The Launching of Roger Brook

'With God's help I mean to kill him!'

'The devil you do! And how, may I ask?'

'By calling him out, of course; surely you do not consider me capable of stooping to assassination?'

'You appear mad enough at the moment to be capable of anything. But surely you realise that he would never accept a challenge from M. de Rochambeau's secretary?'

'Exactly! And that is where I require your help. I intend to waylay him somewhere, disclose my true status to him, and call on him to fight a duel a outrance. My difficulty is that he may not believe me; and you are the only man in France who can convince him that I am of noble blood.'

'Why should he believe me, more than another?'

'Because, immediately I told you that Lord Kildonan was my uncle, you exclaimed upon my likeness to him.'

De Perigord nodded. 'That is true. I would stake all I possess on your being related to the Earl. But do you realise what you are asking of me? You are suggesting that I should act as your second in a duel and, although I may not be a very good one, I am a priest.'

'I had not forgotten it; and all I ask is that you should bear witness before M. de Caylus that I have the right to carry arms. I then intend to dispense with all formalities and fight him on the spot.'

'Mon dieu! But this is utter madness. After encounters in which a death results the edicts against duelling are applied with some severity. So, if you mean to fight to a finish, you would, at the least, expose yourself to a spell in prison. Yet you are not content with that, and propose to place yourself outside all duelling convention by fighting without seconds. Should you kill de Caylus in such circum­stances 'twill be counted murder, and the King will make you answer for it with your head.'

'I am aware of that; but 'tis a risk that I must take. Were I to indulge in all the usual formalities of a duel, with seconds, doctors, servants and the like, 'twould be bound to leak out; and if it became generally known that I had fought for Athenais' twould ruin her prospects of another marriage, so her father would throw her into a convent whether she would or no. I plan to hold up de Caylus in his coach somewhere, at night; and I'll be masked myself, so that his servants will not recognise me. Then, if fortune favours me, 'twill be thought that he was killed defending himself from some highwayman, and no loose tongues will wag a tale that.Mademoiselle de Rocbambeau had an affair with her father's secretary.'

'The plan is well devised,' muttered the Abbe, 'but so startling that I have as yet scarce taken it in. Tell me though, if you mean to act the highwayman where is the necessity for me to play a part?' ''Twill be for you, Abbe, and you'll do me this great kindness, to with him when we halt his coach, while I remain at some little ce. Unless someone whom he knows parleys with him civilly he might think that we are highwaymen in truth, and call on his servants to fire upon us with their blunderbusses. To be filled full of lead would be but a poor ending to such an undertaking. Besides, I am most averse to having him think that he has been set upon by some cut-purse. Though we'll have no seconds I am anxious that all the usual courtesies should be observed, and that we should fight like gentlemen.'

De Perigord sighed. 'I follow your reasoning, but am most loath to aid you in this desperate business. I know nothing of your ability with the rapier, but I do know that de Caylus is counted one of the finest swordsmen in France. He has fought a score of times, and 'tis scarce two months ago that he made a sorry mess of M. de la Tour d'Auvergne in a matter of minutes.'

'I am prepared for the Worst,' said Roger soberly, 'but at least I will stand a better chance than the Vicomte, for I have bested him in many a practice bout.'

'But 'tis heads de Caylus wins and tails you lose,' protested the Abbe 'All the odds are that you will be killed yourself; but if you are not, and kill him, half the police in France will be after you for murder.'

'I know it, I tell you,' Roger insisted. 'But I see no other chance of preserving Athenais from the lust of this abominable quadroon.'

'Maybe,' the Abbe countered. 'But I am by no means' convinced as yet that you are justified in throwing away your life on that account. I beg you to consider the facts coolly and to view them in their proper perspective. I cannot believe that Mademoiselle de Rochambeau is either better or worse than most other young women of our aristocracy. They emerge from childhood knowing nothing of men, and so develop romantic ideas about them. Those who are wise do not expect to find romance with their husband, since they know beforehand that he will be some stranger selected for them by their family; but they endeavour to make of him a friend. Once married, society permits them to take as many lovers as they wish, and the husband who seeks to thwart them in that succeeds only in making himself the laughing-stock of his acquaintances.

'Should your beautiful Athenais become the Countess de Caylus she will, within a month, have half a hundred attractive men pleading with her to give them a. rendezvous; and she would be a freak of nature should she refuse them all. Surely you see that by this marriage taking place you have nothing to lose and everything to gain? In all our lives there come at times unpleasant passages which we are called upon to face. Persuade the girl to put a brave front on her honeymoon. M. de Caylus is far too hardened a roue not to tire of a young and inexperienced bedfellow very quickly. Before October is out she'll be free to console herself with you, and you will have one of the loveliest women in Paris as your mistress. Is that not a better prospect than for her to be immured in a convent, and you to be lying headless in a felon's grave?'

Roger could not know that it was the future Arch-Chancellor of a new French Empire, the bounds of which would spread from the Baltic to the southernmost tip of Italy, and the greatest diplomat of his century, who was exercising all his persuasive arts upon him; but he did know that his friend, the Abbe de Talleyrand-Perigord had given a fair and not overdrawn picture of French society in the age in which they were living. All that the Abbe said was true, plausible and, if his advice was accepted, almost inevitable. Yet Roger could not reconcile himself to it.

'No, Abbey' he said quietly, 'I know that you have reason on your side; but there is no evading the fact that neither Athenais nor I will accept a continuance of our love upon such terms.'

De Perigord regarded him with a smile in which there was no longer any trace of cynicism. 'You are mad, of course,' he murmured thoughtfully. 'All Englishmen are mad, and that, no doubt, accounts for it; but I confess to having a sneaking admiration for your madness. So be it, then. Since you are determined to throw away your life and seek my aid in doing so, I will, however reluctantly, give it you. When and where do you propose to make this suicidal attempt on M. de Caylus?'

'There again, I must crave your help,' replied Roger. 'I am poorly situated to ascertain his movements, whereas you, owing to your frequent visits to Versailles, should have no great difficulty in finding out when he will next make a journey thence after dark to Paris. But the marriage contract is to be signed in nine days' time, so it is a matter of some urgency.'

For a moment the Abbe remained thoughtful, then he said: 'De Caylus has a petit maison in the Bois de Meudon. 'Tis there that he disports himself with any courtesan to whom he takes a fancy. You may recall my mentioning Olympe, the little Opera girl on whose account he attempted to avenge himself on me last summer. When we had wearied of one another she was tempted back to him by his money, and they still meet with some frequency. Olympe and I have remained good friends and she should be able to tell me when de Caylus will next be passing a night at Meudon.'

'I will hold myself in readiness,' Roger volunteered, 'and be prepared to join you at any time. I only pray that it may be soon.'

The Abbe nodded. 'I realise the urgency. And while I feel that a meeting on the road 'twixt Versailles and Meudon offers the best prospect of being undisturbed, should that not prove possible I will find out where else de Caylus may be met with on the road at night, before the week is out. Owing to my lameness I must go to the place by coach, but 'tis essential that you should be mounted, and mounted well; since your life will depend on the speed with which you can get away from the vicinity once the affair is over. The best plan, I think, would be for me to send you a simple message giving only the time and place where you are to rendezvous with me. We will then go on in company for the last mile or so, to select a suitable spot at which to hold up de Caylus's coach.'

These details having been settled, Roger endeavoured to express his gratitude; but the Abbe waved aside his thanks, yawned once more and said:

'Think nothing of it. 'Tis you who elect to surround your pleasures with so dramatic and dangerous an aura. For myself, I doubt if even a female archangel could woo roe into deliberately courting death on her behalf. 'Tis such a marvellous day and hour in which to live. It will not last, alas! Night and darkness are almost upon us. The