The Shadow of Tyburn Tree

by Dennis Wheatley

In his heart of hearts Roger had known from the moment he had read Natalia Andreovna’s letter that he would have to go to her, and what his mother’s reaction would be; but he was, nevertheless, greatly relieved now that the decision was definitely taken.

  Saturday he spent with his mother, and to reassure him further she set cheerfully about re-arranging the furniture in some of the rooms in preparation for Natalia’s reception. Early on Sunday he set out for London and, on his arrival, drove straight to the Admiralty. The duty-captain informed him that the squadron would be sailing from Chatham, probably on Tuesday morning, and added, to Roger’s surprise and delight, that his father had been appointed to command it.

  Roger spent the night at Amesbury House, packed the things he intended to take with him, and, in the morning, took the coach to Chatham. His father had, he found, been notified that he might be sailing as a passenger, and the ruddy-faced Admiral welcomed him joyfully. They dined together in the flagship and once more Roger gave particulars of the events which had preceded and followed his marriage.

  The Admiral asked if Roger had yet told his mother and, on learning Lady Marie’s attitude, he nodded. ‘She’s right, of course, She always is. Well; she and I married because neither Jacobite prejudice on her side nor lack of fortune on mine—nor the swords of her brothers for that matter—were enough to keep us apart. But ’tis not every crazy, run-away match that turns out so well as did ours. Against that I’ve known couples who were pushed into marriage for family reasons come to dote on one another. ’Tis a pity she is six years older than yourself, but your travels have made you much older than most youngsters of your age; so if you start the right way you should be able to keep the breeches on your own bottom. Let’s crack another bottle to your making a good Englishwoman of her.’

  The squadron was to consist of three line-of-battle ships, four frigates and two sloops. In the evening Admiral Brook assembled his captains and gave them their instructions. With the turning of the tide, in the early hours of the morning, the squadron weighed anchor. Off Sheerness a trader, just arriving from Gibraltar, met and passed them. Unknown to either, Roger and Georgina were for a few minutes within a quarter of a mile of one another; he outward bound she very nearly home.

  On February 11th the squadron arrived off Copenhagen. For the last lap of the voyage a sloop had been sent on ahead with letters from the Foreign Secretary to Mr. Elliot and from Mr. Pitt to Count Bernstorff, the Danish Prime Minister; the latter asking permission for the British squadron to pay a goodwill visit to the Danish fleet. The permission was readily accorded, Hugh Elliot came aboard the flagship and silently wrung Roger’s hand until it hurt; then they accompanied Admiral Brook ashore in his barge for the official reception by representatives of the Danish Court and Admiralty. There was a great banging of guns and unfurling of flags and, that night, a handsome banquet at which a number of British and Danish naval officers cemented their friendship by getting very drunk.

  Next day Roger paid his respects to the Reventlows and thanked them for their kindness to Natalia; then, that evening, he transferred his baggage to one of his father’s sloops, which was to take him on to Stockholm. She reached the Swedish capital late on the evening of the 16th. Although it was already dark, Roger decided to go ashore, but the formalities took much longer than he expected, and it was getting on for midnight before he found a night-hawk coachman who agreed to drive him out to the Russian Embassy.

  On alighting, a sudden impulse came to him; instead of going to the front-door he walked round the side of the house to the postern-gate overlooked by Natalia’s bedroom window. It seemed a long time since those summer-nights when, full of romantic ardour, he had slipped in through the door and climbed up to her balcony. Yagerhorn, who had waylaid him the last time he had stepped out into that lane, was now dead, and the clever, green-eyed Russian widow was now his wife. A light showed dimly behind Natalia’s curtains. He caught himself wondering if she had been faithful to him during their five months separation, or if, since her return to Stockholm, other gallants had paid her midnight visits by way of the postern-door.

  It suddenly occurred to him that she might have a lover with her now, or be expecting one. If so, and he caught her out, he would have an eleventh-hour chance to repudiate her and return to England a free man. For the best part of a fortnight he had again become reconciled to their marriage, and had, in some ways, been looking forward to rejoining her; so he was by no means certain that he really wanted to be free of her now. He felt too, that he was probably doing her an injustice in thinking that she might have someone with her, up there in her room. All the same, he pushed the postern-door gently; and it opened.

  Loosening his sword in its scabbard, he stepped inside. Treading very softly he stole over to the verandah, gripped the well-remembered holds in the iron trellis-work, and hoisted himself up on to the balcony. For a moment he paused there, listening intently; then, hating himself for playing the part of a spy in this private capacity, he pulled open the French window.

  A startled exclamation came from beyond the curtains. Wrenching them back he stepped into the room. Natalia Andreovna was there sitting up in bed, but alone, reading a book.

  ‘Rojé Christorovitch!’ she cried, as the light fell on his face. ‘What a fright you gave me! But oh, how pleased I am to see you!’

  He laughed; half from relief, half to cover his guilty confusion; then ran across the room and took her in his arms.

  Their reunion, occurring in such a fashion, could hardly have been of a greater warmth; as it aroused in both potent memories of their first stolen meetings, and their passion seemed to render redundant all further explanations of their past doubts of one another.

  In the morning Roger told her that he had been able to come on from Copenhagen in a British sloop-of-war only because he was charged with a letter for King Gustavus, and it was agreed that she should set about her packing while he delivered it. Natalia ordered her surprised maid to bring breakfast for herself and her husband, and when he had dressed he left by the front-door of the almost deserted Embassy.

  A waterman took him across the sound to the palace of Drottingsholm, and in less than half an hour he was granted an audience by Gustavus, who received him with the greatest affability. The letter that Roger bore was from Mr. Pitt, and in similar terms to that addressed to Count Bernstorff, asking if the King was agreeable to a British squadron paying a good will-visit to the Swedish fleet. After reading it, Gustavus, who saw perfectly well what lay behind this excuse, expressed his delight at its contents.

  They talked for a while of the vast improvements in the King’s affairs since Roger had left Sweden, then of the situation in England. It transpired that Gustavus had received intelligence the night before by a fast courier from Berlin; so he was more up to date than Roger with events in London. The House of Commons had passed the final draft of the Regency Bill, so it only remained for the Lords to do so and, on that, the Prince of Wales, Fox, Sheridan and the rest, would become the masters of Britain’s destinies.

  Gustavus was as much perturbed as Roger by the change in the British Government, which, to the best of his belief, had by now taken place; but the optimistic and imaginative monarch was of the opinion that, nine-tenths of the country being behind Mr. Pitt, before many months had passed some form of revolution would take place.

  Roger replied that he thought a revolution possible in a few years time, as a result of the change-over from the rule of a God-fearing King with the most simple tastes to that of a dissolute Regent, who, with his unprincipled friends, would play ducks and drakes with the nation’s resources. But that if it came it would be similar in character to that which now seemed inevitable in France, and launched to bring about the downfall of the monarchy; so Mr. Pitt would certainly not be the man to lead it.

  ‘I agree that a popular uprising against privilege, coupled with folly and extravagance, is very likely to prove the final result of the Regency,’ said Gustavus. ‘But such movemen
ts take time to foment; and ’tis at least a possibility that the political wheel may bring Mr Pitt to power again before then. Therefore I have it in mind to write a private letter to him, informing him of my plans for the coming summer to put a further check upon the Czarina Catherine’s ambitions. It will take a few days of careful thought to prepare, but I should be obliged if you would remain in Stockholm until it is ready, and carry it back with you.’

  It was impossible to refuse the request, so Roger bowed his acceptance of the mission. Then he thanked the King for having allowed Natalia Andreovna to stay on in the Russian Embassy, after his expulsion of her father.

  Gustavus gave him an amused look. ‘ ’Twas a small matter and a pleasure to oblige so good a friend as yourself, Mr. Brook; but I am still of the opinion that one can derive more contentment from a pipe than from a woman; particularly when one is married to her and her bedroom is adjacent to a postern-door. However, that is your affair.’

  A trifle uneasily Roger recalled that he had never ascertained why that postern-door had been left open the night before; and he wondered now if, had he not put the candles out soon after his arrival in Natalia’s room, on the stroke of midnight another gallant might not have shinned up the iron trellis-work to join her. But, recalling also his own amorous dalliance with Amanda Godfrey over Christmas, he felt that the right course was to banish all such speculations from his mind, and regard the interim in his marriage, between his leaving Natalia in Copenhagen and rejoining her in Stockholm, as though it had never occurred.

  On Monday the 20th Roger received the despatch for Mr. Pitt from King Gustavus and took his final leave. Natalia, with a mountain of baggage that she had collected from the Russian Embassy, was already safely aboard the sloop, and that afternoon they set sail for Copenhagen, arriving at the Danish capital on the evening of the 23rd.

  That night Roger presented his wife to his father, and the three of them supped together in the flagship. Natalia was on her best behaviour and the Admiral swiftly won her favour by the gallantry with which he treated her; so the meeting passed off very pleasantly. It was agreed that as Roger was the bearer of a Royal despatch he should take the sloop straight on to London; then, before they parted, the Admiral took him aside to tell him that he could well afford to increase his allowance to six hundred a year, and would be very happy to do so.

  Natalia’s father had given her five thousand roubles before leaving Stockholm, as well as turning over to her all the plate, china and linen that he had there, and Roger still had intact, the five hundred pounds that he had recovered from Lord Carmarthen, so they how had ample resources to set up a home in reasonable comfort. Roger’s earlier fears on that score being happily dissipated, they were able to spend many intriguing hours on the voyage home discussing their future plans; for, on leaving Copenhagen, the sloop was beset with contrary winds which, while of no great violence, considerably delayed her passage, and she did not arrive in the Thames until the morning of March the 1st.

  Bt two o’clock, having left their baggage to follow them, Roger and Natalia reached Amesbury House. Droopy Ned was not at home, but his portly father, the Marquess, assured Roger that he was delighted to be the first person to welcome Natalia to London, and pressed them to stay at Arlington Street until they had made all arrangements for a home of their own.

  When they had partaken of sherry and biscuits, Lord Amesbury said that perhaps they would like to go upstairs and rest for a while before joining the family for dinner, to which Roger replied:

  ‘I was just about to ask if I might leave my wife in your Lordship’s care until this evening; as I have a letter for Mr. Pitt and must ride down with it to Holwood.’

  ‘And why, pray, should you take it there?’ the Marquess asked, with a lift of his bushy grey eyebrows.

  ‘ ’Tis from King Gustavus, my lord; so cannot be forwarded by the post, and brooks no delay.’

  ‘But, since ’tis the middle of the week, I should be mighty surprised if you find Mr. Pitt at his Kentish home.’

  Roger bowed. ‘Perhaps then, your lordship can inform me where I am more likely to come upon him; for I had imagined that he would retire there on vacating Downing Street.’

  ‘What say you?’ exclaimed the burly old nobleman; then he suddenly burst out laughing and began to slap his thigh. ‘Egad! But this is rich! How it will make ’em laugh at White’s. ’Tis clear that the news had not reached Copenhagen before you sailed from thence, and that you still know nothing of it.’

  ‘I’ve heard naught out of London since seeing King Gustavus on the 17th of February.’ Roger smiled. ‘But I pray you enlighten me, for it sounds as if the news were good.’

  ‘Aye, ’tis the best, lad! The best that England ever had! ’Twas on that very day that the leeches declared our good King sane again, and unlikely to suffer a relapse. Half those scallywags at Brook’s are being dunned by the bailiffs, for the money they borrowed in anticipation of the loot that they’ll now never get; while young Billy Pitt, from his championing the rights of the helpless King, is become the idol of the nation, and more firmly seated in the saddle than was even his great father after all his victories.’

  Roger jumped to his feet, his eyes shining. ‘Then the Regency Bill never went through—never became law?’

  ‘Nay. Had it done so and the Prince once assumed power, it might have proved plaguey difficult to wrest it from him again. But the country was saved from its impending fate by a matter of hours. The Bill passed the Commons, and was actually before the Lords; but by mid-February it was known that His Majesty had not suffered an attack for some time. On the 17th even the Whig doctors could no longer maintain their refusal to add their signatures to a bulletin declaring him convalescent; and on the 19th the Lord Chancellor adjourned the debate as no longer in the national interest.’

  Lord Amesbury stood up, clapped Roger heartily upon the shoulder, and added: ‘Now, lad! Get you along to Downing Street with that letter; and give my respects to the greatest Englishman of us all.’

  An hour later Roger was with the Prime Minister, who accepted his joyful congratulations in the placid manner that rarely left him. With his quiet smile, he said:

  ‘ ’Twas a devilish near thing, and a nerve-racking time for us all; but from Dr. Willis’s being called into consultation I was always hopeful of His Majesty’s eventual recovery. That it should have come about so quickly, is one of those things which gives us good cause to believe that God ever extends a protecting hand over Britain in her direst extremities. For myself, I now know more clearly than I did who are my true friends; for many that I thought so went over to the enemy. But I have been greatly touched by the support and loyalty of others; and I set a very high value, Mr. Brook, upon the attachment that you showed me.’

  Roger reddened with pleasure, and, producing King Gustavus’s despatch, handed it over.

  As he took it, and slit the top of the envelope with a paper knife, Pitt remarked: ‘Have you opened this? The seal appears to be damaged.’

  ‘Indeed no, Sir,’ Roger exclaimed, and looking over he saw that the big red seal bearing the Royal arms of Sweden was cracked across its lower segment.

  ‘I trust no one else could have done so,’ the Prime Minister said after he had scanned the first page of the letter. ‘For this impetuous, intriguing King writes fiery stuff, and ’twould be highly embarrassing both for him and us had any unauthorised person seen it.’

  ‘It never left my person, Sir. I’ll swear to that.’

  Pitt shrugged. ‘In that case think no more of it. The seal must have become cracked through some pressure that it met with through being carried in your pocket.’

  After a moment he laid the letter down, and went on. ‘For the time being we have done all that we can do in the North; and, in my opinion, for some months to come we shall have no further worries from that quarter. As I told you early in February, France has again become the centre of European interest. The people are becoming ever more insistent tha
t a States-general should be summoned for the ventilation of well-founded grievances. King Louis’s advisers are strongly opposed to surrendering to the public clamour; so if he is forced to give way it may mean the beginning of the end of the monarchy. Are you willing to return to France and ascertain for me what is likely to be the outcome of these bitter antagonisms, which now threaten to provoke a bloody revolution there?’

  Roger hesitated only a second. ‘I would like to do so, Sir. But I am now married. Would there be any objection to me taking my wife with me?’

  ‘None, as far as I am concerned. I trust you will be very happy. How much you decide to tell Mrs. Brook of your real business I must leave to you. But if she is a lady of your integrity and wit, she may prove of considerable assistance to you in your mission.’

  ‘I thank you, Sir.’ Roger bowed. ‘Naturally I shall be discreet on special matters, and with regard to those for whom I am acting. At your convenience I will wait upon you for further instructions.’

  Standing up he took his leave, very well pleased with himself. The past few months had brought him much closer to his kind but uneffusive master. He had done good work and gained much valuable experience in his northern travels. He had ample funds to go on with, and his future in this fascinating game of ferreting out the secrets that moved nations to war or peace was now assured. Moreover, he had permission to tell Natalia Andreovna enough about his work to prevent her becoming unhappy and suspicious on account of it; and he felt that the sharing of this new interest would create a strong bond between them.

  He had just reached the door when the Prime Minister called him back with the remark: ‘By the by! Did you not tell me, Mr. Brook, just before I sent you to Russia, that you had been a member of the house-party at Stillwaters, during the weekend that Sir Humphrey Etheredge met his death?’

  ‘Why, yes, Sir!’ Roger replied in surprise.

  Pitt nodded. ‘I thought as much. Since you have only just returned from abroad, it may be news to you that Lady Etheredge is now on trial for her husband’s murder.’