That they were married by this time I could scarcely doubt, as she had assured me that she was on "the very eve" of her nuptials2 (one of those "marriages of convenience," according to Caradoc's book); and if he held a command so high in Sebastopol, there was every reason to conclude she must be with him. In the event of a general assault, I was fully3 resolved to send my card to headquarters as a volunteer for the storming column, though I knew right well that I dare not allow myself to fall alive, into his hands, at all events; thus the whole situation gave me an additional and more personal interest in the fall and capture of that place than, perhaps, inspired any other man in the whole allied4 army. What if Tolstoff should be killed? This surmise5 opened up a wide field for speculation6.
Any of those balls that were incessantly8 poured against the city might send that amiable9 commander to kingdom come, and if Valerie were left a widow--well, I did not somehow like to think of her as a widow, Tolstoff's especially, yet I was exasperated10 to think of her, so brilliant, so gentle, and so highly cultured, as the wife of one so coarse and even brutal11 in bearing, and if he did happen to stand in the way of a bullet, why should he not be killed as well as another; and so I reasoned, so true it is, that "with all our veneering and French polish, the tiger is only half dead in any of us."
If I were again unluckily sent with a flag of truce12 into Sebastopol, on any mission such as the burial of the dead and removal of the wounded, or so forth13, it would, I knew, be certainly violated by Tolstoff, and myself be made prisoner for the affairs at Yalta. Then if such a duty were again offered me, on what plea could I, with honour, decline it? I could but devoutly14 hope that no such contingency15 might happen for me again.
Times there were when, brooding over the past, and recalling the strange magnetism16 of the smile of Valerie, and in the touch of her hand, the contour of her face, her wonderful hair, and pleading winning dark eyes, there came into my heart the tiger feeling referred to, the jealousy17 that makes men feel mad, wild, fit for homicide or anything; and as hourly "human lives were lavished18 everywhere, as the year closing whirls the scarlet19 leaves," I had--heroics apart--a terrible longing20 to have my left hand upon the throat of Tolstoff, with her Majesty's Sheffield regulation blade in the other, to help him on his way to a better world.
In these, or similar visions and surmises21, I ceased to indulge when with Caradoc, as he was wont22 to quiz me, and say that if I got a wife out of Sebastopol, I should be the only man who gained anything by the war, and even my gain might be a loss; that, like himself, I had twice burned my fingers at the torch of Hymen, and that I should laugh at the Russian episode or loving interlude, as he called it, as there were girls in England whose shoe-strings he was sure she was not fit to tie. Though she had rightly told me that my passion was but a passing fancy, she knew not that it was one fed by revenge and disappointment.
"Lady Estelle may perhaps have destroyed your faith in women," added Phil, "but any way she has not destroyed mine."
"Have you still the locket with the likeness23 of Winifred Lloyd?" said I.
"Yes--God bless her--she left it with me," he replied, with a kindling24 eye. How true Phil was to her! and yet she knew it not, and as far as we knew, recked but little of the faith he bore her.
On a Saturday night--the night of that 21st of April, on which we captured the rifle-pits--as we sat in our hut talking over the affair, weary with toil25 of that incessant7 firing to which the cannonading at Shoeburyness is a joke, Phil said,
"Let us drink 'sweethearts and wives,' as we used to do in the transport."
"Agreed," said I; and as we clinked our glasses together and exchanged glances, I knew that his thoughts went back to Craigaderyn, even as mine recurred27 to that moonlight night on the terrace at Yalta.
"You remained with the burial party," said he, after a pause.
"Yes, and I saw something which convinced me that the fewer tender ties we fighting men have, the better for our own peace. An officer of the 19th lay among the dead, a man past forty apparently28. A paper was peeping from the breast of his coat; I pulled it out, and it proved to be a letter, received perhaps that morning--a letter from his wife, thrust hastily into his breast, as we marched to the front. A little golden curl was in it, and there was written in a child's hand, 'Cecil's love to dearest papa.' I must own that the incident, at such a time and place, affected29 me; so I replaced the letter in the poor fellow's breast, and we buried it with him. So papa lies in a rifle-pit, with mamma's letter and little Cecil's lock of hair; but, after all, king Death did not get much of him--the poor man had been nearly torn to pieces by a cannon26 shot."
"I saw you in advance of the whole line of skirmishers to-day, Harry30, far beyond the zigzags31."
"I was actually at the foot of the glacis."
"The glacis--was not that madness?" exclaimed Phil.
"The truth is, I did so neither through enthusiastic courage nor in a spirit of bravado32. I was only anxious to see if from behind the sap-roller that protected me, my field-glass could enable me to detect among the gray-coated figures at the embrasures, the tall person and grim visage of old Tolstoff."
"By Jove, I thought as much!"
"But I looked in vain, and retired33 in crab-fashion, the bullets falling in a shower about me the while."
At that moment a knock rung on the door of the hut, and Sergeant34 Rhuddlan, who acted as our regimental postman, handed a small packet to me.
"The second battalion36 of the Scots Royals, the 48th, and the 72nd Highlanders have just come in, sir, from Balaclava, and have brought a mail with them," said he, in explanation; and while he was speaking, we heard the sound of drums and bagpipes37, half drowned by cheers in the dark, as those in camp welcomed the new arrivals from home, and helped to get them tented and hutted.
"From Craigaderyn!" said I, on seeing the seal--Sir Madoc's antique oval--with the lion's head erased38, as the heralds39 have it.
I had written instantly to the kind old man on my return to camp, and this proved to be the answer by the first mail. On opening the packet I found a letter, and a cigar-case beautifully worked in beads40 of the regimental colours, red, blue, and gold, with my initials on one side, and those of Winifred Lloyd on the other. Poor Phil Caradoc looked wistfully at the work her delicate hands had so evidently wrought--so wistfully that, but for the ungallantry of the proceeding42, I should have presented the case to him. However, he had the simple gratification of holding it, while I read the letter of Sir Madoc, and did so aloud, as being of equal interest to us both. It was full of such warm expressions of joy for my safety and of regard for me personally, that I own they moved me; but some passages proved a little mysterious and perplexing.
"Need I repeat to you, my dear Harry, how the receipt of your letter caused every heart in the Court to rejoice--that of Winny especially? She is more impressionable than Dora, less volatile43, and I have now learned why the poor girl refused Sir Watkins, and, as I understand, another."
"That is me," said Phil, parenthetically.
"But of that unexpected refusal of Sir Watkins Vaughan nothing can be said here."
"What on earth can he mean!" said I, looking up; "perhaps she has some lingering compunction about you, Phil."
"If so, she might have sent the cigar-case to me--or something else; just to square matters, as it were."
Remembering my old suspicions and fears--they were fears then--as I drove away from Craigaderyn for Chester, I read the letter in haste, and with dread44 of what it might contain or reveal; as I would not for worlds have inflicted45 a mortification46, however slight, on my dear friend Caradoc, who gnawed47 the ends of his moustache at the following:
"Young Sir Watkins had been most attentive48 to Winny during the past season in town--that gay London season, which, notwithstanding the war, was quite as brilliant as usual; when every one had come back from the Scotch49 moors50, from Ben Nevis, Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, and everywhere else that the roving Englishman is wont to frequent, to kill game, or time, or himself, as it sometimes happens. But Winny won't listen to him, and I think he is turning his attention to Dora, though whether or not the girl--who has another adorer, in the shape of a long-legged Plunger with parted hair and a lisp--only laughs at him, I can't make out.
"Tell Caradoc, Gwynne, and other true-hearted Cymri in the Welsh Fusileers, that when in London I attended more than one meeting, inaugurating a movement to secure for Wales judges and counsel who shall speak Welsh, and Welsh only. The meetings were failures, and the d--d Sassenachs only laughed at us; but from such injustice51, Gwared ni Argylywd daionus![5] say I.
"And so poor Hugh Price of yours is gone. A good-hearted fellow, who could do anything, from crossing the stiffest hunting country to making a champagne52 cup, singing a love song or mixing a salad--one of the old line of the Rhys of Geeler in Denbighshire. My God, how many other fine fellows lie in that hecatomb in the Valley of Inkermann! Sebastopol seems to be left quite open on one side, so that the Russians may pour in stores and fresh troops, and go and come at their pleasure? It is pleasant for tax-payers at home and the troops abroad to think that things are so arranged in Downing-street, by my Lords Aberdeen, Aberconway, and suchlike Whig incapables and incurables53.
"I fear your regimental dinner would be a scanty54 one on St. David's-days." (On that day I had dined with Valerie, and forgot all about the yearly festival of the Fusileers!) "I thought of it and of you all--the more so, perhaps, that I had just seen the old colours of the Royal Welsh in St. Peter's Church at Carmarthen."
The old baronet, after a few Welsh words, of which I could make nothing, rambled55 away into such subjects as mangold-wurzels and subsoil, scab-and-foot rot, and food for pheasants, all of which I skipped; ditto about the close of the hunting-season, which he and Sir Watkins--Winny's admirer--had shared together; and how the rain had deluged56 Salop, throwing the scent57 breast-high, so that in many a run the fox and the hounds had it all to themselves, and that following them was as bad as going all round the Wrekin to Shrewsbury, mere58 brooks59 having become more than saddle-girth deep; moreover, the mischievous60, execrable, and pestilent wire fences were playing the devil with the noble old sport of fox-hunting; then, with a few more expressions of regard, and a hint about Coutts & Co., if I wanted cash, his characteristic letter closed, and just when folding it, I detected Master Phil Caradoc surreptitiously placing Winny's cigar case very near his bushy moustache--about to kiss it, in fact. He grew very red, and looked a little provoked.
"So that is all Sir Madoc's news?" said he.
"All--a dear old fellow."
"To-morrow is Sunday, when we shall have the chaplain at the drum-head, and be confessing that we have done those things which we ought not to have done, and left undone61 those things which we ought to have done, while the whistling dicks are bursting and the shot booming, as the Ruskies seek to have a quiet shy at our hollow square, and the Naval62 Brigade, with their long 'Lancasters,' are making, as usual, the devil's own row against the Redan--so till then, adieu!" he added, adopting a bantering63 tone, as men will at times, when ashamed of having exhibited any emotion or weakness.
Not long after this, with my company, I had to escort to Balaclava, and to guard for some days, till embarked64, some Russian prisoners, who had been taken by the Turks in an affair between Kamara and the Tchernaya, and who were afterwards transmitted to Lewes in Sussex; and I had a little opportunity afforded me for studying their character and composition; and brave though these men undoubtedly65 were, I felt something of pity and contempt for them; nor was I mistaken, though Prince Dolgorouki maintains, in La Vérité sur la Russie, that a Muscovite alone can write on a Russian subject. A British soldier never forgets that he is a citizen and a free-born man; but to the Russian these terms are as untranslatable as that of slave into the Celtic.
In the empire, when fresh levies66 are wanted, the chief of each village makes a selection; the wretched serfs have then one side of the head shaved, to prevent desertion, and, farther still, are manacled and marched like felons67 to the headquarters of their regiment35. There they are stripped, bathed--rather a necessary ceremony--and deprived of all they may possess, save the brass68 crosses and medals which are chained round their neck--the holy amulet69 of the Russian soldier, and spared to him as the only consolation70 of his miserable71 existence. He is docile72, submissive, and gallant41, but supple73, subservient74, and cunning, though his gallantry and courage are the result of dull insensibility, tinged75 with ferocity rather than moral force.
The recruit bemoans76 the loss of his beard, and carefully preserves it that it may be buried with him, as an offering to St. Nicholas, who would not admit him into heaven without it. Once enrolled--we cannot say enlisted--he makes a solemn vow77 never to desert the colours of his regiment, each of which has its own artel or treasury78, its own chaplain, sacred banners, and relics79. The pay of these warriors80 averages about a halfpenny English per diem. Their food is of the most wretched description, and it is known that when the troops of Suwarrow served in the memorable81 campaign of Italy, they devoured82 with keen relish83 the soap and candles wherever they went; but many of the Russian battalions84, and even the Cossack corps85, have vocal86 companies that sing on the march, or at a halt, where they form themselves into a circle, in the centre of which stands the principal singer or leader. And thus I heard some of these poor fellows sing, when I halted them outside Balaclava, at a place where, as I remember, there lay a solitary87 grave--that probably of a Frenchman, as it was marked by a cross, had a wreath of immortelles upon it, and was inscribed--alas for the superstitions88 of the poor human heart!--"the last tribute of love."
The snow and the rain had frittered it nearly away.
Among my prisoners were four officers--dandies who actually wore glazed89 boots, and were vain of their little hands and feet. I was more than usually attentive to them for the sake of Valerie, and as they certainly seemed--whatever the rank and file might be--thorough gentlemen. One knew Volhonski, and all seemed to know Valerie, and had probably danced--perhaps flirted--with her, for they had met at balls in St. Petersburg. All knew Tolstoff, and laughed at him; but none could tell me whether or not she and that northern bear were as yet "one flesh," or married in facie ecclesia.
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1
esteemed
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| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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nuptials
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| n.婚礼；婚礼( nuptial的名词复数 ) | |
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3
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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allied
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| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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surmise
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| v./n.猜想，推测 | |
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speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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9
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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exasperated
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| adj.恼怒的 | |
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brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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truce
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| n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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devoutly
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| adv.虔诚地，虔敬地，衷心地 | |
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contingency
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| n.意外事件，可能性 | |
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magnetism
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| n.磁性，吸引力，磁学 | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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18
lavished
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| v.过分给予，滥施( lavish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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surmises
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| v.臆测，推断( surmise的第三人称单数 )；揣测；猜想 | |
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wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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kindling
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| n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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recurred
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| 再发生，复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 )； 治愈 | |
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28
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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31
zigzags
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| n.锯齿形的线条、小径等( zigzag的名词复数 )v.弯弯曲曲地走路，曲折地前进( zigzag的第三人称单数 ) | |
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32
bravado
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| n.虚张声势，故作勇敢，逞能 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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battalion
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| n.营；部队；大队(的人) | |
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37
bagpipes
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| n.风笛；风笛( bagpipe的名词复数 ) | |
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38
erased
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| v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除 | |
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39
heralds
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| n.使者( herald的名词复数 )；预报者；预兆；传令官v.预示( herald的第三人称单数 )；宣布（好或重要） | |
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40
beads
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| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
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41
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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42
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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43
volatile
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| adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质 | |
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44
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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45
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46
mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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47
gnawed
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| 咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物 | |
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48
attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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49
scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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50
moors
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| v.停泊，系泊（船只）( moor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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51
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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52
champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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53
incurables
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| 无法治愈，不可救药( incurable的名词复数 ) | |
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54
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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55
rambled
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| （无目的地）漫游( ramble的过去式和过去分词 )； （喻）漫谈； 扯淡； 长篇大论 | |
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56
deluged
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| v.使淹没( deluge的过去式和过去分词 )；淹没；被洪水般涌来的事物所淹没；穷于应付 | |
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57
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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58
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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59
brooks
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| n.小溪( brook的名词复数 ) | |
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60
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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61
undone
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| a.未做完的，未完成的 | |
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62
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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63
bantering
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| adj.嘲弄的v.开玩笑，说笑，逗乐( banter的现在分词 )；（善意地）取笑，逗弄 | |
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64
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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65
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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66
levies
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| （部队）征兵( levy的名词复数 )； 募捐； 被征募的军队 | |
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67
felons
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| n.重罪犯( felon的名词复数 )；瘭疽；甲沟炎；指头脓炎 | |
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68
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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69
amulet
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| n.护身符 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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71
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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docile
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| adj.驯服的，易控制的，容易教的 | |
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supple
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| adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺 | |
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subservient
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| adj.卑屈的，阿谀的 | |
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75
tinged
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| v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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76
bemoans
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| v.为（某人或某事）抱怨( bemoan的第三人称单数 )；悲悼；为…恸哭；哀叹 | |
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vow
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| n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓 | |
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treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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83
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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84
battalions
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| n.（陆军的）一营（大约有一千兵士）( battalion的名词复数 )；协同作战的部队；军队；（组织在一起工作的）队伍 | |
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corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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86
vocal
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| adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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87
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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superstitions
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| 迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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glazed
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| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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