‘Well said, Sir!’ exclaimed Roger. ‘Then I’ll go with you! Though God alone knows how I’ll account for my projected absence to Mistress Brook. But stay! Since you are now resolved on going yourself, and will be able to acquaint the King with the Danish plan, surely ’tis no longer essential that I should quit my wife and thus embroil myself with her?’
‘I fear it is,’ replied the Minister. ‘You seem to have overlooked the fact that I am accredited to both Courts. As His Majesty’s representative here I cannot betray the Danish plans to Sweden, or vice versa. The retailing of the news you have brought is your affair and, officially, I must know nothing of it. My reason for going is to show Gustavus that Britain has not totally deserted him; and, if I can, concert means with him to persuade the Danes to cease hostilities.’
‘Surely that would be well-nigh impossible?’
‘It certainly appears so; but at least I can make the attempt, and as I have a foot in both camps I am well placed to do so.’
Roger saw that, having committed himself in a moment of enthusiasm for Hugh Elliot’s fine integrity, he could not possibly back down now; but he was at his wit’s end how to break the news to Natalia Andreovna. He had known all along that before they reached England he would have to disclose his real identity, but while they were cruising down the Baltic he had let sleeping dogs lie, in the belief that he would still have ample time after they left Copenhagen to consider how to do so with the least chance of disrupting their good relations.
But now he was called on to tell her as much of the truth as was essential without any preparation. Whatever he said must come as a grave shock to her, and to make matters worse, he would be unable to remain with her afterwards to soften the effects of the blow.
Elliot guessed from Roger’s worried look what was passing in his mind, so he said quietly: ‘Why, instead of returning to have an explanation with your wife, do you not leave a letter for her. ’Tis not, I admit, the bravest course in such a situation, but as the proverb has it, “discretion is oft the better part of valour”.’
‘I could do that,’ Roger murmured uneasily, ‘providing she gets the letter speedily. Otherwise she will begin to fear that some accident has befallen me.’
‘She shall have it within the hour, I promise you. Come, now. Sit down at my table and write it while I ride over to the Reventlows. You will remember spending a Sunday with them when you were here before. The Count owns a splendid seagoing yacht, and I feel sure that he will lend it to us for our journey. We’ll make better time going by sea than over land to Stockholm. I shall also speak to the Countess of the straits in which duty compels you to leave Mrs. Brook, and I can vouch for it that your wife will be well taken care of.’
‘So be it,’ agreed Roger, sitting down. ‘To slide out thus from dancing to the music now the tune is called goes all against the grain; but as a man of your courage recommends it, that salves my conscience to some extent. ’Twill not quiet my anxieties during our absence, for I shall be fretting to know how my wife has sustained the impact of learning the deceit that I have practised upon her; but since our departure must be immediate ’tis perhaps better that I should leave without her reproaches and abuse ringing in my ears.’
‘You intend, then, to tell her that you are an Englishman?’
‘Yes. I would but make matters worse to continue to hide under my French nom-de-guerre and pretend that I am deserting her on account of some business connected with that nation; for that, at no distant date, would prove one more deceit that I should be hard put to it to justify. I pray you tell the truth to Countess Reventlow, and tender my apologies to her for having accepted her hospitality under a false nationality.
The diplomat nodded. ‘I will take full responsibility for that, and am confident that she will not hold it against you. As for the rest, while we are in Sweden your wife will have time to calm her thoughts, and on your return she may prove much more amenable than had you thrown this bombshell into her lap yourself.’
Comforted a little by this last suggestion Roger wryly smiled goodbye to his host and sat down to compose his letter. For some moments he chewed the end of the quill, made three false starts, and, finally, wrote as follows:
My dearest love,
I have to crave your forgiveness upon two matters which will, I fear, come as a severe shock to you; but I pray that you will do your best to give them your sympathetic understanding and accept my assurances that the duplicity which circumstances have forced me to practise in no way affects the depths of my feelings for you.
In the first place I must disclose that my real name is Roger Brook, and that I am the son of an English Admiral. Having acquired in my upbringing some knowledge of maritime matters I was requested, during my tour of the Northern capitals, to make an investigation into the sea-trade carried on by our commercial rivals, the French, in the Baltic ports, and to report upon it on my return.
The suggestion that I should combine the mission with what was originally intended to be a tour, undertaken solely for education and pleasure, arose from the fact that I had already spent some years in France, and that during the latter part of my sojourn in that country, it had often amused me to pass myself off as a Frenchman.
Obviously, to assume that role again opened to me better prospects of carrying out my mission than I should have otherwise enjoyed. In consequence, on my arrival in Copenhagen last April the British Minister here, Mr. Hugh Elliot, introduced me into Danish society as M. le Chevalier de Breuc, and I naturally journeyed on to Stockholm and Petersburg in that role.
I suppose that when I first fell in love with you I ought to have confided my secret to you; but as we then had no thought of marrying it did not seem essential to me that I should do so. Then, later, the circumstances of our marriage were so unusual that I was denied the opportunity of revealing the matter before the ceremony.
I intended, of course, to acquaint you with the fact before we reached England; but I was so very happy during our recent voyage, that a cowardly, and I trust, unjustified fear of marring our bliss by this disclosure caused me to postpone an explanation with you.
And now, with the utmost reluctance and distress, I must acquaint you with my second disclosure. On my reporting to Mr. Elliot, this afternoon, the results of my mission to date, he seized upon my coming to request that I would undertake another matter for him. ’Tis, in short, that I should set out instantly to carry a despatch for him to Stockholm.
None of his usual couriers are, at the moment, available; and he considers it essential that the document he wishes to send should go by the hand of someone in whom he can place implicit trust. Moreover, it is of the utmost urgency. Despite my pleas that it was unreasonable to ask me to interrupt our honeymoon, he insisted that I had been sent to him by Heaven in his extremity; so I could not find it in myself to refuse.
I shall be gone only the inside of a week, and during my absence Mr. Elliot is arranging for the Countess Reventlow to introduce you into Danish society and see that you lack for nothing. Meanwhile I send you the key of our money chest, and do assure you that I shall be thinking only of the moment when I can rejoin you.
I beg you, my dear love, to think of me with such forbearance and kindness as you can. And should the least doubt linger in your mind as to my complete devotion to you, I pray you to recall that it was at my own solicitation that we were remarried in the English church at Petersburg. The vows which I took there remain my most cherished memory, and you may rest assured of my intention to honour them for all my days.
Your greatly distressed but most loving husband.
ROGER BROOK.
Having finished the letter Roger read it through and was moderately pleased with it. He regretted having to tell her two new lies, but that was unavoidable, as the real truth involved Mr. Pitt and therefore had to remain secret. The cover-story that he had invented to explain his having masqueraded as a Frenchman was a partial admission that he was a secret agent; but the inference was th
at he had been concerned only in ferreting out the secrets of the French, and to that, he felt, Natalia Andreovna could take no serious exception.
After addressing the missive and sealing it with a wafer he remained sitting moodily at the desk for a further quarter of an hour; then Hugh Elliot came hurrying in.
‘Cheer up, man!’ he cried, giving Roger a friendly slap on the shoulder. “You are in nowhere near so serious a scrape as some in which it seems you got yourself while in Russia; and all goes excellently. I found the Reventlows at home, and on my telling the Count that I desired to get swiftly to Stockholm to see if I could not act as a mediator between the two warring nations he readily agreed to lend me his yacht.’
‘And the Countess?’ Roger inquired.
‘She is the sweetest creature, and I knew that we could count upon her. I said that for the negotiations I hope to set on foot ’twas essential that I should take with me a trustworthy companion to act as secretary or confidential messenger when the need arose. The moment I told her of my intention to tear you from your bride she volunteered at once to take her into her own home during your absence. She ordered her carriage and, having accompanied me back here, is now sitting in it outside. You have but to give her your letter and she will drive with it into the city, to deliver it with her own hand and comfort Mrs. Brook when she learns its contents.’
‘I am indeed grateful,’ Roger said more cheerfully. Then he went out to renew his acquaintance with the Countess and thank her personally for her kindness.
Since there was nothing more that he could do about Natalia, he endeavoured to put her out of his mind while Hugh Elliot brought him up to date with events in Copenhagen. At four o’clock they sat down to dinner, and over it he gave the Minister a more detailed version of all that had befallen him in Stockholm and St. Petersburg. Then at five o’clock they prepared to set out for the harbour. Roger had come ashore wearing his sword, but otherwise he had only the clothes he stood up in, so his companion packed some extra shirts and stockings into his valise.
In the meantime Count Reventlow had sent a message to the captain of his yacht to collect his crew and prepare the ship for sea; so when the two Englishmen went aboard they found the long low craft all but ready to set sail. By seven o’clock the last hamper of fresh provisions had been stored away and the anchor was weighed.
Soon after midnight they were challenged off the island of Bornholm by a warship of the Russo-Danish squadron, which was now operating in the southern Baltic, again, and next morning, as they handed north through Calmar Sound, by a Swedish frigate; but, in deference to Mr. Elliot’s presence on board, the yacht was flying the British flag, so, as a neutral she was allowed to pass on her way. The weather was cold but fine and the beautiful little ship scudded along at a fine pace, bringing them safely to Stockholm a little before mid-day on Friday, the 21st, only forty-one hours after she had left Copenhagen.
At such a time of crisis it seemed more probable that Gustavus would be with his army than at his palace out at Drottingsholm, so on landing, at Roger’s suggestion, they went straight to the house of Prebendary Nordin, to ascertain the King’s whereabouts.
They found the Prebendary at home and were shown up at once to the book-lined room in which Roger had had his fateful interview with the Swedish King. Nordin’s surprise at seeing Mr. Elliot was only equalled by his joy. Rising from his desk he said with a grave smile:
‘Your Excellency finds us in most dire straits; but even if you bring bad news it will be more than counterbalanced by the effect of your presence among us.’
‘I thank you, Sir,’ Elliot replied, ‘and only trust that your hope may be justified. Having formed the opinion that the only chance of saving Sweden is to arrange an immediate accommodation with the Danes I am come to offer my services as mediator should His Majesty be pleased to accept them.’
‘His Majesty has never doubted your Excellency’s kind intentions towards us,’ said the Prebendary a shade uncomfortably. ‘But unfortunately your Government has so far shown no signs of implementing the promises you have made on its behalf. Therefore, ’tis only fair to tell you that, seeing his affairs in so critical a state, His Majesty has recently contemplated renewing his old friendship with France, and asking King Louis to endeavour to arrange an accommodation between him and his enemies.’
‘ ’Tis for His Majesty to decide,’ replied Elliot quickly. ‘But were he to do that I fear he would have cause to rue it. This is no occasion to enter into the respective advantages which a lasting friendship with either country would offer His Majesty, but one factor is clear. Any delay in an attempt to open negotiations with the Danes must now spell his final ruin. There is no time to seek the good offices of the Court of Versailles, whereas I am on the spot, and if His Majesty is willing, could act immediately.’
‘Our plight is bad, but not yet desperate,’ countered Nordin.
‘I fear you are mistaken, Sir,’ Roger cut in, and he then disclosed the Danish plan to swing south on Gothenburg.
As the Prebendary listened his expression became one of the deepest gloom, and when Roger had done, he muttered: ‘Since the Danes announced their intention to honour their treaty with Russia we have taken such measures as we could. ’Tis believed that they mean to invade us by way of the Friedrikshald gap. Our fortress of Quistrum, there, should hold them for a time; but once it is passed the province of Nordmark will be open to them. It is natural to anticipate that they would advance due east upon the capital, and His Majesty intends to deploy such forces as he can muster in their path. As he has little but a rabble of armed peasants with which to oppose them our case even then would be bad enough. But if their objective is Gothenburg our situation is indeed desperate; and nought but your Excellency’s good offices, immediately applied, can save us.’
The British Minister nodded. ‘With Sweden now so weak the Danes must know that they have victory in their grasp before the war’s begun; so ’twill be no easy task to induce them to throw away its fruits and agree a settlement. I can but try, and pray that they may be delayed in launching their attack. Are there no troops at all between them and Gothenburg?’
‘None but a small garrison at Uddevalla. The country was almost denuded of troops for the Finnish campaign, and most of our best regiments are still moribund there under His Majesty’s second brother, the Duke of Ostrogothia. Yet, such is the King’s courage and resource that on his return he refused to be dismayed by our new danger. Lacking adequate regular troops to form another army he resorted to an extraordinary expedient. When his illustrious predecessor, Gustavus the First, was in a similar predicament he appealed to the Dalecarlians to rise and deliver Sweden from the Danish yoke, and these sturdy mine-workers achieved the seemingly impossible.’
‘Has His Majesty left Stockholm to do likewise, then?’ asked Roger quickly.
The Prebendary nodded. ‘First, with his usual energy, he secured the adherence of the bourgeois in the capital. They were heartily sickened with the defection of the nobility and army, and the more readily pledged their loyalty to the King. In a short time we had raised three thousand burghers vowed to defend both their city and the throne. Having secured his rear from the risk of a coup d’étât by the nobles, His Majesty hurried to the Dales and is touring the mines, making a series of those patriotic orations of which he is such a master. From such news as reaches us I gather that the results are fully justifying his exertions, and that he has now raised several thousand Dalecarlians with whom he hopes to check the enemy’s advance on Stockholm.’
‘Alas!’ said Hugh Elliot. ‘I fear that this last desperate effort must now be brought to nought. In a pitched battle fought on their own soil these hardy partisans might possibly have repulsed the enemy; but by selecting Gothenburg instead of Stockholm for their objective the Danes will outflank His Majesty. Their forces will pass a hundred miles to the south of him, and long before he can bring his rude army that distance through the mountains his richest city will have fallen
to the enemy. I trust that you can inform me of His Majesty’s whereabouts, for I feel the urge more strongly than ever to place myself at his disposal without delay.’
‘When I last heard he was at Falum; and he will, I know, bless your Excellency’s coming, as an omen that he has not been totally abandoned to his fate by those powers who have given him firm assurances of their friendship. The journey is all of one hundred and forty miles, but I will despatch a courier at once to ride on ahead of you and arrange relays of horses for your carriage.’
As he finished speaking Nordin left the room. When he returned some moments later he asked them to follow him, and led them across the landing to a dining-room where cold food had hastily been set out on the table. They knew that inns were very few and far between on the Swedish roads, and that it might be many hours before they got another decent meal, so they ate as heartily as they were able, while Nordin toyed with some fruit in gloomy silence.
It was nearly two o’clock when they went downstairs. Outside, a closed carriage with six horses and an escort of four Hussars was waiting for them. They got in and drew the fur rugs about them; as they waved good-bye to the harassed Prebendary the carriage clattered away down the cobbled street.
The journey was a nightmare that seemed never-ending. The horses moved at a fast trot, and sometimes even at a canter, along all the flattish portions of the road, falling into a walk only when they were breasting or descending a steep hill. As the first half of the way lay through Sweden’s lowest lying province these easings of the pace were few and far between, so that all through the afternoon and evening the travellers had to support an almost constant rocking, as the stout springs of the carriage reacted to the bumps of the road taken in such swift succession.
The Shadow of Tyburn Tree Page 47