The Empress Queen and the Emperor laughed so much that Gavin, who was very red and embarrassed in the beginning, began to feel seriously disconcerted. He recovered his good humour, however, when the Empress Queen desired to see Frederick’s memorandum, and after reading it cried:
“I cannot do less than the King of Prussia expects. You shall have two steps in promotion instead of one!” At which Gavin only blushed the more while stammering out his thanks.
When, a few moments after, St. Arnaud and Gavin left the Empress Queen’s closet, St. Arnaud whispered:
“The release of poor Bevern is caused by two motives—one, to benefit a brave but unfortunate man; the other, to chagrin the King of Prussia.”
The next succeeding weeks were entirely different from those which had preceded the Breslau expedition. The spring campaign was about to open, and court and people were absorbed in preparations for trying the fortunes of war once more with Frederick. St. Arnaud was busy all day and all night with the affairs of his corps. It had been in cantonments on the outskirts of Vienna during the winter, and was to march the middle of April. Gavin’s duties as a subaltern compelled him to take up his quarters with his regiment, and he occupied alone the tent that was to shelter St. Arnaud and himself on the march. He applied himself more seriously to the study of military affairs from the point of an officer, and in this, as in everything he had tried to study in his life, he had much assistance from his mother. She got him books in English and French, and helped him in his fluent but somewhat incorrect German. Nor were his creature comforts forgotten, although Lady Hamilton never ceased to impress upon him that the equipment of his mind must always come before the considerations for his body. Nevertheless, he was well supplied with many little comforts for the campaign which had been unknown to him before.
Every day he came to the Teinfeltstrasse house to visit his mother, if only for a few minutes, and to see his cherished friends, Madame Ziska and her family. It was arranged that Lady Hamilton should remain with her excellent friends until Gavin could return to Vienna—if ever he returned. Gavin, however, had perfect confidence in his own return, for his nature was sanguine to the last degree, and it was always as surprising as it was unpleasant for things to go wrong with him. Having escaped hanging by a very narrow margin only gave him increased confidence in the future—a thing very conducive to both happiness and success.
He did not again see his father, and really did not know whether Sir Gavin Hamilton was still in Vienna or not. Gavin’s duties kept him so closely with his troop, that he no longer had time to frequent palaces or drawing-rooms, and it was not always easy for him to see his mother once a day. St. Arnaud was equally busy, and their thoughts and their talk were all about the coming campaign. They congratulated themselves daily upon being under General Loudon, the most adventurous of men, and the making the campaign with each other was peculiarly gratifying to both.
Daily were they expecting orders to march. Marshal Daun had begun the concentration of his army at Koniggratz the middle of March, and the light troops under General Loudon were expected to be on the move to join him by the middle of April. It was known that General Loudon was to come to Vienna to receive the Military Order of Maria Theresa—the highest military order in the Empire, and one justly earned by General Loudon—and after spending one day there, he was to accompany the very last brigade to Leutomischl, about fifty miles from Olmutz. Each day detachments were dispatched, but St. Arnaud’s and Gavin’s regiments were not among them. It began to be whispered abroad that their regiment would have the honour of escorting the major-general himself.
One day, as Gavin was toiling over a muddy road, at the head of his troop of hussars, which had been going through the sword exercise, he met St. Arnaud galloping along alone. He rode up to Gavin, and called out loud enough for the men to hear:
“By the day after to-morrow we shall be on the march. Not half a mile behind me rides General Loudon, and when he comes to Vienna it is for as short a time as he can stay; and then he goes off like a shot, hunting for Prussians.”