The Rising Storm

immediate service had brought sudden realization that France now really stood on the brink of war. There were bitter denuncia­tions of both England and Spain, but a general determination to fight, although a few speakers expressed the opinion that the King ought not to be allowed to give the word for hostilities to begin without first consulting the National Assembly.

At six o'clock on the Saturday evening Roger, a little nervous at the most unorthodox step he was taking, but feeling it more than ever justified by the rapid and menacing march of events, was in the Princess de Lamballe's apartment bowing over the hand that Madame Marie Antoinette graciously extended to him.

After he had kissed it she sat down in an elbow chair and motioned him to another. 'Madame,' he demurred. 'You do me too much honour.'

She smiled a little sadly. 'Nay, Mr. Brook. The honours we have to bestow in these days are all too few; and we have been learning fast that friendship deserves them far more than rank. Tell me now, what led you to seek this private conversation?'

Roger produced Mr. Pitt's Letter of Marque, and handed it to her with a bow. She read it, handed it back to him, and gave him a thought­ful glance. 'I was not aware that you were in the service of your Government.'

'Madame, I have been so for some time. But may it please Your Majesty to recall that being so has never deterred me from doing my utmost to be of service to you.'

'Monsieur, I recall it well, and my presence here is an earnest of the regard I have for you. I am certain that you would never say or do aught which you did not believe to be in my interest or that of the King; so you may speak freely of all you have in mind.'

Roger then launched out on the subject he had come upon. Few people were now better acquainted with the genesis and development of the Nootka Sound dispute, and he had the gift of marshalling facts with point and fluency. He told her frankly that he had just come from Spain, and that in spite of Count Florida Blanca's dismissal of him he was still convinced that the Spaniards would not go to war unless they felt certain that they could rely on French backing; and he assured her that Mr. Pitt's dearest wish was to preserve the peace of Europe.

At that her eyebrows lifted. 'Monsieur, your Prime Minister's words and acts do not conform to what you tell me. He is now openly preparing with all speed for war.'

'Madame.' He spread out his hands. 'I do give you my most solemn assurance that these preparations are being taken solely in answer to those known to be going forward in Spain. We have no wish for war, but cannot allow the insult done to the British flag to pass. All might yet be well, and an accommodation be reached, if only France will stand aside; but these recent measures of His Most Christian Majesty can serve only to encourage the Spaniards in their preparations, and if continued must result in an explosion.'

She shook her head. 'His Majesty's having yesterday ordered a fleet to sea is the direct outcome of Mr. Pitt having five days ago required your Parliament to vote a million for war purposes.'

'Madame, I beg you to believe me that Mr. Pitt's measure was taken solely in accordance with his policy of showing the Spaniards that we mean business if they force us to it; and was in no way aimed at France.'

'You seem to forget, Monsieur, that France is Spain's ally and any measure taken against one must equally be a threat to the other.'

Swiftly Roger changed his ground and strove to impress upon her how disastrous a war would prove for France in her present state; but the Queen replied a trifle haughtily:

'You would be very wrong to suppose, Monsieur, that the dis­turbances of the past year have in any way lessened the courage of the French people, or affected their loyalty to their country.'

Roger quickly agreed with her; then, after a moment, he took his courage in both hands and said: 'I trust you will forgive me, Madame, if I remark that certain people, who hold the restoration of His Majesty's authority a matter of more paramount importance than all else, are credited with pressing a war policy upon His Majesty, in the belief that the emergencies of war would enable him to dispense with the National Assembly.'

The Queen stood up. 'Monsieur,' she said coldly. 'His Majesty and I are well aware of the horrors and distresses that war inflicts upon any people who engage in it. And never would we be guilty of plunging France into war for our own selfish interests. At this very moment the King is doing his utmost to mediate between the Courts of London and Madrid, in the hope of arranging a peaceful solution between them.'

Roger had come to his feet with the Queen; now he went down on one knee before her. 'I humbly crave Your Majesty's pardon; but what hopes can be placed in such mediation while His Majesty encour­ages the Spaniards by such acts as ordering a fleet to sea ? I implore you, Madame, to use your great influence in the interests of peace, and dis­suade His Majesty from all further measures of a provocative nature.'

'Rise, Monsieur,' said the Queen. 'I have listened patiently to all you have to say, and I fear that no useful purpose can be served by prolonging this conversation. You may rest assured that the King and I would never countenance a war unless we were forced to it; and that the preparations now going forward are no more than reasonable precautions. But we are allied to Spain, and if Spain decides to fight, France must fight too. It is unthinkable that we should do otherwise, for our honour is involved in it.'

With the bitter knowledge that he had failed, Roger bowed very low, and said quietly: 'So be it, Your Majesty. I am distressed beyond words to find that I cannot count upon your help; and I can only beg that you will not think too hardly of me, should you learn that in the cause of peace I have sought other allies.'

Five minutes later he was out in the courtyard. The 'other allies' to whom he had referred were the deputies of the Extreme Left. But he knew none of them except Barnave; to them he could not possibly produce Mr. Pitt's Letter of Marque, and even if he got in touch with them he did not feel that either he or they could do very much to influence the situation. The idea was the slenderest of forlorn hopes, and he had been stung into his last words to the Queen owing only to his anger at her blindness, in refusing to see that the best hope of averting war lay in France refraining from further warlike measures.

As he stood on the steps of the court endeavouring to decide on his next move,' a coach drove up. The footmen jumped down from the box and opened its door. A lady got out. They were face to face. He found himself staring at Isabella.

When he had decided in Aranjuez to come to Paris he had realized with considerable misgivings that he might meet her again there. But he could not allow that to weigh with him in the scales against the possibility of still being able to prevent a war. Paris was a large city, he had counted on securing an audience with the Queen within a week, and it had seemed then that once he had obtained her answer there would be nothing further to detain him in France; so he had felt reason­ably confident that he would escape further entanglement with the lovely Condesa who had once meant so much to him. Now, Fate had brought them together yet again.

'Roje!’ her glad cry rang through the court. 'When did you reach Paris? How clever of you to guess that I should not waste an hour before coming to the Tuileries! But to find you here waiting for me! Oh, Roje, I am overcome with joy! I . . . I . . .' Seizing his hands she burst into tears.

Her assumption that he had come hot-foot to Paris for the sole purpose of reuniting with her there was so transparently obvious that he had not the heart to undeceive her, and he took refuge in garbled half-truths mingled with white lies.

'I got here yesterday, thinking you must have already arrived. Today business brought me to the Palace; but I should have come here in any case, as the best place to get news of you. In that I was disappointed, and I could not imagine why you had not yet been to make your service to the Queen. I did my utmost to catch up with you, and 'tis now evident that I must have passed you on the road.'

'No matter,' she sobbed happily. 'No matter; we are together again, and 'twill be easy here for us to slip away so that we may be so always.'

He swallowed hard, then muttered: 'HushI Have a care of what you say; and control yourself, I beg. Your servants are listening.'

She shook her head. 'We need take no heed of them. They are not from the Spanish Embassy, but only hired men. Diego is there, and the Lady Georgina and her father with him. But I went straight to the Carmelites. The Mother Superior is an old friend of mine, and I knew that I could count on her to give me refuge.'

'Refuge?' repeated Roger. 'But why, having passed a month with your husband on the road, should you feel this sudden need of it?'

'While on the road I was safe; now I am once more in mortal danger. But I must not linger. Her Majesty is expecting me. And I cannot ask you to come to me this evening, for no visitors are allowed in the Convent after