Collection 1999 - Beyond The Great Snow Mountains (v5.0) Read Online Free PDF Page B

kings.”
    “And this man Washington? Have you met him? We in France have heard much of him.”
    The American hesitated, glancing at his wineglass. “Washington? Yes, I knew him. He is a great man, a greater man than most of us believed. Though he does not, you might say, have a flair. He is a shrewd, thoughtful, considering man, but he has a temper.”
    “So I have heard.” Talleyrand clasped his hands behind his back. “It needs a great man to retreat when all around him are demanding a victory. He knew the important thing was not to risk his army, to keep his fighting force intact.”
    The American gestured to the table. “Will you join me, gentlemen? With the wind as it is, you must plan to stay for hours, perhaps for days. You are Monsieur de Talleyrand?”
    “I am. And this is Monsieur de Fougier. And our companion, Paul Garnet.”
    The American looked around at the name. Garnet had a hard face with cold eyes and a tight-lipped mouth. So this was the traitor? He hesitated over that thought.
    “You will like my country,” he said gently. “It is a fine, strong land. The earth will be frozen now, beneath the snow. The rooftops will be white, and a thousand chimneys will lift their fingers of smoke toward the sky, but soon after you are there, the spring will come. The trees will bud and the fields grow green, and the men will plow the earth and you will hear the heavy wagons along the dirt roads. It is a young land, monsieur, a growing, raw, wonderful land, and…and…”
    Talleyrand smiled slightly. “And it is your country.”
    “Yes,” the American said quietly, “it is my country. It will always be my country, the only one for me. I have only learned that now…and now it is too late.”
    Suddenly, he looked up and saw that Dick was in the doorway. Tom was moving nearer, and Garnet suddenly arose and stepped back.
    The American’s hand was beneath his coat. “Talleyrand, watch yourself, sir. I have been waiting to warn you. Your life is in danger.”
    Talleyrand did not move from the table. His eyes flickered over the faces, came to rest on that of Garnet. If he was surprised, he gave no evidence of it. This man, who was for many years to be Europe’s master of intrigue, who was to think always of his country and not of its ruler, was never to be surprised.
    “You are clumsy, Paul. Had it not been for the storm, we would have gotten away from you.”
    “It does not matter. There was the storm!”
    “But we are warned.”
    “And unarmed,” Garnet replied coolly, triumphant now.
    “I am not.”
    Their eyes turned to the American. He had drawn a pistol from beneath his dress coat. In his right hand he held the hilt of the still-sheathed saber.
    There was something in that still, cold, handsome face that sent a shiver of apprehension through Garnet. This man…this man would not be afraid to die. He would die hard, and not alone.
    De Fougier lurched backward, his face white. The three men faced the assassins. One pale and cowering, one tall and straight and cool, one the mysterious soldier, with a pistol in his hand.
    “Well, gentlemen,” Talleyrand said coolly, “what is it to be? Are you ready to die, or will you retire quietly?”
    Garnet was furious. He glared at the American. “He has but one shot, and there are four of us!”
    The American smiled. “One shot, for
you
. And then the saber. I fancy the saber, my man. I was of the cavalry before this.”
    Dick spoke up angrily. “Belay the gab! It’s him you want, ain’t it?” He pointed an outstretched finger at Talleyrand. “Then by the…!” He lunged, a dagger suddenly gripped in his fist.
    The American’s pistol exploded and Dick halted in mid-stride, his mouth falling open. At the same instant there was a second explosion and Garnet turned half around, then fell across the corner of the table. The table tipped, crashed on its side, and the wine bottle rolled off, struck the fallen man on the back, then rolled off onto the floor.