The Lion of the North: A Tale of the Times of Gustavus AdolphusHenty, G. A. (George Alfred)
History
The Lion of the North: A Tale of the Times of Gustavus Adolphus
Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
Gustav II Adolf, King of Sweden, 1594-1632 -- Fiction; Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648 -- Fiction
“I have bad news,” he said. “General Suys with an army arrived at Prague
before Terzky got there, and I fear that the influence of Piccolomini,
Gallas, and Altringer have withdrawn from me the corps which they
command. Terzky will return tomorrow morning, and I shall then march
with him and the troops here to Egra. There I shall effect a junction
with Duke Bernhard, who is instructed to march upon that town.”
The duke, though anxious, still appeared confident; but the outlook
seemed to Malcolm extremely gloomy. The whole army save the regiments
around Pilsen had fallen away from Wallenstein. His princely generosity
to the generals and officers and his popularity among the troops had
failed to attach them to him now that he had declared against the
emperor, and it appeared to Malcolm that he would be able to bring over
to the Swedish cause only the corps which he immediately commanded.
Still his defection could not but cause a vast gap in the Imperial
defences, and the loss of the services of the greatest of their leaders
would in itself be a heavy blow to the Imperialist cause, which had been
almost solely supported by his commanding talents and his vast private
income. Terzky arrived on the following morning, and the same afternoon
Wallenstein with the whole of the troops at Pilsen marched towards Egra.
Among the officers attached to Wallenstein's person was a Scotchman
named Leslie, to whom and a few other confidants Wallenstein had
confided his designs. Wallenstein had at once introduced Malcolm to him,
and the two rode in company during the march to Egra. Malcolm did not
find him a cheerful companion. They chatted at times of the engagements
in which both had taken part although on opposite sides; but Malcolm saw
that his companion was absent and preoccupied, and that he avoided any
conversation as to the turn which events had taken.
At the end of the first day's ride Malcolm came to the decided
conclusion that he did not like his companion, and, moreover, that his
heart was far from being in the enterprise on which they were engaged.
The following day he avoided joining him, and rode with some of the
other officers. Upon their arrival at Egra the gates were opened at
their approach, and Colonel Butler, an Irishman who commanded the
garrison, met Wallenstein as he entered, and saluted him with all
honour. Wallenstein was pleased to find that the disaffection which had
spread so rapidly through the army had not reached Egra.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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