Lieutenant Lare's Marriage

by Guy de Maupassant

　　

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Since the beginning of the campaign Lieutenant Lare had taken two cannonfrom the Prussians. His general had said: "Thank you, lieutenant," andhad given him the cross of honor.As he was as cautious as he was brave, wary, inventive, wily andresourceful, he was entrusted with a hundred soldiers and he organized acompany of scouts who saved the army on several occasions during aretreat.But the invading army entered by every frontier like a surging sea.Great waves of men arrived one after the other, scattering all aroundthem a scum of freebooters. General Carrel's brigade, separated from itsdivision, retreated continually, fighting each day, but remaining almostintact, thanks to the vigilance and agility of Lieutenant Lare, whoseemed to be everywhere at the same moment, baffling all the enemy'scunning, frustrating their plans, misleading their Uhlans and killingtheir vanguards.One morning the general sent for him."Lieutenant," said he, "here is a dispatch from General de Lacere, whowill be destroyed if we do not go to his aid by sunrise to-morrow. He isat Blainville, eight leagues from here. You will start at nightfall withthree hundred men, whom you will echelon along the road. I will followyou two hours later. Study the road carefully; I fear we may meet adivision of the enemy."It had been freezing hard for a week. At two o'clock it began to snow,and by night the ground was covered and heavy white swirls concealedobjects hard by.At six o'clock the detachment set out.Two men walked alone as scouts about three yards ahead. Then came aplatoon of ten men commanded by the lieutenant himself. The restfollowed them in two long columns. To the right and left of the littleband, at a distance of about three hundred feet on either side, somesoldiers marched in pairs.The snow,,which was still falling, covered them with a white powder inthe darkness, and as it did not melt on their uniforms, they were hardlydistinguishable in the night amid the dead whiteness of the landscape.From time to time they halted. One heard nothing but that indescribable,nameless flutter of falling snow--a sensation rather than a sound, avague, ominous murmur. A command was given in a low tone and when thetroop resumed its march it left in its wake a sort of white phantomstanding in the snow. It gradually grew fainter and finally disappeared.It was the echelons who were to lead the army.The scouts slackened their pace. Something was ahead of them."Turn to the right," said the lieutenant; "it is the Ronfi wood; thechateau is more to the left."Presently the command "Halt" was passed along. The detachment stoppedand waited for the lieutenant, who, accompanied by only ten men, hadundertaken a reconnoitering expedition to the chateau.They advanced, creeping under the trees. Suddenly they all remainedmotionless. Around them was a dead silence. Then, quite near them, alittle clear, musical young voice was heard amid the stillness of thewood."Father, we shall get lost in the snow. We shall never reachBlainville."A deeper voice replied:"Never fear, little daughter; I know the country as well as I know mypocket."The lieutenant said a few words and four men moved away silently, likeshadows.All at once a woman's shrill cry was heard through the darkness. Twoprisoners were brought back, an old man and a young girl. The lieutenantquestioned them, still in a low tone:"Your name?""Pierre Bernard.""Your profession?""Butler to Comte de Ronfi.""Is this your daughter?"'Yes!'"What does she do?""She is laundress at the chateau.""Where are you going?""We are making our escape.""Why?""Twelve Uhlans passed by this evening. They shot three keepers andhanged the gardener. I was alarmed on account of the little one.""Whither are you bound?""To Blainville.""Why?""Because there is a French army there.""Do you know the way?""Perfectly.""Well then, follow us."They rejoined the column and resumed their march across country. The oldman walked in silence beside the lieutenant, his daughter walking at hisside. All at once she stopped."Father," she said, "I am so tired I cannot go any farther."And she sat down. She was shaking with cold and seemed about to loseconsciousness. Her father wanted to carry her, but he was too old andtoo weak."Lieutenant," said he, sobbing, "we shall only impede your march. Francebefore all. Leave us here."The officer had given a command. Some men had started off. They cameback with branches they had cut, and in a minute a litter was ready. Thewhole detachment had joined them by this time."Here is a woman dying of cold," said the lieutenant. "Who will give hiscape to cover her?"Two hundred capes were taken off. The young girl was wrapped up in thesewarm soldiers' capes, gently laid in the litter, and then four' hardyshoulders lifted her up, and like an Eastern queen borne by her slavesshe was placed in the center of the detachment of soldiers, who resumedtheir march with more energy, more courage, more cheerfulness, animatedby the presence of a woman, that sovereign inspiration that has stirredthe old French blood to so many deeds of valor.At the end of an hour they halted again and every one lay down in thesnow. Over yonder on the level country a big, dark shadow was moving.It looked like some weird monster stretching itself out like a serpent,then suddenly coiling itself into a mass, darting forth again, then back,and then forward again without ceasing. Some whispered orders werepassed around among the soldiers, and an occasional little, dry, metallicclick was heard. The moving object suddenly came nearer, and twelveUhlans were seen approaching at a gallop, one behind the other, havinglost their way in the darkness. A brilliant flash suddenly revealed tothem two hundred mete lying on the ground before them. A rapid fire washeard, which died away in the snowy silence, and all the twelve fell tothe ground, their horses with them.After a long rest the march was resumed. The old man whom they hadcaptured acted as guide.Presently a voice far off in the distance cried out: "Who goes there?"Another voice nearer by gave the countersign.They made another halt; some conferences took place. It had stoppedsnowing. A cold wind was driving the clouds, and innumerable stars weresparkling in the sky behind them, gradually paling in the rosy light ofdawn.A staff officer came forward to receive the detachment. But when heasked who was being carried in the litter, the form stirred; two littlehands moved aside the big blue army capes and, rosy as the dawn, with twoeyes that were brighter than the stars that had just faded from sight,and a smile as radiant as the morn, a dainty face appeared."It is I, monsieur."The soldiers, wild with delight, clapped their hands and bore the younggirl in triumph into the midst of the camp, that was just getting toarms. Presently General Carrel arrived on the scene. At nine o'clockthe Prussians made an attack. They beat a retreat at noon.That evening, as Lieutenant Lare, overcome by fatigue, was sleeping on abundle of straw, he was sent for by the general. He found the commandingofficer in his tent, chatting with the old man whom they had come acrossduring the night. As soon as he entered the tent the general took hishand, and addressing the stranger, said:"My dear comte, this is the young man of whom you were telling me justnow; he is one of my best officers."He smiled, lowered his tone, and added:"The best."Then, turning to the astonished lieutenant, he presented "Comte de Ronfi-Quedissac."The old man took both his hands, saying:"My dear lieutenant, you have saved my daughter's life. I have only oneway of thanking you. You may come in a few months to tell me--if youlike her."One year later, on the very same day, Captain Lare and Miss Louise-Hortense-Genevieve de Ronfi-Quedissac were married in the church of St.Thomas Aquinas.She brought a dowry of six thousand francs, and was said to be theprettiest bride that had been seen that year.

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