Dennis Wheatley - Duke de Richleau 07 (66 page)

Instantly he was filled
with contrition, and with his arm about her shoulders strove to comfort her.
Yet he was terribly and miserably aware that he must break it to her that this
was their last meeting. With an aching heart, he took the plunge:

“Ilona, I would never
have raised the matter had I not felt bound to do so. Even if I sacrificed
loyalty to my country to stay on here a while, that would be pointless now that
you are leaving for Hohenembs.”

“I am not going yet. Not
till towards the end of the week.”

The tears were in his
eyes as he shook his head. “My adored Princess, they told me before I came in
here that Dr. Bruckner thinks you fit to travel to-morrow, and that Count
Aulendorf is already making all the arrangements.”

“I won’t go!” she
exclaimed. “I won’t go! And they can’t make me!”

“Please, Ilona. You
refuse to acknowledge it to others, but you know yourself that your life is in
danger. Every day may be the one day that will make the difference. You must
go! I beg you to!”

She shook her head. “Not
to-morrow. Not until you are on your way out of Austria. It is going to be
difficult for you to get away now that Ronge has ordered all his police to be
on the look-out for you. If you disappeared at once it would be like ringing an
alarm bell. You must wait here until we have lulled him into a false sense of
security. And I’ll not go to Hohenembs until we have devised some safe way for
you to get across the frontier.”

“To give the impression
that I had settled down would require ten days or more. You cannot afford those
days, Ilona. You are right that I should be stupid to rush my fences. To secure
a better chance of getting clean away I am quite prepared to bide my time for a
bit. But your life or death may hang upon your getting mountain air without
delay. I implore you to leave to-morrow, just as you would have had you never learned
that I was still in Vienna.”

“I’ll not do it.”

Taking his arm from round
her shoulders he stood up and looked down into her face. “I think you will,
Ilona; because, much as I hate to do it, I am going to tell you now what will
happen if you don’t. Your life is far more precious to me than my freedom. I’ll
not allow any prospect of seeing me to do further injury to your health. If you
persist in refusing to submit to the arrangements that have been made for you,
when I leave here to-night I shall go straight back to the prison, and let
Major Ronge do what the devil he likes with me.”

“No, no, Armand!”

“Yes, I mean that.” His
grey eyes bored down into hers. “To be the cause of your refusing to obey your
doctor’s orders while in your present state, is too high a price for you to
expect me to pay for my liberty.”

She sighed and turned her
head a little sideways. “How can I stand my ground when you use such threats?”

“I use them only because
I love you so desperately.”

“Yet you would drive me
away.”

“God knows I prize every
moment with you, and do so only out of fear that if you stay you may kill
yourself.”

“Very well, then. I will
go.” Her voice trembled. “There! Are you satisfied?”

He stooped to kiss her. “I
feel like an officer who has taken his objective only at the price of the lives
of all his men. That is how barren and bitter this victory is for me.”

“But what of you?”. she
asked, putting up a hand to stroke his cheek. “Have you thought yet of what
course to take?”

“I think this idea of my joining
the regiment actively an excellent one; at least as a temporary measure.”

“Unfortunately it is
going to the front quite soon.”

A soft knock came on the
door. At Ilona’s call to come in, Sárolta opened it, bobbed an automatic
curtsy, and said: “I came to warn your Highness that you have only a little
over five more minutes; then your nurse will be coming to settle you down for
the night.”

“Can you not tell her to
come later?” exclaimed the Duke in dismay.

Ilona smiled and squeezed
his hand. “That is almost the first nice thing you have said to-night. But I
have a better plan. Ask Adam to take you up to his rooms for half an hour; then
come back to me when my nurse has gone.”

“That’s a much better
idea,” Sárolta agreed. “Nurse looked quite upset when I told her after dinner
that you meant to sit up for an hour later than usual. Goodness knows what she
would say if I had to put her off till midnight.”

Adam had been sitting in
the boudoir with Sárolta. When the Duke joined him they made another cautious progress
through dimly lit corridors and up the back stairs to the floor above, where he
had his suite. As he switched on the light in his cheerful sitting-room, he
said:

“I’ve had a bed made up
for you here. I thought you’d prefer that to going to an hotel without your kit
or anything; and I can lend you things for the night.”

“That’s awfully good of
you,” the Duke said with real feeling. “I’m afraid I’ve caused you an immense
amount of trouble in these past few months, through falling in love with Ilona.”

The Count gave a gallant
flick of his curly moustache. “Oh, don’t think of it. I’ll admit I was a bit
worried at first; but with little Sárolta pushing me on I soon got to accept
the situation. Royalty aren’t like other people, you know. Most of them are brought
up all wrong, and Ilona’s no exception. One would have to have a heart of stone
not to feel sorry for any girl who’s had her life. But she’s weathered it
better than most of them do. She often behaves like a child or a fool, but
there is something basically decent in her nature that makes us all love her.
She deserved somebody like you, and I’m glad you came along.”

“Thanks,” said the Duke. “You
couldn’t pay me a higher compliment; particularly as I’ve more than once
compromised you to a point that might have cost you your job.”

“I’d have been a bit of a
rotter if I’d let that stand in the way of her having her romance,” Adam said
seriously. Then he added, with a sudden grin, “Anyhow, I don’t give a damn what
happens now Sárolta’s papa has agreed to our engagement. He can’t go back on
that.”

“Oh, I
am
glad!” De Richleau held out his hand. “You’re not only a lucky fellow, but you
deserve your luck. I do congratulate you most heartily. When did this happen?”

“Russia’s declaration of
war did the trick. It gave us an excuse to press the old boy into agreeing, but
the actual announcement wasn’t published till last Saturday. More engagements
have been announced in the Court circular these past ten days than usually
appear in a whole season. Queer, isn’t it, how many young people had to wait
till they might soon be dead, before old fogies would permit them to enjoy
their happiness.”

“Are you off to the wars,
then?”

“Not just yet, but I soon
shall be. Whatever happened I wouldn’t care to remain in a Court post while all
my friends go to the front. As things are I shall go down to Hohenembs for a
week or so with Ilona. But once she is settled in there she won’t need me.
Marie Nopsca will look after her while Sárolta takes some leave, and we plan to
get married from her people’s house in Budapest about the 25th. War or no war,
we mean to take a fortnight’s honeymoon, then Sárolta will return to Hohenembs
and I shall go north to join the regiment.”

De Richleau looked at him
gravely. “You have never been on active service, have you?”

“No, but I’m looking
forward to it immensely.”

“Then will you permit me
as an old soldier to give you a few tips?”

“I’d be delighted to have
them.”

“First, then, never
forget that more men die of disease and gangrene in wars than from shells and
bullets. Before you go to the front get a good doctor to inoculate you against
tetanus and typhus. It’s painful, but worth it. Take a big tin of permanganate
of potash in your kit, and carry a little of it on you. Never drink still water
from a well or ditch without first putting a few of the crystals in it. Take
the trouble to learn how to apply bandages and tourniquets to yourself without
aid. Always carry two field-dressing packs and a slab of chocolate on you.
Never touch your spirit flask if you have been wounded in the head. Carry a few
morphia tablets so that you can dull your pain if you are badly wounded; and
some chlorodyne against attacks of dysentery. Body lice are one of the almost
inevitable unpleasantnesses of war, so keep yourself well supplied with insect
powder. Get some leather or fur lined garments and rubber boots and take them
with you. As soon as you reach the front line sacrifice smartness of appearance
for warm and comfortable clothes. Winter will soon be here, and on the northern
front you will be fighting in snow. Take a pair of dark glasses: they will save
your eyes. If you go out on a night patrol in snow, wear a mask to protect your
face from frost bite, and give your nose and ears a rub every few minutes. On
the other hand, if you are not fighting in snow, never wear anything white up
in the line at night. Never be the third to light a cigarette off the same
match. That is not a superstition; the sniper on the other side has time to aim
while the other two are lighting up, and gets the third man. Don’t rely on
matches; carry a flint and tinder lighter. Take some extra sponge bags to
protect your cigarettes and other things from the wet. Don’t bother with a
sword unless you are mounted. It is of little use against a man with a rifle
and bayonet, and will only get in your way. Don’t use your pistol at more than
ten short paces, and aim low down at your antagonist’s body; not at his head.
For night work by far the best weapons are a loaded riding crop and a stiletto.
Never attack an enemy behind barbed wire unless you are quite certain that it
has first been cut. Don’t be ashamed to fling yourself flat on the ground
directly you come under fire, and make it a rule that the last man to follow
your example gets a fatigue when the scrap is over. Dead soldiers are no
further good to their country and every casualty is a liability. Never expose
yourself unless your men look like running away: then, stand up to give them
new confidence, but keep behind them and, without a moment’s hesitation, shoot
the first fellow you see trying to sneak off. Inspect your men’s feet daily.
Make them treat prisoners as they would be treated themselves. If you take more
than one prisoner when alone, make them take off their boots and tie them round
their necks. With bare feet there is much less chance of their trying any
tricks. Buy the smallest automatic you can find and carry it concealed under
your left armpit. If you are taken prisoner yourself the odds are all against
your being searched before you reach the cage. Having a baby pistol on you may
give you the chance to turn the tables on your captor before you get there. And
take a small down pillow with you. However hard the place you have to lie on,
you’ll get sound sleep if you can rest your head on something soft.”

“There!” De Richleau
ended with a smile. “They say that old soldiers never die, and if you can
remember all that you’ll stand a better chance than most people of coming
through.”

Count Adam looked a
little doubtful. “You seem to be thinking of an entirely different kind of
warfare from anything we have ever been trained for; and I can see some of our
Generals having an apoplectic fit if they found their cavalry lying down to
fight.”

“They’ll learn,” remarked
the Duke acidly. “It will probably take a bit of time, but when the casualty
lists reach the hundred thousand mark, they’ll start to wake up to the fact
that wars are no longer fought as they were in the 1870’s.”

“Anyhow,” Adam grinned, “I’m
immensely grateful for all your tips. As a peace time soldier I would never
have thought of half of them, and I shall make a list to-night of things to
take.”

“Good. There’s one other
thing I’d like to do for you if I may have a pen and a piece of notepaper.”

“Of course!” The Count
motioned towards a small
escritoire.
“You
will find everything in there.”

Sitting down at it, De
Richleau wrote a short note in Russian, blotted it, and handed it to his
friend. “Put that in your pocket-book and keep it carefully. It is a line to my
second cousin, the Grand Duke Nicholas, who is the Commander-in-Chief of the
Russian Armies. If you have the misfortune to be taken prisoner permanently it
will ensure you good treatment while in Russian hands.”

“Really! You are too kind.”

“Not at all. I am only
too pleased to do anything I can to show the gratitude I feel for all that you
and Sárolta have done for me.”