The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard - How the Brigadier Came to the Castle of Gloom Part 2

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Part Two of Chapter One of The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
Duroc gave a shout like the sportsman who sees his game rising in front of him. The lad seemed to have gone off his head, his eyes shining, his face deathly white, and such a grim set about his mouth has made the farmer shrink away from him. I can see him now leaning forward on his brown horse with his eager gaze fixed upon the great black tower. Why do you call it the Castle of Gloom? I asked. Well, it's the name it bears upon the countryside, said the farmer. By all accounts, there have been some black doings up yonder. It's not for nothing that the wickedest man in Poland has been living there for 14 years past. A Polish nobleman? I asked. Nay, we breed no such men in Poland, he answered. A Frenchman then, cried Jurok. They say that he came from France. And with red hair? As red as a fox. Yes, yes, it is my man, cried my companion, quivering all over in his excitement. It is the hand of Providence which has led me here. Who can say that there is not justice in this world? Come on, Georges Gerard, for I must see the men safely quartered before I can attend to this private matter.
He spurred on his horse, and ten minutes later we were at the door of the inn of Arendsdorf, where his men were to find their quarters for the night. Well, all this was no affair of mine, and I could not imagine what the meaning of it might be. Rossell was still far off, but I determined to ride on for a few hours and take my chance of some wayside barn in which I could find shelter for Ratterplan and myself.
I had mounted my horse, therefore, after tossing off a cup of wine, when young Jorach came running out of the door and laid his hand upon my knee. Monture Gerard, he panted, I beg of you not to abandon me like this. My good sir, said I, if you would tell me what is the matter and what you would wish me to do, I should be better able to tell you if I could be of any assistance to you. You can be of the very greatest, he cried. Indeed, from all that I have heard of you, Monture Gerard, you are the one man whom I should wish to have by my side tonight.
You forget that I am riding to join my regiment. You cannot in any case reach it tonight. Tomorrow will bring you to Rossell. By staying with me, you will confer the very greatest kindness upon me.
And you will aid me in a matter which concerns my own honour and the honour of my family. I am compelled, however, to confess to you that some personal danger may possibly be involved. It was a crafty thing for him to say. Of course, I sprang from Ratablan's back and ordered the groom to lead him back to the stables.
Come into the inn, said I, and let me know exactly what it is that you wish me to do. He led the way into a sitting room and fastened the door lest we should be interrupted. He was a well-grown lad, and as he stood in the glare of the lamp, with the light beating upon his earnest face and upon his uniform of silver-gray, which suited him to a marvel, I felt my heart warm towards him.
Without going so far as to say that he carried himself as I had done at his age, there was at least similarity enough to make me feel sympathy with him.
I can explain it all in a few words, said he. If I have not already satisfied your very natural curiosity, it is because the subject is so painful a one to me that I can hardly bring myself to allude to it. I cannot, however, ask for your assistance without explaining to you exactly how the matter lies. You must know, then, that my father was the well-known banker Christophe Duroc, who was murdered by the people during the September massacres. As you are aware, the mob took possession of the prisons, chose three so-called judges to pass sentence upon the unhappy aristocrats, and then tore them to pieces when they were passed out into the street. My father had been a benefactor of the poor all his life. There were many to plead for him. He had the fever too, and was carried in half dead upon a blanket. Two of the judges were in favour of acquitting him. The third, a young Jacobin, whose huge body and brutal mind had made him a leader among these wretches, dragged him with his own hands from the litter, kicked him again and again with his heavy boots, and hurled him out of the door, where in an instant he was torn limb from limb under circumstances which are too horrible for me to describe. This, as you perceive, was murder, even under their own unlawful laws, for two of their own judges had pronounced in my father's favour. Well, when the days of order came back again, my elder brother began to make inquiries about this man. I was only a child then, but it was a family matter, and it was discussed in my presence. The fellow's name was Carabane. He was one of son Stairsguard and a noted Jewelist. A foreign lady named the Baroness Straubental, having been dragged before the Jacobins, he had gained her liberty for her on the promise that she, with her money and estates, should be his. He had married her, taken her name and title, and escaped out of France at the time of the fall of Robespierre. What had become of him we had no means of learning. You will think doubtless that it would be easy for us to find him since we had both his name and his title. You must remember, however, that the Revolution left us without money, and that without money such a search is very difficult. Then came the Empire, and it became more difficult still, for, as you are aware, the Emperor considered that the 18th Brumaire brought all accounts to a settlement, and that on that day a veil had been drawn across the past. Nonetheless, we kept our own family story and our own family plans. My brother joined the army and passed with it through all southern Europe, asking everywhere for the Baron Straubenthal. Last October, he was killed at Jenner, with his mission still unfulfilled. Then it became my turn, and I have the good fortune to hear of the very man of whom I am in search at one of the first Polish villages which I have to visit and within a fortnight of joining my regiment. And then, to make the matter even better, I find myself in the company of one whose name is never mentioned throughout the army, save in connection with some daring and generous deed. This was all very well, and I listened to it with the greatest interest, but I was none the clearer as to what young Durek wished me to do. How can I be of service to you? I asked. By coming up with me? To the castle? Precisely. When? At once. But what do you intend to do? I shall know what to do. But I wish you to be with me all the same. Well, it was never in my nature to refuse an adventure, and besides, I had every sympathy with the lad's feelings. It is very well to forgive one's enemies, but one wishes to give them something to forgive also. I held out my hand to him, therefore. I must be on my way for Rossell tomorrow morning, but tonight I am yours, said I.