But the Pindaree horsemen stood firm. Hervey saw with alarm that all they needed to do was assail the half-dozen budgerows on the river, from which the Nisus’s quarterdeck twelve-pounders enfiladed them, and with a modicum of resolution they might yet carry the day: the Godavari was shallow enough at the edge, and not all would have fallen to grape as they charged. Alter Fritz was engaged with the remnants of those that had earlier attacked him, and evidently did not see the danger, and all Hervey’s halfrissalah were dismounted and their horses with holders inside the forest. He looked back towards his night camp and the lancers with the rajah — and to his great relief saw them advancing at a canter.
But the Royal Navy was not yet done with its fighting. A thin line of red was also advancing, muskets at the high port, as steady as if on parade at Portsmouth. And there, in front, was Henry Locke, sword held high. The Pindarees seemed rooted to the spot, incapable even of dealing with two dozen marines. Never had Hervey seen cavalry so supine — as feeble as Sackville at Minden. And then, at fifty yards, Locke lowered his sword to the engage, the marines put their bayonets to ‘On guard’, and they began to double. At thirty Hervey distinctly heard him shout ‘Charge!’ and the Pindarees — hundreds upon hundreds — turned and broke. But a handful first discharged their firearms — perhaps more for safety as they retired — and a ball struck Locke in the throat.
Hervey rushed to where he fell, through ranks of horsemen who wanted nothing but to be away. Locke’s serjeant was already trying to staunch the bleeding as he reached him, but so much blood was there that the end could not have been in doubt. His eyes were open and something of a smile came to them as he saw Hervey. He gripped the soldier’s wrist, squeezing with that strength which Hervey had so admired, trying thereby to tell him something.
Hervey smiled back. ‘Thank you, my dear, dear friend. Without you it could not have been done!’
Locke’s eyes smiled even stronger, his breathing like the raj kumari’s mare when the incision was made. His other hand reached for his gorget and pulled it from his neck, snapping the chain. He held it out to Hervey, his eyes somehow managing to tell him why.
‘For your…’ he cursed himself that he did not know her name.
Locke nodded his head.
‘I will see she is well provided for,’ he said, tears now running down both cheeks.
And then Locke’s eyes closed, and his head rolled gently to one side in his serjeant’s arms.
Hervey swallowed very hard. ‘Samson hath quit himself like Samson,’ he stammered.
XIX. RECALL
Chintalpore, two weeks later
Jessye nuzzled him, searching his pockets for some favour. Hervey put his nose to hers so that their breathing spoke secretly for them, as it always had. He rubbed her muzzle with his palm. The pinpricks, through which the krait’s venom had spurted to mix with her blood and scheme its way to her vitals, were now healed, her body purged of all poison. He found her a piece of candied fruit and she took it gently from his hand, not greedily as would the Kehilans in the stalls either side of her. Tomorrow he might take her out — an easy ride, a walk only — in the cool of the morning, to coax her back to the hale condition in which she had been before the snake’s assault.
‘Mr Somervile is greatly interested in village medicine,’ said Emma Lucie, watching from a discreet few paces.
Hervey nodded. ‘Would that I had had greater faith, too. The subedar begged me to let him go to find a sadhu, but I couldn’t bear to have a stranger dancing round her, throwing ash about and blowing on a pipe.’
‘And it was a Brahman who came, you say?’
‘So Johnson says. He gave her a potion, though I can’t imagine how she could have been induced to take anything, prostrate and her heart failing. It was mungo root, apparently a native cure for snakebite.’
‘Ah yes, indeed: Ophiorrhiza mungos is its botanical name. I was reading of it in my natural history only yesterday.’
‘Oh — so it is more than village magic?’
‘I believe so. It is a well-known antidote with grasscutters, but I have never heard of its use with equines.’
‘You are very ingenious, Miss Lucie. You have extensive learning, and are yet open to all you see in this country.’
‘It might very well be fatal not to be,’ she said, smiling.
‘In its most literal sense, too,’ he conceded. ‘For the snakebite I should, myself, have trusted to potash, but that would have been of little account had it not been used at once. And I had none.’
Hervey pulled Jessye’s ears again, and gave her another piece of candied fruit. ‘I’ve sent Johnson with a purse of silver. I should have liked to go myself but time is pressing.’
‘How long do you have remaining?’
‘I can’t delay beyond tomorrow.’
‘Philip will be sorry he shan’t see you before you go.’
‘And I him. Not least to be able to tell him in person all you have done.’
‘Not all, I should suggest!’
He looked away sheepishly. ‘I cannot thank you enough. When did you make the discovery?’
‘Soon after the rajah had set off to join you. It was the only ledger I had not looked at.’
‘And you read through every page?’
‘That was my intention, but it was there on the third — very plain.’
‘Even so, its significance might not have—’
‘Captain Hervey!’ she scolded. ‘I cannot think that anyone would not connect the Duke of Wellington’s name in a land register and the presence of one of his ADCs! I wonder, though, that you did not give me any more direct indication of your mission.’
He glanced around awkwardly, but there was no-one else about. ‘Perhaps so, madam. I’m obliged none the less. And the evidence?’
‘The ledgers are wholly beyond redemption: they were sodden by the time they were recovered from the well. It has saved you and me a difficult choice.’
‘I have thought a great deal about that, I may say, Miss Lucie.’
She simply smiled and shook her head.
‘And still there is no idea who might be the culprit?’ he asked, leaving the trickier matter.
‘It would seem not. All the ledgers and documents were taken from my room while I was with the rajah and thrown down the same well in which Kunal Verma perished. But the rajah is sure that his spies will soon begin to speak now that his position is more secure.’
‘As you say, their taking removed a fearful temptation. And so now the disposal of the jagirs is a simple matter for the duke’s new agent in Calcutta. How very fortunate things have turned out, when only days ago all seemed lost.’
She did not reply, merely raising an eyebrow instead.
Jessye was contentedly chewing the best hay that could be had in Chintalpore — though that was no better than Daniel Coates would feed his sheep in winter. He patted her neck. ‘I wish Selden could have seen her recovered,’ he sighed. ‘His was a tortured life, I think. I pray his soul finds more rest.’
Emma Lucie said not a word.
‘I am sure that nothing will ever be found to implicate him in the batta fraud.’
‘Let us hope not,’ she replied.
Silence descended on the stables once more, broken only by the slow grinding of hay. Hervey seemed perfectly content to watch his mare restored to her proper appetite, content with no more thoughts, let alone words, of the perfidy that had sapped Chintal in the late months.
It was Emma Lucie who chose to speak first. ‘I have been reading some of the most sublime verse from the rajah’s shelves.’
‘Indeed?’ said Hervey, imagining it — without very great enthusiasm — to be some profound native poetry.
‘You have read Herbert?’
She surprised him. Herbert on the rajah’s shelves? ‘George Herbert — yes. I have more often sung it, though.’
‘And I,’ she smiled. ‘It makes fine hymnody.’
‘I believe I can say t
hat my father has never coveted anything so much as Herbert’s former living. His parish lay a little further down the valley. I was thinking about those parts as you came into the stable. You must visit with my family in England, Miss Lucie. I think that Henrietta would very much like to see you again too.’
‘Yes, I should like that; but you distract me,’ she chided, smiling. ‘I found a poem which seemed most apt for you and Captain Peto.’
‘Oh?’
‘Yes,’ she continued, smiling more, ‘called simply “Discipline”.’
‘I do not know it,’ he replied, shaking his head.
‘ “Love is swift of foot; Love’s a man of war, And can shoot, And can hit from afar.” There, Captain Hervey: do you not think that apt?’
He smiled ruefully. ‘I think Captain Peto would heartily approve. All his philosophy seems but one vast naval allegory!’
‘Just so,’ she nodded. ‘And in speaking of shooting from afar, would you tell me what really happened in your battle?’
‘Well, madam,’ he began, thoughtfully, ‘we are obliged as always to the Royal Navy. It seems that Bonaparte once lamented that wherever there was a fathom of water, there you would find the British. When Mr Locke heard that the guns were gone from the border with Haidarabad he assumed at once that it was he who had betrayed our stratagem through careless talk with his… ahm—’
‘Paramour?’
‘Er, just so. Well, it seems that he thought the only recourse was to enlist the firepower of the Nisus standing off Guntoor. Perhaps there is not a single frigate captain in the Royal Navy who could then have resisted the challenge, but Peto of all men would have been determined to demonstrate the truth of Bonaparte’s lament. He took Nisus up the Godavari as far as he could, and when he could go no further he had six cannon dismounted and transferred to budgerows, and these he was able to bring into very timely action.’
‘But it was not Mr Locke’s fault that the stratagem was out?’
‘No, his… the native lady had said not a word, for she was given so big a draught of laudanum when he left that she lay insensate for two days. No, it seems that as soon as the nizam’s men heard that all the rajah’s forces were marching upon the border — as we had intended they should hear — they put their guns on the river. We do not know why — yet. Indeed, it may never be known. Everything in India seems unfathomable!’
‘Unfathomable? Perhaps. And how did Mr Locke die?’
Hervey fell silent. At length he sighed and raised his eyebrows slowly. ‘Bravely — though that hardly needs saying. He advanced with twenty marines, in their scarlet, against hundreds of the enemy, as steady as if on parade. A ball struck him in the throat, and he died almost at once. I cannot say more.’
Emma Lucie saw the moisture in his eye and turned towards Jessye, giving her another of the favours she had brought. A pair of hoopoes in the eaves was all there was to be heard: ‘Poo, poo, poo,’ called the male, his crest lowered. His mate answered — ‘Scharr.’ Hervey looked up; for an instant he was a boy in Horningsham again, stalking the jays in the churchyard.
The silence stretched a full five minutes. ‘There was much to admire in Mr Locke,’ said Emma Lucie softly. ‘His fortitude, his… simplesse.’
‘Indeed,’ coughed Hervey, wiping an eye.
She let him be for a while again. ‘But we may thank God that Cornet Templer is set fair for a full recovery.’
‘Yes… yes indeed,’ said Hervey, now recovering himself too. ‘He is the very best of fellows. And he loves India.’
After a few minutes more she asked what were his thoughts on being recalled.
He answered readily. ‘I must confess that, anxious though I am to return to England, I am myself more than a little intrigued by these lands.’
‘You are relieved, nevertheless, by your letter of recall? It does — does it not — permit a reunion with all whom you love?’
There could be no other conclusion, he replied, knowing he would have six full months to contemplate it. ‘We shall say farewell tomorrow, Miss Lucie. But let me say again how greatly in your debt I am. You have been kind beyond words.’
‘Let us just say that my brother — and Henrietta — would have had it no other way.’
‘So, Captain Hervey, you are to leave us — never, I suppose, to return to Chintal, or even to India, again?’ The rajah was disappointed but philosophical.
‘Your Highness will understand where my duty lies.’
‘And your heart.’
‘I am engaged to be married, sir, yes.’
‘We in India never see a British grey hair!’
Hervey smiled. ‘Oh, I think that Mr Somervile’s head will become white in these climes, sir. His will be a lengthy residency, I feel sure.’
‘I trust so, very much. And, I had hoped, Mr Locke’s too. The grant of jagirs on the plains would, I think, have been eminently to his liking. They shall, at least, provide some comfort for the Maharashtri dancer.’
‘I was not aware that you knew of the liaison, sir,’ replied Hervey with some embarrassment.
The rajah smiled. ‘Captain Hervey, this is my dominion.’
‘Yes, sir,’ he nodded sheepishly. ‘The Fates dealt ill with Mr Locke, Your Highness. I pray that they are not cruel to his memory now.’
‘Most delicately put, Captain Hervey. But the Fates?’ he smiled. ‘And you a Christian officer of most exemplary practice!’
Hervey smiled again. ‘I believe you know that I was speaking figuratively, sir.’
‘Just so, just so. And your own jagirs: you are content for them to rest in Mr Somervile’s stewardship?’
‘I am, sir. You have been more generous than could be imagined. There was no need, as I have already said: I could have done no other but what I did.’
‘And now you will return to your Duke of Wellington and continue upon advancement to high rank.’
‘That is every soldier’s intent, sir; though not all are permitted to achieve it.’
‘Just so, just so. And I have been unable to persuade you to remain in Chintal for a colonelcy and command of all my sepoys and sowars.’
‘I am a King’s officer, Your Highness. And your princely state is now secured by the subsidiary force — and an admirable officer in Colonel Bell.’
‘Perhaps, perhaps,’ smiled the rajah, ‘though I can understand but little of what he says. He speaks very ill — Scotch, you say?’
‘Your Highness, I happen to know that his Urdu is faultless!’
‘Urdu? Yes, though I had rather wished we might discourse in English — read poetry, scripture and the like — as you and I have, Captain Hervey.’
The Englishman bowed, acknowledging the compliment.
‘Well, I take my leave of you for the time being,’ said the rajah. ‘Do you have further business today, or may we have the pleasure of your company once more this evening?’
‘I shall do my utmost to be there, Your Highness, but first I must seek Captain Peto. He, too, has letters of recall, but he cannot wait and we must make our arrangements directly.’
The rajah nodded; he understood. ‘ “And the gilded car of day, His glowing axle doth allay, In the steep Atlantic stream.” ’
‘You quote one of my favourite works, sir.’
‘Yes, I know it — the masque at Ludlow Castle. Near Shrewsbury, is it not?’
Hervey smiled even wider: truly this rajah was a man of uncommon learning and sensibility. ‘I hope, one day, you will visit England, sir. It cannot compare with Italy in the magnificence of its past beauty, but I believe you would be excessively diverted.’
‘Thank you, Captain Hervey. Let us pray that it may come about. Now to one last matter — the raj kumari. It is, perhaps, not possible for you to judge anything but the gravest ill of her. What she did, however, was for no baser reason than out of love for me and for Chintal. In time she will return to the palace, but not yet, not yet.’
Hervey shifted awkwardly. There was immense sadne
ss in the rajah’s voice.
‘You know all, I suppose?’
‘I cannot tell, sir,’ he replied, for how much there was in this most convoluted of stories he could not hazard.
‘This land is made of spies, Captain Hervey. It was perhaps destined that one day the secret I have borne for many years — my Christian baptism in the place that St Peter himself was most cruelly put to death — should be discovered, and traded for the highest price. Kunal Verma learned of it, skulking in shadows, and, like Judas, traded his secret for silver — two and more lakhs of it. The raj kumari and some loyal but misguided courtiers connived at his extortion — the batta fraud — but when silver was no longer to be had, and he threatened to travel to Haidarabad, my daughter ordered him killed.’
‘And Captain Steuben, sir?’
‘An entirely innocent victim, I fear.’
Hervey sighed. One day he might reconcile the raj kumari’s actions with the necessities of war, but for now that prospect looked distant. ‘Must you still hold your secret, Your Highness?’ he asked, his voice hushed.
‘For the moment,’ replied the rajah. ‘Perhaps for ever. There is room within the Hindoo religion. You cannot understand, for I believe truly that it must come with birth alone.’
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