The Puppet Crown Part 10

The Colonel walked to the window and looked down into the gardens. He remained there for a time. Von Wallenstein eyed him curiously. Presently the soldier returned to his seat.

"We are crossing a chasm; a man stands in our way; as we can not go around him, we, being the stronger, push him aside. Eh?"

"You would not kill--" began the minister.

"Let us use the French meaning of the word `suppress.' And why not?

Ambition, wherever it goes, leaves a trail of blood. What is a human life in this game we play? A leaf, a grain of sand."

"But, since the prince promises to liquidate the debt, what matters it if the Englishman comes? It is all one and the same."

"Within twenty, nay, within fifteen days, what may not happen?"

"You are ambitious," said von Wallenstein, slyly.

"And who is not?"

"Is a Marshal's baton so much, then, above your present position? You are practically the head of the army."

"A valiant army!" laughing; "five thousand men. Why, Madame the d.u.c.h.ess has six thousand and three batteries."

"Her army of six thousand is an expedient; you can raise volunteers to the amount of ten thousand."

"To be sure I could; but supposing I did not want to?"

The minister dropped his gaze and began fingering the paper cutter. The Colonel's real purpose was still an enigma to him. "Come, you have the confidence of the king, the friends.h.i.+p of her Royal Highness. What do you gain in serving us? The baton?"

"You embarra.s.s me. Questions? I should not like to lie to you. Batons were fine things when Louises and Napoleons conferred them. I have thrown my dice into the common cup; let that be sufficient."

"A man who comes from a n.o.ble house such as you come from--"

"Ah, count, that was never to be referred to. Be content with my brain and sword. And then, there is the old saying, Give a man an ell, and look to your rod. We are all either jackals or lions, puppets or men behind the booth. I am a lion." He rose, drew his saber half-way from the scabbard, and sent it slithering back. "In a fortnight we put it to the touch to win or lose it all, as the poet says. Every man for himself, and let the strongest win, say I."

"You are playing two games," coldly.

"And you? Is it for pure love of Madame the d.u.c.h.ess that you risk your head? Come, as you say; admit that you wish to see my hand without showing yours. A baton is not much for me, as you have hinted, but it is all that was promised me. And you, if we win, will still be minister of finances? What is that maggot I see behind your eyes? Is it not spelled `chancellor'? But, remember, Madame has friends to take care of in the event of our success. We can not have all the spoils. To join the kingdom and the duchy will create new offices, to be sure, but we can have only part of them. As to games, I shall, out of the kindness in my heart, tell you that I am not playing two, but three. Guess them if you can. Next to the chancellors.h.i.+p is the emba.s.sy to Vienna, and an emba.s.sy to Paris is to be created. Madame is a superior woman. Who knows?" with a smile that caused the other to pale.

"You are mad to dream of that."

"As you say, I come of a n.o.ble house," carelessly.

"You are mad."

"No, count," the soldier replied. "I have what Balzac calls a thirst for a full life in a short s.p.a.ce."

"I would give a deal to read what is going on in that head of yours."

"Doubtless. But what is to become of our friends the Marshal and Mollendorf? What will be left for them? Perhaps there will be a chamber of war, a chamber of the navy. As a naval minister the Marshal would be nicely placed. There would be no expense of building s.h.i.+ps or paying sailors, which would speak well for the economy of the new government.

The Marshal is old; we shall send him to Servia. At least the office will pay both his vanity and purse to an extent equal to that of his present office. By the way, nothing has yet been heard from Prince Frederick. Ah, these young men, these plump peasant girls!"

Both laughed.

"Till this evening, then;" and the Colonel went from the room.

The minister of finance applied a match to the tapers. He held the burning match aloft and contemplated the door through which the soldier had gone. The sting of the incipient flame aroused him.

"What," he mused aloud, as he arranged the papers on his desk, "is his third game?"

"It appears to me," said a voice from the wall behind, "that the same question arises in both our minds."

The minister wheeled his chair, his mouth and brows puckered in dismay.

From a secret panel in the wall there stepped forth a tall, thin, sour-visaged old man of military presence. He calmly sat down in the chair which Beauvais had vacated.

"I had forgotten all about you, Marshal!" exclaimed the count, smiling uneasily.

"A statement which I am most ready to believe," replied old Marshal Kampf, with a glance which caused the minister yet more uneasiness.

"What impressed me among other things was, `But what is to become of our friends the Marshal and Mollendorf?' I am Marshal; I am about to risk all for nothing. Why should I not remain Marshal for the remainder of my days? It is a pleasant thing to go to Vienna once the year and to witness the maneuvers, with an honorary position on the emperor's staff.

To be Marshal here is to hold a sinecure, yet it has its compensations.

The uniforms, gray and gold, are handsome; it is an ostrich plume that I wear in my chapeau de bras; the medals are of gold. My friend, it is the vanity of old age which forgives not." And the Marshal, the bitterest tongue in all Bleiberg, reached over and picked up the cigar which lay by the inkwells. He lit it at one of the tapers, and sank again into the chair. "Count, how many games are you playing?"

"My dear Marshal, it was not I who spoke of games. I am playing no game, save for the legitimate sovereign of this kingdom. I ask for no reward."

"Disinterested man! The inference is, however, that, since you have not asked for anything, you have been promised something. Confess it, and have done."

"Marshal!"

"Well?"

"Is it possible that you suspect me?" The cold eyes grew colder, and the thin lips almost disappeared.

"When three men watch each other as do Beauvais, Mollendorf and you, it is because each suspects the other of treachery. You haven't watched me because I am old, but because I am old I have been watching you. Mollendorf aspires to greatness, you have your gaze on the chancellors.h.i.+p, and curse me if the Colonel isn't looking after my old shoes! Am I to give up my uniform, my medals and my plume--for nothing?

And who the devil is this man Beauvais, since that is not his name? Is he a fine bird whose feathers have been plucked?"

The minister did not respond to the question; he began instead to fidget in his chair.

"When I gave my word to his Highness the duke, it was without conditions. I asked no favors; I considered it my duty. Let us come to an understanding. Material comfort is necessary to a man of my age.

Fine phrases and a medal or two more do not count. I am, then, to go to Servia. You were very kind to hide me in your cabinet."

"It was to show you that I had no secrets from you," quickly.

"Let us pa.s.s on. Mollendorf is to go to Paris, where he will be a nonent.i.ty, while in his present office he is a power in the land--Devil take me, but it seems to me that we are all a pack of a.s.ses! Our gains will not be commensurate with our losses. The navy? Well, we'll let that pa.s.s; the Colonel, I see, loves a joke."

"You forget our patriotism for the true house."

"Why not give it its true name--self-interest?"

"Marshal, in heaven's name, what has stirred your bile?" The minister was losing his patience, a bad thing for him to do in the presence of the old warrior.

"It is something I've been swallowing this past year." The Marshal tipped the ash of his cigar into the waste basket.