Ai THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES THE MAN OF DESTINY The Man of Destiny : A Trifle. By Bernard Shaw. Constable and Company Ltd. London: 1920. [ This play has been publidy' performed •within the United Kingdom, It it entered at Stationers' Hall and the Librury of Congress, U.S.A. All rights I eser-ved.^ f tinted ly R. & R. Ci.ark, Limited, Edinburgh. H 3 i THE MAN OF DESTINY T/je twelfth of Ma J, IjgS, in north Italy, at Tavazzano, on the road from Lodi to Milan. The afternoon sun is blazing serenely over the plains of Lembardy, treating the Alps with respect and the anthills with indulgence, not incommoded by the basking of the swine and oxen in the villages nor hurt by its cool reception in the churches, but fiercely disdainful of two hordes of mischievous insects which are the French and Austrian armies. Two days before, at Lodi, the Austrians tried to prevent the French from crossing the river by the narrow bridge there ; but the French, commanded by a general aged 27, "Napoleon Bonaparte, who does not understand the art of war, rushed the fireswept bridge, supported by a tremen- dous cannonade in which the young general assisted with his own hands. Cannonading is his technical speciality : he has been trained in the artillery under the old regime, and made perfect in the military arts of shirking his duties, swindling the paymaster over travelling expenses, and dignifying war with the noise and smoke of cannon, as depicted in all military portraits. He is, however, an original observer, and has perceived, for the first time since the invention of gunpowder, that a cannon ball, if it strikes a man, will kill him. To a thorough grasp of this remarkable discovery, he adds a highly evolved faculty for physical geography and for the calculation of times and distances. He has prodigious powers of work^ and a clear, realistic The Man of Destlnv .56 knowledge of hutriiin nature in public affairs, having seen it exhaustively^ tested in that department during the French Revolution. He is imaginative without illusions, and crea- tive without religion, loyalty, patriotism or any of the common ideals. Not that he is incapable of these ideals : on the con- trary, he has swallotved them all in his boyhood, and now, having a keen dramatic faculty, is extremely clever at playing upon them by the arts of the actor and stage manager. Withal, he is no spoiled child. Poverty, ill-luck, the shifts of impe- cunious shabby-gentility, repeated failure as a would-be author, humiliation as a re b tiffed time server, reproof and punishment as an incompetent and dishonest officer, an escape from dismissal from the service so narrow that if the emigration of the nobles had not raised the value of even the most rascally lieutenant to the fa?nine price of a general he would have been swept con- temptuously from the army : these trials have ground his conceit out of him, and forced him to be self- sufficient and to understand that to such men as he is the world will give nothing that he cannot take from it by force. In this the world is not free from cowardice and folly ; for "Napoleon, as a merci- less cannonader of political rubbish, is making himself useful : indeed, it is even now impossible to live in England without some- times feeling how much that country lost in not being conquered by him as zvell as by Julius Caesar. However, on this May afternoon in 1796, it is early days with him. He is only 26, and has but recently become a general, partly by using his u;ife to seduce the Directory [then governing France) ; partly by the scarcity of officers caused by the emigration as aforesaid ; partly by his faculty of knowing a country, with all its roads, rivers, hills and valleys, as he knows the palm of his hand ; and largely by that new faith of his in the efficacy of f ring cannons at people. His army is, as to dis- cipline, in a state which has so greatly shocked some modern writers before whom the following story has been enacted, that they, impressed with thi later glory of " U Empereur,^' have altogether refused to credit it. But Napoleon is not " V Em- pereur " yet : he has tnlyjutt btm dubbed " Lt Petit Caferaif" The Man of Destiny 157 and is i?i the stage of gaining infiuence over his men by dis- plays of pluck. He is not in a position to force his will on them, in orthodox military fashion, by the cat o' nine tails. The French Revolution, which has escaped suppression solely through the monarches habit of being at least four years in arrear with its soldiers in the matter of pay, has substituted for that habit, as far as possible, the habit of not paying at all, except in promises and patriotic flatteries which are not compatible with martial law of the Prussian type. Napoleon has therefore approached the Alps in command of men without money, in rags, and consequently indisposed to stand much discipline, especially from upstart generals. This circumstance, which would have embarrassed an idealist soldier, has been worih a thousand cannon to 'Napoleon. He has said to his army " Tou have patriotism and courage ; but you have no money, no clothes, and hardly anything to eat. In Italy there are all these things, and glory as well, to be gained by a devoted army led by a general who regards loot as the natural right of the soldier. I am such a general. En avant, ?nes enfant s!'''' The result has entirely justified him. The army conquers Itai_, as the locusts conquered Cyprus. They fight all day and march all night, covering impossible distances and appearing in incredible places, not because every soldier carries a field marshaPs baton in his knapsack, but because he hopes to carry at least half a dozen silver forks there next day. It must be understood, by the way, that the French army does not make war on the Italians. It is there to rescue them from the tyranny of their Austrian conquerors, and confer re- publican institutions on them ; so that in incidentally looting them it merely makes free with the property of its friends, who ought to be grateful to it, and perhaps would be if ingratitude were not the proverbial failing of their country. The Aus- trians, whom it fights, are a thoroughly respectable regular army, well disciplined, commanded by gentlemen versed in orthodox campaigning : at the head of them Beaulieu. practising the classic art of war under orders from Vienna, and getting horribly beaten by Napoleon, who acts on his own responsibility 158 The Man of Destiny in defiance of professional precedents or orders from Paris. Even when tie Austrian s win a battle^ all that is necessary is to wait until tieir routine obliges them to return to their quarters for afternoon tea, so to speak, and win it back again from them : a course pursued later on with brilliant success at Marefigo. On the whole, with his foe handicapped by Austrian statesmanship, classic generalship, and the exigencies of the aristocratic social structure of Viennese society. Napoleon finds it possible to be irresistible without working heroic miracles. The world, however, likes miracles and heroes, and is quite incapable of conceiving the action of such forces as academic militarism or Viennese drawingroomism. Hence it has already begun to manufacture '''■ U Empereur," and thus to make it difiicult for the romanticists of a hundred years later to credit the hitherto unrecorded little scene now in question at Tavazzano. The best quarters at Tavazzano are at a little inn, the first house reached by travellers passing through the place from Milan to Lodi. It stands in a vineyard; and its principal room, a pleasant refuge from the summer heat, is open so widely at the back to this vifieyard that it is almost a large veranda. The bolder children, much excited by the alarums and excursions of the past few days, ana by an irruption of French troops at six o'clock, know that the French commander has quartered himself in this room, and are divided between a craving to peep in at the front windows, and a mortal dread of the sentinel, a young gentleman -soldier who, having no natural moustache, has had a most ferocious one painted on his face with boot blacking by his sergeant. As his heavy uniform, like all the uniforms of that day, is designed for parade without the least reference to his health or comfort, he perspires profusely in the sun ; and his painted moustache has run in little streaks down his chin and round his neck, except where it has dried in stiff japanned fiakes and had its sweeping outline chipped off in grotesque little bays and headlands, making him unspeakably ridiculous in the eye of History a hundred years later, but monstrous and horrible to the contemporary north Italian infant. The Man of Destiny 159 to whom nothing would seem more natural than that he should relieve the monotony of his guard by pitchforking a stray child up on his bayonet, and eating it uncooked. Nevertheless one girl of bad character, in whom an instinct of privilege with soldiers is already stirring, does peep in at the safest window for a moment, before a glance and a clink from the sentinel sends her flying. Most of what she sees she has seen before : the vineyard at the back, zvith the old winepress and a cart among the vines ; the door close down on her right leading to the inn entry ; the landlord'' s best sideboard, now in full action for dinner, further back on the same side ; the f replace on the other side, with a couch near it, and another door, leading to the inner rooms, between it and the vineyard ; and the table in the middle with its repast of Milanese risotto, cheese, grapes, bread._ olives, and a big wickered f ask of red wine. The landlord, Giuseppe Grandi, is also no novelty. He is a swarthy, vivacious, shrewdly cheerful, black-curled, bullet headed, grinning little man of 40. Naturally an excellent host, he is in quite special spirits this evening at his good fortune in having the French commander as his guest to pro- tect him against the license of the troops, and actually sports a pair of gold earrings which he would otherwise have hidden carefully under the winepress with his little equipment of silver plate. Napoleon, sitting facing her on the further side of the table, and Napoleon^ s hat, sword and riding whip lying on the couch, she sees for the first time. He is working hard, partly at his meal, which he has discovered how to dispatch, by attacking all the courses simultaneously, in ten minutes {this practice is the beginning of his downfall), and partly at a map which he is correcting from memory, occasionally marking the position of the forces by taking a grape skin from his mouth and planting it on the map with his thumb like a wafer. He has a supply of writing materials before him mixed up in disorder with the dishes and cruets ; and his long hair gets sometimes into the risotto gravy and sometimes into the ink. GIUSEPPE. Will your excellency — i6o The Man of Destiny NAPOLEON [intent on his map, but cramming himself mechani- rally with his left hand'\ Dont talk. I'm busy. GIUSEPPE \tvith perfect goodhumor\ Excellency : I obey. NAPOLEON. Some red ink. GIUSEPPE. Alas ! excellency, there is none. NAPOLEON \iuith Corsican facetiousness~\ Kill something and bring me its blood. GIUSEPPE \_grinning\ There is nothing but your excel- lency's horse, the sentinel, the lady upstairs, and my wife. NAPOLEON. Kill your wife. GIUSEPPE. Willingly, your excellency ; but unhappily I am not strong enough. She would kill me. NAPOLEON. That will do equally well. GIUSEPPE. Your excellency does me too much honor. [Stretching his hand towards the fask] Perhaps some wine will answer your excellency's purpose. NAPOLEON [hastily protecting the flask, and becoming quite serious'] Wine ! No : that would be waste. You are all the same : waste ! waste ! waste! [He marks the map with gravy, using his fork as a pen]. Clear away. [He finishes his wine ; pushes back his chair ; and uses his napkin, stretching his legs and leaning back, but still frowning and thinking]. GIUSEPPE [clearing the table and removing the things to a tray on the sideboard] Every man to his trade, excellency. We innkeepers have plenty of cheap wine : we think nothing of spilling it. You great generals have plenty of cheap blood : you think nothing of spilling it. Is it not so, excellency ? NAPOLEON. Blood costs nothing : wine costs money [He rises and goes to the fireplace]. GIUSEPPE, l^hey say you are careful of everything ex- cept human life, excellency. NAPOLEON. Human life, my friend, is the only thing that takes care of itself. [He throws himself at his ease on the couch], GIUSEPPE [admiring him] Ah, excellency, what fools we The Man of Destiny i6i all are beside you ! If I could only find out the secret of your success ! NAPOLEON. You would make yourself Emperor of Italy, eh? GIUSEPPE. Too troublesome, excellency : I leave all that to you. Besides, what would become of my inn if I were Emperor ? See how you enjoy looking on at me whilst I keep the inn for you and wait on you ! Well, I shall enjoy looking on at you whilst you become Emperor of Europe, and govern the country for me. [j4s he chatters, he takes the cloth off without removing the map and inkstand, and takes the corners in his hands and the middle in his mouth, to fold it up]. NAPOLEON. Emperor of Europe, eh ? Why only Europe ? GIUSEPPE. Why, indeed ? Emperor of the world, ex- cellency ! Why not ? [He folds and rolls up the cloth, emphasizing his phrases by the steps of the process]. One man is like another [fold] : one country is like another [fold] : one battle is like another, [^t the last fold, he slaps the cloth on the table and deftly rolls it up, adding, by zuay of peroration] Conquer one : conquer all. [He takes the cloth to the sideboard, and puts it in a drawer]. NAPOLEON. And govern for all ; fight for all ; be every- body's servant under cover of being everybody's master. Giuseppe. GIUSEPPE [at the sideboard] Excellency ? NAPOLEON. I forbid you to talk to me about myself. GIUSEPPE [coming to the foot of the couch] Pardon. Your excellency is so unlike other great men. It is the subject they like best. NAPOLEON. Well, talk to me about the subject they like next best, whatever that may be. GIUSEPPE [unabashed] Willingly, your excellency. Has your excellency by any chance caught a glimpse of the lady upstairs ? [Napoleon promptly sits up and looks at him with an interest which entirely justifies the implied epigram^. NAPOLEON. How old is she i VOL. II M 1 62 The Man of Destiny GIUSEPPE. The right age, excellency. NAPOLEON. Do you mean seventeen or thirty } GIUSEPPE. Thirty, excellency. NAPOLEON. Goodlooking ? GIUSEPPE. I cannot see with your excellency's eyes : every man must judge that for himself. In my opinion, excellency, a fine figure of a lady. [S/y/y] Shall I lay the table for her collation here ? NAPOLEON [l>rus^ue/y, rising] No : lay nothing here until the officer for whom 1 am waiting comes back. \^He looks at his zvatch, (2nd takes to zvalking to and fro between the fireplace and the vineyard]. GIUSEPPE \_zvith conviction] Excellency : believe me, he has been captured by the accursed Austrians. He dare not keep you waiting if he were at liberty. NAPOLEON [^turning at the edge of the shadow of the ver- anda] Giuseppe : if that turns out to be true, it will put me into such a temper that nothing short of hanging you and your whole household, including the lady upstairs, will satisfy me. GIUSEPPE. We are all cheerfully at your excellency's disposal, except the lady. I cannot answer for her ; but no lady could resist you, General. NAPOLEON {sourly^ resuming his march] Hm ! You will never be hanged. There is no satisfaction in hanging a man who does not object to it. GIUSEPPE [^sympathetically] Not the least in the world, excellency : is there ? [Napoleon again looks at his watch, evidently growing anxious]. Ah, one can see that you are a great man, General : you know how to wait. If it were a corporal now, or a sub-lieutenant, at the end of three minutes he would be swearing, fuming, threatening, pulling the house about our ears. NAPOLEON. Giuseppe : your flatteries are insufferable. Go and talk outside. [He sits down again at the table, with his jaws in his hands, and his elbows propped on the map, poring over it zvith a troubled expression]. The Man of Destiny 163 GIUSEPPE. Willingly, your excellency. You shall not be disturbed. [He takes up the tray and prepares to ■witkdraw\. NAPOLEON. The moment he comes back, send him to me. GIUSEPPE. Instantaneously, your excellency. A lady's voice \calUng from some distant part of the inn] Giusep-pe ! [The voice is very musical, and the two final notes 7nake an ascending interval]. NAPOLEON [startled] Whats that ? Whats that ? GIUSEPPE [resting the end of his tray on the table and leaning over coTifidentially] The lady, excellency. NAPOLEON [absently] Yes. What lady .'' Whose lady .? GIUSEPPE. The strange lady, excellency. NAPOLEON. What strange lady ? GIUSEPPE [zvith a shrug] Who knows ? She arrived here half an hour before you in a hired carriage belonging to the Golden Eagle at Borghetto. Actually by herself, excellency. No servants. A dressing bag and a trunk : that is all. The postillion says she left a horse — a charger, with military trappings, at the Golden Eagle. NAPOLEON. A woman with a charger ! Thats extra- ordinary. THE lady's voice [the two final notes now making a per- emptory descending interval] Giuseppe ! NAPOLEON [rising to listen] Thats an interesting voice. GIUSEPPE. She is an interesting lady, excellency. [Call- ing] Coming, lady, coming. [He makes for the inner door], NAPOLEON [arresting him with a strong hand on his shoulder] Stop. Let her come. voice. Giuseppe!! [impatiently]. GIUSEPPE [pleadingly] Let me go, excellency. It is my point of honor as an innkeeper to come when I am called. I appeal to you as a soldier. A man's VOICE [out side, at the inn door, shouting] Here, some- one. Hollo ! Landlord. Where are you ? [Sofnebody raps vigorously with a whip handle on a bench in the passage]. NAPOLEON [suddenly becoming the commanding ojficer again 164 The Man of Destiny and throwing Giuseppe oJf"\ There he is at last. [Pointing to the inner door] Go. Attend to your business : the lady is calling you. [He goes to the f replace and stands with his back to it with a determined military air]. GIUSEPPE [with hated hreath, snatching up his tray] Certainly, excellency. [He hurries out by the inner door]. THE man's voice [impatiently] Arc you all asleep here ? [The door opposite the fireplace is kicked rudely open; and a dusty sub-lieutenant bursts into the room. He is a chuckle- headed young man of z\, with the fair, delicate, clear skin of a man of rank, and a self-assurance on that ground which the French Revolution has failed to shake in the smallest degree. He has a thick silly lip, an eager credulous eye, an obstinate nose, and a loud confident voice. A young man without fear, without reverence, without imagination, without sense, hopelessly insusceptible to the 'Napoleonic or any other idea, stupendously egotistical, eminently qualified to rush in where angels fear to tread, yet of a vigorous babbling vitality which bustles him into the thick of things. He is just now boiling with vexation, attributable by a superficial observer to his impatience at not being promptly attended to by the staff of the inn, but in which a more discerning eye can perceive a certain moral depth, indicating a more permanent and momentous grievance. On seeing Napoleon, he is sufiUciently taken aback to check himself and salute ; but he does not betray by his manner any of that prophetic consciousness of Marengo and Austerlifz., Waterloo and St Helena, or the Napoleonic pictures of Delaroche and Meissonier, which modern culture will in- stinctively expect from him]. napoleon [sharply] Well, sir, you have come 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 \tnoodily pulling off his gloves and dashing I The Man of Destiny 165 tkem with his cap and whip on the table\ Ah ! where indeed ? Thats just what I should like to know, General. \With emotion~\ You dont know how fond I was of that horse. NAPOLEON \_angrily sarcastic] Indeed! [fVith sudden mis- giving] Where are the letters and despatches } THE LiEXJTENANT [importantly, rather pleased than otherwise at having some remarkable news] I dont know. NAPOLEON \unable to believe his ears] You dont know ! LIEUTENANT. No morc than you do, General. Now I suppose I shall be court-martialled. Well, I dont niind 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 eves 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 : thats all. [He folds his arms resolutely, and breathes hard, with compressed NAPOLEON. I am waiting, sir — for your explanation. LIEUTENANT [confidently] Youll change your tone, Gen- eral, 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 ? 1 66 The Man of Destiny LIEUTENANT. Nothing happened to me ! Nothing ! ! Olio ! [Posing himself to overwhelm Napoleofi with his news] He swore eternal brotherhood with me. Was that noth- ing ? 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, seei/jg 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 she^v 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 be- lieve 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 shcw my confidence in him, of course. And he betrayed it ! abused it ! never came back again ! The thief ! the swindler ! the heartless, treacher- ous little blackguard ! You call that nothing, I suppose. But look here, General : [again resorting to the table with his f St 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 1 catch — NAPOLEON [turning on his heel in disgust and irritably re- suming 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 whats more, I'll do it. Youll see, General. I'll shew my confidence in him, so I will. I'll-- The Man of Destiny 167 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 wont be like it five minutes after I catch him ; for I tell you that if ever — NAPOLEON \jhouting furiously for the innheper\ Giuseppe! \To the Lieutenant^ out of all patience^ Hold your tongue, sir, if you can. LIEUTENANT. I wam you it's no use to try to put the blame on me. \_Plaintivelf\ How was I to know the sort of fellow he was ? [//; a stealthy, coldly furious zvkisper\ This is your revenge, you she cat, for having had to give me the letters. LADY. Nonsense ! Or do you mean that you are that sort of man } NAPOLEON \_exasperated, clasps his hands behind him, his fingers tzvitchi?ig, and says, as he walks irritably away from her to the fireplace'\ This woman will drive me out of my senses. \To her] Begone. LADY [seated immoz'ably] Not without that letter. NAPOLEON. Begone, I tell you. [Walking from the fireplace to the vineyard and back to the table] You shall have no letter. I dont like you. Youre a detestable woman, and as ugly as Satan. I dont choose to be pestered by strange women. Be off. [He turns his back on her. In quiet amusement, she leans her cheek on her hand and laughs at him. He turns again, angrily mocking her]. Ha ! ha ! ha ! What are you laughing at ? LADY. At you. General. I have often seen persons of your sex getting into a pet and behaving like children ; but I never saw a really great man do it before. NAPOLEON [brutally , flinging the words in her face] Pooh : flattery ! flattery ! coarse, impudent flattery ! LADY [springing up with a bright flush in her cheeks] Oh, you are too bad. Keep your letters. Read the story of your own dishonor in them ; and much good may they do you. Good-bye. [5 he goes indignantly towards the inner door]. NAPOLEON. My own — ! Stop. Come back. Come back, I order you. [She proudly disregards his savagely per- emptory tone and continues on her way to the door. He rushes at her ; seizes her by the wrist ; and drags her back]. Now, what do you mean ? Explain. Explain, I tell you, or — 1 86 The Man of Destiny \^thretitemng her. Sh looks at him with ufififuhing defiance]. Rrrr ! you obstinate devil, you. Why cant you answer a civil question ? LADY \_deep/y offended by his violence'] Why do you ask me ? You have the explanation. NAPOLEON. Where ? LADY [pointing to the letters on the table] There. You have only to read it. [He snatches the packet up ; hesitates ; looks at her suspiciously ; and throws it down again]. NAPOLEON. You Seem to have forgotten your solicitude for the honor of your old friend. LADY. She runs no risk now : she does not quite under- stand her husband. NAPOLEON. I am to read the letter, then } [He stretches out his hand as if to take up the packet again, with his eye on her], LADY. I do not see how you can very well avoid doing so now. [He instantly withdraws his hand]. Oh, dont be afraid. You will find many interesting things in it. NAPOLEON. For instance } LADY. For instance, a duel — with Barras, a domestic scene, a broken household, a public scandal, a checked career, all sorts of things. NAPOLEON. Hm ! [He looks at her ; takes up the packet and looks at it, pursi?ig his lips and balancing it in his hand ; looks at her again ; passes the packet into his left hand and puts it behind his back, raising his right to scratch the back of his head as he turns and goes up to the edge of the vineyard, when he stands for a moment lookitig out into the vines, deep in thought. The Lady watches him in silence, somewhat slight- ingly. Suddenly he turns and comes back again, full of force and decision]. I grant your request, madam. Your courage and resolution deserve to succeed. Take the letters for which you have fought so well ; and remember henceforth that you found the vile, vulgar Corsican adventurer as generous to the vanquished after the battle as he was resolute in the face of the enemy before it. \He offers her the packet'^. The Man of Destiny 187 LADY [without taking it, lookitig hard at him] What are you at now, I wonder ? [He dashes the packet furiously to the fioor\ Aha ! Ive spoilt that attitude, I think. \SI)e makes him a pretty mocking curtsey], NAPOLEON [snatching it up again] Will you take the letters and begone [advancing and thrusting them upon her]} LADY [escaping round the table] No : I dont want your letters. NAPOLEON. Ten minutes ago, nothing else would satisfy you. LADY [keeping the table carefully betzveen them] Ten minutes ago you had not insulted me past all bearing. NAPOLEON. I — [swallowing his spleen] I apologize. LADY [coolly] Thanks. [With forced politeness he offers her the packet across the table. She retreats a step out of its reach and says] But dont you want to know whether the Austrians are at Mantua or Peschiera ? NAPOLEON. I have already told you that I can conquer ray enemies without the aid of spies, madam. LADY. And the letter ! dont you want to read that ? NAPOLEON. You have said that it is not addressed to me. I am not in the habit of reading other people's letters. [He again offers the packet]. LADY. In that case there can be no objection to your keeping it. All I wanted was to prevent your reading it. [Cheerfully] Good afternoon, General. [She turns coolly towards the inner door]. NAPOLEON [angrily finging the packet on the couch] Heaven grant me patience ! [He goes determinedly to the door, and places himself before it]. Have you any sense of personal danger ? Or are you one of those women who like to be beaten black and blue ? LADY. Thank you, General : I have no doubt the sensa- tion is very voluptuous ; but I had rather not. I simply want to go home : thats all. I was wicked enough to steal your despatches ; but you have got them back ; and you have forgiven me, because [delicately reproducing his rhetorical 1 88 The Man of Destiny cadence'\ you are as generous to the vanquished after the battle as you are resolute in the face of the enemy before it. Wont you say good-bye to me ? [^She offers her hand 5zveetly\ NAPOLEON \repulsing the advance with a gesture of con- centrated rage, and opening the door to call fiercely\ Giuseppe ! \Louder^ Giuseppe ! \^He bangs the door to, and comes to the middle of the room. The lady goes a little way into the vine- yard to avoid him\ GIUSEPPE \_appearifig at the door] Excellency ? NAPOLEON. Where is that fool ? GIUSEPPE. He has had a good dinner, according to your instructions, excellency, and is now doing me the honor to gamble with me to pass the time. NAPOLEON. Send him here. Bring him here. Come with him. [Giuseppe, with unruffed readiness, hurries off". Napoleon turns curtly to the lady, saying] I must trouble you to remain some moments longer, madam. [He comes to the couch. She comes from the vineyard down the opposite side of the room to the sideboard, and posts herself there, leaning against it, watching him. He takes the packet from the couch and deliberately buttons it carefully into his breast pocket, look- ing at her ?neanwhile with an expression which suggests that she will soon find out the meaning of his proceedings, and will not like it. Nothing more is said until the Lieutenant arrives follozvcd by Giuseppe, who stands modestly in attendance at the table. The Lieutenant, without cap, szvord or gloves, and much improved in temper and spirits by his meal, chooses the lady^s side of the room, and waits, much at his ease, for Napoleon to begin]. NAPOLEON. Lieutenant. LIEUTENANT [encouragingly] General. NAPOLEON. I cannot persuade this lady to give me much information ; but there can be no doubt that the man who tricked you out of your charge was, as she admitted to you, her brother. LIEUTENANT [triumphantly] What did I tell you. General ! What did I tell you ! The Man of Destiny 189 NAPOLEON. You must find that man. Your honor is at stake ; and the fate of the campaign, the destiny of France, of Europe, of humanity, perhaps, may depend on the information those despatches contain. LIEUTENANT. Ycs, I suppose they really are rather serious [as if this had hardly occurred to him before], NAPOLEON [energetically] They are so serious, sir, that if you do not recover them, you will be degraded in the presence of your regiment. LIEUTENANT. Whew ! The regiment wont like that, I can tell you. NAPOLEON. Personally, I am sorry for you. I would willingly conceal the affair if it were possible. But I shall be called to account for not acting on the despatches. I shall have to prove to all the world that I never received them, no matter what the consequences may be to you. I am sorry ; but you see that I cannot help myself. LIEUTENANT [gooduaturedlf] Oh, dont take it to heart. General : it's really very good of you. Never mind what happens to me : I shall scrape through somehow ; and we'll beat the Austrians for you, despatches or no de- spatches. I hope you wont insist on my starting off on a wild goose chase after the fellow now. I havnt a notion where to look for him. GIUSEPPE [deferentially] You forget, Lieutenant : he has your horse. LIEUTENANT [starting] I forgot that. [Resolutely] I'll go after him, General : I'll find that horse if it's alive any- where in Italy. And I shant forget the despatches : never fear. Giuseppe : go and saddle one of those mangy old post-horses of yours, while I get my cap and sword and things. Quick march. Off with you [bustling him]. GIUSEPPE. Instantly, Lieutenant, instantly [He disappears in the vineyard^ where the light is now reddening with the sun- set]. LIEUTENANT [looking about him on his zvay to the inner door] By the way, General, did I give you my sword or did I 190 The Man of Destiny not .-' Oh, I remember now. \_Fretfully'\ It's all that non- sense about putting a man under arrest : one never knows where to find — \^he talks hinself out of the room], LADY [sti// at the sideboard^ What does all this mean, General ? NAPOLEON. He will not find your brother. LADY, Of course not. Theres no such person. NAPOLEON. The despatches will be irrecoverably lost. LADY. Nonsense ! They are inside your coat. NAPOLEON. You will find it hard, I think, to prove that wild statement. \TI:e lady starts. He adds, with clinching emphasis'\ Those papers are lost. LADY [^anxiously, advancing to the corner of the tabled And that unfortunate young man's career will be sacrificed ? NAPOLEON. His career! The fellow is not worth the gunpowder it would cost to have him shot. \He turns con- temptuously and goes to the hearth, where he stands with his back to her]. LADY [wistfully] You are very hard. Men and women are nothing to you but things to be used, even if they are broken in the use. NAPOLEON [turning on her] Which of us has broken this fellow — I or you ? Who tricked him out of the de- spatches ? Did you think of his career then } LADY [na'ively concerned about him] Oh, I never thought of that. It was brutal of me ; but I couldnt help it, could I } How else could I have got the papers ? [Supplicating] General : you will save him from disgrace. NAPOLEON [laughing sourly] Save him yourself, since you are so clever : it was you who ruined him. [With savage intensity] I hate a bad soldier. He goes out determinedly through the vineyard. She follows him a few steps with an appealing gesture, but is in- terrupted by the return of the Lieutenant, gloved and capped, with his sword on, ready for the road. He is crossing to tht outer door when she intercepts him. LADY. Lieutenant. The Man of Destiny 191 LIEUTENANT [importantly'] You musnt delay me, you know. Duty, madam, duty. LADY \imploringlj\ Oh, sir, what are you going to do to my poor brother .'' LIEUTENANT. Are you very fond of him } LADY. I should die if anything happened to him. You must spare him. \The Lieutenant shakes his head gloomily]. Yes, yes : you must : you shall : he is not fit to die. Listen to me. If I tell you where to find him — if I undertake to place him in your hands a prisoner, to be delivered up by you to General Bonaparte — will you promise me on your honor as an officer and a gentleman not to fight with him or treat him unkindly in any way ? LIEUTENANT. But supposc he attacks me. He has my pistols. LADY. He is too great a coward. LIEUTENANT. I dont fecl SO sure about that. He's cap- able of anything. LADY. If he attacks you, or resists you in any way, I release you from your promise. LIEUTENANT. My promise ! I didnt mean to promise. Look here : youre as bad as he is : youve taken an ad- vantage of me through the better side of my nature. What about my horse ? LADY. It is part of the bargain that you are to have your horse and pistols back. LIEUTENANT. Honor bright ? LADY. Honor bright. [She offers her hand]. LIEUTENANT [taking it and holding it] All right : I'll be as gentle as a lamb with him. His sister's a very pretty woman. [He attempts to kiss her]. LADY [slipping away from him] Oh, Lieutenant ! You forget : your career is at stake — the destiny of Europe — of humanity. LIEUTENANT. Oh, bothcr the destiny of humanity. [Making for her] Only a kiss. LADY [retreating round the table] Not until you have 192 The Man of Destiny- regained your honor as an officer. Remember : you have not captured my brother yet. LIEUTENANT \_seductively'] Youll tell me where he is, wont you ? LADY. I have only to send him a certain signal ; and he will be here in quarter of an hour. LIEUTENANT. He's not far off, then. LADY. No : quite close. Wait here for him : when he gets my message he will come here at once and surrender himself to you. You understand ? LIEUTENANT [ijitelkctually overtaxed'\ Well, it's a little complicated ; but I daresay it will be all right. LADY. And now, whilst youre waiting, dont you think you had better make terms with the General ? LIEUTENANT. Oh, look hcrc, this is getting frightfully complicated. What terms ? LADY. Make him promise that if you catch my brother he will consider that you have cleared your character as a soldier. He will promise anything you ask on that condition. LIEUTENANT. Thats not a bad idea. Thank you : I think I'll try it. LADY. Do. And mind, above all things, dont let hira see how clever you are. LIEUTENANT. I Understand. He'd be jealous. LADY. Dont tell him anything except that you are re- solved to capture my brother or perish in the attempt. He wont believe you. Then you will produce my brother — LIEUTENANT [iriterrupti/ig as he masters the plot\ And have the laugh at him ! I say : what a clever little woman you are ! \_Bhouting\ Giuseppe ! LADY. Sh ! Not a word to Giuseppe about me. \She puts l)er finger on her lips. He does the same. They look at one another warni?igly. Then, with a r avis Inn g smile, she changes the gesture into wafting hnm a kiss, and runs out thorough tl:e inner door. Electrified, he hursts into a volley ofi chuckles. Giuseppe comes back by the outer door]. GIUSEPPE. The horse is ready, Lieutenant. The Man of Destiny 193 LIEUTENANT. I'm not going just yet. Go and find the General and tell him I want to speak to him. GIUSEPPE \5haki71g his head^ That will never do, Lieutenant. LIEUTENANT. Why not ? GIUSEPPE. In this wicked world a general may send for a lieutenant ; but a lieutenant must not send for a general. LIEUTENANT. Oh, you think he wouldnt like it. Well, perhaps youre right : one has to be awfully particular about that sort of thing now weve got a republic. Napoleon reappears^ advancing from the vineyard, button- ing the breast of his coat, pale and full of gnawing thoughts. GIUSEPPE [unconscious of 'Napoleon'' s approach^ Quite true, Lieutenant, quite true. You are all like innkeepers now in France : you have to be polite to everybody. NAPOLEON [putting his hand on Giuseppe'' s shoulder^ And that destroys the whole value of politeness, eh ? LIEUTENANT. The vcry man I wanted ! Sec here. General : suppose I catch that fellow for you ! NAPOLEON [with ironical gravity] You will not catch him, my friend. LIEUTENANT. Aha ! you think so ; but youll see. Just wait. Only, if I do catch him and hand him over to you, will you cry quits ? Will you drop all this about degrad- ing me in the presence of my regiment ? Not that / mind, you know ; but still no regiment likes to have all the other regiments laughing at it. NAPOLEON [a cold ray of humor striking pallidly across his gloom] What shall we do with this officer, Giuseppe ? Everything he says is wrong. GIUSEPPE [promptly] Make him a general, excellency ; and then everything he says will be right. LIEUTENANT [crowing] Haw-aw ! [He throws himself ecstatically on the couch to enjoy the joke]. NAPOLEON [laughing and pinching Giuseppe'' s ear] You are thrown away in this inn, Giuseppe. [He sits dotvn and places Giuseppe before him like a schoolmaster with a pupil]. Shall I take you away with me and make a man of you ? VOL. II O 194 The Man of Destiny GIUSEPPE [s/)aking his head rapidly and repeatedly"] No thank you, General. All my life long people have wanted to make a man of me. When I was a boy, our good priest wanted to make a man of me by teaching me to read and write. Then the organist at Mclegnano wanted to make a man of me by teaching me to read music. The recruiting sergeant would have made a man of me if I had been a few inches taller. But it always meant making me work ; and I am too lazy for that, thank Heaven ! So I taught myself to cook and became an innkeeper ; and now I keep servants to do the work, and have nothing to do myself except talk, which suits me perfectly. NAPOLEON \looking at him thoughtfully] You are satisfied ? GIUSEPPE [with cheerful conviction] C^uite, excellency. NAPOLEON. And you have no devouring devil inside you who must be fed with action and victory — gorged with them night and day • — who makes you pay, with the sweat of your brain and body, weeks of Herculean toil for ten minutes of enjoyment — who is at once your slave and your tyrant, your genius and your doom — who brings you a crown in one hand and the oar of a galley slave in the other — who shews you all the kingdoms of the earth and offers to make you their master on condition that you become their servant ! — have you nothing of that in you ? GIUSEPPE. Nothing of it ! Oh, I assure you, excellency, my devouring devil is far worse than that. He offers mc no crowns and kingdoms : he expects to get everything for nothing — sausages, omelettes, grapes, cheese, polenta, wine — three times a day, excellency : nothing less will content him. LIEUTENANT. Comc, drop it, Giuseppe : youre making me feci hungry again. Giuseppe, zvith an apologetic shrug, retires from the conver- sation, and busies himself at the table, dusting it, setting the map straight, and replacing Napoleori's chair, which the lady has pushed back. The Man of Destiny 195 NAPOLEON [turning to the Lieutenant zvith sardonic cere- mony] I hope / have not been making you feel ambitious. LIEUTENANT. Not at all : I dont fly so high. Besides, I'm better as I am : men like me arc wanted in the army just now. The fact is, the Revolution was all very well for civilians ; but it wont work in the army. You know what soldiers are, General : they will have men of family for their officers. A subaltern must be a gentleman, because he's so much in contact with the men. But a general, or even a colonel, may be any sort of riff-raff if he understands the shop well enough. A lieutenant is a gentleman : all the rest is chance. Why, who do you suppose won the battle of Lodi ? I'll tell you. My horse did. NAPOLEON [rising] Your folly is carrying you too far, sir. Take care. LIEUTENANT. Not a bit of it. You remember all that red-hot cannonade across the river : the Austrians blazing away at you to keep you from crossing, and you blazing away at them to keep them from setting the bridge on fire ? Did you notice where I was then ? NAPOLEON [wit/: menacing politeness] I am sorry. I am afraid I was rather occupied at the moment. GIUSEPPE [with eager admiration] They say you jumped off your horse and worked the big guns with your own hands, General. LIEUTENANT. That was a mistake : an officer should never let himself down to the level of his men. [Napoleon looks at him dangerously^ and begins to walk tigerishly to and fro]. But you might have been firing away at the Austrians still, if we cavalry fellows hadnt found the ford and got across and turned old Beaulieu's flank for you. You know you darent have given the order to charge the bridge if you hadnt seen us on the other side. Consequently, I say that whoever found that ford won the battle of Lodi. Well, who found it ? I was the first man to cross ; and I know. It was my horse that found it. [IVith conviction, as he rises 196 The Man of Destiny from the couch'] That horse is the true conqueror of the Austrians. NAPOLEON [passionately)'] You idiot : I'll have you shot for losing those despatches : I'll have you blown from the mouth of a cannon : nothing less cou-ld make any impres- sion on you. [Bayifig at him] Do you hear ? Do you understand ? A French officer enters unobserved, carrying his sheathed sabre in his hand. LIEUTENANT {loiabashed] I f I dont capture him, General. Remember the if, NAPOLEON. If! If ! ! Ass : there is no such man. THE OFFICER {suddenly stepping between them and speaking in the unmistakeable voice of the Strange Lady] Lieutenant : I am your prisoner. [She offers him her sabre. They are amazed. Napoleon gazes at her for a moment thunderstruck ; then seizes her by the wrist and drags her roughly to him, looking closely and fiercely at her to satisfy himself as to her identity ; for it nozv begins to darken rapidly into night, the red glow over the vineyard giving way to clear starlight. NAPOLEON. Pah ! [He flings her hand awaf with an ex- clamation of disgust, and turns his back on her with his hand in his breast and his brow lowering], LIEUTENANT [triumphantly, taking the sabre] No such man ! eh, General ? [To the Lady] I say : wheres my horse ? LADY. Safe at Borghetto, waiting for you, Lieutenant. NAPOLEON [turning on them] Where are the despatches ? LADY. You would never guess. They are in the most unlikely place in the world. Did you meet my sister here, any of you ? LIEUTENANT. Ycs. Very nice woman. She's wonder- fully like you ; but of course she's better-looking. LADY [mysteriously] Well, do you know that she is a witch ? GIUSEPPE [running down to them in terror, crossing himself] Oh, no, no, no. It is not safe to jest about such things. I cannot have it in my house, excellency. The Man of Destiny 197 LIEUTENANT. Ycs, drop it. Yourc my prisoner, you know. Of course I dont believe in any such rubbish ; but still it's not a proper subject for joking. LADY. But this is very serious. My sister has bew^itched the General. [Giuseppe and the lieutenan recoil from Napo- leon\ General : open your coat : you will find the de- spatches in the breast of it. [She puts her hand quickly on his breast\ Yes : there they are : I can feel them. Eh ? [She looks up into his face half coaxingly., half mockingly^ Will you allow me, General ? [She takes a button as if to un- button his coat, and pauses for permission^ NAPOLEON [inscrutably'] If you dare. LADY. Thank you. [She opens his coat and takes out the despatches]. There ! [ To Giuseppe, shewing him the despatches] See! GIUSEPPE [flying to the outer door] No, in heaven's name ! Theyre bewitched. LADY [turning to the lieutenant] Here, Lieutenant: youre not afraid of them. LIEUTENANT [retreating] Keep off. [Seizing the hilt of the sabre] Keep off, I tell you. LADY [to Napoleon] They belong to you. General. Take them. GIUSEPPE. Dont touch them, excellency. Have nothing to do with them. LIEUTENANT. Be carcful. General : be careful. GIUSEPPE. Burn them. And burn the witch too. LADY [to Napoleon] Shall I burn them ? NAPOLEON [thoughtfully] Yes, burn them. Giuseppe : go and fetch a light. GIUSEPPE [trembling and stammering] Do you mean go alone — in the dark — with a witch in the house ? NAPOLEON. Psha ! Youre a poltroon. [To the lieu- tenant] Oblige me by going, Lieutenant. LIEUTENANT [remonstrating] Oh, I say. General ! No, look here, you know : nobody can say I'm a coward after Lodi. But to ask me to go into the dark by myself without 198 The Man of Destiny a candle after such an awful conversation is a little too much. How would you like to do it yourself? NAPOLEON [irritiibly'\ You refuse to obey my order ? LIEUTENANT [resolutely'\ Yes I do. It's not reasonable. But I'll tell you what I'll do. If Giuseppe goes, I'll go with him and protect him. NAPOLEON [to Giuseppe\ There ! will that satisfy you ? Be off, both of you. GIUSEPPE [humbly, his lips trembling] W-willingly, your excellency. [He goes reluctantly towards the inner door']. Heaven protect me ! [To the lieutenant] After you, Lieu- tenant. LIEUTENANT. Youd better go first : I dont know the way. GIUSEPPE. You cant miss it. Besides [imploringly, laying his hand on his sleeve] I am only a poor innkeeper ; and you are a man of family. LIEUTENANT. Thcrcs Something in that. Here : you neednt be in such a fright. Take my arm. [Giuseppe does so], Thats the way. [ They go out, arm in arm. It is now starry night. The lady throws the packet on the table and seats herself at her ease on the couch, enjoying the sensation of freedom from petticoats]. LADY, Well, General : Ive beaten you. NAPOLEON [walking about] You have been guilty of in- delicacy — of unwomanliness. Do you consider that cos- tume a proper one to wear ? LADY. It seems to me much the same as yours. NAPOLEON. Psha ! I blush for you. LADY [na'ively] Yes : soldiers blush so easily ! [He growls and turns away. She looks mischievously at him, balan- cing the despatches in her hand]. Wouldnt you like to read these before theyre burnt. General ? You must be dying with curiosity. Take a peep. [She throws the packet on the table, and turns her face away from it]. I wont look. NAPOLEON. I have no curiosity whatever, madam. But since you are evidently burning to read them, I give you leave to do so. The Man of Destiny 199 LADY. Oh, Ive read them already. NAPOLEON [starti/ig] What ! LADY. I read them the first thing after I rode away on that poor lieutenant's horse. So you see I know whats in them ; and you dont. NAPOLEON. Excuse me : I read them when I was out there in the vineyard ten minutes ago. LADY. Oh ! \Jumping up] Oh, General : Ive not beaten you. I do admire you so. [He laughs and pats her cheek]. This time, really and truly without shamming, I do you homage [kissing his hand]. NAPOLEON [quickly withdrawing it] Brr ! Dont do that. No more witchcraft. LADY. I want to say something to you — only you would misunderstand it. NAPOLEON. Need that stop you ? LADY. Well, it is this. I adore a man who is not afraid to be mean and selfish. NAPOLEON [indignantly] I am neither mean nor selfish. LADY. Oh, you dont appreciate yourself. Besides, I dont really mean meanness and selfishness. NAPOLEON. Thank you. I thought perhaps you did. LADY. Well, of course I do. But what I mean is a certain strong simplicity about you. NAPOLEON. Thats better. LADY. You didnt want to read the letters ; but you were curious about what was in them. So you went into the garden and read them when no one was looking, and then came back and pretended you hadnt. Thats the meanest thing I ever knew any man do ; but it exactly fulfilled your purpose ; and so you wernt a bit afraid or ashamed to do it. NAPOLEON [abruptly] Where did you pick up all these vulgar scruples — this [with contemptuous emphasis] con- science of yours ? I took you for a lady — an aristocrat. Was your grandfather a shopkeeper, pray ? LADY. No : he was an Englishman. X 200 The Man of Destiny NAPOLEON. That accounts for it. The English are a nation of shopkeepers. Now I understand why youve beaten me. LADY. Oh, I havnt beaten you. And I'm not English. NAPOLEON. Yes you are ■ — English to the backbone. Listen to mc : I will explain the English to you. LADY [etiger/yl Do. \_With a lively air of anticipating an intellectual treaty she sits down on the couch and composes herselj^ to listen to him. Secure of his audience, he at once nerves himself for a performance. He considers a little before he begins ; so as to fix her attention by a moment of suspense. His style is at first modelled on Talma's in Corneille's " Cinna " ; but it is somewhat lost in the darkness, and Talma presently gives way to Napoleon, the voice coming through the gloom with startling intensity^ NAPOLEON. There are three sorts of people in the world, the low people, the middle people, and the high people. The low people and the high people are alike in one thing : they have no scruples, no morality. The low are beneath morality, the high above it. I am not afraid of either of them ; for the low are unscrupulous without knowledge, so that they make an idol of me ; whilst the high are un- scrupulous without purpose, so that they go down before my will. Look you : I shall go over all the mobs and all the courts of Europe as a plough goes over a field. It is the middle people who are dangerous : they have both knowledge and purpose. But they, too, have their weak point. They are full of scruples — chained hand and foot by their morality and respectability. LADY. Then you will beat the English ; for all shop- keepers are middle people. NAPOLEON. No, because the English are a race apart. No Englishman is too low to have scruples : no English- man is high enough to be free from their tyranny. But every Englishman is born with a certain miraculous power that makes him master of the world. When he wants a thing, he never tells himself that he wants it. He waits The Man of Destiny 201 patiently until there comes into his mind, no one knows how, a burning conviction that it is his moral and religious duty to conquer those who have got the thing he wants. Then he becomes irresistible. Like the aristocrat, he does what pleases him and grabs what he covets : like the shop- keeper, he pursues his purpose with the industry and steadfastness that come from strong religious conviction and deep sense of moral responsibility. He is never at a loss for an effective moral attitude. As the great cham- pion of freedom and national independence, he conquers and annexes half the world, and calls it Colonization. When he wants a new market for his adulterated Man- chester goods, he sends a missionary to teach the natives the Gospel of Peace. The natives kill the missionary : he flies to arms in defence of Christianity ; fights for it ; conquers for it ; and takes the market as a reward from heaven. In defence of his island shores, he puts a chaplain on board his ship ; nails a flag with a cross on it to his top-gallant mast ; and sails to the ends of the earth, sinking, burning and destroying all who dispute the empire of the seas with him. He boasts that a slave is free the moment his foot touches British soil ; and he sells the children of his poor at six years of age to work under the lash in his factories for sixteen hours a day. He makes two revolutions, and then declares war on our one in the name of law and order. There is nothing so bad or so good that you will not find Englishmen doing it ; but you will never find an English- man in the wrong. He does everything on principle. He fights you on patriotic principles ; he robs you on business principles ; he enslaves you on imperial principles ; he bullies you on manh^ principles ; he supports his king on loyal principles ana cuts ofi^ his king's head on republican principles. His watchword is always Duty ; and he never forgets that the nation which lets its duty get on the op- posite side to its interest is lost. He — LADY. W-w-w-w-w-wh ! Do stop a moment. I want to know how you make me out to be English at this rate. X 202 The Man of Destiny NAPOLEON \_drvppiug Ihs rhetorical 5t-^le\ It's plain enough. You wanted some letters that belonged to me. You have spent the morning in stealing them — yes, stealing them, by highway robbery. And you have spent the afternoon in putting me in the wrong about them — in assuming that it was /who wanted to steal your letters — in ex- plaining that it all came about through my meanness and selfishness, and your goodness, your devotion, your self- Gacrifice. Thats English. LADY. Nonsense ! I am sure I am not a bit English. The English are a very stupid people. NAPOLEON. Yes, too stupid sometimes to know when theyre beaten. But I grant that your brains are not English. You see, though your grandfather was an English- man, your grandmother was — what ? A Frenchwoman ? LADY. Oh no. An Irishwoman. NAPOLEON \^quickli\ Irish ! [Thoughtfully] _Ycsj I Forgot ih r Iri sii. An English army jed by jin Iji^h g'^nf-ral • that ff'igh'^ ^""^ ^ rn^i- ch for a French army 1^ ^ hy an ^trl^'^" general. \_He pauses, and adds, half jestingly, half moodily] At all events, you have beaten me ; and what beats a man first will beat him last. [He goes meditatively into the •'loonlit vineyard and looks up. She steals out after him. She ventures to rest her hand on his shoulder, overcome by the beauty of the night and emboldened by its obscurity]. LADY [softly] What are you looking at ? NAPOLEON [pointing up] My star. LADY. You believe in that ? NAPOLEON. I do. [They look at it for a moment, she leaning a little on his shoulder], LADY. Do you know that the English say that a man's star is not complete without a woman's garter ? NAPOLEON [scandalized: abruptly shaking her off and coming back into the room] Pah ! The hypocrites ! If the French said that, how they would hold up their hands in pious horror ! [He goes to the inner door and holds it open, shouting] Hallo ! Giuseppe ! Whcrcs that light, man } The Man of Destiny 203 \^He comes between the table and the sideboard^ and moves the second chair to the table, beside his ozvn]. We have still to burn the letter. [He takes up the packet. Giuseppe comes back, pale and still trembling, carrying in one hand a branched candlestick with a couple of candles alight, and a broad snuffers tray in the other\ GIUSEPPE [piteously, as he places the light on the table'\ Excellency : what were you looking up at just now — out there ? \He points across his shoulder to the vineyard, but is afraid to look round\ NAPOLEON [unfolding the packet] What is that to you ? GIUSEPPE [stammering] Because the witch is gone — vanished ; and no one saw her go out. LADY [coming behind him from the vineyard] We were watching her riding up to the moon on your broomstick, Giuseppe. You will never see her again. GIUSEPPE. Gesu Maria ! [He crosses himself and hurries out]. NAPOLEON [throwing down the letters in a heap on the table] Now ! [He sits down at the table in the chair which he has just placed]. LADY. Yes ; but you know you have the letter in your pocket. [He smiles ; takes a letter from his pocket ; and tosses it on top of the heap. She holds it up and looks at him, saying] About Caesar's wife. NAPOLEON, Czesar's wife is above suspicion. Burn it. LADY [taking up the snuffers and holding the letter to the candle flame with it] I wonder would Czesar's wife be above suspicion if she saw us here together ! NAPOLEON [echoing her, with his elbows on the table and his cheeks on his hands, looking at the letter] I wonder ! The Strange Lady puts the letter down alight on the snuffers tray, and sits dozvn beside Napoleon, in the same atti- tude, elbows on table, cheeks on hands, watching it burn. When it is burnt, they simultaneously turn their eyes and look at one another. 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O S-H 2 •-1 " ►-! ^ ^ ^ UJ z ^ z. u < H O ^ X H H 4 « d g < I " O 2 ^^ g o ? 2 u Q ■^•- 9 3 s -^ o.s-§ C/5^C| W ?|>^ t/5 Pi l^c Z 2t^ ^bH H U M THE With a phc ' copies of tht , and to somi c/j'^.-gg w^^- ^S^i C/5 J 8 C < Pi-2 ! Q^^. W ^i^f H c|^ U SJt- U C/3 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. itP 1 i 1362 ^'^^ APR l6\os4 '■' *^B^\m^ JUL 14 1977 :Jr ^i;2 m 041992 J^» ^'^ o W" j^y^a Ui fffC'O flsi^y^ ^ Form L9-50m-ll.'50 (2554)444 Jvl»' '' THE LIBRARY rjNr«T.RSITY OF CALIFORNU UCLA-Young Research Library PR5363 .M313 1920 L 009 597 743 5