Dennis Wheatley - The wanton princess

Kellermann's charge had proved the turning point of the battle. It had taken the Austrians completely by surprise and cut deep into their flank. The troops there who, a few minutes before, had still been fighting in good heart had suddenly ceased to resist and begun to run. The panic spread right through their army and it gave way along the whole front. The French everywhere attacked with new vigour and the withdrawal swiftly developed into a rout. A scene of wild confusion followed and, as night fell, thousands of Austrians were either being sabred by the pursuing French or plunging into the Bormida River. Bonaparte's victory was complete.

On the morning after the battle Melas, feeling his position to be hopeless, had asked for an armistice. Bonaparte had agreed to give it to him on condition that the Austrian Army, and all its garrisons in Tuscany and Ancona, should retire behind the Mincio. It was a month to the day since Bonaparte had crossed the Alps and in that short time he had again made himself master of all north-western Italy.

Roger remained in the hospital at Alessandria for a month. Provided he refrained from putting any strain on his body, and from taking a deep breath, his wound was not especially painful and. owing to his good health, the flesh of his chest and back healed well.

When, in mid-July, he was told that he could be moved, he decided to go to a small chateau near St. Maxime in the South of France, that he had purchased some years before. That he should have been shot through the lung seemed a curious coincidence, as he had long established the belief that he suffered from a weak chest, and had used that as an excuse to obtain sick leave to spend periods in the sunshine of the South while, in fact, he had secretly returned to England to report to Mr. Pitt. But he had occupied the little chateau from time to time, keeping there an elderly couple named Defour as caretakers and to look after him on his rare visits.

Having always been subject to sea-sickness, and fearing that a bout of it might bring on a haemorrhage, he decided that instead of crossing by ship from Genoa to Toulon he would go by road: so he bought a comfortable carriage and took into his service a coachman and a valet. They made the journey round the Gulf in easy stages, so that the jolting of the carriage should not tire him unduly and, on August 1st, arrived at his property.

For the best part of a fortnight he did little but lie in the sunshine, acquiring a rich tan; then he felt that he might venture on a gentle swim each morning and. taking his Italian valet, Angelo, with him, in case he overdid it, he spent many pleasant hours on the nearby beach. By the end of August he could walk two or three miles without fatigue and was beginning really to feel his old self again.

By September the time of the vintage was approaching so one day he took a walk to see the condition of the grapes in his vineyard. It was on a slope and above it lay another that belonged to the owner of a pleasant little house on the top of the hill. On his previous stays at the chateau he had deliber­ately refrained from cultivating his neighbours on the grounds that the less they knew about him and his comings and goings, the better. But he was aware that the house belonged to a retired lawyer named Pasquier who had had a practice in Toulon.

While he was examining his vines. Roger noticed that a woman in a sunbonnet was doing the same thing in the adjoining vineyard. As they came closer he saw that she was rather short, about thirty, attractive-looking and well dressed; so, assuming her to be a member of Pasquier's family, he made her a polite bow and wished her good morning.

She returned his greeting with a pleasant smile, showing two rows of line even white teeth between full lips set in a bright-complexioned face. Then she said, 'Monsieur must be the famous Colonel Breuc'.

He laughed. 'Colonel Breuc, at your service, Madame. But why you should think me famous. I cannot imagine.'

'Oh, but it is so,' she replied quickly, 'anyway hereabouts. Everyone knows that you are one of the First Consul's Aides-de-Camp. People still talk of your having brought him and many distinguished officers here for refreshments shortly after you had all landed at Frejus on his return from Egypt.'

'That I did so is true enough,' Roger agreed. 'But I can claim no more than to bask in his reflected glory. I trust, Madame, that Monsieur Pasquier is well?'

She shook her head, 'Alas, Monsieur, my father died over a year ago. He left me this property and as shortly afterwards I lost my husband, who was an officer in our Navy, I decided to sell our little house in Toulon and live here instead.'

Roger had been studying her large dark eyes with apprecia­tion and, with a bow, he said. 'Madame, your misfortune is my good fortune. I expect to be here for some time, and it will be pleasant to have such a charming neighbour.'

Having heard in the village that he was convalescing from a wound, she inquired about it, and he gave her an account of the battle of Marengo. Then, after a few remarks about the prospects of the vintage, they parted.

For several weeks he had been too ill to wish for company; but recently he had begun to feel distinctly bored from lack of it, so it was hardly surprising that the following morning he again walked up to his vineyard, hoping that he might see Jeanne Meuralt, as he had learned his neighbour was named.

She was there, some distance away at the far end of her vineyard, but she did not appear to notice him until, after waiting for a few minutes, he called out and asked, on the excuse that he would like to compare her grapes with his, if he might join her.

For a short while they both made a pretence of sharing a great interest in grapes, then the conversation took another turn and. with frequent smiles at one another, they remained chatting for over an hour.

At the end of that time she said to him, 'Monsieur le Colonel, you are a man with much knowledge of the world, whereas I am hopelessly ignorant where money matters are concerned. My affairs, alas, are in a shocking tangle. Would you think it trespassing too much on your time if I asked you to look into them?'

'Why, no!' he laughed. 'These days I have nothing whatever to do, and if I can be of assistance to you it would be a pleasure.'

Ten minutes later he was seated on the vine-covered terrace of her little house, sipping a glass of her previous year's vintage that she had just poured for him and about to look through a portfolio of papers she had brought out. In spite of what she had said she gave him so lucid an account of her financial affairs that, having glanced through a few of the documents. Roger had no doubt about the reason for her anxiety. She was being swindled by a lawyer named Lacourbe, her late father's junior partner, and he had deliberately complicated the accounts he rendered her in order to cover up what he was doing.

Roger had a shrewd suspicion that Jeanne knew perfectly well what was happening and had asked his advice only to provide a reason for them to have further meetings. In con­sequence, instead of giving his opinion right away, he said that the matter needed going into carefully, and if he might take the papers away he would study them that night. He added that it was her turn to try a bottle of his previous year's vintage, then suggested that she should do so at the chateau next morning when he would be ready to discuss her affairs with her.

She willingly agreed to do so. and arrived at midday, dressed in a pretty gown of sprigged muslin and carrying a parasol: a small but well-made little person, pink-cheeked and smiling Having given her his views about her papers Roger said they must later consult on what was to be done, then shelved the subject and took her on a leisurely tour of the chateau.