The Man of Destiny | Page 8

not betray by his manner any of that prophetic
consciousness of Marengo and Austerlitz, Waterloo and St. Helena, or
the Napoleonic pictures of Delaroche and Meissonier, which modern
culture will instinctively expect from him.)
NAPOLEON (sharply). Well, sir, here you are at last. Your instructions
were that I should arrive here at six, and that I was to find you waiting
for me with my mail from Paris and with despatches. It is now twenty
minutes to eight. You were sent on this service as a hard rider with the
fastest horse in the camp. You arrive a hundred minutes late, on foot.
Where is your horse!
THE LIEUTENANT (moodily pulling off his gloves and dashing them
with his cap and whip on the table). Ah! where indeed? That's just what
I should like to know, General. (With emotion.) You don't know how
fond I was of that horse.
NAPOLEON (angrily sarcastic). Indeed! (With sudden misgiving.)
Where are the letters and despatches?
THE LIEUTENANT (importantly, rather pleased than otherwise at
having some remarkable news). I don't know.
NAPOLEON (unable to believe his ears). You don't know!
LIEUTENANT. No more than you do, General. Now I suppose I shall
be court-martialled. Well, I don't mind being court-martialled; but (with
solemn determination) I tell you, General, if ever I catch that innocent
looking youth, I'll spoil his beauty, the slimy little liar! I'll make a
picture of him. I'll--
NAPOLEON (advancing from the hearth to the table). What innocent
looking youth? Pull yourself together, sir, will you; and give an account
of yourself.
LIEUTENANT (facing him at the opposite side of the table, leaning on
it with his fists). Oh, I'm all right, General: I'm perfectly ready to give
an account of myself. I shall make the court-martial thoroughly
understand that the fault was not mine. Advantage has been taken of the
better side of my nature; and I'm not ashamed of it. But with all respect
to you as my commanding officer, General, I say again that if ever I set
eyes on that son of Satan, I'll--

NAPOLEON (angrily). So you said before.
LIEUTENANT (drawing himself upright). I say it again. just wait until
I catch him. Just wait: that's all. (He folds his arms resolutely, and
breathes hard, with compressed lips.)
NAPOLEON. I AM waiting, sir--for your explanation.
LIEUTENANT (confidently). You'll change your tone, General, when
you hear what has happened to me.
NAPOLEON. Nothing has happened to you, sir: you are alive and not
disabled. Where are the papers entrusted to you?
LIEUTENANT. Nothing! Nothing!! Oho! Well, we'll see. (Posing
himself to overwhelm Napoleon with his news.) He swore eternal
brotherhood with me. Was that nothing? He said my eyes reminded
him of his sister's eyes. Was that nothing? He cried--actually
cried--over the story of my separation from Angelica. Was that nothing?
He paid for both bottles of wine, though he only ate bread and grapes
himself. Perhaps you call that nothing! He gave me his pistols and his
horse and his despatches--most important despatches--and let me go
away with them. (Triumphantly, seeing that he has reduced Napoleon
to blank stupefaction.) Was THAT nothing?
NAPOLEON (enfeebled by astonishment). What did he do that for?
LIEUTENANT (as if the reason were obvious). To show his
confidence in me. (Napoleon's jaw does not exactly drop; but its hinges
become nerveless. The Lieutenant proceeds with honest indignation.)
And I was worthy of his confidence: I brought them all back honorably.
But would you believe it?--when I trusted him with MY pistols, and
MY horse, and MY despatches--
NAPOLEON (enraged). What the devil did you do that for?
LIEUTENANT. Why, to show my confidence in him, of course. And
he betrayed it--abused it--never came back. The thief! the swindler! the
heartless, treacherous little blackguard! You call that nothing, I suppose.
But look here, General: (again resorting to the table with his fist for
greater emphasis) YOU may put up with this outrage from the
Austrians if you like; but speaking for myself personally, I tell you that
if ever I catch--
NAPOLEON (turning on his heel in disgust and irritably resuming his
march to and fro). Yes: you have said that more than once already.
LIEUTENANT (excitedly). More than once! I'll say it fifty times; and

what's more, I'll do it. You'll see, General. I'll show my confidence in
him, so I will. I'll--
NAPOLEON. Yes, yes, sir: no doubt you will. What kind of man was
he?
LIEUTENANT. Well, I should think you ought to be able to tell from
his conduct the sort of man he was.
NAPOLEON. Psh! What was he like?
LIEUTENANT. Like! He's like--well, you ought to have just seen the
fellow: that will give you a notion of what he was like. He won't be like
it five