‘He doesn’t mean to. He has only one idea in his head: to find the man he’s looking for. Look how little he takes Luise’s feelings into account, even though he regards her as his sister. And that fortune that he spent to be able to examine the archives at the

Kriegsministerium. Imagine what else he could have done with all that money? No, he attracts death without even being aware of it.’ Lefine was appalled at this.

The problem is that death is blind,’ he declared. ‘It’s stalking Relmyer but it could just as easily get us by mistake!’

‘Relmyer is tied to his past. He won’t really start to live until he has broken the ties.’

‘There are other ways of freeing yourself from a rope than tugging to make the bulldog attached to it come and bite you.’

‘He only knows how to do it his way.’

‘Listen, about that dog ...’

Pagin galloped over to them. As he felt he was not getting there fast enough — the world turned too slowly for his liking - he was gesticulating. That would have saved time had anyone understood what his waving arm signified. He brought his sweating horse abruptly to a halt, causing it to whinny.

‘Captain, Sergeant: Lieutenant Relmyer wants you to know that he’s found what he’s looking for in the registers. He’s going to try to find the person concerned. If you want to go with him, you will have to follow me immediately.’

CHAPTER 18

RELMYER was everywhere all at once. He had gathered a dozen hussars from his squadron and he walked from one to the other, checking their arms and giving orders. An Austrian peasant, unwillingly forced to be their guide, sat stiffly on a mount controlled by a non-commissioned officer. Relmyer, already overwrought, grew even more excited when he saw Margont. The latter had seen similar expressions in hospitals when a victim realised that the bullet inside them was about to be extracted. In certain cases, the relief caused rapture.

‘Here you are at last!’ cried Relmyer to Margont and Lefine, shaking them by the hand. ‘We have a lead! We have a lead!’

He held out a letter written in German. It was dated 3 May, just before the French had occupied Vienna. Relmyer did not have the patience to wait for Margont to decipher it.

‘It’s the copy for archiving of a letter written by a certain Limbsen to a secretary at the Ministry of War called Homkler. Look here, and there!’

His excitement was making him confused.

This Limbsen explains that he has been put in charge of an internal inquiry concerning the military registers. One of the men responsible for keeping the documents in good order had noticed the anomalies in the lists of effectives of the Infanterieregimenter 20 and 23! Those were the regiments that Mark and Ernst were supposed to have served in!’

Becoming more and more agitated, he raised his voice. ‘Limbsen verified the relevant registers. He suspects a certain Johann Grich of being responsible for the errors. In this letter, according to procedure, Limbsen asks Secretary Homkler - Grich’s superior-for authorisation to question him. We don’t know if Limbsen ever did so. I would imagine not. The Austrians have had other things on their minds since our troops arrived in Vienna.’

‘Why does he suspect Grich?’

‘That’s not made clear in the letter.’

Margont was finding it hard to believe in this miracle.

‘Where did you find this document?’

‘In the chaos of the archives. I told you we had to look there! Now, we’ve wasted enough time, let’s go! Let’s pay Johann Grich a visit. According to the letter, he lives in Mazenau, a hamlet a few leagues north of Vienna.’

Lefine was suspicious.

‘Lieutenant, why all the hussars and a guide?’

Relmyer spoke calmly, as if he had inadvertently forgotten a minor detail. ‘I found out a bit about Mazenau: it’s in a forest.’ In the face of Lefine’s fury, he immediately added: ‘It’s on the French side. If Grich had lived on the other bank, everything would have been more ...’

Lefine shook his head at this. ‘Because you would have gone there anyway?’

Pagin brought his horse closer to nudge the flank of Lefine’s mount.

‘Infantrymen only know how to advance in line, in their thousands, elbow to elbow, once the artillery have carefully prepared the terrain. Let’s proceed as normal: let the hussars do the work and then join us in a week when it’s all over. We’ll tell you—^'

Lefine was not amused.

‘Insolent at seventeen, dead at twenty.’

Relmyer was worried. His eyes searched Margont’s.

‘You are coming with us, aren’t you? Having you there is very important to me.’

‘I’m coming. I’ve promised Luise I’ll look after you, and I have decided to help with this affair until it’s resolved.’

Lefine grunted his agreement. Relmyer bounded into his saddle with the dexterity of the hussar. Margont held out his arm to calm his impetuosity.

‘Allow me to warn you that you are in great danger: four hussars are searching for you to fight duels with you.’

‘Only four?’joked Pagin.

Relmyer greeted the news with equanimity. He was used to it, and in any case, he had somewhere to go and the rest of the world was irrelevant to him at the moment.

‘Is it because of my duel with your friend Piquebois? Unfortunately it’s just like that.’

‘Just like that?’ choked Margont. ‘Everywhere, all around you, people are pointing sabres in your direction and ...’

He could not even finish his sentence, he was so put out by Relmyer’s calm.

Lefine leant towards him. ‘Methinks we have been taken for idiots.’

Three of the four hussars in question had just appeared behind them, sneering. The hussar from the 5th Regiment rode out in front. The two élite troopers were behind on either side, ready to encircle Relmyer should he try to escape. Adjutant Grendet was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he was lying in wait nearby or perhaps he was looking for Relmyer elsewhere. Lefine felt like a hare that, believing he has escaped a hunter, now sees the snout of the hunter’s dog ferreting around its form.

‘They followed us and we didn’t notice anything! But I’m usually so careful!’

‘What is this nonsense?’ fumed Relmyer.

‘You’ll leave one for me, won’t you, Lieutenant?’ asked Pagin, his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Lefine was already moving away.

‘Hussars are as twisted as their sabres!’

‘Remember your promise,’ Margont said fiercely to Relmyer. Relmyer was very diplomatic. He explained his proposed expedition without going into detail about the reasons for it and insisted that it could not be delayed. He won himself a reprieve but the three hussars insisted on coming with them, which Relmyer agreed to. The hussars were convinced that Relmyer was trying to escape them and did not intend to let him out of their sight. Relmyer, smiling again, set off, indicating with a sweeping gesture that everyone should follow. Three duels were hanging over him, but he paid them as little heed as if they were three specks of dust on his pelisse.

CHAPTER 19

THE little troop made its way north. They skirted Vienna before plunging into the forest. Margont lost all sense of direction and had no idea where they were. He had deployed some of his men as vanguard and some on the flanks. He scanned the area, his gaze seeming to slide through the foliage. The green and scarlet troopers were redolent of drops of bloody sap scattered over the vast vegetation. The trees, giants weighed down with leaves, seemed to crush them in their vertiginous grasp. They formed a sort of palace of alarming proportions. Had it not been for the war Margont would have liked to lose himself here.

The three duellists followed Relmyer. The two élite troopers never spoke to the hussar of the 5th Regiment. They only knew each other because of the magnetic draw of Relmyer’s blade to theirs. Yet Margont told himself that he was hardly less idiotic than they were. Had he not become involved in this business for complex motives, which he couldn’t share with anyone else? Twenty men