I told him, and he turned in triumph on Reynolds.
"You see, sir, an officer new joined, and he can show you and your other precious fellows from India their duty. Mr Fwashman"s sheepskin is white, sir, as yours should be - would be, if you knew anything of discipline and good order. But you don"t, sir, I tell you."
"Mr Flashman"s sheepskin is new, sir," said Reynolds, which was true enough. "They discolour with age."
"So you make excuses now!" snapped Cardigan. "Haw-haw! I tell you, sir, if you knew your duty they would be cleaned, or if they are too old, wenewed. But you know nothing of this, of course. Your slovenly Indian ways are good enough, I suppose. Well, they will not do, let me tell you! These skins will be cwean tomorrow, d"you hear, sir? Cwean, or I"ll hold you wesponsible. Captain Weynolds!"
And with that he rode off, head in the air, and I heard his "Haw-haw" as he greeted someone outside the stable yard.
I felt quite pleased to have been singled out for what was, in effect, praise, and I fancy I said something of this to Reynolds. He looked me up and down as though seeing me for the first time, and said, in that odd, Welsh-sounding voice that comes with long service in India:
"Ye-es, I can see you will do very well, Mr Flashman. Lord Haw Haw may not like us Indian officers, but he likes plungers, and I"ve no doubt you"ll plunger very prettily."
I asked him what he meant by plunging.
"Oh," says he, "a plunger is a fellow who makes a great turnout, don"t you know, and leaves cards at the best houses, and is sought by the mamas, and strolls in the Park very languid, and is just a h.e.l.l of a swell generally. Sometimes they even condescend to soldier a little - when it doesn"t interfere with their social life. Good-day, Mr Flashman."
I could see that Reynolds was jealous, and in my conceit I was well pleased. What he had said, though, was true enough: the regiment was fairly divided between Indian officers - those who had not left since returning home -and the plungers, to whom I naturally attached myself. They hailed me among them, even the n.o.blest, and I knew how to make myself pleasant. I was not as quick with my tongue as I was to become later, but they knew me for a sporting fellow before I had been there long - good on a horse, good with the bottle (for I took some care at first), and ready for mischief. I toadied as seemed best - not openly, of course, but effectively just the same; there is a way of toadying which is better than fawning, and it consists of acting bluff and hearty and knowing to an inch how far to go. And I had money, and showed it.
The Indian officers had a bad time. Cardigan hated them. Reynolds and Forrest were his chief b.u.t.ts, and he was forever pestering them to leave the regiment and make way for gentlemen, as he put it. Why he was so down on those who had served in India, I was never entirely sure; some said it was because they were not of the smart set, or well connected, and this was true up to a point. He was the d.a.m.nedest sn.o.b, but I think his hatred of the Indian officers ran deeper. They were, after all, real soldiers with service experience, and Cardigan had never heard a shot outside the shooting range in his twenty years" service.(4)
Whatever the cause, he made their lives miserable, and there were several resignations in my first six months" service. Even for us plungers it was bad enough, for he was a devil for discipline, and not all the plungers were competent officers. I saw how the wind set, and studied harder than ever I had at Rugby, mastering my drill, which wasn"t difficult, and perfecting myself in the rules of camp life. I had got an excellent servant, named Ba.s.set, a square-headed oaf who knew everything a soldier ought to know and nothing more, and with a genius for boot-polish. I thrashed him early in our acquaintance, and he seemed to think the better of me for it, and treated me as a dog does its master. Fortunately, I cut a good figure on parade and at exercise, which was where it counted with Cardigan. Probably only the regimental sergeant major and one or two of the troop-sergeants were my equals on horseback, and his lordship congratulated me once or twice on my riding.
"Haw-haw!" he would say. "Fwashman sits well, I tell you. He will make an aide yet."
I agreed with him. Flashman was sitting very well.
In the mess things went well enough. They were a fast crowd, and the money ran pretty free, for apart from parties and the high state which Cardigan demanded we should keep, there was some heavy gaming. All this expense discouraged the Indian men, which delighted Cardigan, who was forever sneering at them that if they could not keep up with gentlemen they had better return to farming or set themselves up in trade - "selling shoes and pots and pans", he would say, and laugh heartily, as though this were the funniest thing imaginable.
Strangely enough, or perhaps not strangely, his Indian prejudice did not extend to the men. They were a tough lot, and excellent soldiers so far as I could see; he was a tyrant to them, and never a week pa.s.sed without a court-martial for neglect of duty or desertion or drunkenness. The last offence was common but not seriously regarded, but for the other two he punished hard. There were frequent floggings at the rings in the side of the riding school, when we all had to attend. Some of the older officers - the Indian ones - grumbled a good deal and pre-tended to be shocked, but I guessed they would not have missed it. Myself, I liked a good flogging, and used to have bets with Bryant, my particular crony, on whether the man would cry out before the tenth stroke, or when he would faint. It was better sport than most, anyway.
Bryant was a queer little creature who attached himself to me early in my career and clung like a leech. He was your open toady, with little money of his own, but a gift of pleasing and being on hand. He was smart enough, and contrived to cut a decent figure, although never splendid, and he had all the gossip, and knew everybody, and was something of a wit. He shone at parties and mess nights which we gave for the local society in Canterbury, where he was very forward. He was first with all the news, and could recount it in a fashion that amused Cardigan - not that this was too difficult. I found him useful, and tolerated him accordingly, and used him as a court jester when it suited - he was adept in this role, too. As Forrest said, if you kicked Bryant"s a.r.s.e, he always bounced most obligingly.
He had a considerable gift of spite against the Indian officers, which also endeared him to Cardigan - oh, we were a happy little mess, I can tell you - and earned him their hatred. Most of them despised me, too, along with the other plungers, but we despised them for different reasons, so we were square there.
But to only one officer did I take an active dislike, which was prophetic, and I guessed that he returned it from the first. His name was Bernier, a tall, hard hawk of a man with a big nose and black whiskers and dark eyes set very close. He was the best blade and shot in the regiment, and until I came on the scene the best rider as well. He didn"t love me for that, I suppose, but our real hatred dated from the night when he made some reference to nabob families of no breeding, and seemed to me to look in my direction. I was fairly wine-flown, or I"d have kept my mouth shut, for he looked like what the Americans call a "killing gentleman" - indeed, he was very like an American whom I knew later, the celebrated James Hickok, who was also a deadly shot. But being part tipsy, I said I would rather be a nabob Briton, and take my chance on breeding, than be half-caste foreign. Bryant crowed, as he always did at my jokes, and said: "Bravo, Flash! Old England forever!" and there was general laughter, for my usual heartiness and general bluffness had earned me the name of being some-thing of a John Bull. Bernier only half-caught what I said, for I had kept my voice low so that only those nearest heard, but someone must have told him later, for he never gave me anything but an icy stare from then on, and never spoke to me. He was sensitive about his foreign name - actually, he was a French Jew, if you went back far enough, which accounts for it.
But it was a few months after this incident that I really ran foul of Bernier, and began to make my reputation - the reputation which I still enjoy today. I pa.s.s over a good deal of what happened in that first year - Cardigan"s quarrel with the Morning Post,(5) for example, which had the regiment, and the public generally, in a fine uproar, but in which I had no part - and come to the famous Bernier-Flashman duel, which you will still hear talked about. I think of it only with pride and delight, even now. Only two men ever knew the truth of it, and I was one.
It was a year almost to the day after I left Rugby that I was taking the air in Canterbury, in the Park, and on my way to some mama"s house or other to make a call. I was in full fig, and feeling generally pleased with myself, when I spied an officer walking under the trees with a lady, arm in arm. It was Bernier, and I looked to see what heifer he was ploughing with. In fact, she was no heifer, but a wicked-looking little black-haired piece with a turned-up nose and a saucy smile. I studied her, and the great thought formed in my head.
I had had two or three mistresses in Canterbury, off and on, but nothing in particular. Most of the younger officers maintained a paramour in the town or in London, but I had never set up any establishment like that. I guessed that this was Bernier"s mare of the moment, and the more I looked at her the more she intrigued me. She looked the kind of plump little puss who would be very knowing in bed, and the fact that she was Bernier"s - who fancied himself irresistible to women - would make the tumbling all the sweeter.
I wasted no time, but found out her direction by inquiry, chose my time when Bernier was on duty, and called on the lady. She had a pleasant little retreat, very tastefully furnished, but in no great style: Bernier"s purse was less fat than mine, which was an advantage. I pursued it. She was French herself, it turned out, so I could be more direct than with an English girl. I told her straight out that I had taken a fancy to her, and invited her to consider me as a friend - a close friend. I hinted that I had money - she was only a wh.o.r.e, after all, for all her fashionable airs.
At first she made a show of being shocked, and la-la"d a good deal, but when I made to leave she changed her tune. My money aside, I think she found me to her fancy; she toyed with a fan and looked at me over it with big, almond-shaped eyes, playing the sly minx.
"You have poor opeenion of French girls, then?" says she.
"Not I," says I, charming again. "I"ve the highest opinion of you, for example. What"s your name?" "Josette." She said it very pretty.
"Well, Josette, let"s drink to our future acquaintance - at my expense" - and I dropped my purse on the table, at which her eyes widened. It was not a small purse.
You may think me crude. I was. But I saved time and trouble, and perhaps money, too - the money that fools waste in paying court with presents before the fun begins. She had wine in the house, and we drank to each other and talked a good five minutes before I began to tease her into undressing. She played it very prettily, with much pouting and provocative looks, but when she had stripped she was all fire and wickedness, and I was so impatient I had her without getting out of my chair.
Whether I found her unusually delectable because she was Bernier"s mistress or because of her French tricks, I can"t say, but I took to visiting her often, and in spite of my respect for Bernier, I was careless. It was within a week, certainly, that we were engaged heavily one evening when there were footsteps on the stair, the door flew open, and there was the man himself. He stood glaring for a moment, while Josette squeaked and dived beneath the covers, and I scrambled to get under the bed in my shirt-tail - the sight of him filled me with panic. But he said nothing; a moment pa.s.sed, the door slammed, and I came out scrabbling for my breeches. At that moment I wanted only to put as much distance between myself and him as I could, and I dressed in some haste.
Josette began to laugh, and I asked her what the devil amused her.
"It is so fonnee," she giggled. "You . . . you half beneath de bed, and Charles glaring so fierce at your derriere." And she shrieked with laughter.
I told her to hold her tongue, and she stopped laughing and tried to coax me back to bed again, saying that Bernier had undoubtedly gone, and sitting up and shaking her t.i.ts at me. I hesitated, between l.u.s.t and fright, until she hopped out and bolted the door, and then I decided I might as well have my sport while I could, and pulled off my clothes again. But I confess it was not the most joyous pleasuring I have taken part in, although Josette was at her most spirited; I suspect she was thrilled by the situation.
I was in two minds whether to go back to the mess after-wards, for I was sure Bernier must call me out. But, to my surprise, when I pulled my courage together and went in to dinner, he paid me not the slightest notice. I couldn"t make it out, and when next day and the next he was still silent, I took heart again, and even paid Josette another visit. She had not seen him, so it seemed to me that he intended to do nothing at all. I decided that he was a poor-spirited thing after all, and had resigned his mistress to me - not, I was sure, out of fear of me, but because he could not bear to have a trollop who cheated him. Of course the truth was that he couldn"t call me out without exposing the cause, and making himself look ridiculous; and knowing more of regimental custom than I did, he hesitated to provoke an affair of honour over a mistress. But he was holding himself in with difficulty.
Not knowing this, I took to throwing my chest out again, and let Bryant into the secret. The toady was delighted, and soon all the plungers knew. It was then only a matter of time before the explosion came, as I should have known it would.
It was after dinner one night, and we were playing cards, while Bernier and one or two of the Indian men were talking near by. The game was vingt-et-un, and it happened that at that game I had a small joke concerning the Queen of Diamonds, which I maintained was my lucky card. Forrest had the bank, and when he set down my five-card hand with an ace and the Queen of Diamonds, Bryant, the spiteful a.s.s, sang out:
"Hullo! He"s got your queen, Flashy! That"s the biter bit, biG.o.d!"
"How d"ye mean?" said Forrest, taking up the cards and stakes.
"With Flashy it"s t"other way, you know," says Bryant. "He makes off with other chaps" queens."
"Aha," says Forrest, grinning. "But the Queen of Diamonds is a good Englishwoman, ain"t she, Flash? Mounting French fillies is your style, I hear."
There was a good deal of laughter, and glances in Bernier"s direction. I should have kept them quiet, but I was fool enough to join in.
"Nothing wrong in a French filly," I said, "so long as the jockey"s an English one. A French trainer is well enough, of course, but they don"t last in a serious race."
It was feeble enough stuff, no doubt, even allowing for the port we had drunk, but it snapped the straw. The next I knew my chair had been dragged away, and Bernier was standing over me as I sprawled on the floor, his face livid and his mouth working.
"What the devil-" began Forrest, as I scrambled up, and the others jumped up also. I was half on my feet when Bernier struck me, and I lost my balance and went down again.
"For G.o.d"s sake, Bernier!" shouts Forrest, "are you mad?" and they had to hold him back, or he would have savaged me on the ground, I think. Seeing him held, I came up with an oath, and made to go for him, but Bryant grabbed me, crying "No, no, Flash! Hold off, Flashy!" and they cl.u.s.tered round me as well.
Truth is, I was nearly sick with fear, for the murder was out now. The best shot in the regiment had hit me, but with provocation - fearful or not, I have always been quick and clear enough in my thinking in a crisis - and there couldn"t be any way out except a meeting. Unless I took the blow, which meant an end to my career in the army and in society. But to fight him was a quick road to the grave.
It was a horrible dilemma, and in that moment, as they held us apart, I saw I must have time to think, to plan, to find a way out. I shook them off, and without a word stalked out of the mess, like a man who must remove himself before he does someone a mischief.
It took me five minutes of hard thinking, and then I was striding back into the mess again. My heart was hammering, and no doubt I looked pretty furious, and if I shook they thought it was anger.
The chatter died away as I came in; I can feel that silence now, sixty years after, and see the elegant blue figures, and the silver gleaming on the table, and Bernier, alone and very pale, by the fireplace. I went straight up to him. I had my speech ready.
"Captain Bernier," I said, "you have struck me with your hand. That was rash, for I could take you to pieces with mine if I chose." This was blunt, English Flashman, of course. "But I prefer to fight like a gentleman, even if you do not." I swung round on my heel. "Lieutenant Forrest, will you act for me?"
Forrest said yes, like a shot, and Bryant looked piqued.