Fire and Sword (25 page)
Authors: Simon Scarrow
Arthur laughed lightly. ‘You have done your homework, William. At least the Hastings command keeps me on the active list.’
‘Really? I wonder just how active a soldier can be in such a place. I imagine the gravest danger one must face is being pelted with guano by the seagulls.’William sat back with a brief sigh and folded his hands over his stomach.‘You will need political friends if you are to rise to important military commands. Now then, I have arranged a quiet meeting with Grenville and Fox. Primarily as an opportunity for Richard to see them and put his case in private before he is exposed to the full rigour of parliamentary examination. If you come with me as well, as a prospective member of the House, it will add strength to our cause. Besides, I think you will have something to say on the matter of Fox’s peace proposals that it might do him good to hear.’
Arthur listened wearily. In truth, he accepted that William was right. The plain fact of it was that no man ever rose to prominence purely by his own efforts and abilities. It seemed that to become a successful general one must also become something of a successful politician as well. He nodded. ‘Very well, I’ll come.’
William had arranged for the meeting to take place in a private dining room in one of the gentlemen’s clubs off Park Lane. Crauford’s was a club favoured by clients with an interest in card games, and when Arthur entered on the stroke of nine in the evening and gave his name to a footman he was ushered through a room containing half a dozen tables at which men were playing whist. Their concentration was absolute. Not one looked up as Arthur passed by, and he realised why his brother had chosen this club for the encounter between the three Wellesley brothers and the two most powerful men in the government. Beyond the card room was a short corridor with two rooms leading off each side.The footman opened the second door on the right and bowed his head as Arthur stepped inside, then closed the door behind him.The others were already seated at the end of a long dining table, which was bare save for a large decanter of port and the glasses set out for the guests.The other four men were already seated.
‘Arthur, delighted you could join us.’William smiled.‘Do take a seat.’
Arthur glanced at his brothers as he strode round the table.William appeared to be his usual robust self, but Richard was as wan and pale as when he had returned from India and looked to be in poor health as he rested his chin on the knuckles of one hand and steadily regarded the two men on the other side of the table.Arthur knew both Grenville and Fox by sight, having seen them both in parliamentary debates and at social events. Grenville was tall and slender but Fox was by far the more arresting of the two. Tall, broad-shouldered and rotund, he had a jowly, good-humoured face and his eyes sparkled with energy. He returned Arthur’s gaze with an intense searching look and then rose and offered his hand as Arthur approached.
‘Ah! One of the younger brothers of the Wellesley family!’
‘Yes, sir.’ Arthur shook his hand, returning the powerful grip with a tightening of his own fist, until he sensed the other man slacken his hold and release his hand. Arthur turned to Grenville, who had risen to his feet a moment after Fox. ‘Prime Minister.’ Arthur bowed his head respectfully. ‘My condolences on the loss of your cousin. Mr Pitt was a fine man.’
‘My loss is the nation’s loss, Sir Arthur. Make no mistake about that.’ Grenville nodded sadly. ‘But we must move on, and take full advantage of the stable condition in which my brother left our nation.’
‘Stable condition?’ Fox chuckled. ‘I hardly think such a vast mountain of public debt and a state of war with the most powerful nation in Europe constitutes stability.’
Grenville turned to his companion with an irritated air.‘Pitt’s legacy is that he saved us from revolution and defeat. I think that is more than enough justification for describing Britain as stable.’
‘If you say so.’ Fox chuckled. ‘Although some of my friends in the House might disagree.’
‘And we must always consider the views of your friends,’ Grenville responded in an acid tone.
The two men stared at each other for a brief moment, and Arthur wondered how such a political partnership could work. In Britain’s present rudderless state perhaps such compromises were inevitable.
Fox cleared his throat. ‘This is a free country, and a man should be free to speak his mind. After all, those are the values that we are fighting for, or so it appears to me.’
Richard’s sickly white face seemed to drain of the very lost drop of blood. When he spoke, it was in a cold, hostile tone. ‘I do not need any lectures on freedom from a man who has been in open communication with the very nation that is determined to end the liberties enjoyed by every man in Britain.’
There was a faint smile on Fox’s lips, but he replied with a hard edge to his voice.‘That is hearsay and rumour, and you would be well advised not to repeat such scurrilous untruths.’
Arthur tapped his finger on the table and interrupted. ‘And yet you would have us negotiate peace with France, if I understand correctly?’ He glanced at Grenville, who nodded.
‘Times change,’ Fox continued. ‘What might once have been considered a lack of blind patriotism might now be seen as the best hope for Britain, under the present circumstances.’
‘Circumstances change,’ Arthur responded.‘Bonaparte’s enemies will not long tolerate his power over Europe. Equally, I doubt whether he would tolerate a prolonged peace. Bonaparte will always want more territory, more power and more glory. He needs these things as other men need food and water. Unless Britain is prepared to continue submitting to his demands, however humiliating, there will be further wars.You cannot appease such a despot for ever, Mr Fox.’
‘You may have a point, young man. But try telling that to the merchants of this country who increasingly find themselves closed off from continental markets. Try telling it to the hungry mobs of unemployed in our great industrial cities whose jobs have gone as trade has withered.Try telling it to those countless families up and down this land whose sons and fathers have been killed in the wars against France, or have come home crippled by wounds and incapable of earning a crust. Do you really think they will rejoice at the prospect of war unending?’
‘No one is asking them to rejoice.And the war will end, the moment France is free of Bonaparte.’
Fox suddenly sat back in his chair and took a swift draught of port from his glass. Then he looked closely at Arthur. ‘It’s peculiar that you should say that.’
‘Really? Why, sir?’
‘I was approached by a French dissident earlier this week, who had come to London in secret in order to present me with a plan to assassinate his Emperor.’
‘Good God!’ Grenville stared at his Foreign Secretary. ‘And you didn’t think to tell me?’
‘You are a busy man, Prime Minister. The fellow’s plan seemed madcap when he broached it, and he needs a large sum, in gold, to pay the assassin. So I declined the offer. Moreover, I decided to inform my opposite number in Paris of his countryman’s plan.’
‘You would reveal this to Talleyrand?’ Richard could not hide his amazement.‘By God, why would you do such a thing? This Frenchman and his agent would be caught and killed.Would you have that on your conscience?’
‘No more than I would the killing of an emperor. Considerably less, in fact. Besides, you are missing the point. By exposing this conspiracy we could demonstrate our good faith to Talleyrand, and, through him, to Napoleon. It would surely help our attempt to open peace negotiations. In any case, the argument is academic. I have already sent a message to Talleyrand to warn him of the plot.’
There was silence in the room as the others took this in and showed their surprise, and some disgust. Grenville was the first to recover and he turned fully towards Fox and glared. ‘You go too far, sir. The dissident’s approach to you should have been reported to me directly. The decision as to whether to back the man, or turn him down, was not yours to make.’
‘It was a foreign policy issue, sir, and therefore well within the responsibilities of my office.’
‘That is enough! You should have discussed this with the Cabinet, or me at the very least. In future, I demand that you report any further such activity to me directly. Understand?’
‘Yes, Prime Minister. I understand.’ Fox smiled faintly, then suddenly reached down and examined his pocket watch in the candlelight. ‘Ah, I’m afraid I must beg your pardon and leave you, gentlemen. I have a prior engagement. I am taking my wife to a late recital.’
‘A recital?’ Grenville gently stroked his frown-streaked brow. ‘Don’t you think this meeting is more important than a recital?’
‘In truth? No. A man who neglects his wife is no man at all, sir. So I must go. Gentlemen.’ Fox stood up and bowed his head to each of the brothers on the opposite side of the table. ‘I will leave you to your politics, then. Good night.’
He clasped his hands together, stretched his back and strode towards the door. ‘I’m sure I will be seeing you all again soon. Especially the Wellesleys, who will have to face some tough questions in the House if I am any judge of my own supporters. Once again, good night, gentlemen.’
Taking his cape and hat from the stand, Fox opened the door and left the room.The others stared after him as the door clicked shut. Richard let out a low dry laugh and was the first to speak.
‘Well, Grenville, it appears that you have your work cut out for you with that man. I should not like to work alongside him.’
‘You can’t begin to imagine . . .’ muttered the Prime Minister. ‘But on one thing he is right.There is no avoiding the need to have him in government. At least it keeps his supporters relatively quiet. It is both a pity and a paradox that Fox is less of a danger inside the Cabinet than without.’
‘I wonder,’ Richard mused.‘If only there was a dissident Englishman in Paris with the desire to assassinate a member of our government. If the frogs wouldn’t back him I’d certainly invest in an attempt on Fox’s life.’
Grenville stared at him for a moment. ‘I fear that you have imbibed too many uncivilised values during your time in India, Mornington.’
Richard shrugged. ‘It was just a thought. Besides, I know full well that Fox and his friends are behind the corruption allegations levelled at me.’
The Prime Minister casually clasped his hands together as he composed his reply. ‘I will, naturally, do my best to protect you, and the interests of your family.After all, my late cousin held you in high esteem and greatly valued your service to our nation. However, you must understand that I can only shield you so far.This government hangs by a thread and has to be sensitive to every shift in opinion, within Parliament, at Windsor and in the streets.’
‘I thank you most humbly for your reassurance,’ Richard sneered.
‘Mornington, you must understand. I act as I have to for the good of the country. If it is in the country’s interest that you are forced to endure the attacks of Fox and his associates, then you must accept it.’
‘I am tired, and I am sick, Grenville. I know in my heart that I have done right by my country, and that truth will be accepted in the end.’
‘I hope so. But in the meantime, I think it would be wise to cultivate as much support as you can within Parliament.You have William here to speak for you, and it would make good sense for Arthur to enter the House as well. He has won an enviable reputation on the battlefield, as well as social and military rank. His voice would carry considerable weight in support of you, Richard. I would willingly assist in finding him a seat. After all, people would hardly be surprised to find Arthur speaking up in defence of his brother.’
Arthur smiled. He could see through the Prime Minister’s motives at once. It would be politically inconvenient for him to have his supporters openly defend Richard. This way, he would oblige Arthur to repay his patronage and at the same time avoid the risk of taking sides over the dispute concerning Richard.
Grenville continued. ‘What is your position at the moment, Sir Arthur? Still on the active list?’
‘I have been given command of a brigade at Hastings.’
‘Hastings?’ Grenville thought for a moment. ‘Excellent. There is a seat at Rye that is available. Not so far from Hastings. I am sure the War Office can be persuaded to grant you leave to stand.’
Arthur bowed his head respectfully. ‘Thank you.’
Grenville reached for his glass and raised it.‘Gentlemen, a toast. I give you the next member of Parliament for the constituency of Rye!’
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