Golden Lion (24 page)

‘The distinction is not always obvious,’ Pett observed.

‘Indeed not, sir, well said!’ Grey exclaimed. ‘My point, however, is that one must always be able to conduct oneself in the manner that the circumstances demand. And I would not have reached the position I have today, sir, were I too timid, or gullible or in the slightest respect incompetent.’

‘And yet, sir, if you will not mind me saying so, I cannot help but note that your position appears to be less enviable now than it might once have been. I could not help but note, as we were escorted to this particular salon, that there were blank spaces on some of the walls, indicating the sale of the pictures that once hung there. Though your courtyard is very agreeable, the flowerbeds around the fountain have not been properly tended and I could not help but mark that several of the servants, though they were obedient enough, seemed uncertain of their roles and treated you very differently to the manner in which a servant of longstanding tends to the needs of his master. It struck me, therefore, that you might have brought them in for this meal, where once they might have been part of your regular establishment.’

‘You are very observant, Mr Pett,’ said Grey tartly.

‘It is a requirement of my trade.’

‘Then you are clearly a craftsman of some skill, for you are right. Like you, sir, I know what it is to suffer unjust and grievous mistreatment. I took Sir Henry Courtney at his word. I believed him to be the gentleman he purports to be.’

‘I gather that he obtained information from you by subterfuge.’

‘That is correct. He came here claiming to be my friend, yet he took his ship to fight against the One True God, and the very men he had sworn to support.’

Pett steeled himself to let the blasphemy go unpunished – for now at any rate. There were voices in his head crying out for retribution against this vile apostate who had renounced God and Christ in favour of a heathen deity. But Pett had work to do and it required Grey’s co-operation, thus he was forced to keep his silence and his mask of self-possession, no matter that he could barely hear Grey’s voice for the Saint screaming in his skull.

‘I presume that there were those who, quite unfairly, blamed you for the damage Courtney did to their cause,’ Pett said.

‘Exactly so. Doors have been closed to me, Pett, doors that once welcomed me into the very highest and finest reaches of society. My fortunes have, as you so perceptively appreciated, suffered considerably. I am at as low an ebb as I have ever been. And now, Courtney has the damned effrontery to show his face around here after the way he played me false. If he had come to me in a spirit of sincere apology, wishing to build bridges between us, to make amends after the disdain with which he treated me when last we met, well, I am a very reasonable man, I might have given him a second chance. But to show only the slightest remorse, and make the most trifling apology … by God, sir, it is unconscionable!’

‘I put it down to youth. Courtney simply did not understand the gravity of the wrong he had done you. He still acts sometimes as if he is playing a game in which his charm and good nature will get him through any scrape. I could clearly see that he was putting his head in a noose, but I kept my counsel.’

‘Only because you wanted to be the hangman.’

‘I’m quite sure that you understand the need to make one’s living, Mr Grey.’

‘Indeed I do. It is made all the greater by the fact that there happen to be, present here in Zanzibar, other men who feel just as aggrieved by him, if not more than I do. They would be very pleased indeed if I could rid them of Henry Courtney and will be very generous to anyone who assists me in that task.’

‘Then I shall be delighted to be of assistance. And there is one other element to this endeavour that is worthy of consideration. Courtney is not alone in Zanzibar. His woman is with him, and she is with child.’

Grey’s eyes widened, as if they’d alighted on an especially appetizing plate of food. ‘Is she now? Tell me, are the rumours one hears true? Has Courtney really walked off with General Nazet, the illustrious warrior who beat the mighty Omani general El Grang and put that little shit Iyasu on the throne?’ He twirled ringed fingers through the air. ‘Or should I say, His Most Christian Majesty, King of Kings, Ruler of Galla and Amhara, Defender of the Faith of Christ and so on, and so forth. Now there’s a fine trinket for Courtney to bring home from Ethiopia – a lustrous black pearl who will cause a stir from the most elegant salons of Westminster to the rowdiest of Southwark taverns.’

‘She is indeed General Judith Nazet and I know where she can be found. Now, sir, perhaps we can discuss how best to proceed. I will, of course, require a substantial purse and I have various other requirements. Thanks to the sinking of the
Earl of Cumberland
I am not in possession of the usual tools of my trade. I would also suggest that it will be much easier to deal with both Courtney and Nazet if they are separated. This will require a degree of subterfuge. I welcome your advice in that particular matter, too.’

Grey smiled, ‘Oh, I know the one thing that can prise an opening between our two treacherous lovebirds. It’s something that both of them care about, over which they have both sworn solemn oaths and for which they have both fought. Are you sure you won’t join me in drinking a cup or two of
bhang thandai
? It is a cooling infusion, consumed by the Indians. The taste is pleasantly sweet, but cut with a hint of pepper and spice and the
bhang
– a mixture of the leaf and bud of what Levantines call hashish – is delightfully relaxing. We have a great deal of thinking to do, and I find it of great assistance.’

Mr Pett declined Grey’s offer, but the consul ordered a jug of
thandai
and the effects appeared to be exactly as he had predicted, for within a couple of hours of conversation, he and Pett had formulated a plan of action and agreed on what would be required to implement it. Zanzibar’s position, close to the equator, meant that the sun always set between the hours of six and seven in the evening so that when Pett left the building he stepped into a hazy dusk in which the sun-baked heat of the day had softened into a more mellow warmth.

For his part, Grey dozed a while, awoke feeling clear-headed and greatly refreshed and made his way at once to Prince Jahan’s palace. When he explained to the guards at the gate that he had information regarding the whereabouts of Captain Courtney and General Nazet he was admitted much more quickly and received a far warmer welcome than had been the case for some considerable time. Jahan received him alone at first, but then sent for the creature – Grey could no longer think of him as a man – who had once been Angus Cochran. Further arrangements were made. A messenger was despatched to a particular coffee-shop with instructions for the owner from the prince himself and a purse filled with gold coins to show how much the service would be valued. The shop’s owner, overwhelmed by the favour shown him by one of such magnificence, was effusive in his assurances that all would be done exactly as His Highness required. Further preparations were made within the palace itself.

Only when he, Jahan and the Buzzard were entirely happy that everything had been done to their joint satisfaction did Consul Grey bid the other two men goodnight and make his way back home. Before he left, however, he made one request of the prince. ‘Your highness, I am sure, of course, that all our plans will go perfectly this evening. But it occurs to me that if Courtney’s men suspect that something has happened to their captain, they may come to me looking for answers. He will, I’m sure, have vouchsafed his plans to his most trusted lieutenants. It would ease my mind very much if you could let me have a few burly men – a dozen would be more than adequate – to guard my house and keep me from harm.’

Jahan smiled, ‘So you, Consul, wish me to protect you from your own countrymen?’

‘I had not thought of it in quite that way, your highness, but I suppose that might be one way of considering it.’

‘Very well, you shall have your guard. But six men, I think, will suffice perfectly well.’

‘Might your highness stretch to ten?’ Grey bargained.

‘Eight,’ Jahan concluded, ‘and not a man more. But do not trouble yourself, Grey. I feel sure that you will have no need of any of them.’

‘No, your highness, you’re right, as always. But I thank you, profoundly, for your limitless generosity.’

So now Grey had Jahan’s official protection and this sign of favour meant that his position in society had been re-established. Strolling along streets that were busier than ever now that the worst of the heat had passed, His Majesty’s Consul felt more cheerful than he had done in months. His fortunes were about to take a very great step for the better. His financial prospects that had been so precarious at the start of the day looked entirely secure at the end of it. So certain was he of good times to come that he felt no qualms at all about spending a large portion of the remaining money he had raised by the sale of his personal effects on a particularly pretty boy – tall for his age, slender, with adorably big, brown eyes and just the faintest wisps of hair at the far corners of his top lip – whom he took back to his house. As he walked through the gates and into his courtyard he was already calling out for food and drink. He had a long, active night in prospect and was in need of a good meal to give himself strength for the pleasures that lay ahead.

Even so, Grey was a cautious man. There was just a possibility that all might not go to plan, so he commanded the servants he had hired for the day to stay on for the night as well. They were far from being trained soldiers, but should there be any fighting, a few extra bodies between him and the men of the
Golden Bough
would never come amiss.

al was standing on the roof terrace of the house above the apothecary’s shop, talking to Aboli and looking out across the town to the harbour, where torches and lanterns illuminated the ships and flickered on the inky black water. The
Delft
was anchored further out in the bay but Hal knew that one of her longboats would be tied up to one of the stone bollards on the quayside, with a full complement of men ready and waiting to take them all back to the ship, or to spring to their rescue in case of alarm. Hal had tried to persuade Judith to go back aboard the
Delft
this very evening, but when she had asked him whether he planned to leave Zanzibar under cover of darkness he admitted that, no, they would not cast off until the new day had dawned.

‘Very well,’ she said, ‘then I would like to spend one more night ashore. I will sleep much better in a proper bed … and other things will be much better too.’

Hal was about to go back inside, where Judith was quietly embroidering a baby blanket, watched over by a fascinated Mossie, and set about those ‘other things’ when his love appeared at the doors to the terrace and said, ‘Mr Pett is here to see you.’ Her tone was polite enough, but the roll of her eyes told Hal that she was less than delighted by the Company man’s reappearance.

‘Good evening, Mr Pett,’ Hal called out, watching the familiar, stick-like figure make his way across the tiled floor towards him. ‘Was Grey not willing to help you?’

‘Not at all, Captain,’ Pett replied, giving polite nods of acknowledgement to both Hal and Aboli. ‘On the contrary, he assured me that he would do everything he could to secure me passage back to England and was quite happy to accept my credit as an official of the Company. In fact, he even advanced me a sum that was modest, yet perfectly sufficient to allow me to return some of the hospitality you have so kindly shown me. Perhaps you and Mr Aboli would care to join me for dinner, or if that does not suit, perhaps just a glass or two of tea, or coffee or some other similar beverage?’

Before Hal could reply, Pett leaned forward and spoke again, much more quietly. ‘While I was at the consul’s house, news reached him of very great significance. I am convinced of the need for you to hear it, but I strongly advise you to do so when not in Miss Nazet’s presence. I fancy you will wish to give these tidings considerable thought before deciding whether to pass them on.’

‘There is nothing I would not tell Miss Nazet,’ said Hal.

‘Even something that might tempt her to return to Ethiopia, whether you went with her or not?’

Hal frowned. ‘There is no such thing. For pity’s sake, Mr Pett, please stop speaking in riddles and tell me what you are talking about.’

Pett sighed, looked around to check that they could not be overheard and said, ‘The Grail, Captain Courtney. My news concerns the Holy Grail. Now do you see why we must discuss it in private?’

Hal turned his head to look out across the darkness towards the invisible horizon. His mind was far away in the north, beyond the red rock cliffs and hills of the Gulf of Aden in the ancient kingdom of Ethiopia. There had been so much blood, so much death, and all to retrieve the Grail, the very cup into which Christ’s wounds had bled, a talisman for which Christians had searched since the crucifixion. Judith had sworn to protect the Grail in the name of the Christian Emperor of Ethiopia, and Hal had himself taken a similar oath as a Nautonnier Knight. Together they had helped retrieve the Grail when it had been stolen from its hiding place, deep in the heart of Ethiopia. But if any further harm now threatened it, Pett might be right, Judith’s honour might indeed oblige her to turn her back on her new life and return to Ethiopia. As, indeed, might his own.