Evil in a Mask (57 page)

‘Yes. He gave the portfolio to Caulaincourt, a pleasant and quite able man. Yet, hate me though Napoleon now does, it seems that I have a strange fascination for him. He takes no step of importance without informing me of it, and asking my opinion, even though he frequently rejects it.'

‘You will, then, be attending this forthcoming conference?'

‘Almost certainly.' After a moment Talleyrand gave a cynical smile and added, ‘There I may find an opportunity to send Alexander away more dissatisfied than ever at having entered into an alliance with us. As long as Napoleon can count on Russia to menace Austria, his position remains comparatively strong; but, should the Czar break with him, that could bring about his fall. And you and I agreed at Warsaw that that has become necessary as the only means of restoring peace and prosperity to Europe.'

Roger nodded. ‘Somehow it must be done. But I have not yet congratulated your Exalted Highness on having been made Vice-Grand Elector. I do so on two counts. Firstly, in that this honour places you on an equal footing with the Bonaparte Princes. Secondly, on having resigned your office when you did. Now, when the Empire does collapse, and others scuttle from the sinking ship, no-one will be able to accuse you of having waited to leave it with the rats.'

Early in September still worse news came in from the Peninsula, which was now the focus of all eyes. Wellesley had driven the French vanguard from Rolica; then, on the 24th August, he had met Junot's main force at Vimiero and inflicted a crushing defeat upon it. Junot's whole army would have been cut off from Torres Vedras, but for the fact that an officer senior to Wellesley, General Sir Harry Burrard, arrived just at that moment, took over command and, most idiotically, called off the pursuit.

Shortly afterwards the hopeless idiocy of Britain's old-fashioned senior Generals was further manifested. Burrard was superseded by Sir Hew Dalrymple. Instead of demanding the surrender of Junot's defeated army, he entered into a pact with Junot at Cintra. By it Junot and all his troops were to be sent back to France in British ships.

Napoleon, angry as he was at Junot's defeat, got back many thousands of troops who would otherwise have remained prisoners in Portugal. With a sour laugh he declared, ‘How fortunate I am in having British generals fighting my wars for me.'

The unfortunate Dupont and his principal commanders had also been released by the Spaniards and returned to France. Upon them, for their surrender at Baylen, the Emperor vented his wrath, consigning all of them to prison.

Meanwhile, it had been agreed that Alexander and Napoleon should meet at Erfurt, a town in Thuringia some sixty-five miles south-west of Leipzig.

By mid-September, when the Court was about to set out, Lisala was expecting her baby in from six to eight weeks. For some rime past, Roger had been treating her with the utmost tenderness; and waiting anxiously for her delivery, hoping that she would bear him a son. As Erfurt meant a journey of three hundred and sixty miles, he was most averse to her undertaking it. But she had been greatly enjoying herself in Paris, and was most loath both to being left alone while the Court was in Germany, and missing the many splendid entertainments which would take place at the conference. It was unlikely that the conference would last more than a fortnight; so she argued that they should be back in Paris at the latest within five weeks. In consequence, Roger reluctantly agreed to her setting out with the Empress and the Court officials who were to make the journey in moderately easy stages.

Several days later, Napoleon, who always travelled at great speed, followed, accompanied by his staff. To salvoes of cannon they entered Erfurt on September 26th. The Empress had arrived there that morning. From the Quartermaster, who had taken over the Town Hall, Roger learned that he and Lisala had been billeted not far from the centre of the town, at the house of a notary named Gunther. Eager to see Lisala, he went there at once.

No sooner had he made himself known to the notary's wife than she exclaimed, ‘Colonel, we are in a great taking here. The long journey had most unfortunate results on your lady. When she arrived this morning, she was already in labour. I understand that her accouchement was not due for some weeks yet. But an hour ago she gave premature birth to your child.'

‘My wife?' he asked swiftly. ‘Is she all right?'

‘Yes, yes!' the woman assured him. ‘We called our doctor. A good man. Her delivery was quite normal.'

Brushing past her, Roger ran up the stairs three at a time. Behind a slightly-opened door on the landing he heard a faint mewling. Thrusting the door wide open, he strode into the room.

Lisala's nurse, old Josefa Bilboa, was sitting there in an easy chair, gently rocking a bundle on her lap. As she saw Roger, her dark eyes widened with fear.

‘Is it a boy?' Roger asked eagerly.

The old woman nodded. ‘Yes,
Senhor
, but …'

Advancing on her, Roger smiled and said, ‘Let me see him. Let me see my son.'

Josefa shrank back, pressing the bundle to her flaccid bosom as she whispered, ‘
Senhor
, be merciful. This … this will be a shock to you.'

Roger frowned. ‘Do you mean that the child is malformed?'

‘No,
Senhor
, no! But … but …'

Stretching out a hand, Roger pulled the swaddling clothes aside and gazed, horror-struck, at the infant.

It had curly red hair; its nose was flattened and its lips were thick; its skin was brown; beyond all doubt, it was the child of a Negro.

Utterly aghast, Roger stared down at the small, dark, wizened creature. Never before in his life had his mind been so paralysed by shock. Momentarily his numbed brain suggested to him that he was the victim of a nightmare. He was brought back to awful reality by the sound of footsteps behind him. Swinging round, he saw that Frau Gunther had followed him into the room.

Wildly he sought some explanation that he could give of this scandalous event, which could not be concealed and must soon become the talk of the town, bringing disgrace upon Lisala and making him the laughing stock of everyone he knew. His normally swift reaction to unexpected situations suddenly returned to him. White-faced, he confronted the woman and said:

‘
Meine Frau
, I beg your indulgence in that my wife's delivery should have occurred in your house, causing you much inconvenience. Aware of the terrible experience that befell her before she left Brazil, I had intended to take her to some secluded house, where she could have her unwanted child. But her giving birth prematurely has defeated my intentions. While in Rio de Janeiro, my wife was raped by a Negro slave.'

The portly Frau Gunther nodded sympathetically. ‘I felt sure,
Herr Oberst
, that there must be some such explanation. It makes me shudder to think of what the poor lady must have suffered. But please be assured that my husband and I will do everything possible for her comfort and yours.' Pointing to a door behind him, she added, ‘Would you now like to go in and see your wife?'

Feeling that he must have time to think before deciding
what to do about Lisala, Roger replied, ‘No. Her delivery having been so recent, it is essential that she should remain undisturbed. I feel, too, that for some nights at least it would be detrimental to my wife if I shared her bed; and my servant will shortly arrive with my baggage. Could you provide me with another room?'

‘I can if the
Herr Oberst
would not mind a small one on the top floor of the house.'

Roger raised a smile. ‘As a soldier, I consider myself lucky when I have a roof over my head. You will forgive me if I leave you now. I have urgent work to do at headquarters.'

With a bow to Frau Gunther, he stepped past her and stumped down the stairs. Turning into a high-walled alley that ran alongside the house, he paced up and down for half an hour, thinking furiously. He did not believe for one moment that Lisala had been raped; but his story that she had would at least protect him from the degradation of being secretly mocked as a cuckold, and should gain sympathy for her rather than opprobrium.

Deciding that it was better that he should himself announce the awful event, rather than let it reach the Court by way of gossip spread by the Gunther household and the doctor who had delivered Lisala, he went to the mansion which had been taken over for Napoleon, and requested an audience with the Empress.

Half an hour later she was condoling with him on his misfortune. When a girl in Martinique, she had heard of occasional cases in which Negro slaves had gone mad and raped white women, so she accepted Roger's story without question. He said that Lisala would, of course, resign her appointment and, as soon as she was sufficiently recovered, he intended to send her back to Paris. Josephine, who was the most kind-hearted of women, replied:

‘If that is her wish, I will not oppose it; but it would be said that I had dismissed her, so imply that she is guilty of a crime and lead to her being ostracised by society. It would be most cruel to inflict further suffering on her after the terrible experience she has been through. By showing special warmth
towards her when she reappears at Court, I can ensure that no malicious person dare cause her embarrassment.'

Having thanked Josephine for her generous attitude, Roger went out to prowl the streets, but found that, to walk unimpeded through the narrow ways overhung by the upper storeys of the old, timbered houses, was next to impossible. French and Russian officers, Hussars, Chasseurs, Cossacks and Artillerymen jostled the gaping town-folk, while coaches and carriages, occupied by notables, frequently blocked the way. The inns were equally crowded, and there seemed no place in which he could think out quietly what he should do about Lisala. In desperation, he returned to his billet.

There Herr and Frau Gunther asked him to honour them by supping with them. Feeling churlish but quite incapable of making polite conversation, he refused, sent his servant out for a couple of bottles of wine, and went up to his room. During the next two hours he drank the wine, but it did not make him even mildly drunk and, when he went to bed he had formed only one decision. He must rid himself of Lisala as soon as possible.

Next morning he left the house early and, somehow, got through his duties. Then, unwilling to talk with his brother officers, he ate a meal at an inn, but found difficulty in swallowing. Feeling that he could no longer put off the interview from which his whole being shrank, he went to his billet. No-one was about, so he walked straight upstairs to the room in which he had seen the infant. A cradle had been procured, and old Josefa sat there, rocking it. Without giving her a glance, he crossed the room and pushed open the far door.

Lisala was sitting up in bed. As is so often the case with women soon after their delivery, she had never looked lovelier. Her cheeks were a little pale, her splendid, wide-spaced eyes glowing with health, and her milk-filled breasts showed clearly through a nightdress of gossamer-thin muslin. As he entered the room, her lips parted, showing her perfect teeth, in a smiling greeting.

Grim-faced, he stood at the end of her bed and demanded harshly, ‘Well, Madame; what have you to say?'

She shrugged. ‘Only that I regret that the child is not yours. I could not be certain, and hoped up to the last moment that it would be.'

‘Who is its father?'

‘Why, Baob, of course.'

‘I suspected as much. And that this was no case of rape, otherwise you would have told me of it. You admit then, that you willingly gave yourself to a Negro?'

‘He was an African Prince.'

‘Prince, be damned! He was a Negro slave.'

Lisala's eyes flashed. ‘He proved a better lover than you.'

‘Maybe. I am not accustomed to competing with black giants. But how could you possibly have brought yourself to submit to this abomination?'

‘I did not submit. He would never have dared lay a finger on me had I not encouraged him by allowing him one hot afternoon to see me naked, then lain down on my bed and beckoned to him.'

Roger gave a gasp. ‘My God! Such conduct is utterly iniquitous.'

‘It is not when one feels a great urge to be made love to, and a stalwart man is readily available.'

‘Lisala, we all feel such urges from time to time. But ordinary decency demands control. For a woman of your birth to give herself to the first man who comes along is positively outrageous.'

She sighed. ‘It may be so for some people, but is not in my case. You have never understood me. From the age of thirteen I craved for such sensations. Knowing nothing of men at that time I satisfied these sensations every night myself. Then in Tehran my Russian Prince came along and taught me the full joy of being possessed. For a few months after he left I was driven nearly crazy with desire. You arrived and, you will recall, at the first opportunity I positively flung myself at you. In you I found something more than physical satisfaction. You are handsome, courageous and fascinating to talk to. But such attributes weigh only when I am with you. On the long voyage we made from the Persian Gulf and up
the Red Sea, I took the First Officer of the ship as my lover. While crossing the Mediterranean, a young super-cargo fulfilled my needs. Then came that ghastly crossing of the Atlantic, when we were daily together, yet could never be alone. During that time I nearly died of frustration. In Rio we again enjoyed a brief intimacy. Alas, my father put an end to that. When he had forced you from the house, what was I to do? To meet you in secret or, in that rigid society, secure one of my father's friends as my lover, proved impossible. What does a black skin matter, provided the man be vigorous? Baob meant nothing to me. When you killed him I felt not a qualm; but those afternoons when he ferociously enjoyed me gave me peaceful sleep at nights.'

Appalled, Roger stared at her, then he asked bitterly, ‘And after I left you in Portugal, during the time I was in Madrid, whom did you pick on to satisfy your insatiable lust?'