Dennis Wheatley - The Ravishing of Lady Jane Ware

Meanwhile, as Napoleon had expected, the volatile and amorous Pauline had got herself another lover and had become engaged to Prince Borghese. On learning this, Roger had been so furious that he had stolen a horse and ridden hell-for-leather back to Paris. Davout, who was the strictest disciplinarian in the Army, had promptly demanded that Roger should be arrested as a deserter; but the Emperor, having had his little joke, only laughed as he felt that Roger had already been punished quite enough for his temerity.

The affair still rankled, so the interview between the two men was far from cordial. Roger said his piece, declared his intention of starting back for Paris on the following morning, and took an unsmiling leave of the Marshal Prince d’Eckmuhl.

By then dinner was due to be served in half an hour. The Ambassador was already receiving guests in the big salon. Soon after Roger joined them, the usher announced, 'His Excellency Count von Haugwitz, Chief Minister to His Majesty.'

Roger was standing near the door. He had been presented to the Count at the Conference of Erfurt. Their eyes met. Recognition was instant and mutual. The Prussian gave a gasp, pointed at Roger, turned to the Ambassador and cried:

'This… this officer is the man who murdered my brother! I must ask Your Excellency to hand him over to my police, so that he can be tried and executed.'

7

At the End of the Road

For a moment Roger stared in utter consternation at von Haugwitz; but only for a second. Next moment he had regained his composure. Swinging round on the French Ambassador, he declared indignantly:

'Your Excellency, this charge is false! I have never murdered anyone!'

'You are M. le Colonel de Breuc his accuser shot at him angrily.

In such company Roger could not possibly deny his identity. Fighting down his apprehension, he bowed and replied courteously, 'I am Colonel le Comte de Breuc, at Your Excellency's service.'

'Then you are the man!' The Minister's arm shot out, pointing at him again. 'You murdered my brother! Yes and your own wife. At Schloss Langenstein, last September, you did them both to death most foully.'

Davout had entered the room immediately on the heels of the Prussian Chief Minister. His eyes and those of everyone else present were riveted on Roger as he sought desperately to make up his mind what line to take. To speak of the forged von Stein letter would not help him here. Von Hardenberg, the Minister's predecessor had been pro-British. That had been why the Emperor had insisted that King Frederick William should dismiss him and replace him with the pro-French von Haugwitz.

And while his younger brother, the Baron, had served as a diplomat his pro-French attitude had also been widely known. It would not for a moment be credited that he was in communication with von Stein and preparing to lead a rebellion in the Rhineland against the French.

Suddenly Davout said sharply, 'Well, Breuc; have you lost your tongue? Were you at Schloss Langenstein last September? You must answer His Excellency's accusation. Come now, speak up.'

1 was, Your Highness,' Roger replied. 'But I was there on the orders of His Majesty the Emperor.'

'For what purpose?'

'You must excuse me if I refuse to answer that, with-out first obtaining the Emperor's permission.'

'I see. And what of the charge? Did you bring about the death of the Baron and your wife?'

'Their deaths were, Your Highness, an accident. I swear to that.'

'It is a lie,' stormed the Prussian. 'This man was having an affaire with my brother's wife, and made off with her. That very afternoon his own wife and my brother were found dead in the bottom of a wine press. He, and no one else, had both the motive and opportunity to murder them.'

Roger realised that if he admitted to having, with Georgina's aid, carried them from their rooms and lowered them into the press, his case would be hopeless; so he said quickly, 'Anyone who was living in the Schloss had the opportunity, and how do you know that no one other than myself had a motive? The Baron was a hard master. He may have behaved brutally to one of his servants, and the man resolved to be revenged upon him.'

'Had that been the case, the man would not also have killed your wife,' von Haugwitz snapped.

'He might have. All four of us had separate rooms, and the Baron and my wife were lovers. On going to the Baron's room in the middle of the night, the murderer would probably have found her with him. If so, he would have killed her to prevent her raising the alarm. I had no hand in the matter. I swear it.'

The Minister's face was white with rage and hatred. 'I do not believe that for one second,' he snarled, 'and I demand that you be handed over to the Prussian authorities to stand your trial.'

Roger turned swiftly to de Brinevillers. 'In Your Excellency's Embassy I am on French soil. As a Frenchman I claim sanctuary.'

The Ambassador looked uncomfortably, first at von Haugwitz then at Roger and said, 'Monsieur le Colonel Comte, if this were a political charge, I should, of course, be in a position to protect you. But this is a criminal charge.'

'Even so,' Roger insisted, 'I claim your protection. And I do so in the name of His Majesty the Emperor. As I have told you, I went to Schloss Langenstein on his business. I am told that, after my departure, a warrant was issued for my arrest. On arriving back in Paris, I gave His Majesty an account of this whole affair. Realising that it would not be safe for me to re-enter Prussia, I asked him to take steps to quash the charge. He willingly agreed, and said he would inform the Prussian Ambassador, the Baron von Brockenhausen, that he desired the warrant to be withdrawn. Of this there must be a record at your Ministry of Justice.'

'This is another lie,' declared von Haugwitz. 'Were that the case, as this affair concerns me so closely, it is certain that I should have been informed of it.'

Again de Brinevillers looked uneasily at Davout. 'Your Highness will, I am sure, agree that this is a very delicate matter, so I should like to discuss it with you in private.'

The Marshal nodded. 'Very well. I suggest that Colonel le Comte de Breuc should retire to a room where he can be placed under guard. When we have dined, you and I will decide on what is to be done.' Turning to his A.D.G., he added, 'Marchand, take de Breuc to the small library. I make you responsible for his safe keeping.'

As Roger, his head held high, was escorted from the room, he heard the Ambassador apologizing to his guests that the recent scene should have taken place in their presence. There followed a burst of excited conversation, which faded as he walked through the big hall and accompanied the A.D.C. into a small library at the far end.

The room had two tall windows looking out on to a large garden. For a moment he contemplated escaping by one of them. But, to do so, he would have to kill, or render unconscious the AJD.C. Such a desperate act could be taken as an admission of guilt. In any case, it would set Davout and de Brinevillers irrevocably against him, and his only hope lay in their protection.

The A.D.C. was a pleasant man and expressed his sympathy. Roger thanked him, then turned away, as he had no desire to talk and a great need to think.

It could be that the Emperor had forgotten to make his wishes known to von Brockenhausen; but that seemed unlikely as Napoleon's memory was phenomenally good. Again the Prussian Ambassador might have failed to pass on the wish to the proper quarter in Berlin, Yet again it was possible that the memo did lie in a file at the Ministry of justice and that von Haugwitz had not been told about it. Still again, his ardent desire to avenge the death of his brother might have led him to lie deliberately when he had asserted that he knew nothing about the document.