Spanish Tricks (Man of Conflict Series, Book 5)

by Andrew Wareham

  Septimus nodded – for such a matter could not be talked about. Probably the Lord Lieutenant had spoken carelessly in front of his agent.

  Mr Longhurst looked interested, wanted to know just how it came about that a merchant could pick up a ‘sir’ to his name.

  Septimus briefly explained that George had been in the way of dropping some thousands a year into the hands of the Party, which helped greatly; that he took pains to speak in the King’s English dialect; and that he was his brother, which was also useful.

  “Drop your blunt into the politician’s pockets and it is amazing what can result, Mr Longhurst, providing only that you have the right speech on your lips. Young Richard will fit in, because he sounds the part; you, sir, if you will pardon me, do not. Pay a fee to one of your son’s tutors and sit down with him for an hour a day, Mr Longhurst, and then, in a year or so, whisper very quietly in the Lord Lieutenant’s ear that you would much like to play your part in securing good government in the country. There will be a gentleman from Number Ten knocking on your door within days and you will be surprised at just how businesslike he will be! He will not quite have a price-list written out for you, but I can assure you it will be very little short of that!”

  Mr Longhurst was damned if he had ever heard the like, wondered why it was that he had known none of this before.

  “It is not mentioned aloud, Mr Longhurst, except in circumstances like these, all on the quiet and with none other to hear. You must speak with the right person – and if those people choose not to talk to you, then you never hear at all. This information is not to be given to just anybody, as you will appreciate.”

  Mr Longhurst escorted Septimus to the stables to pick up his horse, rather more full of gratitude than Septimus liked, effusive almost – but the son had more of the habits of the gentleman, and no doubt Mr Longhurst would learn them.

  “It will take three weeks, I must imagine, to settle the commission, Mr Longhurst. Your boy must then report to the Battalion in Winchester to meet his colonel and be given the orders that second him to my service. I shall then send him back to Winchester to be taken in hand by an old sergeant for a few weeks – and that will teach him how to wear a uniform and make a salute, and he will experience life in a Mess, which he may not enjoy too much. He will be seen as a favoured son of privilege, and some of the officers – those who are longer on pedigree than cash - will have little love for that. It will do him no harm. I expect to be up to five years in Canada, sir; he will be a man when next you see him. It is almost certain that there will be a war with America – and if there is, then I shall be involved in it. I cannot protect the boy, sir; it is possible that he will be hurt or killed – that is part of soldiering.”

  Longhurst nodded his acceptance of that reality.

  “I knows that, Sir Septimus, and so do Dick! I ‘ave told ‘im so. What ‘appens when you comes back ‘ome, Sir Septimus?”

  “I cannot tell you with any certainty, Mr Longhurst. The wars may be over, and the government may be disbanding many of the regiments. I shall seek to find places for my staff – that is my duty. It may be the case that I shall be able to put him into a battalion still based in Canada – probably as a captain. Possibly, he will go to India, to John Company’s forces, or to another of the colonies. It may be that he will come home to England on half-pay. If he is to be busy, then it is more likely that he will be overseas than in England – the gentlemen’s sons will take the bulk of the home postings. I do not expect to be able to stay in service myself after the wars end. I may be given a position under government – I hope so – and if that is the case then I shall be able to find something for him myself, provided, of course, that he has shown both willing and able! I like the looks of your boy, Mr Longhurst, but he may find that the life is not all that he hoped for.”

  Longhurst shrugged – boys had their fancies and often grew out of them.

  “Send him back ‘ome if ‘e can’t settle to the life, Sir Septimus. There will always be something for ‘im, and ‘e will be the better off for ‘aving lived away from ‘ome, even if only for a few months.”

  “That is very true, sir – a boy cannot grow into manhood except he stands on his own feet. Smothering and mothering is all very well, but exposure to the harsh, cold world is even better for the boy turning into a man. While I think of it, does the boy read? Books, that is?”

  “Too bloody many, for my tastes, Sir Septimus!”

  “Then buy them in England, Mr Longhurst – they are commonly in short supply overseas, and if he is reading a book then he is not getting drunk or playing cards in the mess.”

  “Do gents read books, Sir Septimus?”

  “Some of them, Mr Longhurst. I do, but then, I am not of the gentry myself.”

  “Would ‘e be better off gambling in the mess with the others of his sort?”

  “He would make friends – the sort who sponge off the rich and careless. You must have met a few of them yourself; I have.”

  “What did you do, Sir Septimus?”

  “I was lucky; my captain looked out for me when I was no more than a boy and kept me out of the clutches of that sort. I will do the same for Richard; there are those in every mess who will be very happy to take him up and squeeze him dry, but I can keep him too busy to be a victim.”

  “Why, Sir Septimus?”

  Mr Longhurst was naturally suspicious – he did not believe in something for nothing.

  “Because he will be one of my staff, Mr Longhurst – and if he becomes a drunken layabout it will reflect upon me. Some officers would not care, but I do.”

  Septimus did not mention the possibility that he might pick up a barony, that he might become Lord Pearce and, if he did, would benefit from having followers in the County. Mr Longhurst owned land, and would have influence, if he cared to use it, over the local Members of Parliament, as just one example. He must also have contacts among the London merchants, and they could be very handy to his brother George.

  “A letter to Major Taft, to tell him that I have two ensigns from the County rather than just one, my dear. Mr Longhurst’s son, Richard, is to become one of my military family.”

  “Longhurst, Septimus? Is the family not rather low, in its origins, at least?”

  Septimus beamed his best and commented that Longhurst’s background was unlikely to be more plebeian than his own.

  “He is in any case, my dear, to endeavour to counterfeit the appearance of a gentleman born so as to seek a handle to his name before too many years have passed. He is rich enough to make his purchase, I must imagine, though I did not ask outright. I shall speak to George.”

  George knew Longhurst by repute, though he had never met him.

  “Outside of my way of business, Septimus. He made his start in London, in the scrap metal trade, or so I believe. Buying copper and brass by the odd ounce and putting it through his own little forge to sell as ingot metal; lead as well, no doubt, as much of it stolen as come across honestly, as is normal in the metal trade. Then he built his own copper smelter on the banks of the Thames – there are a dozen or more just there – and bid for copper ores brought in from overseas as part cargoes on the smaller merchantmen. A few years and he was able to expand and began to trade overseas in his own right, bringing in tin as well as full shiploads of ore. Then he bought into mines in the Pennines, in the north of England – copper, zinc, lead and silver – which made him good money, and then he got into coal, opening his own pits. I do not know what he is worth, but do not see it can be less than a million. They say he is a bristly sort of fellow, inclined to be suspicious of those who might seek to hang onto his pockets and consequently turning away those who might have been useful to him.”

  “He found he needed me, George. I turned up at just the right time for him. He will be in contact with you regarding a piece of waste in Micheldever which I am to purchase from him, it being convenient for Cooper, who is to leave my service for age. The price will be almost nothing, he says,
but we shall have to put the deal through the lawyers, of course.”

  George was happy to assist, and suspected that he might well be able to make contact with Mr Longhurst in person; any millionaire was worth knowing.

  Young Mr Martinsyde arrived on his day, evidently understanding the ‘beginning of May’ to mean the First; it showed a willing spirit, and a strong desire to leave behind the unpleasantness of aid to the civil power.

  “I do not know the rights and wrongs of the business, Sir Septimus, and it may well be that the peace must be kept at all costs, but I do not like threatening the starving and the ragged with ball and bayonet. Time and again we were called upon to disperse the mob, and found it to contain more in the way of hungry women and children than of upstart Reds out to overturn government and King. I know that the French Revolution is said to have begun with food riots, and that unchecked they rapidly grew into full-scale uprisings, but, even so, Sir Septimus – it is no work for a soldier! Better the government should hire policemen to perform so vile a task.”

  “I have seen it myself, Mr Martinsyde, and must agree with you. The masters of these manufacturies and mines can be, shall we say, unsympathetic people, and I felt on occasion that I might be pointing the muskets in the wrong direction.”

  “I certainly agree, sir!”

  “Now then. We sail in six weeks. I am informed that we shall have the Second Battalion of the 69th Foot, the South Lincolnshires, as the nucleus of the brigade in Lower Canada. They are at the moment marching to Bristol where they are to be billeted while waiting to board ship. I know nothing of them or of their condition. Your first task for me, Mr Martinsyde, is to discover their present whereabouts and then to introduce yourself to their colonel, or perhaps major in command, and establish his itinerary and arrange that I may meet him on a given date in a particular town where I may talk with him over a good dinner at a respectable inn or hotel. We will wish to know just how many men he has, what his shortages are, whether his officers mess is full – you can imagine all that is necessary.”

  Mr Martinsyde looked just a fraction shocked – it was no easy task he had been given; he begged a map of England of Septimus and sat down to calculate a route from Spalding in Lincolnshire to Bristol, so that he might have a starting point for a search.

  “I believe, sir, that they will come to the Great West Road at Newbury; that is where I shall go first. If the posting inn there has not seen them, then I shall make my way to the north and east, to Banbury, I think. It is not unlikely that the post-boys may have seen the battalion on the road – the soldiers may well have slowed their progress, so they will remember them.”

  Post-boys commonly received a tip after a fast run; they would not forget a battalion of infantry that had lost them as much as a crown.

  “If they have passed through the town already, sir, then it will be far easier for me to catch up with them.”

  “Quite right, Mr Martinsyde. Do you need cash for the road?”

  “No thank you, sir. I am quite well able to deal with my own expenses.”

  Septimus hid his smile; he had offended the young man’s dignity quite sufficiently without laughing at him.

  “I expect this posting to Canada to be of five years duration, Mr Martinsyde. You will wish to spend a few days at home before we sail, I doubt not. Make your arrangements and inform me of them, if you will be so good.”

  “Yes, sir. may I ask, sir, how many of us there will be on the staff?”

  “Three ensigns – two of them far greener than you. Major Taft is finding two or three more experienced men as well – a captain and one or two lieutenants. You may well find yourself holding the hands of the youngsters on occasion, Mr Martinsyde – do what you can to keep them out of trouble. As regards promotion, by the way; I shall deal with that when we are in Canada, brevets initially, I expect, and then converting the Army rank to Regimental, probably by shifting you across to Fencibles for a time and then taking you back to a battalion of the line that has lost officers. It is always possible to play the system if one is in a position of command. I shall expect to see you a captain within four years, Mr Martinsyde – provided only that you have worked for the rank. Off you go, now!”

  Ensigns Rowlands and Longhurst arrived on the same day, blindingly smart in their new scarlet, self-conscious as well. Rowlands seemed almost sulky while Longhurst was in a state of obvious delight in his new glory. Septimus decided not to shake Rowlands up for a few days – let him become reconciled to the military life first. He put them up in his chaise and took them into the barracks in Winchester, there to enjoy two weeks of discipline and drill while an old sergeant turned them into the facsimile of soldiers.

  “Your cousin, however many times removed, has shown his face my dear. And a scowling, miserable face it is just at the moment! I shall allow him a week or two to settle into the life and reconcile himself to its reality. Then it will be a question of wake up or suffer a very rude awakening at my hands. I shall make him, or break him, and it will be his choice which!”

  Marianne had little sympathy for the youth; the family had come to his rescue, had provided him with a profession in which he would succeed or fail by his own endeavours. He was on his own now.

  “Adolphus has been led to the water, husband; it is up to him whether or not he drinks!”

  “I fully agree, my dear! Young Longhurst seems delighted to have achieved the commission that has long been his dream. I do not doubt that he will do well. I shall discover how well on Friday when the two senior men arrive in Winchester where they are to be billeted. I have little enough for them to do until we sail so they can spend their days in idleness for the month. I could wish young Martinsyde to return soon – I fear he may have become lost!”

  The young ensign rode in next day, seemingly rather tired and sitting gingerly in his saddle as if he had covered many miles since Septimus had last seen him.

  “The South Lincolnshires are close to Chippenham, sir, having made good time on the march. No rain, I was told, and the lanes friendly to the column of soldiers for not turning into quagmires under their boots. Major Holden has some four hundred and fifty men with him, sir, and expects to meet up in Bristol with two companies that had been detached. They were sent to South Wales, it would seem, sir, last year, but he has been informed by Horse Guards that they are to rejoin this month, and at Bristol. Major Holden is to delay at Chippenham today and tomorrow, sir, being short on rations to hold any longer.”

  Septimus glanced at the clock, decided that they could make Devizes on horseback that day, overnighting in the posting house there. The house was turned into instant chaos as he demanded boots, breeches and horses instantly.

  They reached Chippenham in the late morning and introduced themselves to the battalion, finding them billeted in barns outside of the town, which was a surprise.

  “I might have thought Chippenham to be big enough to have provided billets in the public houses and inns, Major Holden.”

  “They experienced the presence of a particularly undisciplined battalion of Militia only last month, Sir Septimus. Consequently, they will have no soldiers in the town, sir. The Sussex were on their way to South Wales, I believe; there has been disorder in the mining areas and they were no doubt to add to it.”

  The Regular soldiers found immediate common ground in their disapprobation of the Militia.

  “Neither discipline nor decency in the Militia, Major Holden. And outside the Officers Mess things are even worse!”

  “Precisely, sir! I am given to believe that my numbers may be made up to an extent in Bristol, sir, by a Militia officer claiming his captaincy. He will bring as many as one hundred and fifty men to the Colours, so I am informed. I need the men, as you will appreciate, sir.”

  A lieutenant of the Militia could receive a Regular commission as a captain, without purchase, by bringing in his own company of recruits; a substantial number did so, particularly in the unfashionable regiments that found recruiting dif
ficult for lack of cash to pay additional bounties to attract private soldiers. The process was governed by law and by Horse Guards and was, as always, open to abuse, particularly in terms of the quality of the men provided.

  “Do you know who the gentleman is, Major Holden?”

  “A Captain Arrowsmith, sir, of the Middlesex regiments. Not the most genteel of names, and I do not doubt that his background will be dubious, probably in the extreme. A father who could not purchase in the normal way for his son, but who has been able to make him a gentleman by other means.”

  Septimus had discovered that the South Lincolnshires drew their officers mostly from the lower ranks of the County – none of them particularly prosperous, but all of a land-owning background and naturally unwelcoming to any man from London, especially if he might be richer than them. In this case, a Militia lieutenant who had been able to bring in one hundred and fifty men, much money had been spent. The least bounty to the men must have been twenty pounds apiece, to persuade them to a battalion about to go foreign, and it might well have been twice that, paid in cash to be placed in their families’ pockets. It was an expensive way of rising in the world, and one that would certainly lead to bad feeling.

  “It is your battalion and your Mess, Major Holden, but I suspect you may have your work cut out to avoid a nasty degree of resentment that may detract from your effectiveness as a battalion.”

  The warning, and the threat, was fairly clear, Septimus thought.

  “With the two companies returned from Wales, sir, we shall have some seven hundred men, sufficient to make our place in the field a certainty. I shall explain to my people that we shall be able to avoid garrison service as a result of the new man’s recruiting. The prospect of glory in the field will reconcile the bulk of the officers, I suspect.”

  “You will not see much of garrison duty. Major Holden. Whether you serve as a battalion in the field is another matter, however. The brigade will consist of you and a mass of militia, fencible and yeomanry units, raised as the need comes upon us. We shall seek to draw any American invasion inside our borders and then to sever their supply lines and cut them up in a series of small actions. It may be the case that you will distribute the battalion in separate companies to provide a stiffening to the volunteers. I do not yet know what will happen, but a war seems an absolute certainty. I would wish you to train all of your companies in Light tactics, Major Holden.”