H.J. Gaudreau - Betrayal in the Louvre Read Free Page B

Louis-Joseph, will die tonight.  An announcement will be made at dawn.  His death will be attributed to tuberculosis.  It will fit well with his illness of last year. You are to take the Dauphin, along with a woman of the Queen’s choosing away from Paris.  My suggestion is to Montmedy or Sedan Castle, but you may have better knowledge.  He must not be recognized or his very existence known until the Estates-General is successfully closed.”
    General Luckner knew what this meant, but remained silent.  Instead he nodded his head in agreement, but inwardly he wondered if it ever would be “successfully closed.”  Nevertheless, this was a prudent decision and a minor ruse that could be explained in due course.  “Of course, it shall be done my friend,” he said.
    The King again turned to the window.  Over his shoulder he said, “Things will never be the same…”  He grew thoughtful.  Luckner stood in silence.
    “Sire?”  The irony was gone.
    Louis turned, looked directly into Luckner’s eyes and said, “Take my son’s Letters of Royal Patent and funds for a long stay.” 
    The King looked past his General.  Silence filled the room.  Luckner knew this was not the time to interrupt the King, he focused on the man’s eyes.  They were heavy; he looked tired.  No, not tired…they were, what?  Dead?
    “And, Nicklous, I need you to take some other things.  Remove “La Joyeuse”, the Coronation Crown, and the Holy Ampulla with my son.  Ensure only your most trusted men accompany you…tell no one, save, in good time, the Dauphin.”
    Luckner’s face hardened; his grey eyes narrowed.  He knew now what was in the King’s mind.  “Sire, I’m sure it will not come to that.  The crown is safe with the House of Bourbon.” 
    “I’m not so sure.  In any case, do this for me.”  
    Lieutenant General Nikolaus Luckner, for the first time, took his adopted King’s hand and kissed the royal ring.  He bowed, walked backward for five paces, turned and with crisp military bearing, walked out of the room.
    Louis the sixteenth slumped.  A wave of sadness; the sadness of a parent losing a child, not a King losing a kingdom, swept over him.  He turned to the window once more.  He knew.  He knew deep in his soul that he would never see his son again. 
     
     

 
    Chapter 4
     
    Waco, Texas
     
    10 August 1917
     
    The 32nd Infantry Division under Major General James Parker had been assembled from the National Guard units of Wisconsin and Michigan.  Some of its elements had deployed with General John “Black Jack” Pershing in his pursuit of the Mexican border raider, Poncho Villa.  Thus, the Division was experienced in large troop movements and the issues associated with supplying a large, mobile group of men and machines. 
    Commanding General Parker was an experienced and intelligent soldier.  Unlike many military men of his generation he paid close attention to world politics and technological innovations in addition to the more traditional study of military history.  As early as 1915 he felt certain the United States would be drawn into the conflict just starting in France and spreading across the Western Hemisphere.  His estimations proved prophetic.  When a German diplomatic message, the ‘Zimmermann note,’ fell into United States hands exposing Germany’s attempted alliance with Mexico against the United States the country quickly abandoned its neutral policies.  The United States declared war in April 1917.   
    Parker had been certain his division would be one of the first sent into action.  He had already set his mind to the issues of moving this huge organization from here to there and keeping it in action once assembled on foreign soil. 
    In his youth, Parker had been taught that an Army was dependent on hay and the feed bag.  That was nearly true today, only hay and the feed bag had been replaced with gasoline and spare parts.  And, now one more item had been added