The Shadow of Tyburn Tree (22 page)

Pitt refilled the glasses and went on quietly. ‘When I first took office Britain was entirely isolated. Every power in Europe that counted had been but recently either in active war or armed neutrality against us. The major threat to our survival still seemed to come from France and she, through the strong influence of Queen Marie Antoinette, was firmly allied to Austria. In view of Frederick the Great's inherent animus against Austria it seemed that Prussia should be our natural ally, so I made appropriate overtures to “old sour mug”, as his own Berliners termed him. He was already half-senile, and he allowed his secret hatred of England to weigh more with him than his best interests, so he flouted me; but time has removed him from my path.'

‘And his successor has proved more amenable.'

‘Yes. Some wit once remarked that Frederick the Great had the wisdom of Solomon and that his nephew resembled that potentate only in respect of his overflowing harem; but, be that as it may, Frederick Wilhelm II has at least had the sense to allow himself to be persuaded by his far-seeing minister Count Hertzberg, and our own minister, Mr. Ewart, of the value of an alliance with us. So we may eliminate Prussia from our anxieties.'

‘The Dutch also, since the events of last autumn.'

Pitt nodded. ‘The United Provinces were within an ace of becoming provinces of France, but our timely intervention has re-established the Stadtholder firmly in control of his subjects; and both he and his Prussian wife are staunch friends to England. So we need have no fears of a Dutch fleet burning our shipping in the Medway. As for France, she was forced to eat humble-pie as a result of that affair, and, in my view, has not only shot her bolt for the moment, but is now well on the way to becoming our good friend.'

‘You really think so, Sir?'

‘I do. The growth of resistance to the Royal authority, during the past half-year, has been such that I believe France incapable of waging another war until some radical change has taken place in her form of Government. But, even then, I see no reason why our age old enmity should be resumed,
The Commercial Treaty is working wondrous well. You must have seen for yourself how French fashions, French foods and French literature have been all the rage here this past winter; and I'm told that in France, to be in the mode these days one must have everything “
А l'Anglaise”
.'

Roger shook his head. ‘ 'Tis not for me to gainsay you, Sir; but I'd attach little weight to such superficial matters. As I see it the crux of the matter lies in the fact that the population of France is more than double ours; yet 'tis we who have now secured to ourselves Canada and India, and, by our control of the seas, first footing in the great new lands that Captain Cook discovered in the Southern Hemisphere. The French maintain that they must have living-room to expand, and Colonial markets for their goods, or perish. 'Tis on that count I fear that we shall yet be called on to face another bloody war with them.'

‘Mayhap I am over optimistic,' Pitt smiled. ‘ 'Tis certain that our Foreign Secretary, my Lord Carmarthen, would agree with you. He vows that I will never succeed in my ambitions to make our new friendship with the French a permanency. But in that he is much influenced by Sir James Harris, whose hatred of the French is near a mania.'

‘He has reason enough for that, seeing the years he spent fighting their intrigues while Minister at the Hague,' Roger remarked. ‘But for his determination and fine fearless handling of the Dutch our cause would have been lost; and during my brief time there I formed a great admiration for him.'

‘Then it will please you to hear that he should be joining us within the hour. Sir James, Harry Dundas and my Lord Carmarthen are all driving down from town to dine here today.'

‘Indeed!' Roger exclaimed; and he could not keep a faint note of surprise out of his voice, as it was public knowledge that the Prime Minister and Sir James Harris were on far from good terms.

‘I read your thought, Mr. Brook,' Pitt laughed. ‘You are wondering why I should receive Sir James privately when, as member for Christchurch, he has so often and so bitterly opposed me in the House. But I do not count that against him. It arises, I am convinced, not from hatred of myself, but from a great personal loyalty that he feels towards Mr. Fox, born of their youthful friendship. Fox, Harris and William Eden formed a brilliant trio at Merton in their Oxford days, and ever since have stood firmly together in their politics. Yet I would think shame of myself did I neglect to employ the two latter on that account, seeing that they are both outstanding among our diplomats. Twas Eden, you will recall, that I sent to Paris to arrange the Commercial Treaty; and although it
was the Rockingham ministry that nominated Harris for the Hague I confirmed him in the appointment as soon as I came to office. But let us return to our survey of Europe. We were speaking of France, were we not?'

‘You were saying, Sir, that you had no fears of war with that country.'

‘Not for some years to come, at all events. Nor do I fear it with Spain, since she is now reduced to dependence on France, and would not act alone. Nor Austria. The sweeping reforms that the Emperor Joseph II has carried out in his wide-spread dominions have well earned him the title of “the crowned revolutionist,” but he is paying a heavy price for them. The Magyars, Bulgars, and various others of his subject-peoples are in constant revolt against his innovations; so, having now entered the war against, the Turks as the ally of Russia, his hands are overfull already. Russia remains then at the present time the only country having the power, and possibly the will, to be plotting a new war of aggression which might set all Europe ablaze.'

‘As you have just remarked, she is already at war with the Grand Turk.'

‘And we are supporting him in secret with supplies and money.'

‘Yet not so long ago we allowed the Russian fleet to refit and victual in our British ports, on its way to attack him in the Mediterranean.'

‘That was agreed to in the hope of securing Catherine's friendship. But it proved a mistaken policy, since she still withholds it and it resulted in the Russians securing bases for themselves in the Greek Islands. They are, too, now firmly established in Genoa, owing to the complaisancy of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. 'Tis these footholds they have secured in the Mediterranean that are one of my causes for alarm, and I wish you to attempt to ascertain how far it is their intention to extend them.'

‘In the event of war the Russian Fleet would prove no match for the British, so we should be able to cut them off there.'

‘True; but no fleet can have its major strength in two places at the same time, and in a crisis it might be necessary to retain the bulk of ours in northern waters. Moreover, it is the Czarina's possible ambitions in northern Europe which fill me with far graver concern. We are now supporting the Turk in the hope of keeping her fully occupied against him, but her resources are so vast that one cannot rule out the possibility of her launching another campaign, perhaps against the remnant that is left of Poland, perhaps against the Swedes in their
Finnish territories. 'Tis of such designs as she may harbour in secret for further expanding her empire westward that I am anxious to learn; and how we might dissuade her from them, or in the last event, take steps to check the aggrandisement of Russia before she becomes a serious menace to the whole European family.'

Roger nodded. ‘I take your meaning, Sir; and will do my utmost to procure you a few useful pointers, if no more. Is it your wish that I should report to you direct or send such data as I can gather to Mr. Gilbert Maxwell?'

‘I prefer that you should write direct. Take your letters to Mr. Alleyne Fitzherbert at the British Embassy, and he will arrange for their safe despatch; but see to it that you give them to the Ambassador personally, as it is undesirable that any members of his staff should know that you are in correspondence with me.'

‘There are certain objections to such a procedure if I carry out a plan which is already forming in my mind. It seems that I should have a better prospect of becoming privy to the Empress's intentions if I appear at her court as a subject of that nation she so much admires, and term myself
Monsieur le Chevalier de Breuc
. I passed as a native of the half-German province of Alsace while I was in France, so I should have no difficulty in doing so in Russia. But the British Ambassador would be unlikely to cultivate the acquaintance of a Frenchman of no particular distinction, and in my case it would bring most unwelcome suspicion on me if he did; so I'd prefer to have no dealings with him.'

Pitt's long face broke into a grin. ‘ 'Tis clear,
Monsieur le Chevalier
, that you have a natural flair for this work, and that I was right to count upon you. As regards our method of communication we will consult Sir James Harris. Previous to his appointment to the Hague he was our representative at the Czarina's court for some five years, so he should be able to suggest a way out of our difficulty. We'll discuss it over dinner.'

‘May I submit that the fewer people who are made aware that I am to act as your secret agent, the better,' said Roger earnestly.

‘I'll not gainsay you there, Mr. Brook. But you may rely on the discretion of the men who are to dine with us, and I have a personal reason for wishing them to be informed of the work you are about to undertake. From my childhood I have been of a frail constitution, and I fear that my life will not be a long one. When I went to Cambridge, at the age of fourteen, my doctors recommended me to fortify myself with port. A brace of tumblers of that generous wine, taken before addressing
the House, undoubtedly stimulates my powers of oratory; yet I can hardly think that it will add to my longevity. If I am fated to die before my ambitions for this great nation come to fruition, others, thank God, will now carry on my policies; Dundas and Carmarthen among them; so 'tis as well that they should be aware of your activities in order that they may continue to employ you should a sudden illness remove me from the scene.'

‘I sincerely trust that no such dire event will rob the country of your leadership,' Roger said in quick concern.

The Prime Minister shrugged his narrow shoulders. ‘With God's grace I'll have a few years yet, and I pray you put the matter from your mind.'

He then went on to talk about the ambitions of the Czarina and the numerous wars she had already launched in her reign; the leading part she had played in the partitioning of Poland in 1771, her annexation of the Crimea, and the new war that she had launched against Turkey the preceding August. That February Austria had come in with Russia, and it was believed that Gustavus III of Sweden had signed a secret treaty promising to support the Turks. Pitt was speculating whether the Swedish King would really dare to take up the cudgels against his powerful neighbour, when Lord Carmarthen and Sir James Harris were announced.

The two friends were a good-looking pair. The Marquis was still only in his late thirties and the younger by some five years; he was also slimmer in build and dressed in quieter taste. He was an amiable person with pleasing manners, but inclined to be capricious and vain. As the eldest son of the Duke of Leeds and Lady Mary Godolphin, he was able to exert considerable political influence, but it was not this alone which had decided Pitt to offer him the Foreign Secretaryship in his first administration. The young Prime Minister had been attracted to him by his honesty and the way in which he had lost no opportunity of attacking corruption and waste on the part of the previous Governments.

Sir James Harris, with his brilliant eyes and bold, handsome face, was a much more flamboyant personality. On entering the Diplomatic service he had been sent as secretary to the Embassy in Madrid. In the summer of 1770, his seniors having all gone on leave during the great heats, he found himself temporarily acting in the role of
Chargé d'Affaires
. At this juncture he learned that the Spaniards were secretly fitting out an expedition in Buenos Aires for the capture of the Falkland Islands. Although only aged twenty-four he took so high a tone with the Spanish Prime Minister that the attempt was
abandoned. This spirited act had gained him swift promotion; at twenty-six he was sent as Minister to Berlin, at thirty-one as Ambassador to St. Petersburg, and at thirty-seven, having retired to amuse himself with politics, he had been persuaded to re-enter the diplomatic arena at the Hague, then the danger-spot of Europe; and there, with his audacity, courage and genius for intrigue, had created and matured a counter-revolution in the interests of Britain.

Lord Carmarthen was a stranger to Roger, but Harris hardly waited for them to be introduced before clapping him on the shoulder, and recalling the festivities in which they had shared the previous October when Prince William V of Orange was happily restored to authority in his own capital.

Roger inquired after the Princess, who had treated him with special kindness, and Harris gave a jovial laugh. ‘So you fell a victim to her, too, eh! Well, I don't wonder. She's a monstrous fine woman, and those gay blue eyes of hers near made me forget her exalted station more than once. And where we'd have been without her high courage I know not. I left her in good health, but chafing as ever at being tied to that miserable weakling of a husband who makes so plaguey poor a showing as Stadtholder.'

‘ 'Tis a strange coincidence,' remarked Carmathen, ‘that there should be so close a similarity between the rulers of the Dutch Netherlands and those of France. In both cases the men are poor vacillating creatures, while the women are not only beautiful and high-spirited but possess the forceful personalities fitted to the wearing of a crown.'

‘Is there aught fresh out of France?' Pitt inquired.

‘Nay, nothing of moment. The Parliament of Paris is still striving to force the King to surrender his right of issuing
Lettres de Cachet
; and the Provincial Parliaments are, as usual, at loggerheads with the Royal authorities on a score of matters. His Grace of Dorset has just gone on leave, but Mr. Hailes wrote me this week, that notwithstanding the very extraordinary advantages with which the last loan was offered it is now below par, so confidence in the Government is clearly declining still further.'