The Shadow of Tyburn Tree (69 page)

For well over three months now he had been like a billiards ball in baulk; in the forefront of events but out of action and with his future entirely problematical. Suddenly he was brought into play again, and his affairs began to move with staggering swiftness.

On the 3rd of February, a Foreign Office messenger brought Roger two letters. Both were addressed in the writing of Hugh Elliot, and on opening the more bulky of the two he found it to be an appeal for help.

The diplomat wrote that, although he had browbeaten the Danes into withdrawing their army from Sweden in mid-November and agreeing to prolong the armistice for six months, the Northern powers were still far from showing any inclination to accept a permanent settlement on the basis of
status quo ante bellum
.

Gustavus, now cock-a-hoop in the belief that he had the full weight of the Triple Alliance behind him, had become overbearing towards the Danes and twice committed flagrant breaches of the armistice; so, if the
status quo
was to be maintained, it might next be the Danes whom Britain would be called on to protect from aggression.

They had been deprived of all the initial advantages of their surprise invasion and Gustavus was no longer naked in the wind before them. With his usual amazing energy he had set his country on its feet again, and had now considerable forces at his command. Just before Christmas he had returned to his capital and performed miracles in repatriating and reorganising a large part of the army he had left in Finland. All the officers who had shown mutinous tendencies, and had not succeeded in escaping into Russia, had been seized, court-martialled and punished with the utmost savagery. New levies were being trained in every province and in the dockyards shipwrights were working night and day to get new war-keels off the stocks. By the early summer he would therefore be in a position to resume the war both in the North and in the South.

The Danes believed that the Czarina Catherine would be able to afford them little aid, owing to the terrible casualties that her armies had sustained in a series of bloody battles with the Turks. It was anticipated that she would be able to hold
her own in Finland, but do little more.

Elliot then went on to say that he had received secret intelligence that the news of King George's madness had caused the Empress to reconsider her position. She had always loathed and feared Pitt, but now that his downfall was assured she believed that the time had come when she might detach the support of Britain from the Turks. She had accordingly instructed her Ambassador, Count Vorontzoff, to make overtures to Charles Fox, and Fox had promised that on coming to office he would reverse Britain's foreign policy in her interests.

Should that, said Elliot, prove to be the attitude of the new Government it would be his duty to act upon such fresh instructions as he received; but he pointed out that if the burden of Catherine's war against the Turks was eased she would be able to send a strong army into Finland which might well result in the Russians and Danes achieving their old ambition of dividing Sweden between them. And, however provocative and unreasonable Gustavus's conduct might be at the moment, the elimination of Sweden from the European family must, in the long run, prove a major disaster; for Catherine would, in due course, turn upon and destroy the Danes. Russia would then be the mistress of the whole of Northern Europe, with her frontiers facing Scotland across the North Sea, and in a position directly to menace Britain with fleets based on the Danish and Norwegian ports.

Elliot gave it as his opinion that the only method of forestalling such a disastrous possibility was to bang the heads of the Swedes and Danes together, and dragoon them both into making a definite peace which it would be hard for either to break without contumely. But this must be done promptly, before the position worsened, and, for the purpose he needed more urgently than ever a British fleet which both the Swedes and the Danes would fear might be used against either of them should they prove recalcitrant in coming to terms.

In conclusion, Elliot said, he had written repeatedly to Lord Carmarthen on these matters and received no satisfaction; as it seemed that everyone at home was so occupied with the Regency question that they had no thought to spare for any other. But Roger's unusual position gave him special facilities for obtaining easy access to Mr. Pitt. Would he therefore, as a matter of the greatest urgency, do what he could to obtain the Prime Minister's consideration and appropriate action with regard to these momentous questions which were still threatening the balance of power in Northern Europe?

Having digested the contents of this long despatch, Roger opened the second letter. Its envelope proved to be only a
cover for another and, on seeing the spidery writing on the inner one, his heart missed a beat. It was addressed to him care of the British Minister in Copenhagen in the hand of Natalia Andreovna.

With his mouth dry and his palms suddenly moist he read what she had to say:

His first letter had been a great shock to her, as she could not understand why he had not entrusted her with the secret that he was an Englishman when they had become so devoted to one another on first arriving in St. Petersburg; but she had freely forgiven the deceit and waited patiently in Copenhagen for his return. Then, after a far longer absence than he had led her to expect, had come his second letter, saying that he must go to England without her. Gothenburg being no great distance from Copenhagen there seemed no reason why he should not have crossed to the latter place, in order to pick her up and carry her to England with him. As he had not done so, she had formed the conclusion that it was his definite intention to abandon her, but that he had lacked the courage to say so outright.

On this, rather than face the humiliation of disclosing her sad state to the Countess Reventlow, she had decided to leave Copenhagen in secret and rejoin her father in Stockholm. She had been very miserable there, as apart from her grief at Roger's treatment of her, she was unable to avail herself of the distractions afforded by re-entering Swedish society. In spite of the fact that she was now English by marriage, the Swedes regarded her as an enemy and refused to receive her among them. Her situation had greatly worsened in the New Year as King Gustavus had, at last, succeeded in expelling her father from Sweden. She was allowed to remain there in strict retirement but only, as she understood it, because the King had learned that she was married to Roger, and had some special reason for not wishing to act discourteously towards him.

She pointed out that it was, in any case, impossible for her to return to Russia, and, having stressed her loneliness, she vowed that neither time nor separation had affected the love she felt for her dear husband. On re-reading his letters, as she had done many times, she felt that she had acted precipitately in coming to the conclusion that he intended to abandon her for good; and she now begged his pardon for having left Copenhagen without his permission. If he would forgive her she would joyfully return to her duty and live with him in England or any other country to which his affairs might take him. She was now certain that with him alone could she find lasting happiness; so would he, therefore, bearing in mind the
deceit he had practised upon her, overlook her temporary lapse of faith in him, and either come to Stockholm to fetch her, or send her instructions as to the swiftest method of joining him in England.

When he had read the letter Roger felt as though he had been struck by a thunderbolt. For over two months he had believed that Natalia Andreovna had gone out of his life for good, but here she was back again, and now the onus was on him; for he must definitely decide whether to accept or reject her.

Technically he had not deserted her. By leaving her, but writing to say that he did so only on account of urgent business, and would rejoin her as soon as possible, he had followed a course in which any court of law would uphold a husband as fully justified. She, on the other hand, had deliberately deserted him, and, if he chose to take divorce proceedings, he had little doubt that he could be rid of her for good. But, seeing the way he had brought her out of Russia and the miserable state of exile to which she was now reduced, could he possibly square it with his conscience to do so?

As Droopy Ned had left London that morning to spend a long week-end in the country, Roger had no one with whom he could talk over his frightful problem in the hope of clarifying his own mind; so he decided to shelve the matter for the moment and respond to Hugh Elliot's urgent appeal by trying to obtain an interview with Mr. Pitt.

In this, at least, he was lucky. On arriving at No. 10 he met the Prime Minister on his own front doorstep, just about to enter the house. Pitt answered his salutation, gave him a sharp glance and remarked. ‘What ails you, Mr. Brook? You look as though you had just seen a ghost.'

‘I'd not be far off the mark if I said I had, sir.' Roger replied with a worried grin. Then, his quick mind seizing on a way in which he might turn the allusion to his advantage, he added, ‘The devil of it is that this ghost follows me about.'

‘Have you come to me to lay it, then?' Pitt smiled.

‘I have, sir; if you can give me ten minutes of your time?'

‘Next month I'll give you ten days if you wish; but come upstairs and, if you'll be brief, I'll hear what you have to say.'

Up in his room Pitt poured two glasses of port, handed one to Roger, and said, ‘You really look as though you needed this. Drink it down; then tell me what it is that troubles you?'

‘ 'Tis true, that I have just sustained something of a shock,' Roger admitted. ‘But the ghost that haunts me, sir, is the state of things I left in Sweden.'

‘Oh that!' the Prime Minister exclaimed a little irritably; but
Roger produced Hugh Elliot's letter and hurried on.

‘I pray you read this, sir. I ask it on the count that however deplorable the state of our internal affairs at the moment we still cannot afford to ignore events that are taking place overseas, or we'll have cause to rue it.'

Pitt shrugged, read the letter through, refolded it and handed it back. ‘I have already told you,' he said firmly, ‘that in this matter I can do nothing.'

‘But you
can,
sir,' Roger protested. ‘You are still the principal executive of the Crown, and there is nought to prevent you ordering a fleet to sea.'

‘I could, but I have no mind to commit my successor in office to a policy on which he has not been consulted and of which he would almost certainly disapprove.'

Roger stared at the thin, tired face of the harassed statesman; then he suddenly burst out. ‘How can you put such scruples before the interests of the country? Do you but act now, while you still have the chance, you may yet preserve the independence of two Kingdoms. But if you do not, Catherine of Russia will sweep the board. You know as well as I, sir, that once you are gone that traitor Fox will sell us out to her.'

‘Charles Fox is no traitor,' Pitt replied sharply. ‘ 'Tis merely that his views as to the country's best interests differ from my own. I sent you to Russia to ascertain if a rapprochement with the Empress was possible. Her personal dislike of me may have been the stumbling block. If Fox can secure a permanent alliance with her he will, in that, have served his country better than myself.'

‘What! By gaining her fickle friendship at the price of the partitioning of Sweden, and later allowing her to gobble up Denmark? Nay, I'll not believe it!'

After pouring himself another glass of port, Pitt sipped it moodily, and said, ‘Such fears are based only on the beliefs of men like Elliot and Harris. My Lord Carmarthen thinks quite differently, and events may prove him right. In any case, as things are, it would be morally indefensible for me to commit Britain to a war.'

‘You do not have to do so,' Roger cried, on a sudden inspiration. ‘Britain is at peace with both Sweden and Denmark. Why should you not despatch a squadron on a courtesy-visit to the capitals of both countries?'

Pitt gave him a sharp glance. ‘ 'Tis unusual without an invitation, yet it might be done. But no! I dare not trust that hothead Elliot.'

‘Had Mr. Elliot's head been colder Sweden might by this
time have been divided between the Russians and the Danes, Roger retorted. ‘But if you fear that he may act rashly you could give instructions to the Admiral commanding the squadron that he is not to fire a shot without first receiving orders from home.'

‘Then 'twould be but a cardboard armada, and useless in a crisis.'

‘Nay, sir! The very fact of its appearance in the Baltic should be enough. Unless Britain takes some step Prussia will believe herself deserted, and refrain from pursuing the policy that was decided on last autumn. But if we show the flag, she will continue to play her part; and you may be sure that the Prussian General will have no orders that his artillery is not to use its cannon.'

‘Mr. Brook, Mr. Brook!' The Prime Minister shook his head in mock disapproval. ‘From whom did you learn to cultivate such ideas? Was it from our mutual friend the Abbé de Talleyrand-Périgord, or during your conversations with the Czarina Catherine; for they are positively Machiavellian.'

Roger grinned at him. ‘What matter, sir, if by their acceptance the
status quo
in the North may be preserved and the Empress's nefarious schemes brought to naught.'

‘So be it, then. I confess that you have won me over to your project by providing a safeguard against our irrevocable commitment. I will see the First Lord and arrange with him the dispatch of a squadron. Do you wish to sail with it in order to witness the outcome of the matter?'

‘May, I—er, leave that open,' Roger hesitated a second. ‘My private affairs are in something of a tangle; but I should know how I am placed in a day or two.'

‘Just as you wish. 'Tis unlikely that a squadron could be got ready to proceed to sea until Monday, at the earliest. I trust that by then you will have laid the other ghost that worries you.'