By Right of Sword
CHAPTER XI.
DANGER FROM A FRESH SOURCE.
I walked home with a feeling of rare exhilaration. Whatever happened,this was my own quarrel, and I had so acted as to secure the sympathyof all who knew the facts. The quarrel had been fixed on me in publicin a manner peculiarly disgraceful to both my opponents, and if theykilled me, it would be murder.
If on the other hand I could kill either or both, the world would bethe sweeter and purer for their riddance. Moreover I had so arrangedmatters that I saw how I should have at least an equal chance of mylife. I should have the choice of weapons and I would fight Devinskywith swords and the "butcher" with pistols.
I thought much about Durescq's skill. He had a huge reputation both asa swordsman and a shot; but I was very confident in my own skill withthe sword, and inclined to doubt whether he could beat me even withthat. In the end, however, I decided not to run that risk. The issueshould be left to chance. The duel should be fought with pistols. Oneshould be loaded, and one unloaded; and a toss should settle which eachshould have. We would then stand at arm's length, the barrel of oneman's weapon touching the other's forehead. The man to whom Fortunegave the loaded weapon would thus be bound to blow the other's brainsout, whether he had any skill or not. Both would stand equal beforeFortune.
About an hour later, Essaieff came to me and told me that the wholeregiment was in a state of excitement about the fight and that feelingagainst Devinsky had reached a positively dangerous pitch, especiallywhen it was known that he had practically refused to meet me. Thatpoint was still unsettled, and Essaieff had come to get my finaldecision.
"My advice is, stand firm," he said. "You're in the right. Thereisn't an unprejudiced man in the whole army who wouldn't say you wereacting well within your rights; just as, I must say, my dear fellow,you've acted splendidly throughout."
I told him what I had been thinking.
"It seems a ghastly thing to put a life in the spin of a coin," hecommented.
"Better than to have it ended without a chance, by the thrust of abutcher's knife."
"That name will stick to Durescq for always," he said, with a slowsmile. "It was splendid. Do you know you made me hold my breath whileyou were at him. Damn him, so he is a butcher!"
"Do you say Devinsky won't meet me?" I asked.
"No, not that he won't; but he raises the excuse that as Durescq'schallenge was given first--as it was indeed--the order of the fightmust follow the order of the challenges. But they arranged thechallenges purposely in that order."
"I shan't hold to the point," I said, after a moment's consideration."If they insist I shall give way and meet Durescq first. But this willonly make it the more easy for us to insist on our plan of fighting.Don't give way on that. I am resolved that one of us shall fall: andchance shall settle which."
Essaieff tried to persuade me to insist on meeting Devinsky first; butI would not.
"No. He shan't carry back to St Petersburg the tale that we in Moscoware ready to bluster in words, and then daren't make them good in ouracts."
"I hope he'll carry back no tale at all to St Petersburg," answered myfriend, grimly: and then he left me.
I completed what few preparations I had to make in view of the veryprobably fatal issue of the fight: wrote a letter to Olga and enclosedone to Balestier as I had done before; and was just getting off to bed,when Essaieff came back to report.
My message had added to the already great excitement and there had beenat first the most strenuous opposition to our plan of fighting. But hehad forced his way, and the meetings--with the "butcher" first and, ifI did not fall, with Devinsky afterwards--were fixed for eight o'clock.He promised to come for me half an hour before that time: and he urgedme to get to bed and to have as much sleep as possible to steady mynerves.
They were steady enough already. I gloated over the affair; and Imeant so to use it as to set the seal to my reputation as "that devilAlexis," whether I lived or died.
But after all I was baulked.
I slept soundly enough till Borlas called me early in the morning andtold me strange news. A file of soldiers were in my room, and thesergeant had requested me to be called at once as he had an importantmessage.
I called the man into my bedroom and asked him what he wanted.
"You are to consider yourself under arrest, Lieutenant," he saidsaluting, and drawing himself up stiffly. "And in my charge."
"What for?"
"I don't know, Lieutenant. I had my orders from the Colonel himselffirst thing; and, if you please, I am to prevent you leaving the house.You'll understand my position, sir. Will you give me your word not toattempt to leave?"
"Where are your written orders?" I knew the man well and he liked me.
"My orders are verbal, Lieutenant; but very strict and imperative."
"Privately, do you know anything of the cause of this?"
"You'll have a letter from the Colonel, I think, Lieutenant, within anhour, requiring you to go to him. Major Devinsky is also confined tohis quarters, sir; and also, I think, Captain Durescq. We've heard inthe regiment, sir, what happened at the officers' club last night." Acertain look on his lined bearded face and in his eyes as he saluted mewhen he said this, told me much.
I chafed at the interference, and cursed the Colonel for havingapparently taken a hand in the matter. This butcher would now be ableto go back to St Petersburg with a lying garbled tale that we in Moscowgot out of quarrels by clinging to the coat tails of our commandingofficer; and it made me mad. I tried to persuade the sergeant to letme out to go to the place of meeting; promising to be back within anhour; but he was immovable.
"I would, if I dared, Lieutenant; but I dare not. I'm not the man tostop a fair fight, and I hate this work. But duty's duty."
When Essaieff came, he threw new light on the matter. The affair hadcaused a huge commotion. In the early hours of the morning he had beensummoned to the Colonel, who had in some way got wind of the matter; avery ugly version having been told him. My friend had had to tell theplain truth and there had been the devil to pay. The wires to StPetersburg had been kept going through the night; the whole thing hadbeen laid before Head-Quarters at the Ministry for War; and the arrestof the three principals had been ordered from the capital.
Soon afterwards a peremptory summons came for me from the Colonel andwhen I got to him I found both Devinsky and Durescq there, togetherwith two or three of the highest officers then stationed in Moscow. Asort of informal examination took place, out of which I am bound to sayboth the other men came very badly; and in the end we were all threeordered off to stay in our quarters under arrest. I found that notonly were we not allowed to go out--sentries being posted in my roomsall the time--but no one was permitted to enter: nor could Icommunicate with a single individual for two days.
At the end of that time the order came for me to resume duty; and assoon as the morning's drill was over, the Colonel sent for me and toldme what had happened. The military authorities at St Petersburg hadtaken the harshest view of the conduct of my two antagonists. It wasregarded as a deliberate plot to kill. Devinsky had been cashiered;and only Durescq's great influence had prevented him from sharing thesame fate. As it was, he had had all his seniority struck off, beenreduced to the rank of a subaltern, and sent off there and then underquasi arrest with heavy military escort, to a regiment stationed rightaway on the most southern Turkestan frontier.
"As for Devinsky, the regiment's well rid of him," said the Colonel,with such emphasis and earnestness that I saw his own personalanimosity had had quite as much to do with the man's overthrow as thelatter's own conduct. But it pleased the old man to put it all down tome, and when we were parting, he shook hands cordially and said:--"TheRegiment owes you a vote of thanks, my boy; and I'll see that it's paidin full."
"One question I should like to ask," said I. "How did you get to hearof it all?"
"The news was everybody's property, lad, and--don't ask questi
ons," hereplied with dry inconsequence. And would say no more.
But I was soon to learn, and the news surprised me as much as any partof the whole strange incident.
The first use I made of my liberty was to go and see Olga and explainmy absence and all that had happened. She had heard a somewhat garbledaccount of it in which the part I played had been greatly exaggerated,and she received me with the greatest tenderness and sympathy; andtears of what seemed pleasure, but she explained as cold, glistened inher eyes. We had a long and closely confidential chat; and she made mefeel more by her trustful manner and gentle attitude than by her actualwords, how much she had missed me during the days of our separation andhow thankful she was to be free of Devinsky for good, and how much shefelt she owed to me on that account.
For myself I was sorry when I had to leave her. She was the onlyperson in Moscow to whom I could speak without restraint; a fact thatmade our interviews so welcome that I was loath to end this one.
It was getting dusk when I left and as I walked home I was thoughtfuland preoccupied. The question of Olga's safety was pressing veryhardly on me and made me extremely anxious. The more I saw of her themore eager I was to get her out of harm's way; and the consciousnessthat she must share the consequences of any disaster that might happento me, were I discovered, was pressing upon me with increasingseverity. I was beginning to anticipate more vividly, moreover, thecoming of some such disaster. The time was passing very quickly. Itwas getting on for nearly three weeks since the Nihilist meeting, and Iknew that my Nihilist "allies" would be growing anxious for a sign ofmy zeal. They were probably well aware that I was doing nothing toredeem my pledge.
There was also the undeniable danger inseparably connected with thedistasteful intrigue with Paula Tueski. I had so neglected her in mycharacter of lover that I was hourly expecting some proof of herindignation. I had only seen her twice in the three weeks; and eachtime in public; and though Olga and she had interchanged visits, I knewperfectly well that she was not the woman to take neglect passively.
I blamed myself warmly, too, for my own inactivity. My whole policyhad been so to try and gain time, and yet I had made no use of it,except to get into broils which had increased the already bewilderingcomplications.
That this would be the effect of my quarrel with Devinsky and Durescq,I could not doubt when I came to think the matter over in cool blood.I had been the means of both of them being ruined; and naturally everyfriend they had in Russia would take part against me. I knew thatDurescq had friends among the most powerful circles in Russia, and Ihad nothing to oppose to their anger save the poor position of alieutenant in a marching regiment and a past that was full ofblackguardism and evil repute. Personally this was all nothing to me;but when I thought of the indirect results it might have for Olga ittroubled and worried me deeply.
Everything pointed to one conclusion--that Olga should leave Russiawhile she could do so in safety. I was meditating on these things whena girl stopped me suddenly, asking if I were Lieutenant Petrovitch.She then gave me a scrap of paper; and I glanced at and read it.
"_The old rendezvous, at once. Urgent. P.T._"
I questioned the girl as to who gave it to her, and where the personwas; but getting no satisfactory account, dismissed her with a fewkopecks.
It beat me. Obviously it was from Paula Tueski. Equally obviously itwas an appointment at which she had apparently something to say ofimportance. But where the deuce the "old rendezvous" was I knew nomore than the wind.
I am not one to waste time over the impossible; and as I certainlycould not go to a place I did not know of, I tore the letter intoshreds and went on home.
I let myself in and found that my servant was out--a most unusual thingat that time of the day; but I had begun to fear that the man was belowrather than above the average of Russian servants and was alreadycontemplating his dismissal. I did not attach much importance to hispresent absence, however; and throwing myself into a chair sat andthought or tried to think of some scheme by which I could induce Olgato leave the country, and some means by which her departure could besafely arranged. She must go at once. She had promised me to go whenI could tell her it was necessary for my safety; and I could truthfullysay that now. If she would go, I would have a dash for liberty myself.
While I was thinking in this strain someone knocked at my outer door,and when I opened it, to my surprise, Paula Tueski rushed in quickly.
A glance at her face shewed me she was in an exceedingly ill temper; asindeed it appeared to me she generally was.
"Where is your servant?" was her first question hurriedly asked.
"I really don't know. Out somewhere; but----"
"His absence means danger, Alexis. Why didn't you come to me when Isent a message to you just now. You read it, questioned the girl, andthen tore it up and threw it in the gutter; and all this asunconcernedly as if you did not know full well that from our window youmust be in full view of me. Are you always going to scorn me?"
I took care to shew no surprise; but it was clear I had blunderedbadly, and that the "rendezvous" was close to the spot where the paperhad been given to me.
"I could not come. I had to hurry home. I----"
"Bah! Don't trifle with me like that. Haven't you had enough of yourprison during the last two days?"
"You know the news, then?" said I, following her gladly off the track.
"It is you who do not know the news. Ah, Alexis, you are giving memore trouble in this new character of yours than ever you did in theold one--much as you harassed me then. But I do not mind if only...."She stopped and looked at me with beaming eyes. "You have not kissedme; and here I am risking all again and even venturing right here intoyour rooms."
"What do you mean about new character?" I asked. Her phrase hadstartled me.
"I like it better than the old. Fifty thousand times better 'Thatdevil Alexis,' than 'That roue Petrovitch.' But whenever I think ofthe change, I can't understand it--I don't understand you. I couldalmost swear, sometimes, you are not the same man"--she came close upto me and putting her hands on my shoulders, stared long and earnestlyright into my eyes--"and then I wonder how I can have been so blind asnot to have seen all that lay hidden in you: all that was noble andbrave and daring. But I love you, Alexis, twenty thousand times morethan ever; and to have saved your life now is a thought of infinitesweetness to me. Kiss me, sweetheart."
I started back as if she had stung me.
"Do you mean you had anything to do with..." I stopped, but she knewwhat I meant. She smiled and in a voice exquisitely sweet and tender,though hateful to me, she answered:
"Your life is mine, Alexis? Do you think I would let that butcher fromSt Petersburg take it? Let him keep to his own shambles. Yes, I setthe wires in motion, and I did not stop until the one man was utterlyruined and the other degraded in the eyes of all Russia. Your life ismine, Alexis"--she seemed to revel in this hateful phrase--"and thosewho would strike at you, must reckon with me as well. We are destinedfor each other, you and I; and we live or die together."
"You have done me a foul wrong, then," I cried hotly. "You havedisgraced me; made me out for a braggart that provokes a fight and thenshirks it by screening myself behind the law. Do you suppose I thankyou for that?" I spoke as sternly as I felt. But she only smiled asshe answered,
"I did not think of your feelings. This man would have killed you.His hands are bloody to the armpits. Do you think I would let him findanother victim in you when I could stop him and save you? Did you notreproach me, too when I did not interfere before, and tell me my lovewas cold? Would I suffer such a reproach again, think you? No, no.Your life is mine, I repeat, and for the future I will protect itwhether you will or no. That is how I love; and so it shall be always.I have come now to warn you. Hush! What is that?"
I listened and heard someone moving in the lobby of my rooms.
"It is Borlas returned," I said, and opening the door called hi
m.Getting no answer I called again loudly; and then my visitor whisperedto me to come back into the room. But I paid no heed to her, and wentforward a few steps to go into my servant's room. As I did so, adesperate rush was made and three men disguised, dashed at meviolently. They had gained an entrance somehow and were no doubtmaking their way to attack me in my room or were going to lay in waitfor me, when my quick ears heard them and thus spoiled their plans.
I was unarmed, and saw instantly the foolishness of attempting to fightthree men, probably armed, while I had not so much as a stick. Makinga feint of an attack upon the nearest, therefore, I jumped aside anddarted back into the room I had just left, closing the door instantlybehind me, while my companion and I held it shut until I had secured it.
Then I turned to her for an explanation.
"They are my husband's agents," she whispered. "He suspects us, as youknow; and he arranged this attack, thinking that if you were killed,the act just at this juncture would be set down to Devinsky's revenge.I came on purpose to warn you. If they catch me here now, we are bothruined beyond hope."
"Then they shan't catch us," I replied. "Or if they do, shan't live tocarry the tale outside the door:" and I proceeded to put in execution aplan which had already occurred to me.