by Iain Gale
‘Monsieur Fouché, you realize this is treason?’
Fouché nodded and shrugged. ‘And what of it? We are all men of the world are we not, Captain Williams? We take what it has to throw at us and if we need to adjust our allegiances from time to time, then so be it. This may be one of those times.’
This, thought Keane, was turning into a most bizarre interview. ‘Then you’re telling me that you’re involved in an insurrection?’
‘I can’t really comment on that assumption, and of course I could never condone the sort of clumsy plan which our two friends managed to mastermind.’
‘You intend to kill the emperor?’
‘No, no. You’re quite wrong there. I simply wish to question the way in which the empire operates.’
‘By which you mean?’
‘So many questions, captain. By which I mean I am not alone in wondering how far we have come in the last twenty years. And also, where we might be taken now?’
Keane nodded. ‘Yes, I understand.’ For a moment he thought that he might have allowed his guard to slip and his Irish accent to drop. But Fouché didn’t appear to be any the wiser.
‘May I ask how you suggest I should become involved in this?’
‘All in good time, captain. All in good time.’
*
Walking back from Fouché’s office, Keane decided that he would not mention the content of the meeting to Macpherson. He was unsure yet again about whom he should trust. Certainly not Fouché. But he was also concerned about Macpherson’s ruthlessness. The man had effectively destroyed the reason for his presence in Paris. At least the purpose given to him by Grant. There would be no royalist underground movement to train and lead. He wondered if Grant was aware of what was happening and decided that he should somehow try to get word back to him. If only to receive further orders.
*
That afternoon, when Keane entered the house, Macpherson was waiting for him. ‘We must talk. Now, come into my office.’
Macpherson led the way and locked the door behind them and Keane wondered if he had heard about his meeting with Fouché.
However, he smiled at Keane. ‘Things have changed. You are aware that Fouché is now playing for both sides?’
It was less a question than a statement, for Macpherson knew Keane’s answer. ‘Yes, he told me as much, only this morning.’
‘For the Bonapartists and the opposition. As is Talleyrand.’
‘Talleyrand?’
This truly was news. It was the first time that Keane had heard Talleyrand’s name mentioned in the context of his mission, but now it made sense. Not least, his presence with Fouché at the gambling house. Of course, it was common knowledge that Talleyrand had masterminded many of the covert operations undertaken by the French secret service since the beginning of the war, but to date there had been no direct line back to him. This though was something quite different. It seemed that Talleyrand, the revolutionary firebrand and supporter of the emperor, had now turned.
Macpherson continued: ‘I have good information that Talleyrand has by now switched sides and is intriguing against his former master, Napoleon.’
‘Talleyrand is working with the royalists? It’s hardly credible.’
Macpherson shook his head. ‘No, no, captain. Not the royalists. That would be absurd. He’s with the republicans, it seems. Now we have a three-way struggle.’
‘So what now? How does this affect my mission?’
‘It means that we have to be more cautious and we have to be pragmatic. It also means that the plans have changed entirely.’
‘How? Why?’
‘My fellow royalists and I have decided to abandon the notion of raising our people as an organized force and creating an underground network. There is a more immediate possibility.’
‘What sort of possibility?’
Macpherson looked slightly smug. ‘Well, I’ve had word of a republican plot to overthrow Bonaparte.’
Keane shook his head. ‘But this is madness, surely, sir? We allied ourselves to the royalists, did we not? Not the republicans. I know we had to dispose of Elliott and Rochambeau. But you yourself said they were expendable. Fouché is the enemy, isn’t he? Yet now you tell me that he and Talleyrand might end up being our allies. Whom can we trust? Are Fouché and Talleyrand to be trusted? What if they are simply attempting to get us to lead them to your fellow royalists?’
‘I think that they have greater concerns of their own to worry about, Keane, don’t you?’
‘But seriously, sir, what if the whole thing is a huge bluff? We might have been persuaded into thinking that they are contra-Bonaparte when in fact they are as loyal as ever.’
‘Are you suggesting, Keane, that I have been duped?’
The old man’s eyes shone with fury and Keane decided that it was wise to back down. ‘Not at all, sir, but just consider the possibility. We would all be killed.’
Macpherson shook his head. ‘Captain Keane, believe me, we have a plan. At last. I have to know your intentions before I go any further. You are with us, captain?’
‘Of course, sir. Tell me all.’
Macpherson sat down and motioned to Keane to do the same. ‘There is one of Bonaparte’s generals – General Malet. He has long been discontented with the regime. Well, now he is determined to bring it down.
‘For the past two years Malet has been incarcerated in the prison of La Force, and during that time he has come up with what he considers to be the perfect plan to accomplish an aim which he has long harboured, the complete and final overthrow of Bonaparte. It will be accomplished in a daring coup d’état. The plan is simple. As you know, Bonaparte is currently attacking Russia, conducting a campaign which Malet, among others, believes to be utterly doomed.
‘In two weeks’ time, as Bonaparte engages the Russians, Malet intends to escape from prison. He will then announce the death of the emperor. Bonaparte will have been killed in an action on the Russian front. Other generals here in Paris will attest to it. Malet will then establish a provisional government and proclaim Bonaparte’s death again using forged documents. We have every reason to believe that his word will be taken as the truth.
‘It is important that my group is seen to be working alongside the republicans in this matter. So that after the fall of Bonaparte we can make sure that we have a part in the new France. You and your comrade have a vital part to play in this. I think you told me that your man Archer here is a good forger?’
‘The best.’
‘Good. I have promised General Malet’s co-conspirators that we have a means of creating the documents that we need. You yourself, captain, will accompany General Malet in his escape and in the coup d’état.’
Keane nodded. ‘Yes, I understand, and of course we will do everything we can to make it succeed, sir. And we have two weeks to prepare, you say?’
‘Two weeks, Captain Keane. It must happen then or not at all.’
‘How can we be sure that the republicans are not simply trying to infiltrate our organization?’
Macpherson smiled and it was that same cruel, cold smile that Keane had seen on his face before, just after the arrests. ‘Take my word for it, Keane. After they saw us sacrifice Elliott and Rochambeau, they will not doubt us.’
He saw the look on Keane’s face and Keane sensed that he must feel that at last the time was right.
He took a decanter from the sideboard and poured them both a glass of wine. ‘You know, Captain Keane, I’m sure your father would be proud of you. You have done better than I ever expected.’ He paused. ‘And now it is time for me to do something for you. There is something you should know before we start on all this.’
Keane was mystified, but nothing, he thought, would surprise him. ‘Yes? Tell me.’
‘It’s about your father. I knew him.’
Keane s
topped and stared at the man, his eyebrows narrowing. ‘You knew my father?’
‘Yes.’
‘Who was he? What was his name? Is he still alive?’
‘We fought side by side in the American war. Not in the same regiment, but side by side.’
‘Tell me his name.’
‘I’m afraid that I cannot do. I swore him an oath of secrecy that I would never reveal his identity and I am bound to keep it.’
‘Oh, come on, tell me. What harm can it do now? That was all in the past – it was thirty years ago. You must tell me.’
‘I’m sorry, Keane, I cannot do that.’ He paused again. ‘I will, however, tell you certain things. Your father was the most honourable man I have ever known. He was a true gentleman in every sense of the word. A fine shot and a man of his word. A man of the utmost integrity.’
‘With respect, sir, this does not much help me. These are things which I have suspected, indeed known in my heart, for some time.’
‘Of course, I am merely trying to impart something to you of the essence of the man.’
‘Do you know anything of me? Did you know anything about me?’
‘Yes, in truth I did. Your father explained things to me and swore me to secrecy. I am so, so sorry Keane that I can give you no more.’
‘But what of his military service? Please you must be able to tell me something about his time as an officer.’
‘Very well, I can do that. We were both at the battle of Freeman’s Farm and both at Guilford Court House. Very bloody affairs.’
‘So I believe.’
‘Your father saved my life.’
Keane paused. ‘Really?’
‘Yes. Would I pretend? We were standing in line and were charged by American light horse. It seemed to both of us that the line must fail. I recall your father shouting to his men to hold the line and then I was attacked by two cavalrymen. I attempted to parry their cuts but one hit me here.’ He showed Keane a line in his face where the tissue had scarred. ‘That was when your father came across. I have never seen such bravery. He took one of them from the saddle with a single cut. Almost cut the man clean in two. The other one he cut down with a thrust. The man fell from his horse. He saved my life.’
Keane’s mind was whirring. So his father was a hero. It was astonishing. Although of course he had always hoped that it might be the case. And then he had a sudden thought.
‘You said “light horse”. You don’t suppose that Colonel Harrison’s father . . . ?’
Macpherson smiled. ‘You know, captain, I could see that you were remarkably astute the moment I set eyes on you, but you have quite surpassed yourself.’
‘Don’t tell me that you engineered my meeting with Colonel Harrison?’
‘Let’s just say that it was a most happy coincidence.’
‘You and I know, Macpherson, that there is no such thing as coincidence. There are merely people pulling the correct strings to ensure that we all operate in the way in which we are supposed to. We are all of us in this filthy game no more than simple marionettes, engineered to our own destruction.’
‘Oh, Captain Keane, please don’t be so overdramatic. It’s not like that at all and well you know it.’
‘Do I? At this present moment it would take some convincing to prove to myself that I do.’
But, thought Keane, he would go along with it.
The old man went off to his office and Keane, who had lately been so desperate to climb into his bed for a couple of hours, sat up a little longer, dwelling on what had been said. He was happy to go along with all that was unfolding and he realized that he had never been more resigned to his fate. Since arriving in Paris he had felt that somehow coming events might resolve some of his own inner questions, and with almost every hour now something else came to reinforce that feeling. Here he was, disguised as an Irishman in French service and living cheek by jowl with an ex-Jacobite. These were strange things for a man of his northern Protestant roots. He wondered how the men of his old regiment, the Inniskillings, would have taken them.
All this and what Macpherson had told him and what he had observed had set him thinking about England. The England and the Ireland that he knew and that he loved. And he began to wonder what the new world might be like after Napoleon had fallen. Most fundamentally though, he had begun to ask himself the bigger question which he now realized in that new world all men would be bound to ask. Was he at heart either a royalist or a republican?
*
Keane left the room and found Archer at the rear of the house, where there was a small library. He sat down and shook his head. ‘I don’t believe it. It seems, Archer, that we’re caught up in an intrigue far greater than any of us thought. Although I’m beginning to wonder if Macpherson hasn’t been playing us all along.’
‘Do you think this has anything to do with the food riots, sir?’
‘That’s a very good question, Archer, and, yes, it has everything to do with them. Now it makes sense. Fouché is trying to stir up the people of Paris against Bonaparte. And he might just have a chance. Have you noticed what the emperor has done? He’s created a grand city for himself in the west and centre of Paris, but he’s done nothing at all about the south and east.’
‘Yes, sir, and that’s precisely where the protestors seem to be based.’
‘He’s a shrewd man, Archer. He has sections of the National Guard eating out of his hand, and if the Paris mob is mobilized this coup d’état has every chance of succeeding.’
*
The following two weeks seemed to Keane to pass in an instant, such was the intensity of the work necessary to organize the planned coup. Archer sat for hours on end both in daylight and by candlelight working on the documents of Bonaparte’s death and the necessary papers, until his eyes grew heavy and his head throbbed.
On the fifth day there was a report in the paper of the execution by firing squad of two royalist spies.
*
Morning came on the thirteenth day and, after a cup of strong coffee, taken with Archer in the front room of Macpherson’s house, Keane was about to set off for his daily meeting with Fouché and Choiseul when there was a frantic banging at the front door. Both men sprang from their seats at the table and, opening the door cautiously, Keane was astonished to see the face of Colquhoun Grant.
‘Let me in, man. I don’t think I’ve been followed, but you never know.’
Keane pulled Grant through the entrance and closed and locked the door, turning to Archer. ‘Keep a watch through the window. Major Grant may have been followed.’ He looked at Grant. ‘Good God, sir, what the devil are you doing here?’
‘You’ll find out soon enough. Is Macpherson here?’
‘Yes, of course, sir, somewhere, here at any moment.’
‘Good. We have a change of plan and he cannot know of it. Thank God I found you in time.’
The door opened and Macpherson entered.
‘Captain Keane, what was that noise? Good heavens, Major Grant.’
‘Macpherson. I know. This is against protocol. Highly dangerous and improper.’
‘Major, your presence here endangers us all. You must go, sir, before we are all taken.’
‘I am quite aware of that. I shall be quick. A matter of minutes, then I’ll be gone. I need to speak with Captain Keane.’
‘Very well, do so. But for heaven’s sake hurry.’
Macpherson left the room and Grant began: ‘Right, Keane. Here it is, as quick as I can. We must at all costs prevent General Malet from carrying out this coup d’état. At least it must certainly not succeed.’
‘Wellington knows about this?’
‘Yes, of course. I am here on his orders. He is absolutely adamant. We cannot support Malet’s coup.’
‘But why, sir? Surely this has a good chance of bringing down Bonaparte?’
‘It might well do, but we cannot associate ourselves with it.’
‘Why on earth not, sir?’
‘It is republican, Keane. And we cannot possibly support a republican coup. Think about it. Think about America. My God, how many men did we lose in that war? In the name of England’s sovereignty and monarchy? How can we possibly support a republican coup in France? Particularly at a time when the Americans are once again waging war against us.’
For the first time Keane was struck by the bigger picture.
‘I do see, sir. It is absurd.’
‘Good, Keane. It’s just not part of the plan.’
Keane smiled. That was so like Grant. Not part of the plan. How good he was at saying so much in so very few words.
‘James, you must be seen to proceed with the plan as it stands. Do whatever Macpherson and the others have in mind. Assist General Malet. But at the last moment I am relying on you to ensure that it fails. Wellington needs the war to continue in order that the French are completely defeated. We cannot finish it now.
‘We most certainly cannot assassinate Napoleon. Nor can we bring down his government with such alacrity. That would plunge the country into anarchy and the way would be open for the republicans. That is what Talleyrand wants.’
He paused and his voice became lower as he spoke to both men.
‘Macpherson is a fool. He was a good agent. Once. One of the best. But it’s gone to his head. He’s old Keane. Very, very old and he can see his power dwindling. He’s no longer within the fold, James. He’s slipped his leash, out of my control. We cannot allow the coup to succeed. It’s up to you, James.
‘The way that it stands, the situation is now so tenuously balanced that for the plot to succeed would be catastrophic to the future balance of power.’
Keane thought about that for a second. The future balance of power.
It occurred to him that everyone, the British and Spanish commanders in the Peninsula, Wellington, even the private soldiers, Grant himself, all presumed that Bonaparte would be defeated. And so, most assuredly, did he. But quite how long that would take he had no idea. And what of it when he was overthrown? What sort of world would they have then? It struck him that he had never really, properly thought about it. A world without the threat of Bonaparte? What on earth would it be like, and what would it mean for Britain and for him?