The Shadow of Tyburn Tree (63 page)

Gustavus shot him a shrewd glance. ‘I fear that your apprehensions are well-grounded, Mr. Brook. Having no thought that the place was liable to attack, I left old General Duretz there with but a handful of troops; and he has never been accounted any hero.'

‘Then there is but one thing for it!' Hugh Elliot cried, his feverish eyes flashing. ‘Your Majesty must instantly to horse, ride at breakneck speed and fling yourself into Gothenburg; that by your example you may hearten the garrison and save both the city and your throne.'

‘One moment!' Roger intervened, with justifiable apprehension tha Elliot's sense of the dramatic had carried too far. ‘The south end of the lake is already known to be in enemy hands. His Majesty would have to run the gauntlet of their vedettes, and should he be captured….'

But the impetuous Gustavus had already been fired by the soldier-diplomat's idea, and he retorted swiftly: ‘Better be captured in an attempt to save one's crown than sit still while 'tis torn from one's head. I pray your Excellency to proceed with all speed in your carriage down the western shore of the lake to Uddevalla, or wherever the Danish headquarters are to be found, and do your utmost to procure us a truce; while I get me by the eastern shore to Gothenburg and take measures for the city's stout defence.'

He paused for a moment, a sudden look of cunning masking his handsome face, then he went on: ‘But my Dalesmen must get no hint that I have left them, or they would become disgruntled and fast melt away to their homes. We will go into the town and there I will have it given out that I am suffering from a slight indisposition. That will cover my disappearance until sufficient store of provisions can be amassed to feed them on their march south. They can then be told that I am but a day ahead of them and impatient for them to rejoin me. The fewer people the less likelihood of betrayal; so I shall confide our plan only to General Armfeldt. I have here, too, so few officers that none can be spared to accompany me; but that has its compensations, in that their sudden disappearance will not arouse comment and, perhaps, be connected with my own.'

Roger's levelheadedness again caused him to intervene. ‘May it please your Majesty to reconsider your last decision. Twould be the most terrible calamity if you went alone and some accident befell you by night upon the road.'

The King gave him a friendly pat upon the arm. ‘Since you are so concerned for my safety, Chevalier, I would welcome your attendance on me, should you care to give it. Nay, more, on further thought I do request it; for once I am in Gothenburg I may be beleaguered there, and in such a case you would be invaluable to me. It may be of the first importance that I should communicate with Mr. Elliot, and you, as a neutral, would be allowed free passage through the enemy lines.'

‘His Majesty is right, Mr. Brook,' added Elliot. ‘The presence at his side of an English gentleman who can come and go freely between him and myself may prove the saving of us all.'

But Roger had already bowed his acquiescence, and he said: ‘I will gladly accompany you, Sire. No man could witness a sovereign contemplating so valiant an endeavour without desire to serve him. I am entirely at your Majesty's disposal.'

‘Come then!' cried the King. ‘Let us to the town. With so much that is fresh to think upon I had forgot my duties as a host. After your long night's journey you must both be in sore need of refreshment and rest. The former we can easily provide, but for the latter I fear you will have to go on short commons; as I intend to set out as soon as I have given Armfeldt his orders, and he has made arrangements for our departure.'

The carriage which had brought Elliot and Roger from Stockholm was still outside, so the three of them got into it, drove into the little market-town and pulled up at the entrance to the Guildhouse, which had been taken over as Army headquarters.

There the King turned his guests over to Count Ugglas; one of his intimates, who owed his rise from a simple clerk in the Chancellery to the fact that on the day of Gustavus's
coup d'état
, forgetting the distance that separated them, his enthusiasm had led him to clasp the King in his arms and hail him as the saviour of Sweden. The Count himself put cold meat and wine before them, and, when they had eaten, took them to a room that he shared with another officer, where they lay down on the truckle beds. They had had a certain amount of sleep during the night, but they were none the less grateful for the rest and soon fell into a doze.

An hour passed, although it seemed to them that they had only just lain down, when Ugglas returned and roused them. He took them downstairs and out into a courtyard at the back of the building. Their carriage was waiting there with fresh horses and its blinds drawn down. As they got in they saw that Gustavus was already seated inside it, but he now wore no decorations and was dressed as a simple lieutenant of the Yemland Infantry. The moment they were seated the carriage moved off at a trot, and the King said.

‘I regret, Mr. Elliot, that I should have to carry you some five miles out of your way, but I have already despatched my Guards and the Yemland regiment on their march to Gothenburg, and this offered the most convenient means of passing through them undetected. I have arranged for horses to be
awaiting Mr. Brook and myself just beyond the village of Skattkarr, and having seen us on our way you can then turn back.'

As the carriage sped on they talked earnestly of the hazardous journey that the King was about to undertake, and the none too rosy prospects of the British Minister proving successful in his mission. Then the vehicle was brought to a halt, and they alighted on the outskirts of a pine wood, in the fringe of which two mounted men were holding six led horses.

‘Tis my groom and body-servant,' Gustavus explained to Roger. They will accompany us part of the way, leading a pair apiece which we will take for remounts as required, and press on; leaving them to follow with the horses we have exhausted when they are somewhat rested.'

The good-byes were brief but heartfelt on both sides and two minutes later the King's little cavalcade cantered away with Hugh Elliot waving them good luck from beside the carriage.

The first lap lay round the north-eastern corner of the lake to Christinehamn; a distance of some twenty-five miles from where the carriage had set them down, it was soon clear to Roger that Gustavus had no intention of sparing the horses, and after fifteen miles had been covered at a furious pace their first mounts were badly winded. Pulling up they changed to the two horses led by the groom, leaving him to rub down the whistling sweat-drenched creatures that they had ridden so hard.

They had left Carlstadt as the clocks were striking nine, and at a quarter past ten a bend in the road brought them in sight of Christinehamn. It was at that moment that the horse which had been ridden by the King's body-servant for the whole twenty-five miles, staggered, neighed loudly, and foundered.

Its rider was still clinging to the reins of his two led horses. Dismounting at once, Gustavus seized one of them and hoisted himself on to it. Roger swiftly followed suit, and, abandoning the horses they had ridden for the past ten miles, they sped on again through the township.

Roger realised then that Gustavus had had the foresight to save his two best mounts till last. Both were splendid animals of over sixteen hands and with powerful quarters. In spite of the distance they had already covered unmounted they still responded gamely to whip and spur, but another ten miles saw them flagging badly, and although the rough track along the lake-side still remained flat, their riders were compelled to walk them for a mile between each mile that they could cover at a trot.

Just before mid-day they espied a village in the distance which the King said was Otterbacken; adding that he counted on getting fresh horses there. With feverish impatience he lashed the poor brute he was riding into a canter and Roger, perforce, followed his example. When they drew rein in the village square both beasts stood head down and quivering, their forelegs apart, rasping pitifully and broken-winded.

Ignoring them, Gustavus, white-faced and trembling himself, staggered to the door of the post-house, beat with his crop upon the door and yelled for horses.

An ostler appeared in answer to the impatient summons and, not recognising the King, but scared by his cursing and galvanised into activity at the sight of some gold that Gustavus threw upon the cobbles, speedily furnished them with the two best mounts in the stable.

For another hour and a half they pressed on, now rocking in their saddles, so that when they reached the town of Mariestad at half past one even Gustavus had to admit that the pace was proving too much for him, and that they must rest a while before proceeding further.

At the inn he curtly demanded refreshments, a bedroom to lie down in, and fresh horses to be ready for him at three o'clock. Again he was unrecognised, so after they had munched a piece of sausage and drunk a mug of beer apiece, they were shown up to a room with a big double bed. Flinging himself on it the King insisted that Roger should lie down beside him and for over an hour they relaxed their wearied limbs.

When they got up they found that it had begun to rain, but they put on their cloaks and a few minutes after three were on their way once more. The road now left the lake-side and ran up into the foothills of the mountains; so it was a quarter to five before they reached Skara and could change their mounts again at the post-house there.

From Skara the way descended sharply to the coastal plain, then ran through flattish country; but in spite of their rest they were no longer capable of maintaining the pace that they had made during the earlier stages of their journey. It was past six and twilight had fallen by the time they trotted into Vara.

They still had a third of their journey before them and were now soaked to the skin, so Roger no longer believed it possible that they could finish it without further rest and a change of clothes. Even allowing for the fact that he had slept only fitfully and in considerable discomfort the previous night, he was many years younger than the King and felt that his youth qualified him to sustain a greater effort. Yet he was already
appallingly tired and sore, and he now feared that they would both fall off their horses from sheer exhaustion before they reached Gothenburg.

At Vara a kindly postmaster, seeing their condition, pressed them to put up for the night at his house and, since they would not, insisted on producing a bottle of wine for them to drink. As wine was an expensive luxury rarely found in the Swedish countryside Gustavus was much touched, and without revealing his identity, vowed that if the business on which they were riding at such a pace proved successful he would secure a handsome promotion for their host in recompense for his generosity.

Much refreshed by the wine and a twenty-minute rest they set off again. Full darkness had now come, but the rain had ceased and the road ran flat and straight between dark forests with a ribbon of starlit sky overhead, so they were little incommoded by it. There was only Alingsas and one more wayside posting-house now between them and Gothenburg.

Gustavus crouched over his horse's neck and rode on with such relentless determination that it seemed as if he was possessed of a demon. Roger was aching in every limb, but gritting his teeth, he continued to spur his mount into keeping neck to neck with that of the still resolute King. At half-past eight they breasted a slight rise and pulled up in front of the châlet where they expected to make their last change of horses.

To their consternation the postmaster told them that his stable was empty, as a troop of Danish cavalry had seized all his horses that afternoon.

The news could hardly have been worse since, not only were their mounts flagging sadly from the twenty-five miles that they had already covered, but it meant that the Danes had now infiltrated to the south-east of the great lake and at any moment the King and Roger might ride straight into a vedette of enemy skirmishers.

Nevertheless Gustavus would not be deterred from his purpose, so, flogging their tired mounts into a canter they clattered off down the far side of the slope.

The next twenty minutes were a nightmare. For alternate stretches they walked and trotted the poor beasts, alarmed at their ever increasing signs of exhaustion and rocking in their saddles from fatigue each time they managed to urge them into a trot. To the strain of keeping the horses moving was added a constant apprehension that they would encounter an enemy patrol.

Their only comfort was the rising of the moon, which now
showed the track clearly for some way ahead, and twice they swiftly took cover in the woods on seeing little groups of horsemen in the distance.

At last having walked their horses up a hill, they saw from its top their journey's end. Below them, no more than three miles distant, the spires and gables of Gothenburg glinted in the moonlight, and beyond them shimmered the sea.

With a cry of joy Gustavus spurred his horse forward and in a stumbling canter it lopped down the easy gradient. Roger too, urged his mount into a last effort and the spurt carried them for half a mile down on to the flat.

Suddenly, the King's horse halted with a jerk which nearly threw him over its head, stood quivering for a moment, then collapsed; rolled over and lay still in the middle of the road.

Gustavus had had time to jump clear and stood by the dead animal, cursing furiously. Roger had overshot him by several yards. Pulling up, he dismounted, and now desperately anxious lest the King should yet be captured, cried:

‘Take my mount, Sire! Your goal is but a few miles ahead. She'll carry you that far if you use her gently. Ride on, I beg, and I'll follow on foot.'

With a word of thanks the King hurried to him, hauled himself into the saddle, and ambled off towards the city.

Heaving a sigh from weariness, Roger watched him cover the first quarter of a mile: then, although big clouds had just obscured the moon and a new downpour commenced, he sat down to rest on a bank by the roadside. Now that he could no longer help Gustavus his task was done, and there was no particular urgency about his reaching the city. Even if a Danish patrol came upon him it was highly unlikely that they would interfere with a solitary English traveller.