Текст книги "Young bloods"

Автор книги: Simon Scarrow

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Chapter 31

Angers, 1786

As the carriage passed through the gatehouse, Napoleon shifted himself to the side and looked eagerly out of the window. The iron-shod hoofs of the horses clattered on the cobbles of the courtyard that opened out into a vast space before the main entrance to the academy. A troop of riders was being instructed in the centre of the courtyard. Napoleon regarded them closely. They were, no doubt, the sons of various Prussian, Austrian and British aristocrats, dilettantes in their scarlet coats with yellow buttons and light blue facings. Not real soldiers. Not professionals like himself, trained by the finest military minds in Europe. Even though he had received his commission and completed his probation there would be further training to undertake in the months to come before he could consider himself a fully fledged officer of artillery. And when he was off duty there would be manuals to digest and histories to read, aside from the works on philosophy and literature that he read for pleasure. Against that experience Napoleon was inclined to look upon this fashionable academy as no more than a finishing school, run by the cultivated Marcel de Pignerolle and his wife.

The director's invitation to Napoleon, and the four officers who shared the carriage, had been written in a fine hand. At first Napoleon had been tempted to reconsider the invitation. He was tired of being looked down upon by the sons of French nobles because of his Corsican birth. To become an object of curiosity for the nobles of other nations was even more of a burden. The colonel, who had taken something of a shine to his brilliant but awkward lieutenant, patiently advised him to join his comrades and visit Angers for no other reason than it would be useful to meet the men he might one day have to fight in battle. Find out what kind of men they were. Discern the strengths and weaknesses of their national character. It was a compelling argument, and at length Napoleon, with a small show of reluctance, gave his assent to the invitation, to the quiet amusement of his colonel.

'Now, Buona Parte, remember what I said, and keep a close eye on your hosts,' the colonel had concluded. 'You may learn something. At the same time, be mindful that you are a gentleman amongst gentlemen. It is not treasonable to enjoy yourself. Control that fiery streak of Coriscan pride and you may find you enjoy the experience. A man can use all the contacts he can make in this world.'

Napoleon smiled at the memory, and felt a stab of embarrassment at the image of churlish youth he must have presented to his colonel. Well, he was here now, and there was no escaping the situation. He'd have to watch himself and make sure that he said nothing foolish. Whatever provocation might be offered.

The carriage drew up outside the main entrance to the academy and a footman ran forward with a footstool and opened the door for the young artillery officers. Napoleon ducked his head and was the first to emerge from the carriage, jumping down to one side of the footstool. He straightened up and quickly adjusted his uniform, easing out the creases that had gathered in the cloth during the journey. In front of him stood an imposing classical facade: the polished wooden doors leading into the hall were surrounded by a lofty colonnade that reached up to the neat tiles of a handsome mansard roof. The academy was more like a palace than a military establishment and radiated an exclusivity born of two hundred years of training young gentlemen in the basic arts of war.

Alexander Des Mazis craned his head back to take in the decorative tops of the columns framing the entrance. 'Quite something, eh, Napoleon?'

The sound of heavy boots echoed through the entrance hall and then a young man strode out of the building and greeted them with an amiable smile. He was tall, with a broad face, dark hair tied back and brilliant blue eyes. He wore a cadet's uniform and bowed gracefully as he stood before the artillery officers. When he spoke the accent was unmistakably British, but with a peculiar lilting quality.

'Gentlemen, Madame de Pignerolle has sent me to bid you welcome, and convey you to our reception rooms. My name is Richard Fitzroy.'

Captain Des Mazis stepped forward, bowed his head and extended his hand. 'Captain Gabriel Des Mazis of the Regiment de la Fere. May I introduce lieutenants Alexander Des Mazis, Francois Duquesne, Philippe Foy and Napoleon Buona Parte.'

'Delighted,' Fitzroy smiled as he shook the hand of each man. 'If you would follow me, gentlemen…'

He turned and led them inside the academy. The floor had been laid with marble and, while polished, it bore the marks of the passage of tens of thousands of cadets over the centuries. The hall was painted blue, picked out with gold leaf on the architrave. At regular intervals the walls were hung with large portraits of distinguished-looking men in uniform and, looking on these paintings, Napoleon felt a twinge of jealousy amid the burning ambition that filled his heart. One day a painting of Napoleon might adorn the wall of the Royal Military School of Paris, and all men who saw it would think twice about laughing down their sleeves at Corsica.

At the far end of the entrance hall the cadet led them up a wide staircase on to a gallery. Several rooms opened off it, and as the small party strode by, Napoleon saw that they were social rooms, each containing fine furnishings. In one he saw a tall, slender cadet who looked to be his own age reclining on a couch. The cadet, who had mousy brown hair, was reading a newspaper. A figure emerged from the last door along the gallery and, glancing up, Napoleon saw a slender woman of advanced years smiling at them as she gracefully stood aside and waved them forward.

The artillery officers instantly halted and bowed in the fashion that they had been taught by the Military School's dancing tutor. The lady inclined her head in acknowledgement, before turning to the cadet.

'Mr Fitzroy, be so good as to show these men inside. The formal introductions can be made when the director returns from the stables. I've organised some refreshments while they wait.'

'Yes, Madame.'

Madame de Pignerolle turned back to the artillery officers. 'Now, I regret I must attend to my wardrobe, gentlemen. Mr Fitzroy will look after you.'

Napoleon bowed again. 'Very well, Madame.'

As she glided away along the gallery, Fitzroy stood to one side to let his guests enter the room. Napoleon's boots fell softly on a thick blue carpet with an ornate fleur-de-lis pattern in white. A hatstand stood to one side and he slipped his cocked hat on to one of the smoothly worn pegs.The room was large, with a high ceiling, and long windows that overlooked yet another vast courtyard. Around the sides of the room were arranged small clusters of upholstered chairs and ornate drinks tables. Beyond the hatstand was a long table covered with a buffet. Behind the table two footmen stood stiffly, waiting to serve the guests.

'Gentlemen,' Fitzroy waved a hand towards the buffet, 'please help yourselves while I fetch the cadets who will make up the rest of our party.' He bowed, and left the room.

As the cadet's footsteps tapped back along the gallery, Napoleon and the other officers feasted their eyes on the buffet. The food at the Military School was by far the best cuisine the young Corsican had ever tasted, but the display spread across the table here put it to shame. There were large platters of finely cut meats; chilled slices of salmon; plates of cheese, and of cured sausage sliced as finely as sheets of paper; small, shaped loaves of bread, and cold pies with representations of sabres, muskets and cannon on the glazed pastry crusts. At the far end of the table stood several decanters of various wines and spirits.

'No desserts?' Napoleon commented drily, as he shot a quick wink at Des Mazis. He moved round and stood in front of the nearest footman. 'Well?'

'Sir, Madame de Pignerolle has arranged for a formal dinner to be served later on.' The tone was correct enough, but there was just a hint of disdain for an officer who had the bad grace to consider complaining about the service provided by his host.

'I see.' Napoleon raised his chin and looked down his nose at the footman. 'Well, in that case we'll have to wait for a proper meal. Meanwhile you may serve me a selection of meats for now.'

'Yes, sir.' The footman deftly picked up a pair of silver tongs and, taking up a heavily patterned plate, he began to cover it with a selection of the meats. Napoleon took the plate, picked up a fork and walked slowly towards the long windows on the far side of the room. Behind him the other artillery officers waited for their helpings. Through the glass Napoleon looked down on the second courtyard where scores of young cadets were being taken through fencing drills. They wore padded white tunics and were armed with slender rapiers. In long lines they stood poised before their instructors and then mirrored his movements; advancing, withdrawing, lunging forward, advancing and then dashing to make a fleche attack. Napoleon watched it all with a degree of bemusement as he worked his way through some delicious slices of smoked sausage. He had never excelled with the sword, a deficiency that had been noted in his reports at the Military School. Napoleon felt no need to try to master the art. Not in this day and age. He sensed a presence at his shoulder and Alexander joined him by the window.

Napoleon nodded down at the courtyard. 'Who do they think they're fooling?'

'Pardon?'

'Fencing lessons… What use is a rapier on the battlefield? All that expensive training will stand for nothing when they come up against a musket.'

'Napoleon, mastering the sword is nothing to do with the battlefield. It is simply a requirement of being an officer and a gentleman,' Alexander said wearily. 'We've talked about this.'

'I still believe that if a man is trained for war, then he should be trained for war. This… this armed ballet is simply an affectation. It is out of date and serves no purpose.'

'Serves no purpose?' Alexander raised his eyebrows. 'Why, of course it does. It is one of the arts that marks us out from the common rabble.'

'Us?' Napoleon's dark eyes fixed on his. 'Does that include me?'

'Of course,' Alexander replied quickly, but not convincingly. 'You're an officer.'

'But not quite one of the gentry. Not the son of a count, like you and the others.'

Alexander stared at him for a moment, fighting back his irritation. 'When do you propose to desist with that line of thought, Napoleon? You cannot bear a grudge against the world you live in for ever. You have to change. Don't be so… sensitive.'

'Why should I change? Why can't the world change and let men of talent flourish? Regardless of their origins. I tell you, Alexander, the old order is strangling those with ability, while it hands out all the rewards to the witless sons of inbred aristocrats.' Napoleon stopped himself and forced a smile. 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean-'

'Inbred aristocrats like me?' Alexander stood back a pace and lowered his plate on to a drinks table. 'Is that it?'

'Of course not, Alexander,' Napoleon laughed. 'Do you really think I would befriend an idiot?'

'No,' Alexander replied quietly. 'That would be beneath you.'

The two men stared at each other in strained silence, before Napoleon's lips curled into a faint smile. 'Now who's being sensitive?'

'Gentlemen!'

They turned and saw Fitzroy striding soundlessly across the carpet towards them. Behind him followed a dozen more cadets, including the languid youth with the newspaper that Napoleon had seen earlier. Fitzroy sensed the tension between the two artillery officers and a look of concern flickered on to his face.

'Gentlemen, I trust there's no problem. The food…?'

'The food is excellent,' Des Mazis smiled.

'Then?'

'We were watching your colleagues fencing and merely had a difference of opinion, that's all. Now, if we may be acquainted with your companions?'

'But of course.'

The artillery officers and the cadets faced each other and bowed as Fitzroy introduced each man. Napoleon's lips tightened as his surname was mispronounced. If he was to live the rest of his life amongst Frenchmen then he might have to change that; perhaps alter the spelling to render it easier for others to get their tongues round. The moment of preoccupation meant that he did not catch the names of his hosts and he cursed himself for the lapse of attention.

Once the introductions were over the cadets hurried over to the buffet and began to have their plates filled by the two footmen. Only the cadet with the newspaper remained, and he looked at Napoleon with a curious expression, then extended his spare hand.

'Lieutenant Buona Parte, wasn't it?'

Napoleon nodded and shook hands.

'Buona Parte,' the English cadet repeated the name accurately, then continued, 'An unusual name, sir. It's not French?'

'Corsican,' Napoleon smiled. 'But since I was born after the island was purchased by France, then I find I am French after all.'

'Quite. Though I dare say some narrow-minded people are inclined to use that as an excuse to look down on you,' the cadet responded with feeling.

Napoleon was surprised that there was only the faintest trace of an accent in the cadet's French. That, and the last comment sparked his curiosity. 'I'm sorry, sir. I'm afraid I didn't catch your name.'

'It's Wesley, sir. Arthur Wesley. Of Dangan Castle in Meath.'

Chapter 32

'Meath?' Napoleon frowned.

'It's in Ireland, sir.'

'Ah, I think I understand your sensitivity to my origins now.' Napoleon smiled warmly.'You have to suffer the same assumption of superiority from mainlanders.'

The cadet stiffened and tilted his head slightly to one side. 'That's their mistake. One day they'll see.'

Napoleon laughed and, reaching forward, he clapped the other on the shoulder.'You're a man after my own spirit. Good for you.'

The cadet glanced down at Napoleon's hand with a brief expression of distaste at the unwonted familiarity of the artillery officer and then recomposed his expression and nodded. 'Thank you, sir.'

Standing next to them, Alexander could not help but be amused by the contrast between them. His friend Napoleon was short and skinny, with long dark hair tied back to reveal a wide brow. His eyes were clear and sensual and his lips had a faint pout. This cadet, on the other hand, was tall and fair-complexioned with light brown hair, piercing blue eyes, a long nose and thin, expressionless lips. His skin had an unhealthy pallor. And yet there was a sense of bearing in both men that indicated a fierce pride.

The Englishman indicated some seats arranged either side of the nearest window. 'Shall we?'

They sat down and Wesley turned his attention back to the two artillery officers. 'I'm curious about the nature of your disagreement about our fencing classes.'

Alexander flashed a quick look of warning at his friend, but Napoleon ignored him, his concentration wholly focused on the cadet sitting opposite. He leaned forward a little. 'Tell me, what is the value of fencing lessons? In your opinion.'

The young Englishman looked down into the courtyard and pursed his lips thoughtfully before he replied, 'It teaches swift reflexes, poise and concentration. And in affairs of honour it might just save your life.'

'And there's no more to it than that?'

'Of course there is, sir!' Wesley answered at once. 'It's an essential part of the training to become a gentleman and an officer.'

Napoleon smiled. 'In that order?'

'Sir?'

'You said, "a gentleman and an officer".'

'Yes,' Wesley admitted. 'I meant, of course, an officer and a gentleman. In that order.'

Napoleon raised a hand. 'No. You were right the first time. That's the problem. Officers should spend their time learning the science of war and how to apply it in the field. There's no place on the battlefield for duellists.'

'Or gentlemen?' Wesley replied.

Napoleon shrugged. 'War is not a gentlemanly business.'

Wesley shook his head. 'On the contrary, sir, war is necessarily a gentlemanly business, or else it is mere barbarism. Without the leadership and example of gentlemen, the common soldiery is little more than an armed mob. As such it would constitute a threat to civilised order. Depend upon it, the aristocracy is the only guarantee of order on the battlefield, and off it.'

'Oh, really? Tell me, Cadet, why do you think they possess this exclusivity of talent?'

'Because they are born and bred to be leaders, sir. That's obvious. It's in our blood. It's been in our blood for centuries.You can train a monkey to be a soldier, sir, but only an aristocrat is born with the qualities needed to lead the common herd.'

Alexander breathed in sharply and waited for his friend to explode, but Napoleon was still for a moment, before an icy smile twisted his lips. 'An interesting thesis, sir. But I think you will find that there is a wealth of talent and ability amongst those who live beyond the walls of this academy. None of whom have one drop of aristocratic blood in their veins. They demand recognition. They demand change. You sense it in the streets of every city. I suspect they will have their day, and that day will come soon enough.'

Wesley stared back fixedly as he responded, 'When it comes, then that will be the beginning of the end of the civilised world, sir. Such men will be the leaders of the mob. They have little appreciation of order and the value of tradition. All they do have is naked ambition.'

'And ability. Let's not forget that. I'd sooner live in a world ruled by men who have won their leadership on merit, than a world where assumption of leadership rests upon which bed you were born in.'

His words were greeted with a frigid silence and Alexander feared that the confrontation might well spoil the atmosphere for the rest of the day unless he acted quickly. People were already looking in their direction. It would be quite intolerable if these two fools soured relations between the artillery officers and the cadets. A thought struck him.

'Surely you are arguing the same thing.'

Napoleon and Wesley turned to look at him with surprised expressions and Alexander's mind raced ahead as he framed an argument that might yet placate them both.

'It seems to me that you both accept the need for some form of leadership over the common people. Whether it's determined by birth and breeding, or by some measure of innate ability, it's an aristocracy either way. The lot of the common people will never change in the long run, Napoleon, even if your meritocrats replace the aristocrats. If they feel their time has come, they will only wrest control through violence, and the masses will die in the service of both sides before the matter is settled.Then all is as before…'

Napoleon frowned. 'So?'

'So the only course between the two positions is to accommodate each other. For the sake of the people.'

'I see. So those who nature has endowed with superior qualities are to feed off the scraps from the table of men that blind fate has placed in power?' Napoleon shook his head in contempt, while Wesley nodded his agreement.

'By all means reward them,' said the Englishman, 'as long as they know their place, and don't attempt to change things. My God! Can you imagine a nation run by a crowd of intellectuals?'

Napoleon gave him an arch look. 'I take it you were never an outstanding scholar?'

'Well, sir,' Wesley flushed, 'no. But there are far more important measures of a man.'

'Indeed,' Napoleon replied. 'And nothing quite so irrelevant as the matter of his origins.'

Wesley sat forward in his chair, drawing his feet back in preparation to stand. At that moment Fitzroy's voice boomed out from the far side of the room.

'Gentlemen! Please be upstanding for the director and his wife.'

Chapter 33

The artillery officers and the cadets leaped up and stood to attention as the director of the academy entered the room, with his wife on one arm. Madame de Pignerolle was now wearing a crimson silk dress embroidered with silver and had powdered her face and put on a wig. From a distance Napoleon saw that she appeared half the age she was when she had shown them into the room. Her husband wore full dress uniform of a colonel, his last rank in the army before taking up the directorship of the academy. They strode to the centre of the room like royalty and then the director waved a hand at the young men he had invited.

'Please be at ease, gentlemen.'

His guests relaxed their posture but kept their silence as they waited for the director to continue speaking. Napoleon saw that he was an old man, with a wrinkled face and glasses below his neat powdered wig. Nevertheless, under his uniform he was powerfully built and moved with a lithe self-confidence that was born of good health, fitness and breeding. He drew a breath and began.

'I trust our guests from the Artillery Regiment have been well looked after?'

Napoleon and the others nodded politely.

'Good! It is always a pleasure for my wife and me to invite professionals to the small gatherings we hold here from time to time. I'm sure, despite your age and junior rank, you will already have some useful experience to pass on to our young gentlemen. In return I trust that you will welcome the chance to be acquainted with men who will soon be returning to their own countries to take up military careers. You all share a noble profession, and while its ultimate goal is proficiency in battle, today we meet as friends, an international fellowship of gentlemen. I trust that the amity that is established here will in some small way guarantee peace between all our nations in the future. Now,' the director smiled,'I am sure that you have no wish to hear an old man prattle on interminably for the rest of the day…'

Laughter rippled through the cadets' ranks, and the artillery officers, unsure of the permissible degree of levity, smiled politely, before Monsieur de Pignerolle continued, 'If you would be so kind as to follow me through to the dining room…'

The director led them towards a pair of double doors at one end of the room. They were frameless and might have been mistaken for part of the wall but for a set of discreet handles, and the two footmen who had quietly moved over to the doors and now stood to attention on either side. At the director's approach they gently pulled the doors open. Beyond, Napoleon could see another room, smaller and with a wooden floor inlaid with ornate marquetry. A long table, laid for a banquet, stretched the length of the room and a dozen waiters lined one wall.The director handed his wife to a seat at one of the tables before striding its length to be seated at the far end. To one side of the room stood a pianoforte.

Napoleon and the other young men searched for their name places and then stood behind their chairs. The director waited until everyone was in position.

'Please be seated.'

There was a ragged cacophony of chairs scraping across the floor as his guests sat down. Immediately the waiters moved forward, plucked the napkins off the table and arranged them on the laps of the young men. Glancing at the place-names to each side of him Napoleon saw that he was seated between a Prussian and one of the English cadets. Directly opposite him was another Englishman and the other artillery officers had been distributed round the table in such a way as to make conversation with them impossible. The isolation from his comrades made Napoleon feel anxious and as the meal began he found that he had completely lost his appetite, and pushed much of his food to one side of his plate. The Prussian's French was almost incomprehensible and all that Napoleon could make out was that he was a firm advocate of the sabre as a duelling weapon. The rest was an unintelligible torrent of garbled vowels and consonants. The Englishmen paid Napoleon almost no attention and chattered away in their own tongue. So he was able to watch his fellow diners surreptitiously, and found his gaze wandering back to Wesley. The Englishman was seated at the right hand of Madame de Pignerolle and was evidently one of her favourites. She laughed gaily at his jokes and looked deeply attentive when Wesley launched into deeper discussion.

As darkness fell outside the long windows the meal came to an end. The waiters cleared the table and, using long tapers, they lit the candles in the chandeliers that hung over the table.Then they set up decanters of brandy and fine cut-glass goblets on the table and withdrew to the side of the room once again. Once everyone's glass was filled Madame de Pignerolle rose from her seat.

'Gentlemen, if I may ask for your attention…'

The chatter died away quickly.

'Thank you. I hope you will indulge me with your kind attention for the start of the evening's entertainment.'

She made her way over to the pianoforte and sat down. The sheet music was already set up in front of her and after a moment's adjustment of her feet on the pedals she looked back towards the table.

'Arthur, will you join me?'

Wesley smiled, rose at once from his chair and strode over. He bent down behind the pianoforte and emerged with a violin. Napoleon realised that this was all carefully prearranged between his hostess and her favourite. The cadet tucked the violin under his chin, raised its neck and held the bow poised just in front of the bridge. Madame de Pignerolle nodded her head three times and they began to play a minuet.

At once Napoleon was mesmerised. All his earlier hostility to the Englishman faded in an instant.The range of sound that came from the violin and the purity of the notes was sublime. Music had always been a distant pleasure for Napoleon, who could appreciate its quasi-mathematical order and the swirling patterns and variations of theme and melody. Most of the music he had heard before had been played by those with technical competence, and occasionally some feeling. But this cadet played his instrument as if he had been born to it. Indeed, from the ecstatic expression on his face it appeared that life had no greater joy for Wesley than when he was playing his violin. Glancing round the table Napoleon saw that everyone was caught up in the virtuoso display of talent, and watching and listening in rapt silence. And so it went on for more than an hour, each piece of music performed to near perfection, and even Napoleon found himself uncommonly moved by the final performance, played solo, a mournful piece that slowly faded in intensity until there was a last note that Wesley seemed to hold for an impossibly long time, before it diminished, leaving just silence. For a moment the audience was still. Then a chair scraped.

'Bravo!' The director clapped his hands together. 'Bravo Wesley!'

The rest of the guests joined in and the cadet blushed with pleasure and bowed before returning to his seat.

Later, when the dinner party was breaking up, Fitzroy began to collect the artillery officers together to take them to the bedrooms that had been prepared for them.

'Just a minute,' Napoleon raised his hand. He walked over to Wesley and, slightly shame-faced, he smiled. 'I must apologise for what I said to you before the meal. I did not intend to offend you.'

'No offence taken, sir.'

'Good. Might I ask where you learned to play the violin so admirably?'

'I was taught by the best. My father, Garrett Wesley, amongst others.'

'And that last piece. I've never heard it before. What is it?'

'A composition of a friend. I gather he based it on a folk song, popular amongst some of our people in Meath. He wrote it shortly before he died.'

Napoleon mentally flinched at the reference to 'our people'.'It was beautiful. Quite beautiful. And finely performed.'

'Thank you, sir,' Wesley bowed his head. 'It's my favourite piece.'

Napoleon smiled, and raised his hand. 'We're leaving at first light. So I'll say goodbye now.'

With the slightest hesitation the Englishman shook his hand and then returned the smile. Napoleon turned to go, walked a step and then paused and turned round.

'A word of advice, if I may?'

'Of course, sir.'

'Any man who has such a God-given talent for a musical instrument has no business being a soldier.'

Wesley nodded and they exchanged a polite smile before Napoleon turned away and followed Fitzroy and the others off to bed.