Calvert of Strathore Part 6

"But 'tis not an uncivilized land by any means," went on Calvert, who was young and ardent enough to espouse warmly the cause of his country from even the badinage of a spoilt young girl. "There is much learning and the most gracious manners to be found there, as you must also know, since we have been able to spare two such shining examples of both to this court--Dr. Franklin and Mr. Jefferson."

"Monsieur does not mean to compare the civilization of his own country to that of ours?" contemptuously demanded St. Aulaire, who, up to that time, had stood superciliously by, taking no part in the conversation.

"Indeed, no!" returned Calvert, with suspicious promptness. "In my mind there can be no comparison, and surely you will acknowledge that a country which has produced the greatest man of the age is not one to be despised."

"And who may that be?" asked Monsieur de St. Aulaire, with lazy insolence.

"I had thought, my lord," returned Calvert, bowing low, "that the subject of so enlightened a state as you say France is would surely have heard the name of General Washington. Monsieur does not read history?"

"'Tis impossible to read yours, since you have none," returned St.

Aulaire, with a contemptuous little laugh.

"We are making it every day, Monsieur," said Calvert, calmly.

"Ah, sir!" demanded Madame de St. Andre, "are all Americans so presumptuous?"

"Yes, Madame--if 'tis presumptuous to admire General Washington."

"We have heard of him in effect," sneeringly broke in Monsieur de St.

Aulaire. "A lucky adventurer with a pretty talent for fighting British cowards, a beggar who has not been turned away empty from our doors.

Why, hasn't the whole country given to him?--from the King down--and truth to tell we were glad to give as long as he whipped the English."

"No, no, Monsieur de St. Aulaire," suddenly interrupted Madame de St.

Andre, turning upon him, "do not wrong France, do not wrong your King, do not wrong Lafayette and Rochambeau and Dillon and so many others! We gave because France was strong and America weak, because it was our greatest happiness to help right her wrongs, because 'tis ever France's way to succor the oppressed. As for General Washington, Monsieur Calvert does well to admire him. The King admires him--can Monsieur de St. Aulaire do less? We are devoted royalists, but we can still respect and admire patriotism and genius under whatever government they flourish." She changed her tone of authority and accusation and turned to Calvert. Again the mask had been dropped, the eyes were once more kind, the voice and smile once more tender. "I should like to hear more of your General Washington and of America, Monsieur," she said, almost shyly, and Calvert wondered at the change in her. "If Monsieur skates, we should be happy to have him join us to-morrow afternoon on the ice near the Pont Royal. 'Tis for three o'clock." And she smiled as she turned away, followed by Monsieur de St. Aulaire, apparently in no very good-humor.

When Calvert again looked around him, after having watched Madame de St.

Andre disappear, he noticed Mr. Jefferson at the farther end of the room looking much disturbed and talking earnestly with Monsieur Necker, Monsieur le Comte de Montmorin, and Mr. Gouverneur Morris, who had at length left the side of the charming Madame de Flahaut. Calvert approached the group, and, as he drew near, he could hear Necker speaking in an anxious, despondent tone.

"My dear friend," he was saying, "'tis not only difficulties with the finances which alarm us! Obedience is not to be found anywhere. Even the troops are not to be relied on." And he turned wearily away.

When Mr. Jefferson caught sight of Calvert, who had stopped, hesitating to join the group lest he should intrude on some important and private business, he beckoned the young man forward.

"Is anything the matter?" asked Calvert, in a low tone. "You look anxious."

"I will tell you later, my boy," returned Mr. Jefferson, smiling rea.s.suringly. "Go and talk to Madame de Flahaut--Mr. Morris has promised to send you to her."

Calvert did as he was desired, and found Madame de Flahaut a very entertaining lady, but who, in spite of her charms, he was not sorry to see go, as she did presently, with Madame de Coigny and Monsieur de Curt. And soon after she retired the company broke up and only Mr.

Morris remained behind to have a last gla.s.s of wine and a few moments'

quiet chat with Mr. Jefferson and Calvert. It was while they were thus engaged in the now deserted drawing-room that Mr. Jefferson told Calvert the cause of his perturbed look, which was none other than a conversation concerning the state of the kingdom confided to himself and Mr. Morris by Monsieur Necker. He explained at great length to Calvert the delicacy and danger of the Comptroller-General's position and the wretched condition of the country's finances and army. To which Mr.

Morris added some of his own observations, made with the rapidity and justness so characteristic of him.

"Monsieur Necker seems to me, indeed, to be in a disagreeable and sufficiently dangerous position. His business stands thus: if any mischiefs happen they will be charged to him. If he gets well through the business others will claim the reputation of what good is done by the States-General. If he is a really great man, I am deceived. If he is not a laborious man, I am also deceived. He loves flattery--for he flatters. He is therefore easily imposed upon."

But here Mr. Jefferson would not allow Mr. Morris to proceed with his dicta, declaring that he did Monsieur Necker a gross injustice, and defending him warmly, both as a financier and statesman. Mr. Morris still clinging to his hastily formed opinion, the two gentlemen continued to argue the matter until, Mr. Morris's carriage having been announced, he took his final leave and stumped his way down the broad staircase, attended to the door by Calvert.

But deeply as Calvert was already interested in the affairs of France, it was not the miscarried business of a nation that troubled his sleep that night. For the first time in his life the face of a woman haunted his dreams, now luring him on with glance and voice, as it seemed to him, now sending him far from her with teasing laughter and disdainful eyes.

CHAPTER VII

AN AFTERNOON ON THE ICE

Calvert's second morning at the Legation was even busier than the first had been, so that there was no time for disquieting thoughts or the memory of troubled dreams. Indeed, the young man had very good nerves and such power of concentration and so conscientious a regard for whatever he might have on hand to do as always kept him absorbed in his work. The packet by which he and Mr. Morris had arrived being ready to start on the return voyage, it was necessary to make up the American mail, which Calvert found to be no light task. Mr. Jefferson's large private correspondence always necessitated the writing of a dozen or more letters for every packet, several copies of the more important having to be made, owing to the unreliability of the vessels themselves and the danger of all communications being opened and possibly destroyed by the French agents before they could even be sent on their way.

Besides these private letters there were also many communications concerning official business to be written. The most important one was a letter to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Jay, concerning the recall of Monsieur le Comte de Moustier, whose conduct had become most offensive to the American Congress, and the possible appointment of Colonel Ternant to his office. This officer had won a great European reputation as _Generalissimo_ of one of the United Provinces, and it was even hinted that, had he been put at the head of affairs instead of the pusillanimous Rhinegrave of Salm, the cause might have been saved. All this and other details had to be communicated to Mr. Jay, and so delicate was the business that Calvert was instructed to put the letter in cipher lest it be opened and the French Government prematurely informed of the dissatisfaction felt with its representative in America.

It was well on toward three in the afternoon before all the business was disposed of and Calvert had leisure to recall his engagement. When Mr.

Jefferson heard of it he declared his intention of going, too, for it was ever one of his greatest pleasures to watch young people at their amus.e.m.e.nts. The carriage was ordered, and, after stopping in the rue de Richelieu for Mr. Morris, Mr. Jefferson ordered the coachman to drive to the terrace of the Jardin des Tuileries, near the Pont Royal, which particular place the fashionable world had chosen for a rendezvous from which to watch the skating upon the Seine.

It was a beautiful and unusual sight that met Calvert's eyes for the first time on that brilliant winter's afternoon as he alighted from Mr.

Jefferson's carriage. The river, which was solidly frozen over at this point, and which was kept smooth and free of soft ice by attendants from the Palais Royal, was thronged. Officers of the splendid Maison du Roi and the Royale Cravate, in magnificent uniforms, glided about; n.o.bles in their rich dress, the sunlight catching their small swords and burnishing them to glittering brightness, skated hither and thither; now and then in the crowd was seen some beautiful woman on skates or more frequently wrapped in furs and being pushed luxuriously about in a chair-sleigh by lackeys and attended by a retinue of admirers. On the terrace of the garden overlooking the river a throng of the most notable people of the court and society, drawn hither by the novelty of the pastime and comfortably installed in chairs brought by their servants, with chaufferettes and furs to keep them protected from the intense cold, looked on at the shifting, swiftly moving pageant before them. For the time being the Parisian world was mad about skating, both because of its popularity as an English sport and because of the rarity with which it could be enjoyed in France.

Joining the throng of spectators, Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Morris quickly found themselves surrounded by friends and acquaintances, and Calvert left them talking with Madame d'Azay, Madame de Flahaut, and the Marechal de Segur, while he put on his skates. The young man was no great proficient in the art of skating as he was in that of swimming and riding (indeed, he was a most perfect equestrian, seeming to have some secret understanding and entente cordiale with every animal he ever bestrode), but with that facile acquirement of any physical accomplishment which ever distinguished him, he was soon perfectly at ease on the ice.

It was while opposite the Place du Carrousel and almost out of sight of the crowd of onlookers, that Calvert suddenly came upon Madame de St.

Andre. She had ventured upon the ice on skates, and was talking to St.

Aulaire, who skated slowly beside her. Even in the bright sunshine the Baron de St. Aulaire did not show his age, and moved and bore himself with incomparable grace on the ice. Indeed, in his rich dress and splendid decorations he made a dazzling appearance, and quite eclipsed Mr. Calvert in his sober garments and unpowdered hair. Calvert would have pa.s.sed by or retreated without intruding himself upon Madame de St.

Andre, but before he could do either she had caught sight of him, and he saw, or fancied he saw, a look of relief pa.s.s over her face and a welcome dawn in her eyes. Thinking so, he skated slowly toward her, wishing to be sure that he was wanted, and, as he did so, the gentleman, perceiving his approach, ceased speaking and looked most obviously annoyed at the young man's arrival.

Madame de St. Andre waved her hand lightly. "Au revoir, Monsieur de St.

Aulaire!" she cried. "Here is Monsieur Calvert, who will take me back over the ice, so I shall not have to trouble you," and she laughed in a relieved, if somewhat agitated, fashion as St. Aulaire, doffing his hat and scowling fiercely at Calvert, skated rapidly away. As Calvert looked at the retreating figure, Beaufort's words of two days before flashed through his mind again, and it was with a sort of horror that he thought of this dissolute n.o.bleman having even spoken with Madame de St. Andre.

Was this beautiful girl born under some unlucky star that she should have to know and a.s.sociate with such creatures? Calvert had only met her the night before, and already he had seen her twice with a man whose very presence was contaminating. 'Twas almost with the fear of finding some visible sign of that debasing influence upon the fair face beside him that he turned and looked at Madame de St. Andre. It would have been impossible for anyone to have looked more innocently charming. The court beauty was in eclipse, and in her place was a radiant, gracious young girl. Perhaps it was the short, fur-trimmed dress she wore and the small cap with its tuft of heron plumes, a fashion lately set by the Princess de Lamballe, which gave her that childish air. Or, more possibly, it was the unaccustomed look of embarra.s.sment upon her face and a half-laughing petulance as of a naughty child caught in mischief.

"Good-day, Monsieur l'Americain," she said, gayly, smiling into the serious face Calvert turned toward her. "Will you forgive me for pressing you into service in so offhand a manner?--but perhaps you were looking for me?"

"No, Madame," returned Calvert, calmly, as they skated slowly toward the Quai des Tuileries, "but 'tis a pleasure to be of service to you."

A cloud gathered on Madame de St. Andre's brow at this honest and somewhat uncomplimentary reply, but suddenly the humor of the situation seemed to strike her and she burst out laughing.

"Are you always so truthful, Monsieur Calvert, and do American ladies absolve you from making pretty speeches? If so, I warn you you must change or you will not succeed with the ladies of Louis's court."

"Ah, Madame! I am no courtier--nor, indeed, do I care to be," said Calvert, quietly.

"Worse and worse!" cried Madame de St. Andre, still laughing. "But even though you disclaim all effort to find me, or wish to be agreeable when found, yet I will still confess that you arrived most opportunely.

Monsieur de St. Aulaire grows fatiguing," she went on, with a pettish shrug of her shoulders. "He is as prodigal of compliments as you are chary of them."

Calvert looked at the young girl beside him.

"He dares to compliment you! A compliment from Monsieur de St. Aulaire can be nothing less than an insult," he said, gravely.

Madame de St. Andre lifted her eyes quickly to Calvert's face and, noting the ill-concealed disgust and quiet scorn written there, blushed scarlet and regarded him haughtily.

"Monsieur le Baron de St. Aulaire is one of the greatest gentlemen in Europe--and--and anyone whom he distinguishes by his attentions must feel honored."

"Monsieur le Baron de St. Aulaire is one of the greatest roues in Europe," corrected Calvert, calmly, "and anyone whom he distinguishes by his attentions ought to feel disgraced."

Madame de St. Andre was speechless in sheer amazement and indignation.