Chapter 33 – Guards save our gracious Queen
Napoleon’s immediate subordinate, Lieutenant General Laborie arrived at the palace forty minutes later accompanied by several officers of the royal Montugan Guard. He was granted an audience before Jason in the Great Hall. He presented his sword to Jason as a formal act of surrender and it was duly accepted.
‘Your troops, once disarmed, must leave Montuga through the Devil’s orifice at once. They will be escorted by armed Montugan royal guards and marines.’
‘What about the dead and the wounded?’ Laborie enquired.
‘You may arrange for a ship to collect your officers, your injured and your dead.’
‘Our horses?’ Laborie’s eyebrows rose slightly.
‘..will be content to stay on in Montuga on a permanent basis.’
‘And the First Consul?’
‘His release will follow in a few days if the Queen and any child born to her are safely returned to the palace and once all the French soldiers have left Montuga.’
The Lieutenant General was unable to shed any further light on the whereabouts of Queen Renate. He did, however, express a wish for the safe return of both mother and child.
As soon as the formalities relating to the French surrender were concluded, Jason and twelve royal guards on horseback set off from the palace courtyard for the Municipal Jail in the city. The thought of his wife in Du Pont’s continued custody sent a chill down Jason’s spine. As they approached the palace gates, Jason paused briefly to remove his hat in tribute to those who had fallen in the brief yet bitter conflict for the control of the palace gates. It did not escape his notice that Lieutenant Lupin’s body was amongst the dead. As the gates opened the twelve riders cantered off towards the city.
After they arrived at the municipal jail, Jason, and the royal guards walked past several wardens and into the offices of the chief jailer. The latter nearly fell of his chair once he recognised the king.
‘Do you have the Queen in custody here?’
‘Not knowingly, your majesty. Control of the prison has now been handed over to me by the French troops. They were in charge of the jail until about half an hour ago when they left to join the evacuation. I am busy looking through their records. These reveal that they arrested several hundred people.’
‘Do the records indicate anything about a pregnant woman?’
‘No, majesty. But there is a woman with a baby in the female medical ward on the second floor.’
Jason led the guards as they rushed up the stairs and headed for the medical ward. It was locked. Jason banged on the door.
‘Open up in the name of the king,’ one of the guards bellowed. The door was opened by a nurse.
Jason brushed past her and entered the ward. There were only six women in the ward and only one of them had a small child with her. They established that the child had been born two days ago. A thorough search of jail revealed no sign of the Queen or the child. As the search party emerged from the jail Jason stared at the harbour.
‘Go to the harbour. Make enquiries. Check with everyone. The Harbour Master. The trade centre. Find out what you can and get them all to search everything and every vessel in the harbour.’ The guard complied immediately. In the meantime a young brunette girl about seven years of age interrupted Jason as he considered what he and his remaining men ought to do next.
‘Are you the king?’ she asked.
‘Yes,’ Jason responded.
‘A French soldier is hiding the Queen in our house. He asked me to find you. You have to hurry. The soldier says other French soldiers are looking for the Queen.’ Jason lost no time in mounting his horse. One of the guards picked the girl up and handed her to the king as the other royal guards saddled up.
‘Show me,’ Jason said as he assisted the girl to settle in front of him on a portion of the saddle they now shared. They left the prison and galloped off to one of the residential areas in the vicinity of the road which led to the beach. As they approached a small free standing house they could see four French soldiers approaching the front door carrying a thick log measuring around five yards. They clearly intended to use it as a ram rod to break down the door.
‘Stop them, your majesty. They are going to break our door,’ the girl screamed. A royal guard fired in the direction of the four soldiers. They immediately dropped the log and attempted to escape.
‘Seize them,’ Jason ordered. He left his men to attend to the chase whilst he gently lent to one side and placed the girl on her feet before he alighted from his horse. As he approached the front door of the modest Mediterranean styled house it opened and the soldier who had been with Commander Du Pont that morning emerged. He looked confused as he considered Jason’s uniform.
‘You’re obviously not a real chef?’ he declared.
‘No silly,’ the young girl interrupted. ‘This is the king.’
‘Forgive me your majesty.’ The surprised soldier bowed smartly. ‘I am Oscar Martin at your service. Her majesty the Queen is safe in my care. I had to move her to this house because the Commander wanted to send those men to fetch her. The Commander has sent a pigeon from the trade centre to someone who is coming to the beach this afternoon to fetch him, your son, the queen and those men. As soon as the Commander left I moved the Queen from that house to this one to try and delay them as much as I could. The Queen is still weak and I had to carry her. Thank heavens this little girl was able to find your majesty.’
Jason rushed past the soldier and into the house. He found Renate in one of the bedrooms. She seemed tired and she was also particularly emotional.
‘I will be fine,’ she declared before Jason could say anything. They exchanged a quick hug and a kiss as she continued. ‘That monster has our child. You must stop him.’
‘Du Pont?’ Jason asked.
‘Yes.’
‘This Oscar Martin. Is he involved?’
‘No,’ Renate smiled slightly. ‘He has done nothing but go out of his way to help.’
‘Alright. I will leave you with him and two royal guards. They will ensure that you are taken to the palace. I will take the rest of the men and we will head to the beach.’ Jason kissed Renate again before he left the house and mounted his horse.
‘Wait,’ Oscar Martin said. ‘Your majesty I respectfully suggest that I come with you. I also suggest that you and three of your men change into the uniforms of those four soldiers your men have captured. The Commander is expecting the Queen to be in a French soldier’s uniform, accompanied by those four men. If he sees any other uniforms he might not wait if the ship is already there. Or he could also harm the child.’
‘Okay,’ Jason declared. ‘Get the uniforms off the men. The rest of you are to ride like the wind to the harbour. I want two or three warships to head to the Montugan beach as soon as possible. If the Commander does manage to board a ship before we get to him, I want one warship to collect us whilst the other two can chase after the ship the Commander is in. Not too many vessels are capable of outrunning our warships.’ Jason turned to Martin. ‘What does the Commander intend?’
‘He was supposed to arrange for mother and child to be transported to France. The child was to be anonymously given up for adoption and the Queen held at an undisclosed location until Napoleon’s further orders. However, I believe that the Commander may have had plans to kidnap them both for a ransom or for some other purpose. The boat he has arranged for is apparently from Genoa, not France.’
As the five of them galloped down the road leading towards the beach, they passed several groups of armed French infantry heading slowly in the opposite direction. Jason presumed that they were on their way to join their comrades as they continued to withdraw from Montuga. It annoyed him that they were still armed. It also annoyed him that circumstances made it necessary for him and his party to be dressed as French soldiers.
They entered the forest and proceeded along the footpath leading to the lagoon and to the beach. They emerged into a clear
ing in the forest and were surprised to run into a group of nine armed French cavalrymen on their horses. Their commander was a Major who studied the new arrivals carefully before he pointed his pistol at Jason. He raised his left hand as a gesture for Jason and his party to stop.
‘I know all of my cavalry riders. None of you are French cavalry. You look like the Montugan king. The rest of you are obviously also Montugan. You have no right to be in French uniforms. You will all be shot as spies,’ he declared as the other French riders all aimed their pistols at Jason’s men.’
‘Firstly,’ Jason announced as he pointed to Oscar, ‘that man is a Frenchman. Secondly, France has already surrendered to Montuga. This means you are required to lay down your arms. The question of shooting anyone as spies for being in the wrong uniform no longer applies. Furthermore, this is a joint operation by French and Montugan soldiers to obtain the return of my son, from one of your officers who is apparently engaged on some frolic of his own. And finally, you should know that I hold Napoleon Bonaparte as my prisoner. Unless my son and I return safely to the palace, Napoleon is likely to face execution. I suggest that you lay down your weapons.’
‘What do you mean, French surrender? We won! Your artillery units on the beach were demolished and we now control the entire beach and all your cannon emplacements.’
‘Even if that is so, I am afraid that General Laborie surrendered to me an hour ago after the palace and Monte Vista were reclaimed by Montugan forces.’
‘It cannot be,’ the Major said. His expression was one of total disbelief.
‘It is. Drop your weapons immediately. All of you,’ a familiar voice called out. It was the Marquis. He was also on horseback and he advanced slowly towards the French Major. The Marquis was wearing the uniform of a French Colonel.
‘You are with them,’ the Major eventually said, as he glanced dismissively at the Marquis. ‘You have no authority here.’
‘On the contrary,’ the Marquis replied. ‘I have been appointed to this rank by Napoleon himself. I suggest you all think carefully before you find yourselves having to explain to him why the blood of a king and a French colonel appointed by him is needlessly on your hands after hostilities had ceased.’ One by one, the Major’s subordinates dropped their firearms. The Major eventually did the same.
‘Good. Now I suggest you wait for me here. I am going to assist the king to secure the return of his son before we all return to France.’ The Marquis turned to Jason. ‘Follow me, your majesty.’ And with that, the Marquis cantered along the path towards the lagoon and the beach. Jason and the rest of his party followed him.
‘That was quite convincing,’ Jason declared as he caught up to the Marquis. ‘You almost had me convinced that you had changed loyalties.’ The Marquis briefly looked away before resuming eye contact with Jason.
‘Sadly it was the truth, your majesty. I swore an oath of loyalty to my country and its leader and I shall not break it. But that shall not preclude me from doing one last service as a token of my continuing respect for you and your family.’
‘Are you being serious?’ Jason could not believe his ears. ‘After everything we have been through together. After the sanctuary Montuga gave to you, and after everything the republicans did to you and your family, you now choose the republicans?’
‘Yes, your majesty. I am French after all. Napoleon is a far worthier leader than King Louis ever was. As long as he rules France I have no good reason not to return to my roots. Many good people have died in France during this revolution. My country needs me to help rebuild France.’
‘What about Philippe?’
‘I hope he will follow his father. But if he chooses to remain loyal to you, I will have to respect that.’
‘And what of the fact that Napoleon is my enemy?’
‘That is between the two of you. I will always try to keep peace between you in future and I will never do anything to harm your majesty or my son. But I am French. I only turned my back on France out of necessity, not choice. Napoleon shares my revulsion of the sme things which caused me to leave France. Under his leadership I believe France is destined for great things. I am a prodigal son who can no longer prevent my return to the place where I belong. I hope you can understand. I cannot, like you, fight with the British against my own people.’
‘But you’re not a republican. You’re a monarchist,’ Jason said.
‘This is true. However, it has become clear that Napoleon’s genius is that he pays lip service to republican ideals whilst he simultaneously manipulates the republicans into making continuous concessions of further absolute powers to add to his steadily expanding collection,’ the Marquis explained. ‘In truth he is a king in all but name. And I believe he will restore the greatness of France. But this we can speak about later. Now we must stop Du Pont.’
Jason pondered on the Marquis’s words as they emerged from the forest into the foot deep water of the lagoon. Jason was devastated to see that a makeshift battery containing six guns which had been put together on the beach to lure Napoleon’s forces away from the palace and onto the beach was covered in the bodies of dozens of Montugan royal guards. It was evident that they had fought to the last in an attempt to repel waves of attacks by the French cavalry and infantry. The bodies of countless French soldiers and the carcasses of their horses served as testament to the heavy price the French were made to pay for a pointless victory in a battle which was ultimately staged solely as an elaborate and highly effective diversion.
His attention was torn away from the devastation by a three-masted vessel which was making its way to eastern side of the beach in the distance. A lone figure stood near the shoreline in apparent anticipation of the ship’s arrival. He had only a few items of luggage with him, although it was still too distant to identify anything in particular. The party of six riders in French uniforms continued towards the figure at a slow trot, so as not to provide him with any cause for alarm. The vessel’s crew lowered some of the sails and cast an anchor some way off the shore. A longboat was dispatched. Jason scanned the waters closest to the cliffs forming the Western end of the beach. He was disappointed not to see any of the warships sailing into view yet. As the six of them drew close enough to the lone figure to permit mutual recognition, Jason realised that the figure was indeed Commander Du Pont. As soon as he spotted Jason and the Marquis amongst the approaching riders, Du Pont reached into an open container like object near him and proceeded to dangle an infant, which he held upside down and only by one foot. He then brandished an oversized dagger which he held in close proximity to the child in an apparent attempt to persuade the riders to stop their advance. When this failed to work he shouted:
‘Stop. Any further and the child dies.’ At this point the long boat which contained four rowers reached Du Pont. The latter’s luggage was loaded in double time and Jason and his motionless riders stared helplessly as Du Pont entered the boat. The sailors pushed the boat back out to sea and one by one hopped in to commence rowing. The boat gradually headed back towards the sailing vessel. All the while, Du Pont continued to hold the infant’s foot in one hand and the dagger in the other. It seemed that all would be lost when the sailors suddenly stopped rowing. They pointed to something further out at sea. The Phoenix and two other Montugan warships were bearing down on their sailing vessel at high speed. It did not require much imagination on the part of the rowers to deduce that their passenger was the most likely target of the attentions of those on board the three warships. In turn this engendered a demonstrable lack of the enthusiasm on the part of the rowers for the continued conveyance of their passenger.
Much to the obvious chagrin of their client, the rowing boat started moving back to shore in no uncertain fashion. One of the rowers dropped his oar and grabbed the infant from Du Pont whilst another dropped an oar and relieved Du Pont of the dagger. The rower then promptly threw it overboard. Du Pont made a desperate attempt grab the child from the rower. The Marquis had meanwhile ridden his
horse into the shallow waves and as he drew near to the boat he produced a pistol which he fired at the Commander. The bullet struck Du Pont in the forehead. One of the rowers lost no time in holding the infant up towards the approaching Marquis, who leaned to one side, grabbed the child and turned to ride out of the surf. The rowers, who had meanwhile jettisoned their unpopular, dying client, now made a beeline for their ship, leaving Du Pont’s body to disappear below the waves. The Marquis rode up to Jason and handed the child to his father. After Jason thanked the Marquis and Oscar Martin for their assistance the Marquis indicated that it was time for him and Martin to re-join their French comrades.
‘Your majesty has no need to thank me. You saved my life once. And you have treated my son as your own. Helping to return your son to your majesty is the least I could do in return,’ the Marquis replied. He then looked earnestly at the king. ‘You will tell my son about this?’
‘Of course I will,’ Jason promised. ‘It has been a privilege to know you and to have had you as a comrade in arms. I am not sure that I understand why you have made your choice to side with the French. But I do not doubt your integrity or your loyalty as a friend.’
‘If my son should decide to return to France, I hope you will find it in yourself to be as gracious as you have been to me.’
‘I will not stand in his way,’ Jason promised. ‘I hope that you do not live to regret having placed your faith in Napoleon.’
‘I place my faith in God and in France,’ the Marquis replied. ‘As for Napoleon, I intend to use my growing friendship with him to influence him to change all that is wrong with France.’
‘If you consider Napoleon to be akin to a king, then I suggest that you do not expect too much from him. Kings have been known to sacrifice their friends when their crowns are threatened, as you know only too well.’
‘Yes I do,’ the Marquis replied soberly. He studied Jason carefully for a moment. ‘And so it would seem, do you.’
‘What do you mean?’ Jason asked cautiously. His eyes narrowed.
‘I have no idea,’ the Marquis replied. ‘But I am old enough to recognise when words are burdened by a peculiar sorrow or tinged with a certain regret attributable only to bitter experience.’
Jason said nothing as he thought of Oliver.
‘A king is not unlike his fellow monarch, the lion. They both act instinctively and predictably when their domain is threatened,’ the Marquis said, breaking the awkward silence. ‘I forced king Julien’s hand through choices which I made. I shall not make that mistake again.’
‘Napoleon’s gain is my loss. I shall miss you, my lord,’ Jason said.
‘And I you, your majesty,’ replied the Marquis, after which they exchanged farewell greetings.
Jason watched as the two Frenchmen then galloped off. The Marquis suddenly stopped and turned to face Jason.
‘By the way, the French uniform suits you, your majesty,’ he bellowed. He laughed, waved and continued riding into the distance.
Jason paused to examine his son for the first time. He was grateful to discover that the infant did not seem to have suffered any injuries. A boat dispatched from the Phoenix arrived on the beach within a few minutes. Ruan was the first to leap out of it and to charge towards Jason.
‘Is he alright?’ he asked as he stretched out his hands to hold his nephew.
‘Yes, he is fine,’ Jason grinned. After arranging for one of the royal guards to take his horse back to Montuga, Jason, Ruan and Prince Julien IV were conveyed to the Phoenix which arrived back in Monte Vista Harbour in no time at all.
‘You heard about Lieutenant Lupin, I assume?’ Jason asked Ruan.
‘Yes,’ Ruan replied sadly. ‘Still at least it wasn’t you. I am sorry about what happened on the ship,’ Ruan said. ‘After you went ashore I felt bad about what I had said. I feared I might never see you again.’
‘The Garibaldis are not likely to get rid of me that easily,’ Jason chuckled.
Upon their return to the palace the royal usher announced that General Petard had arrived at Court and that he desired an audience.
‘I am delighted to learn of your return, your majesty. I have come to offer my services as the Commander of your royal guard. Of course, I would understand it if your majesty were to refuse my request to return to my previous post in the light of my failure to anticipate that the French would target the defensive positions in the Devil’s orifice from the Montugan side.’
‘There can be little doubt about the seriousness of your failure. However I and several other distinguished Montugans should also have foreseen this obvious weakness in our defence. I will reappoint you on condition that you immediately make it your business to ensure that new batteries facing the Montugan side of the boarder are built within close proximity to those facing France.’
‘Thank you your majesty. I shall attend to the necessary as soon as I leave here. On another matter, I am surprised to hear that you intend to release First Consul Napoleon considering the trouble he has caused.’
‘It is my hope that recent events, and a little time spent in our dungeons will serve to teach him a lesson. Maybe he will think twice before he goes around invading other countries or starting wars again,’ Jason explained.
‘With respect your majesty. I think the opposite is true. If you ask me, he will not be satisfied with anything less than being crowned as monarch of all Europe.’
‘A republican with a crown? Not you too,’ Jason remarked, raising his eyebrows in disbelief. ‘I can only hope that you are wrong. If not, history may judge my decision to release Napoleon harshly. And speaking of judgments, what do you have to say for yourself in defence of your oath of loyalty to Napoleon.
‘Your majesty, Napoleon declared this to be France. He threatened to execute anyone who refused. In my defence I must point that the oath I took was only binding as long as this was France.’
‘Fortunately for you, your grace, this was not France for long, was it?’
‘Thankfully not, your majesty.’
Jason arrived in the royal bedchamber to find that Renate was breastfeeding. She smiled radiantly. He decided that she had never looked more beautiful than she did at that moment.
‘Ruan said you named our son Julien IV on the beach.’ She feigned annoyance at his failure to consult her on the matter but it was not particularly convincing.
‘I hope you don’t mind. I know how much you loved you father.’
Renate’s wide smile served as her reply.
During all the commotion caused by the arrival of the new prince and the departure of the French soldiers, the royal family failed to notice the arrival of a Spanish warship in the harbour. If Jason had utilised his telescope he would have seen a slightly older but no less self-satisfied Count Aurelio Da Gama alighting from the ship. The latter wasted no time in boarding a carriage to the palace in order to present his credentials as the Spanish ambassador to the Montugan king.
THE END