Dennis Wheatley: The Ravishing of Lady Jane Ware

'Agreed. But now the war with Austria is over, that will have freed at least two hundred thousand men, and the Emperor could again go to Spain to direct operations.

Talleyrand shook his head. 'I judge you wrong in that. The peace will, of course, free large numbers of troops, but so many must be retained to garrison the fortresses all over Europe and hold the Emperor's conquests down, that I greatly doubt if a sufficient reinforcement to make any material difference could be sent to Spain. As for our little man going there himself in the near future, I'd wager my Principality against it. His mind is no longer occupied by war. It is entirely absorbed in this prospect of a new marriage.'

'Then the divorce has been definitely decided upon? I gathered at Erfurt that he was seriously contemplating ridding himself of Josephine; and I am greatly distressed for her.'

'You count her, I know, a dear friend.' Talleyrand spread his long, beautifully kept hands. 'But what would you? As long as he believed himself incapable of fathering a child, her position as Empress was secure. Since there can be no reasonable doubt that Elenore Denuelle's son was begotten by him, the situation is entirely changed. His dearest wish has long been to found a dynasty, and he is now so powerful that he contemplates adding still further to his grandeur by an alliance with one of the great Imperial houses.'

'We may, then, have as Empress a Hapsburg or Romanoff Princess?'

'It will be one or the other. Which, is still in the balance. He sounded the Czar at Erfurt; but Alexander fobbed him off by saying that his sister's marriage was a matter for her mother. Recently he has reopened the question and is hoping that the Dowager Empress will give her consent. The alternative is Marie Louise of Austria, and both Metternich and I are pulling every string we can that would favour the match,

Roger smiled. 'I know well Your Highness' antipathy to the Russians; and a closer alliance with them could mean yet another series of ruinous wars. The project formed at Tilsit would be revived. The two Emperors would almost certainly march against Turkey and divide the Sultan's dominions between them. Then Napoleon would set about his long cherished plan for a descent on India.'

That is exactly the danger as I foresee it, and whether or not he succeeded in driving the British out, the strain of such a vast campaign would prove the final ruin of France. Therefore, no opportunity must be lost to press both for the Austrian marriage and sow dissension between Napoleon and the Czar.'

For another half-hour the two old friends talked on, then the secretary brought in the forged letter. Handing it to Roger, Talleyrand said, 'How you bring this to his notice I must leave to your ingenuity. I can only pray that it will serve to excuse the part you have played in this most unfortunate affair.'

Having expressed his deep gratitude, Roger took his leave and returned to La Belle Etoile. There he found Georgina in Mere Blanchard's kitchen, showing her how to make the famous British dish, Cornish Pasties. Such condescension by a great lady, and to find that she was an accomplished cook, filled the good, buxom Norman woman with surprise, and a respectful devotion that she would not have given to a Queen.

They all made an excellent midday meal off the dish, followed by a fine variety of cheeses. Then Roger took Georgina up to their room and broke to her the dangers of their situation. Although he made as light of matters as he reasonably could, over the years her mind had become so closely attuned to his that she sensed how gravely apprehensive he was about the outcome of his meeting with the Emperor.

She said that, should the worst happen, she meant to remain in Paris, on the chance that she could find some way to help him; as his freedom was more precious to her than her own. But he told her that he had secured Talleyrand's protection for her and eventually made her promise that she would place herself entirely in his friend's hands.

As he prepared to leave her, she suddenly thought of the crystal ball that she had brought with her jewels, and insisted that he should remain while she looked into it, in an endeavour to see what the future held for him. Getting it out, she set it up on a small table. They sat down in chairs on either side of it, and held each other's hands while she gazed into the smooth, shining sphere.

For a time they sat perfectly still and remained absolutely silent, while Georgina concentrated. At length, in her sight the ball misted over. The mist dissolved into slowly whirling wisps, then figures appeared in it.

Her big, dark eyes widened and she gave a sudden gasp of dismay. 'Oh, Roger, I see you in a cell and you are not in uniform, but,.. but in prisoner's clothes. A man is speaking to you. He is a parson… but not a Frenchman. My psychic sense tells me that this place is not France. You are in Germany and… oh, God. Can it be that you arc in a condemned cell and… and being prepared to go to your death?'

Pushing the crystal from her, she burst into a flood of tears. Roger did his utmost to comfort her, but his efforts were of no avail. When she had become a little calmer, she begged him not to go to the Tuileries, but to leave her in Talleyrand's care and seek safety in immediate flight. Knowing that Georgina's predictions were rarely wrong, he was greatly tempted to agree; but he hesitated because he knew that if he failed to report he would have burnt his boats. While he was still trying desperately to make up his mind which course to adopt, there came a knock at the door.

Roger opened it to find Maitre Blanchard standing in the passage. The landlord bowed, I regret to disturb you, Monsieur le Colonel, but there is an officer below. He has a carriage waiting, and he says he has been sent to fetch you because the Emperor requires your presence.'

With a nod Roger closed the door and, giving a pale smile, turned back to Georgina. Taking her in his arms, he said softly, 'There is no escaping fate, dear love, and it looks as though I have tempted it once too often. But I beg you not to despair. Maybe I'll cheat it once again. And now, before I go to meet whatever is in store for me, I pray you grant me a boon. It is something that beyond all else will inspire me to fight death. Do I succeed in surviving this peril and get safely back to England, will you marry me?'

The tears streaming down her lovely cheeks, she nodded. 'Roger, my own. How could I possibly refuse you? I have been the veriest fool to reject you for so long.

Ten minutes later he had joined the officer who had been sent for him, and was on his way to the Tuileries.

4

Roger Faces the Emperor

La Bells Etoile lay in the Rue de L'Arbre Sec, which was in the oldest part of Paris, to the east of the Louvre. The streets there were narrow, with the wood-framed upper storeys of the houses projecting beyond the gutters. There were no pavements, and the cobbled ways were a seething mass of people, dashing beneath horses' heads or squeezing themselves against the walls to make way for drays and coaches, which could proceed only at a foot pace and were frequently brought to a halt.

It took the carriage in which Roger sat with his escort nearly a quarter of an hour to reach the Place du Louvre; but, having crossed it, they were able to drive at a better pace down the broader thoroughfare that ran alongside the Palace and, not long since, renamed the Rue de Rivoli in honour of Napoleon's victory.

Beyond the Louvre lay the big garden where, on the terrible 10th August 1791, the first scene of the Terror had been enacted by the massacre of Louis XVI's Swiss Guard. Turning left into it, the carriage pulled up in front of the Palais de Tuileries. Two minutes later, Roger was mounting the splendid grand staircase, up which he had often so gaily gone to participate in magnificent fetes and Imperial ceremonies.