The fencing master, p.24
THE FENCING MASTER, page 24
“What is the matter, Count?” asked the astonished General, “why do you come and hand me your sabre instead of using it against the rebels?”
“Because I was in the conspiracy, Sir, and as I am bound to be denounced and caught sooner or later I prefer to give myself up.”
“Take charge of Count Alexis Vaninkov,” said the General, addressing the two cuirassiers and escort him to the fortress.”
The order was at once executed. I saw the Count led across the Moïka bridge and disappear behind the corner of the French Embassy.
Then I thought of Louise, whose only friend was now myself. I pressed through the crowd on to the Prospect, and when I reached my poor compatriot I was so pale and sorrowful that she was perfectly certain I was bringing her bad news. The moment she saw me she ran to me with her hands clasped.
“In the name of heaven, what is it?” she asked of me.
“You must either trust in a miracle from God or in the clemency of the Emperor,” I answered.
Then I related to her all I had seen and handed her Vaninkov’s letter.
As I expected, it was to bid her farewell.
The same evening Count Milarodovitch died of his wound; but before his death he insisted that the surgeon should extricate the bullet; when the operation was over he took the pellet of lead in his hand, and seeing it was not of the regulation calibre, said: “I am satisfied, it is not an army bullet.”
Five minutes afterwards he passed away.
At nine o’clock the next morning, that is at the time when life is beginning to pulsate through the city, and when everyone is uncertain whether yesterday’s rebellion has been quelled or is about to burst out afresh, the Emperor left the Palace hand in hand with the Empress but without any attendants or any escort; then getting into a drosky which was waiting at the gate of the Winter Palace, he drove through the streets of St. Petersburg, passing in front of all the barracks, and offering himself as a target to the assassins if any remained. But on all sides he heard nothing but shouts of joy, uttered from afar as soon as the waving plumes of his hat were perceived; but as he was returning to the palace after this rash excursion which had been so successful, and was passing along the Prospect, he saw a woman emerge from a house, with a paper in her hand, rush into the road and kneel down in such a position that unless his sleigh turned aside, she would be crushed. When three paces from her the coachman pulled up short, with the proverbial skill of Russians in managing a horse; then the woman, weeping but speechless, had only strength enough to wave the paper she held in her hand; possibly the Emperor might have continued his drive, but the Empress looked at her with the smile of an angel, and took the paper on which were the following words hastily scrawled and still wet:
“SIRE, “Have pity on Count Vaninkov: in the name of all that is most precious to your Majesty, pardon him pardon him.”
The Emperor looked in vain for a signature; there was none. Then turning to the unknown woman, he inquired:
“Are you his sister?”
The suppliant shook her head sadly.
“Are you his wife?”
Another shake of the head.
“Well, who are you then?” asked the Emperor, becoming slightly impatient.
“Alas!” cried Louise, recovering her voice, “in seven months time, Sire, I shall be the mother of his child.”
“Poor girl!” said the Emperor; and signalling to the coachman, he set off at a gallop, taking away the petition, but leaving no hope to the weeping creature beyond the two words of pity which fell from his lips.
CHAPTER XVII
THE following days were spent in removing all traces of the terrible émeute, though the bullet-pitted walls of the Senate house still served as a reminder of the tragedy.
On the same evening or during the night, the ringleaders had been arrested; they consisted of Prince Trubetski, Rylejev the journalist, Prince Obolinski, Captain Jacubovitch, Lieutenant Kakovski, Sub-Captain Stchepine Rotovski and Bestujev, another Bestujev, aide-decamp to the Duke Alexander of Wurtemburg; altogether from sixty to eighty individuals, who were more or less involved by word or action; Vaninkov, who, as I have stated, had surrendered of his own accord and Colonel Bulatov who had followed his example.
By a strange coincidence, Pestel, in accordance with instructions emanating from Taganrog, had been arrested in the middle of Russia on the same day that the insurrection had broken out at St. Petersburg.
As to Sergius and Apostol Muraviev, who had succeeded in escaping and had induced six companies of the Tchernigov regiment to revolt, they were overtaken near the village of Pulogov, in the district of Vasilkov, by Lieutenant-General Roth. After a desperate resistance, one of them attempted to blow out his brains with a pistol, but failed; the other was captured after receiving a terrible wound in the side from a grape shot and a sabre cut on the head.
No matter how far distant the spot where they were arrested, all prisoners were brought to St. Petersburg; then a commission of investigators, composed of Tatischev, the Minister of War, the Grand Duke Michael, Prince Galitzin, Privy Councillor Golemtchev-Kotusov, who had succeeded Count Milarodovitch as Military Governor of St. Petersburg, Tchernychev, Benkendorff, Levachev and Potapov, all four aides-de-camp, was appointed by the Emperor, and that the inquiry would be conducted impartially the names I have just mentioned were a sufficient guarantee.
But as is usual at St. Petersburg, everything was conducted in silence and secrecy and nothing was allowed to see the light of day. Even more than this, strange though it may appear, on the morrow of the day that the army had been officially informed of the arrest of all the traitors, they might as far as one could tell, have never existed, or have been born friendless and without relations; not a single house lowered its blinds in token of condolence, not a face was clouded with grief, expressive of mourning. Everything went on as if nothing had happened. Louise alone took the step I have mentioned, one probably without precedent in the Muscovite annals; and yet everyone, I suppose, felt like myself in his secret soul, that any morning might give birth to some terrible blood-curdling news. It had been a flagrant conspiracy, the actors had not hesitated to take life, and though all were aware of the Emperor’s kind heart, it was well understood that he could not extend a pardon to all; blood called for blood.
From time to time a ray of hope pierced the darkness like some faint flicker, and gave fresh evidence of the Emperor’s generosity. In the list of the traitors that had to be submitted to him, he recognised one name dear to Russia; I refer to Suvarov. As a matter of fact, the son of the rude conqueror of the Trebia was among the number of the conspirators. When Nicholas came to his name he paused; then after a moment’s silence “We cannot allow,” said he as if speaking to himself, “so noble a name to be dishonoured.” Then turning to the Head of the Police who had presented the list, he said: “I will myself cross examine Lieutenant Suvarov.”
The next day the young man was brought before the Emperor, whom he expected to find angry and threatening; but on the contrary he appeared quite calm and gentle. Nor was this all, the prisoner at once perceived why he had been brought there. All the questions of the Sovereign, prepared with paternal solitude, were such that the examination could only end in an acquittal. All the Emperor’s questions required only the answer ‘Yes ‘or ‘No ‘; the Czar would then turn to the spectators of this strange scene and say: “You see, you hear, I told you so, gentlemen, it is impossible for a Suvarov to be a traitor.” Then Suvarov was released from prison and sent back to his regiment and shortly afterwards was gazetted to a Captaincy.
But all the conspirators were not named Suvarov, and although I did all I could to inspire in my poor compatriot a hope which I did not myself possess, the grief of Louise was indeed distressing. From the day of Vaninkov’s arrest, she had absolutely abandoned all the ordinary tasks of her former life and retired into a little room which she had arranged behind the shop and there she sat leaning her head upon her hands, and silently shedding great tears, only opening her lips to ask of the visitors, who, like myself, were admitted to her little retreat; “Do you think they will shoot him? “Then, whatever the answer, to which she never paid any heed, she would exclaim — ” Ah! if only I were not about to become a mother.”
Thus, time passed on, without any news as to the fate of the prisoners. The Commission of inquiry continued its task in the dark; it was felt that the end of the bloody tragedy was approaching, but no one could foretell what this end would be, or when it would be made known.
Two events supervened, which enabled the inhabitants of St. Petersburg to forget for a time at least, the tragedy of December; one was the Embassy extraordinary sent from France and headed by the Duc de Ruguse; the other was the arrival of the corpse of the Empress Elizabeth. She had kept her word, and survived Alexander only four months. The Embassy arrived in the early days of May, and the obsequies took place at the beginning of June. I got news of the former by a letter from one of my former pupils and of the latter by a cannon shot fired from the fortress. As I was perpetually on the alert, both owing to my affection for Louise and the fancy I had conceived for the Count, I thought the cannon shot betokened something quite different and I hurriedly left the house to find out what was happening. Just then I heard a second cannon shot and seeing everybody hurrying to the quays I followed. On the way I heard what had happened.
When I got to the quay, there was such a throng of people that I perceived it would be impossible to see anything if I remained there. So I hired a boat and mooring it in the middle of the stream waited to see the cortège pass, for it would have to cross the immense bridge of boats which stretched from the Champ de Mars to the fortress. Presently all the bells in the city began to mingle their sound with the artillery and rang out a grand peal.
The first individual to appear was the master of the ceremonies on horseback, wearing in token of mourning a scarf of black and white crêpe.
After him marched a company of the Prebovjenski Guards, then an officer attached to the Imperial stables, then a Court steward, whose mourning was indicated by an immense hat pulled down over his eyes and a black cloak draping his shoulders.
The kettle drummers and trumpeters of the light cavalry and horse guards came next, followed by forty footmen, forty runners, eight grooms of the Chamber and four Court officials. Twenty pages marched behind them, accompanied by their director, who brought up the rear of the first section of the procession.
Sixty-two standards from various provinces of the Empire came next, each borne aloft by an officer, while two other officers accompanied them to render assistance, and amidst these symbols of mourning a black silk flag bearing the arms of Russia was held high and followed by a man-at-arms clad in black armour, holding in his hand a naked sword with the point turned earthwards. Behind the man-at-arms twelve Huzzars of the Guard, led by an officer, formed the advance guard of a state coach, surmounted by the Imperial crown and drawn by eight horses richly caparisoned. Eight grooms walked beside the horses, two footmen were opposite the doors and four mounted grooms followed. It was a spectacle of earthly pomp being performed for the last time amid the gloomy attributes of death.
The procession then resumed its funeral aspect, and nothing could be distinguished but an indistinct mass of black cloaks and crêpe, which marched in front of the arms of Baden, Scheswig-Holstein, the Crimea, Siberia, Finland, Astrakhan, Kasan, Poland, Novgorod, Kiev, Vladimir and Moscow.
Each of these banners like the others, was held aloft by an officer, escorted on either side by two brother officers; then came the great banner emblazoned with the arms of the Empire, preceded by four Generals and supported by two Major- Generals, two Colonels and two Captains.
After the emblems representative of the Imperial Power and the Army, came the deputies from the various corporations of tradesmen, merchants and coachmen, each preceded by a small standard on which were painted or embroidered the distinctive symbols of the trades pursued by those comprising it, and the whole heralded by the master of the ceremonies.
The various societies, such as the Russian American Company, the Economic Society, the Prisons Society, the Philanthropic Society, the numerous employees in the Public Imperial Library, the St. Petersburg University, the Academy of Arts, the Academy of Science passed along; then the Generals and Aides-de Camp of the Emperor, the Secretaries of State, the Senators and Members of the Council and lastly all the pupils of the industrial and other schools to which the defunct Empress had accorded her special patronage. Two heralds-at-arms followed them, clothed in black and ushering in the foreign orders, the Russian orders and the Imperial crown reposing on cushions of gold brocade.
Three images carried by the Empress’s confessor and two others by archdeacons and priests came next and were directly followed by the funeral car on which was laid the body of the Empress. The supports of the baldachin were held by four chamberlains, as well as the cords and tassels of the pall and on both sides of the car walked the Ladies of the Order of St. Catherine, draped with long veils, and the maids of honour, who had accompanied the Empress on her last journey and loyal to the last were escorting her to her final resting place. Important officials led the horses attached to the carriage and sixty pages, holding lighted candles, surrounded it with a cordon of fire.
Then came the Emperor Nicholas clad in a black mantle and wearing a turned down hat; on his right was the Grand Duke Michael and a short distance behind, the Commander-in-Chief, the Minister for War, the Quartermaster-General, the General on duty and several others. Twenty-four standard bearers marched at a respectful distance from the Emperor, skirting the parapets of the bridge and enclosing in their double file a mourning coach in which were seated the Empress and the young Grand Duke Alexander, the heir to the throne. Then came on foot the Grand Duke of Wurtemburg, his two sons and daughter together with the Queen of Imiritia and the Queen Regent of Mingrelia. Next came all the women formerly in the service of the deceased Empress; while a detachment of the Semonovski regiment brought up the rear of the procession.
The cortège took nearly an hour and a half to cross the bridge, so slow was its pace, and so extended its length. When this long thread had wended its way into the fortress, the people crowded in after it to pay their last respects to one who for twenty years had been regarded as an intermediary between heaven and earth.
On my return I found Louise terribly upset. Like myself she had been in ignorance of the religious ceremony which was about to take place, and at the first report of the cannons and the pealing of the bells she trembled as if it had been the signal for execution.
Now M. de Gorgoli, with whom I continued to maintain very friendly relations, had repeatedly reassured me, telling me that the result of the inquiry would be published some days before it took effect, and that we should in any case have time to appeal directly to the Emperor if our unfortunate Vaninkov should be condemned to death. At last on the 14th of July the St. Petersburg Gazette appeared, containing the report addressed to the Emperor by the High Court of Justice.
The conspirators were divided into three classes and condemned under one of the three following charges: —
(1) Disturbing the Empire.
(2) Overthrowing the established constitution of the State.
(3) Subverting the established order.
Thirty-six of the prisoners were sentenced by the Court to the death penalty, and the others to the mines or to exile, Vaninkov was of the number of those condemned to death. But on the heels of Justice followed Mercy; in the case of thirty-one the death sentence was commuted to perpetual exile and Vaninkov was fortunately included among them.
Only five of the condemned were to suffer the extreme penalty: — Rylejev, Bestujev, Michael Sergius, Muraviev and Pestel.
I tore out of the house, running like a madman, with the paper in my hand, and stopping everybody I met, to get them to share in my joy, and arrived at Louise’s completely out of breath. I found her with a copy of the same paper in her hand, and at sight of me she threw herself into my arms, shedding floods of tears, and incapable of uttering anything but these words: “He is saved! God bless the Emperor!”
In our selfishness we had forgotten the poor wretches who were to suffer death and who, no doubt possessed families or friends, wives or mistresses. Louise’s first thought was for Vaninkov’s mother and sisters, whom it will be remembered, she knew from having seen them during their visit to St. Petersburg. The unfortunate women were still in ignorance that their son and brother was not to die, and this is everything in such a case, for there is a way back from the mines or from Siberia, but when once the tomb is closed, it is closed for ever.
Then occurred to Louise one of those ideas which can emanate only from a sister or a mother; she calculated that the Gazette containing the happy news would leave St. Petersburg by the post-courier not before the evening, and that consequently twelve hours would be lost in forwarding it to Moscow, so she asked me if I knew of any messenger who could be prevailed upon to start immediately, and post with the Gazette to Vaninkov’s mother. My valet was a Russian and therefore above suspicion, he was intelligent and reliable; I proposed him and she eagerly accepted my offer. It was only necessary to get a passport. In half an hour’s time, thanks to the unfailing interest of M. de Gorgoli I had procured it and Gregory set out, bearing the good news, with a thousand roubles for his expenses.
He gained fourteen hours on the Courier, fourteen hours sooner for them to get the news, fourteen hours sooner a mother and two sisters learnt that they still had a son and a brother.
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