He felt nothing but confusion.
CHAPTER 16
THE following day Margont was summoned again by Prince Eugene. He had to wait a long time until the comings and goings of generals, aides-de-camp and dispatch riders had ceased. It was like some kind of ball. A constant stream of cavalrymen dressed all in blue and gold came prancing along before merging into the excited throng surrounding the prince. The latter had sought out a shady grove. With his general staff around him, he seemed to be listening to four conversations at once. He had to commit everything to memory, make decisions about it all and ensure that his orders were faithfully carried out. The discussion concerned troop deployments, the enemy’s presumed routes of retreat, tactical possibilities, early estimates of losses, the names of officers who had distinguished themselves or not lived up to expectation … The Emperor, exasperated at seeing the Russians escape his grasp once more, had unleashed his fury on all and sundry and, when the Emperor was angry, his rage made the whole army tremble. The tension on these faces was in sharp contrast to the calm that prevailed on the plains and in the surrounding woods.
Eventually, the prince was able to extricate himself and motioned to Margont to join him. Margont saluted him respectfully, noting that Eugene was under so much pressure that he frequently gave people murderous looks.
‘Captain Margont, I’m glad to know you’ve survived, because your brigade got into serious difficulty.’ But the prince spoke mechanically, as if commenting on the fine weather. ‘Let’s go for a short walk. Be brief and give me good news!’
Having decided not to talk about the four colonels he suspected, Margont was glad not to have to discover how Prince Eugene would have reacted to such bad news.
‘I’ve scarcely made any progress, Your High—’
‘Oh, no! Oh, no!’
The prince did not shout, he yelled. He sat down on a tree stump and motioned to his escort to move away. The grenadiers of the Italian Royal Guard deployed around them. Margont was enjoying the refreshing shade and the tranquil surroundings. Now that the guns had fallen silent, the birds were singing once more. The grove looked like a corner of paradise that had accidentally fallen to earth. The blood rushed to Eugene’s face.
‘A supply system that supplies no one, the desertions, the Cossacks, the Russians whom we constantly lose track of, this gruelling pursuit of the enemy that’s about to resume, and now you! Tell me everything.’
The ‘everything’ in question took less than a minute. The prince folded his arms.
‘Carry on talking. And if you’ve nothing to say, just move your lips. Otherwise that lot will pounce on me.’
Margont followed Eugene’s gaze and noticed a new gathering of messengers and officers waiting patiently or impatiently in the company of General Triaire.
‘Don’t worry about your investigation remaining confidential,’ the prince said at once. ‘Your brigade suffered a humiliating reverse in the Russian counterattack. All those watching our conversation will think that you’re reporting back to me on the conduct of your superiors.’
Now it was Margont’s turn to become annoyed. He was likely to be taken for one of the prince’s spies or an informer. If this rumour spread, he would lose most of his friends and be treated like an outcast by his own regiment. Nevertheless, he took advantage of the opportunity to ask the question that had been troubling him since the start of the investigation.
‘Well, Your Highness, if we have to speak, it might as well be about something interesting. May I know why finding this murderer means so much to you? I know the official reason but I wondered whether there was another.’
Surprisingly, instead of snapping at him, Eugene remained calm.
‘Captain Margont, either you are exasperating or you are very perceptive. In fact, you are both at once. When one is perceptive, one is often exasperating.’
That’s normal, given that we live in a world that operates on lies, Margont added to himself.
Eugene was reticent. He glanced again at the messengers waiting patiently. With a wave of the arm he could summon them to his side and Margont would be swallowed up in the excited throng. Margont decided to press home his advantage.
‘The reasons you have put forward to explain my investigation are valid, that’s certain. However, I have been wondering about your personal interest in this. General Triaire would easily have sufficed. But you and the Emperor himself! Could there be a more personal reason, Your Highness?’
‘You are wrong about the Emperor. He takes the political aspect of the problem very seriously. As far as I’m concerned, the answer is yes and no. Perhaps. In fact, probably not … There was another murder, just before the start of the campaign. I found this coincidence disturbing.’
Margont almost flew into a rage, something he did rarely. His meetings with the prince were really not good for him.
‘Another murder? And you didn’t tell me about it?’
‘No, because the culprit has been arrested.’
This new lead had scarcely come to light and it was already being snatched away. However, Margont noted that the prince did not seem convinced.
‘I should be grateful if Your Highness would tell me the story so that I can form my own opinion. Above all, do not hesitate to give me all the details. Paradoxically, the more details I have, the clearer things will become to me.’
‘Very well. This business occurred about a week before the murder of the Polish woman. Our corps was still in Poland and we were putting the finishing touches to the preparations. The Emperor wanted to be kept informed of everything. Every subject held his attention: the numbers and quality of the troops, the calibre of the officers, the supplies, the reserves of ammunition, the artillery, the clothing, respecting the privileges granted to my Royal Guard, the pay, maintaining discipline, relations with the Polish population … And His Majesty would not tolerate any delays or approximations or disappointing answers! In a word, my general staff and I were constantly in demand. So I was careful to organise regular entertainments. A mind that enjoys itself from time to time works better than one that is subject to permanent pressure.’
The prince cast another annoyed glance in the direction of poor General Triaire, who was attempting to stem the flow of missives.
‘One evening, a grand reception was given by Countess Nergiss, a Polish sympathiser. I should point out that I was not the instigator of this event. It was entirely conceived and organised by the countess. There were four hundred guests at the very least. Perhaps you were there?’
‘Unfortunately not. I am not of high enough rank to be invited.’
‘Lay your hands on our murderer and that sort of disappointment will be a thing of the past.’
‘I knew about the celebration but I didn’t hear anything about a crime …’
‘Let me continue. Countess Nergiss is as rich as Croesus and she had set her sights on an ambitious promotion for her husband, who is a general. She hoped that, if General Prince Poniatowski happened to be wounded or killed, her husband would replace him in command of V Corps, the Polish Corps. Can you believe it? So she had been preparing this reception for weeks, even before the Grande Armee reached Poland. To her chagrin, the Emperor informed her at the last minute that he would not be able to come as he was with the bulk of the army much too far north of the castle. Only IV Corps was camped nearby. The countess therefore fell back on me in her calculations, hoping that I would plead her cause with His Majesty. To make her tactic less obvious, she had decided to dazzle me. I must admit she succeeded very well. What splendour!’
The prince must, though, have been used to this type of event. Margont told himself that the countess must have beaten all records for extravagance.
‘She had invited the full complement – the full complement! – of my senior officers.’
