The wanton princess rb-8

by Dennis Wheatley

  ‘I had not realized that His Majesty's mind was in quite so parlous a state.'

  'Unfortunately that is the case. My brother and others write to me that from unpredictable the Czar's behaviour has become intolerable. He will brook no opposition to his craziest whims, regards everyone about him with deep sus­picion and on an impulse will order the imprisonment of loyal subjects without cause.'

  'Surely then, the time has come when he should be put under restraint,' Roger suggested. 'Here in England, as you know, when a few years back King George's mind became unbalanced. His Highness of Wales was by act of Parliament appointed Regent, and His Majesty kept more or less in confinement until he recovered.

  'In Russia we have no parliament,' replied the Ambas­sador with a shrug. 'The only means of staying our tyrant in his course would be through a Palace revolution by which he was deposed and locked up in a fortress.'

  'Think you. Your Excellency, that there is any chance of that?'

  'It is difficult to say. Should he continue acting in his present fashion, his principal ministers may be driven to such a measure for their own protection. I only pray God it may be so, for naught else now seems likely to avert his entering into a pact with the First Consul to assist him in his war against Britain.'

  This conversation gave Roger furiously to think. It fore­shadowed a very different situation in Europe from that which had existed the previous year, and made him wish more than ever that Mr. Pitt had agreed to a pacification when conditions were so much more favourable to Britain. But there was nothing he could do about it; so he threw himself wholeheartedly into the many pleasures enjoyed by the company during the following two days then, at Geor­gia's pressing, stayed on with a few of the other guests at Stillwaters to see in the New Year.

  On the afternoon of January 1st, still with a slight head from an excess of Punch consumed the previous evening, he removed to London. Droopy Ned. he found, had returned there two days earlier after having spent Christmas at his father's scat, Normanrood, in Wiltshire. Over a supper of cold lobster, broiled marrow bones and champagne, they gave each other their news.

  In Britain, during the past year, the foremost topic had been, not the war. but the Act of Union with Ireland. Pitt had long been in favour of such a union. To begin with, as far back as '85, and as a means of putting an end to the bickering between the two parliaments which prevented measures being passed that would have led to a great increase in trade between their countries, he had begun to work to that end. In '93 he had succeeded in putting through the Franchise Bill, which gave the majority of Irish people the vote: but as most Irishmen were Catholics the great majority of them were still excluded from sitting in their parliament.

  Later there had arisen a much more cogent reason for uniting the two countries. From the outbreak of war with Revolutionary France, the French had sent hundreds of agi­tators m Ireland. They had succeeded in stirring up the natural resentment that the Irish Catholics fell at being debarred from any voice in the government of their country and the general discontent that had long smouldered among the Irish at being subservient to Britain. This had led not only to a strong movement aimed at achieving independence, but an open rebellion in '98 that had been difficult to put down. Added to this was the fact that the French consistently encouraged potential rebels with promises of military sup­port, had actually on one occasion landed a small force and, on another, been prevented from succeeding in a full-scale invasion only because their Fleet and troop transports had been scattered by a great tempest. And for Ireland lo be occupied by a French army with the willing consent of the majority of its inhabitants would, strategically, have been fatal to England.

  The bases of Pitt's proposals were that the Irish Par­liament, which was notoriously corrupt, should be abolished; that twenty Irish Peers elected for life and four Protestant Bishops should be given seats in the House of Lords, and that representatives of the Irish cities and boroughs should sit in the House of Commons.

  It was also his intention that these newcomers to Westmin­ster should not be required to take the Oaths of Supremacy and Abjuration but only the Oath of Allegiance, which would have been no bar to Catholics sitting.

  In a speech to Parliament on the subject. Pitt had said, 'We must consider it as a measure of great national policy, the object of which is effectively to counteract the restless machinations of an inveterate enemy, who has uniformly and anxiously endeavoured to effect a separation between the two countries.' And in September Pitt's Cabinet had, with one important exception, agreed to give him their backing.

  This was Lord Loughborough who, as Lord Chancellor, was technically, 'The King's conscience'. Loughborough apart. King George III was a deeply religious man, a bigoted Protestant, and held the belief that as Head of the Church of England, religious matters were entirely his concern and that Parliament had not even the right to debate them. So he refused absolutely even to consider allowing any Catholic to become a member of a United Parliament. Upon this liberal and wise innovation depended the real success of the measure, but the King's Veto had forced Pitt to shelve it indefinitely.

  In the meantime Lord Cornwallis who, as a General, had been compelled to surrender to the revolutionary American colonists at York Town, but who had since directed a brilliant campaign in India, had been sent by Pitt to Ireland as Viceroy. By a policy of leniency he had won the goodwill of the greater part of the people, and had overcome the reluctance of the Irish Parliament. Finally, when Pitt put die temporal clauses of the Bill to the House, he had achieved a great triumph. The Act of Union had been passed by 236 votes to only 30 and had become law that New Year's Day of 1801.

  As the First Consul's projected expedition to conquer India was still in its planning stage, Roger had felt no urgency about informing Mr. Pitt of it: so it was hot until January 3rd that he rode out to Holwood House, just beyond Bromley, the home at which the Prime Minister always resided during Parliament's Christmas recess.

  Having kept Roger waiting for over an hour, when Mr. Pitt did at length receive him it was standing and with a frigid mien. Roger had expected that and had in his pocket a remedy for it. Producing a piece of paper he said :

  'Sir, this document has long outgrown its usefulness and I have, on occasions, thought of destroying it; but it seemed to me that you might prefer to do so yourself. I have shown it to no-one and by consigning it to the flames you will be assured that it will never fall into the hands of any malicious person.'

  The paper was, of course, Mr. Pitt's admission that he had used his powers arbitrarily to imprison Roger in the Tower. A pale smile lit up his lined grey face and, accepting the paper, he said. 'I greatly appreciate your delicacy in this matter. Mr. Brook. Be pleased to sit down and inform me of the reason for this somewhat surprising return of yours to England, after your decision to remain for good in France. Is it that you have quarrelled with Bonaparte?'

  Taking a seat and crossing his legs, Roger replied affably, ‘By no means, sir. The First Consul and I continue to be on excellent terms, and I am still the happy recipient of Mon­sieur de Talleyrand's confidences. But they are now planning an operation which might have a most unfortunate effect upon Britain's interests in the East, so I felt it my duty to return and inform you of it.' He then told the Prime Minister of the expedition being planned to conquer India.

  Mr. Pitt ran a hand over his sparse grey hair and said, 'Mr. Brook, 1 am grateful to you for your timely warning. I had no previous knowledge of this but it fits in with other intelligence I have received The Czar, as you may know, is about to go over to our active enemies. His imagination has been caught by the old Russian project of conquering the Turkish Empire. In recent years it has become so effete that it is in no state to resist him. Given an alliance with Bonaparte he might well overrun it, move east through Persia and. byway of Afghanistan, aid the French in depriving us of our possessions in the East.'

  After talking of the matter for a while, the Prime Minister said, i pray you,
Mr. Brook, remain on here to join us at dinner. With me I have Dundas, Castlereagh and Canning, now my staunchest supporters, and I should much like to discuss this matter further in their presence.'

  Roger had long known Henry Dundas well. This bluff Scot, a heavy drinker who never hesitated to call a spade a spade, but was a glutton for work and ruled the Scottish members with a rod of iron in Pitt's interest, had for many years been a tower of strength to him. Viscount Castlereagh was the same age as Roger and George Canning a year his junior. These two had been Pitt's principal lieutenants in getting the Act of Union passed, and Castlereagh had recently been appointed Chief Secretary to Ireland.

  When they talked over the meal of Bonaparte's designs against India Dundas, who as the head of the India Board was responsible for British interests there, exclaimed to the Prime Minister, 'Bloody my soul, Billy; but you see now how right I was to press you last October into sending an expedi­tion to conquer Egypt. Does General Abercrombie succeed in that we'll spike the Corsican's guns in his plan to use the country as a staging base.'

  'Loath as I was to agree, I'll now admit you were right in that. Hal,' Pitt replied. 'But the main thing we have to consider is can we by any means prevent this mad Czar from sending an army to take our Austrian allies in the rear and so putting them out of the war for good?'

  Roger then related his conversation at Stillwaters with Count Vorontzoff and added. 'I gathered from him that we have many highly placed friends in St. Petersburg. Would it not be possible through our Ambassador there to incite them to take steps to restrain the Czar; I mean, if need be, arbitrarily?’

  The Prime Minister looked across at him and replied: 'We are now without diplomatic representation in St. Petersburg. By last June the Czar's attitude to this country had already become so hostile that as a mark of our resent­ment I recalled my Lord Whitworth. When about to depart he asked leave to present Mr. Justinian Casamajor, our Secretary of Legation, as Chargé d’Affaires; but the Czar refused to receive him and sent him too, a passport. There is, though, just a chance that what you suggested might come about. On my Lord Whitworth's return he told me that Paul's principal advisers now go daily in fear that without reason he may suddenly turn upon them and send them to exile in Siberia. The Russians are a proud and violent people, and it would not be the first time that they had deposed a Sovereign.’

  Canning took him up quickly, 'Could we persuade them to act, sir, our whole position would be saved. I am told that his Heir Apparent, the Grand Duke Alexander, is a most sen­sible young man: healthy, sane and, having been brought up by a Swiss tutor, liberal-minded, yet most opposed to Bonaparte and his revolutionary precepts with which he indoctrinates the people of other countries that he cither conquers or become associated with.'

  They all discussed the matter for some while, then the Prime Minister said to Roger:

  'Mr. Brook. I appreciate that you have now become averse to acting against Bonaparte's interests in any other than matters that may menace the security of your own country. But by reporting his intentions against India to me, you have entirely regained my confidence. This matter of the Czar is a thing apart from any feelings you may have for your friends in France. Time and again you have shown yourself to be an extraordinarily able secret agent. Will you not now consider travelling to Russia on our behalf, make an attempt to rally the forces in opposition to the Czar, and endeavour to con­cert measures which will prevent him from joining Bonaparte against us?'

  Roger considered for some minutes. In order to avoid being sent to India he must keep out of Paris for some months to come. He would soon start his liaison with Geor­gina again, but that would last only a few weeks and then there would be nothing to keep him in England. On the other hand, apart from the misfortune of incurring the displeasure of the Empress Catherine, he had much enjoyed his stay in St. Petersburg in '88. To spend a month or two in the Russian capital seemed an admirable way of filling in his time, and it would be intriguing to initiate a conspiracy with the object of rendering the mad Czar harmless. At length he said:

  'Why not, sir? If I can succeed in serving my country and yourself in this way, I should be happy to do so.'

  So the die was cast. Georgina arrived in London on January 4th and for a fortnight they took their old joy of one another. During this time Roger paid a visit to Vorontzoff at his fine mansion in St. John's Wood, which had for many years been the Russian Embassy. To the Ambassador Roger made no secret about the purpose of the mission upon which he was being sent. In duty bound Vorontzoff refrained from formally expressing his approval of it. Nevertheless, he fur­nished Roger with letters of introduction to a number of people who he thought might prove useful to him, and gave him much valuable information about the Court of St. Peters­burg.

  A few days later he spent an hour with Lord Grenville, who briefed him on what had been occurring in the Northern capitals. It had been towards the end of August that the Czar's mounting antagonism towards Britain had culminated in his inviting the monarchs of Prussia, Sweden and Denmark to revive with him the League of Armed Neutrality, and in November he had arbitrarily placed an embargo on all British vessels in Russian ports. As the sea trade of both Sweden and Denmark had suffered severely from the restrictions imposed upon it by Britain, the young Gustavus IV of Sweden had given Paul his enthusiastic support, while in Denmark the peace-loving but ailing King Christian VII had been over­ruled by the pro-Russian Prince Royal and his Minister Bernstorff. The cautious and vacillating Frederick William of Prussia was still sitting on the fence but it was feared that he would soon join the others.

  Between them these Powers could muster a Fleet of forty-one ships of the Line, and the British Navy was already severely stretched in the Channel, the Mediterranean and the West Indies. Should it also have to engage the Northern Fleet there would not be enough ships to continue the blockade of France. That might well result in Bonaparte's invading England: so the importance of Roger's mission could not be overstresscd.

  They then discussed possible concessions that Britain might offer to induce Russia to retire from the League should another government replace that of Paul I. Finally, the Foreign Secretary furnished Roger with a Lettre de Marque to show as his credential should he find it possible to initiate negotiations.

  On January 18th he took a loving farewell of Georgina and that night embarked in a ship that was about to sail from London to Bremen, as the first stage of his long journey to St. Petersburg.

  8

  The Mad Czar

  Considering the time of year, Roger was lucky in the weather for his crossing of the North Sea, and four days later he landed at the Free Port of Bremen. As the city lay in the middle of Hanover and that country still was a part of the dominions of the British Crown, he received every facility for continuing his journey without delay. After covering the hundred miles to Lubeck in a coach he had to waste two days before he could get a ship that was sailing up the Baltic and, when he did, she had not been long at sea before he was regretting that he had not gone by coach via Berlin and Warsaw. But over icy roads in mid-winter the twelve hundred mile journey might have taken him anything up to six weeks.

  The cold was bitter, even the furs he had bought in Bremen could not protect him for long from the icy, knife-like winds, his cabin was little more than a cupboard, and the food so revolting that, had he not brought aboard supplies of his own, he would almost have preferred to starve. But the weather might have been much worse; so he was sea-sick only on two days, and the brig landed him at Riga on her tenth day out.

  Ice floes would have made it too dangerous for her to proceed further north at that season, and St. Petersburg itself would remain ice-bound for at least several weeks to come. At Riga he hired a troika and, drawn by three powerful horses, proceeded on his way. The posting service proved reasonably adequate but the inns at which he had to spend the nights were atrocious.

  The nobility always sent couriers ahead to make special arrangements for them and travel
led with their own mattres­ses and other furniture. Lacking these amenities, Roger had usually to share a room with several people of both sexes, there was no linen and the sparse furnishings were always riddled with bed-bugs. After suffering stoically for a further eight days, he entered the Russian capital on the afternoon of February 12th.

  During his earlier stay there he had found an excellent friend in the Reverend William Tooke, then the chaplain of the English 'Factory'—as was called a large enclosed area in which stood the warehouses of the British merchants trading regularly with Russia. Making his way to the docks, Roger enquired at the gate for the Reverend William, only to learn that nine years before he had come into a considerable for­tune and had returned to England to enjoy it. However," his successor, the Reverend James Peabody, received Roger kindly, said how agreeable it would be to have news from home and offered to put aim up until he could find suitable accommodation.

  Roger did not, of course, disclose to the Reverend James the purpose that lay behind his coming to St Petersburg, but said that he found his greatest pleasure in travel, had enough money to indulge his taste and not having been in Russia for twelve years had decided to pay it a second visit.

  The parson shook his head, 'I fear your visit is ill-timed, Mr. Brook. In the Empress Catherine's day. when you were last here, I'm told St. Petersburg was a wondrously gay city; but it is far from being so at present, and for an Englishman particularly so.'

  'You mean, sir, that as we no longer enjoy diplomatic representation here I cannot apply to be presented at Court?'

  'That, and the fact that you are an Englishman. Owing to the violent prejudice against our country with which the Emperor has been seized this past year, few of the nobility would be willing to give you a welcome in their houses from fear that the Czar should hear of it and vent his displeasure on them. Such is his rancour against us that last August, when he first announced his intention of reviving the League of Armed Neutrality to our detriment, he actually went to the length of seizing the goods in our Factory here and. on a trumped-up pretext, imprisoned a number of British seamen: both acts that any sane Monarch would have been ashamed to perform."