbreaks of rebellion and the estimated numbers of the insurgents. The picture was even more formidable than Roger had been led to believe. Moreover, Berthier told him that a Convention had been formed by leading representatives of all the groups to co-ordinate measures against the French; but where it held its meetings was unfortunately unknown.

That evening, Roger wrote to Lisala, telling her that he would be remaining with the Emperor, of the honour the Empress proposed to do her, and that she should set out for Madrid as soon as possible. He also wrote to Junot asking, in view of the unsettled state of the country, to provide an escort for her.

During the ten days that followed, alarming reports of the state of the country continued to pour in. The news of the revolts that had broken out spontaneously in half a dozen places had acted like dynamite on the whole people. With incredible speed, the long-suffering Spaniards in every city, town and village had loosed their hatred of the French. With fanatical zeal they had taken up arms to destroy their oppressors. Blood-lusting mobs had seized Mayors and other authorities who were puppets of the French administration and hanged them in the squares. Many considerable towns were now in the hands of the insurgents. They gave no quarter, and small bodies of French troops were continually ambushed and murdered.

Then the news arrived that, on July 4th, Canning had entered into an alliance with the Convention representing the people of Spain. Grimly Napoleon had to accept the fact that Spain, for so long his unwilling ally, had gone over to the enemy and was now, officially, at war with France.

With his usual dynamic energy, he issued innumerable orders, concentrating his troops in vital areas. The road from Bayonne via Burgos to Madrid was to be kept open at all costs. Bessieres, with eighty thousand men, would hold the north; Dupont, with another army, would suppress the revolts in the south. But on July 20th the most staggering news came in. After early successes, General Dupont, his troops weighed down with plunder, had been forced to retire into Baylen. On the previous day he had surrendered and his twenty thousand men had laid down their arms.