Dennis Wheatley - The Shadow of Tyburn Tree

"That it appears to be aimed at my beloved France, but may not necessarily be so," he replied promptly. "I have an English godmother and on my visits to her have come to know something of the English. When I was last in London I discussed the matter with several gentle­men who are near to Mr. Pitt. 'Twas their opinion that he is a man of peace, and has entered into this Alliance only as a counterpoise to the Bourbon Family Compact; so that the likelihood of a new war may be rendered more remote."

"Think you so?" she said doubtfully. "Should you be right the fear of war suggests that the English are becoming weak and decadent. War in itself is a brutal business and begets much misery, yet only by experiencing it can nations maintain their full health and vigour. Long periods of peace have always been followedby a decline in national power."

With due deference Roger disagreed, instancing the Pax Romana , during which for four hundred years peace had been maintained among the nations of southern and western Europe, enabling them to develop their agriculture, arts and commerce to a degree that would otherwise have been quite impossible.

She laughed. "You prove my point, for afterwards came the warrior races, the Vandals, Goths, Vikings and Huns, and reduced all those nations who had forgotten how to defend themselves to a state of slavery."

He countered that by suggesting that if only the barbarous nations of the north had also been brought under the sway of Rome, they too would have developed peaceably, with greater ultimate benefit to themselves and others. He went on to urge that no permanent develop­ment of humanity as a whole was possible as long as strong nations preyed upon their weaker neighbours; and that small states had as good a right to enjoy their liberties as great ones.

"Monsieur Diderot held much the same language to me when he visited my Court," she remarked with a shake of her grey head, "and I said of him afterwards that, though he was a hundred years old in some respects in others he was no more than ten. You, too, are a child in these matters, Rojé Christorovitch, and my long experience of the ways of nations makes me think very differently. Such idealism is well enough to talk of in an idle hour, but my first interest must always be the security and wellbeing of my own people; and, as long as I live, they shall have their wars, that they may practise their valour and afterwards rest easy in the comforting. knowledge of their own strength."

It had been far from Roger's expectations to gain so swiftly such a full and definite expression of the Empress's general convictions, which must certainly have an overriding influence on all her future policies. It was clear now that the chance of persuading her to join in a pact for the maintenance of a permanent peace was extremely remote; so he had his answer for Mr. Pitt, and there seemed no alter­native but for the British Prime Minister to take such measures as he could to curb the ever-growing power of Russia. But as Roger thought of that, he also wondered with considerable misgivings if he would ever be in a position to pass on this extremely valuable information to Whitehall'.

Meanwhile Catherine had risen and gone again to the chiffonier. From it she began to take several dishes, and as Roger hurried over to help her, he saw that they had been resting on a special arrangement of burners which had kept them hot during the past ten minutes' conversation. Together they carried the dishes and plates to a small table which was laid for two, then sat down to sup.

During the meal the Empress's active mind flitted from subject to subject with extraordinary agility and Roger had all his work cut out to keep up with her; but evidently she was pleased with him, as while they were eating their dessert, she congratulated him on his con­versation, remarking that he had an exceptionally wide knowledge of affairs for so young a man.

For his part Roger found her easy, vivacious and extraordinarily interesting to talk to; and he caught himself thinking that, had she been nearer his own age he could easily have fallen in love with her.

But, as it was, a gulf of nearly forty years separated them, and each time he looked at her sagging, heavily-painted face, redeemed only by the marvellous blue eyes, he felt a shiver run down his spine.

Ever since a night five years earlier, when, as a boy of fifteen, he had been taken to a brothel in Le Havre and had run from it in disgust, he had had a horror of making love to any woman who did not attract him; and more recently, there had been numerous occasions on which he had felt sickened at the advances of voluptuous ladies past their prime. Only the memory of the dungeon at Schlusselburg kept him from throwing down his napkin and rushing from the room. He knew that later, somehow or other, he would have to bring himself to caress her and, mentally, he shuddered at the thought; but she gave him little time to think of that, and for longish periods he forgot it altogether, only to recall it again with amazement at the fact that she had so bewitched him with her brilliant personality that he had actually been enjoying himself. Again it entered his mind that if he could only get through this first night with her he might yet endure the physical relationship for the sake of the great place in the world it would bring him.

When they rose from table she went to a secretaire and produced two parchments, which she handed to him, as she said:

"The one is your official pardon for the Yagerhorn affair. I cannot find it in myself to blame you for taking your revenge upon him, and, even had I not taken a liking to you, I should have let you off with a severe reprimand."

He gave a nervous laugh. "The night I was arrested I fully believed that I should end by paying for that business with my life. Doubtless I would have, too, had not you chanced to learn of my case, and believing me a monster, became curious as to my appearance."

"Nay, 'twas not chance," she said quickly, "for I should have learned of the matter in any event. I allow no person in my realm to be con­demned to death without first having had full information of the cir­cumstances laid before me; and in nine cases out of ten I commute the punishment to imprisonment. The other paper will compensate you somewhat for your fright. 'Tis the title-deed to an estate, carry­ing three hundred and fifty serfs, in the province of Tula."

As he began to stammer his thanks she took the black and red ribbon from round her neck, and reaching up, passed it over his head, exclaiming as the shining star fell oh the lace frills of his shirt: "I make you, too, a Knight of my Order of St. Vladimir, for I would think but meanly of myself did I keep a friend long landless and undecorated in my company."

Roger felt horribly embarrassed by this generous payment in advance for a service that he was still uncertain that he could bring himself to render. But the volatile Empress did not notice his con­fusion, as she half turned away and, indicating a door partially con­cealed by a curtain, went on: "Now, before we give ourselves up to the pleasures of the night, let us take a turn or two in the winter garden, for the good of our digestions."

Heaving an inaudible sigh of relief at this respite Roger accom­panied her through the door, and on glancing round, was amazed to find himself in a veritable paradise. The place they had entered was a conservatory of such vast dimensions that he could not see its ends and could only vaguely discern its roof. There were no pots or wooden stages, and, except for being enclosed, it had all the appearance of a richly-stocked tropical garden in the open. Gravel walks wound between gay flower-borders and banks of flowering shrubs scented the air with a heady perfume; there were fountains, trees twenty feet in height, and open spaces with shaved grass lawns. Chains of fairy-lamps illuminated the whole, and as they moved, scores of parakeets and other brightly-coloured birds fluttered away to seek fresh cover among more distant foliage.