‘You could say that,’ McGillivray replied.
‘Please do not bait us,’ said James, with evident impatience. ‘Either you have something to tell us or you don’t.’
‘When I have that pouch and I have checked that the seals on my letters have not been tampered with.’
Harry threw it gently. McGillivray caught it with ease and immediately opened it up, tipping the letters onto the table beside Pender’s club. He stood to the side of one of the windows and carefully examined each one.
‘Thank you, Captain. If you’d care to sit down.’ Harry and James obliged. Pender stood behind them, as McGillivray began to pace the small area before the fireplace. ‘After we spoke the other night, I suddenly remembered something, a piece of information which I at the time thought had little significance.’
‘Which was?’ asked Harry.
‘I wasn’t in New Orleans when what I’m about to describe took place, but it was within hours of the time at which the Gauchos was being loaded with those sugar casks. One of my informants told me that a party of Royal Walloon Guards had set out north, on horseback, with a train of a dozen pack-animals. No one, it seems, was informed of their ultimate destination.’
‘Is that so very remarkable?’ said Harry. ‘There are garrisons all the way up the river. And if I’m not mistaken, the whole territory is riddled with Spanish missions, all of which have small pockets of troops to guard them.’
‘It’s remarkable in New Orleans, Captain, where knowing what is going on is a civic pastime. Something kept so secret has an odour about it, especially since the Dons rarely bother with subterfuge. Look at the display that surrounded the loading of Rodrigo’s ship, a comprehensive charade seemingly designed to hide a greater truth. Also, I don’t think you understand the lure of the waterways. Even going upstream to the main garrison at Manchac no one would use a horse if they could make the journey afloat. Why ride around Lake Pontchartrain or Maurepas when you can cross them from Fort St Jean? If you’re going west or north-west you’d be bound to use the river system. Yet this party did just the opposite.’
‘Perhaps they weren’t going very far.’
‘The party headed out north at first, as though they were making for Fort St Jean. That’s a common occurrence and would excite no comment. But they turned west well short of the fort, crossed the Mississippi just west of the German Coast, clear of any settlements, and struck inland. We know they’re not heading for the Manchac Post since they’ve already passed behind the Arcadian settlements further upriver, without any of the settlers being aware that they exist. Since they left New Orleans they’ve bypassed all habitation, including the missions. In fact, the local garrisons, all the way up to the border, know nothing of their presence.’
McGillivray looked at them closely, his black eyes examining them to see if they’d caught his drift.
‘Do you know why?’
‘Obviously they didn’t want questions asked about their ultimate destination. In fact they replenished their supplies, and paid for them, at a trading station run by a Choctaw half-breed called Leslie. Paid for food and livery that they could have requisitioned for nothing at any number of places. That can only mean one thing.’
‘That whatever they are about is something that requires secrecy.’
‘Which naturally leads to the question of what it is.’
‘He sent his gold and silver by ship,’ said James, well aware that everyone had already made the connection.
‘Did he?’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘Who told you that it was on the ship?’
‘De Carondelet,’ James replied. ‘And if we are talking of the kind of sum already mentioned, then he’d hardly send it with such a small escort.’
‘He might if he wanted to avoid being asked questions,’ McGillivray replied emphatically. ‘De Carondelet only has the Walloons at his disposal and he can’t denude the city of the only troops he can personally rely on. If he wanted more men he’d have to ask de Coburrabias, and explain his intentions to the Cabildo. Hell-bent on secrecy, he might have taken the lesser of two evils. Since no one in his right mind would entrust such a sum to anything less than an army, none of his officials will ever guess what he’s doing.’
‘But loading it onto the ship was confirmed by the others.’
‘Not confirmed, brother,’ said Harry. ‘You implied before, Mr McGillivray, that the Barón doesn’t get on with his officers and has scant regard for his magistrates. Are you now implying that he has created this charade to mislead them?’
‘It’s possible.’
‘Is there any way of finding out?’
‘Yes. Stop them and search their pack-animals.’
‘I meant here in New Orleans,’ said Harry tersely.
‘Let’s assume that what I suggest is true. Then the only people who would know for certain are de Carondelet and the officer he’s put in charge of that party of mounted soldiers.’
‘Does that officer have a name?’
‘He does. His name is Pascal de Guerin, and he’s the commander of the Royal Walloon Guards. He’s Spanish born, but his grandfather was an official in Charleroi when Spain ran the Low Countries.’
‘De Carondelet is from the Old Spanish Netherlands as well,’ said James.
‘De Guerin, like his detachment, arrived with de Carondelet. So did de Chigny, another Walloon. You see what I’m driving at, don’t you? He doesn’t care for San Lucar de Barrameda nor is he the type of man to trust de Fajardo de Coburrabias. They, in turn, are hidalgos, and look down on him as a Flemish upstart who has no right to be Governor of a Spanish colony. He brings with him his own bodyguard plus an officer to command them, one who just happens to share his background. And to crown all this he may well be filching the King’s money and salting it away in New York.’
Harry shook his head. ‘No, he’s not stealing it, otherwise he’d never have allowed them to know it was being loaded on board the Gauchos. And that also means that whoever it’s destined for, and the purpose it’s designed to serve, has official approval. My guess is it’s some kind of payment for services rendered, or the promise of something to come. So the money is for person or persons unknown, in New York, who have the power to affect some political aim.’
‘The American government?’ said McGillivray, his voice full of doubt.
‘Stipends paid to foreign statesmen are not unknown,’ said James, with a touch of irony, it being a well-honed practice in most capitals for high government officials to accept money to advance a particular agenda. ‘I don’t see that the Americans should be so very different.’
‘That’s because you don’t know them,’ said McGillivray. ‘And being a European cynic, I don’t expect you will believe me when I say that the men who run the Federal government are not like that.’
‘You are right on both counts, sir,’ James replied.
‘Who would de Carondelet want to bribe?’
‘Anyone who will help him protect Louisiana.’
Harry got up and walked to the window, taking a deep breath of the heavily scented air.
‘I’d prefer it if you weren’t seen, Captain.’
Harry spun round to face the Indian. ‘Let us assume for a moment that you’re right, that that caravan you told us about is carrying the bullion. Let’s also, despite your protestations, say that it is destined as a payment for someone who can influence the activities, or at the very least divine the intentions, of the American government. What would that person, in relation to de Carondelet’s problems, be trying to achieve?’
‘A halt to westward expansion. Spain wants America to stay put on the east bank of the Mississippi?’
‘Yet you’ve told us yourself that you consider it can’t be stopped. So it’s not that. What would de Carondelet, and the King of Spain, be prepared to pay two hundred thousand dollars for?’
‘They like the idea that frontier states might secede. Kentucky and Tennessee, as separa
te entities, would be worth more than the sum you’ve mentioned.’
‘Both are, at present, states,’ Harry continued, ‘so they will have representatives in New York.’
‘Of course. Their senators and congressmen.’
‘Which appears to justify the concept of sending a bribe there. But while I admit my knowledge of American procedures to be scant, if the decision is made to secede from the Union it won’t be taken in New York. It will be taken in …’ Harry paused. ‘Do they have provincial centres?’
‘Louisville and Nashville,’ McGillivray replied.
‘Then that is where I would send the money.’
James stood up as well. ‘This is all very interesting, Harry, but you’re indulging in wild speculation.’
‘It ties in with what Pollock said.’
‘Oliver Pollock?’ snapped McGillivray, suspicion evident in both his look and his tone.
‘A passing acquaintance,’ said James, airily, as Harry nodded. ‘We met him on the island of St Croix. Naturally we fell to talking about the Americas and he told us what a fractious tribe you frontiersmen are.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me this before?’
‘Because we had no reason to,’ said Harry. ‘And at this moment I have no idea why the mere mention of his name causes you annoyance.’
‘It doesn’t,’ the Creek replied, in what was clearly a lie. ‘I know him myself, that is all.’
James turned his attention back to Harry. ‘This leaves us still speculating.’
‘There has to be a way to find out,’ Harry replied.
‘Would Saraille know anything?’
‘You know him too!’ McGillivray cried.
‘Perhaps,’ James snapped, ‘you could give us a list of people you disapprove of and we will avoid mentioning them.’
‘Is there anything more you can tell us about this?’ demanded Harry, cutting off McGillivray before he put James in his place.
‘No. I will ask, of course. If something comes to me, I will pass it on to you.’
‘Then we will bid you good day,’ said Harry, turning to open the door.
‘One more thing,’ said James. ‘If this was such a secret I wonder at the identity of your informant.’
‘Europeans are so used to seeing Indians about, and so convinced of their stupidity, they rarely spare them a second glance.’
Pender picked up his club, gave McGillivray a hard look, then followed the brothers out into the hallway. He said nothing till they were outside the black door.
‘That took a lot longer than it should’ve done, your honour.’
‘What makes you say that?’ asked Harry.
‘Well, he could have told you, instead of leaving you to work things out for yourself.’
James smiled at Pender. ‘You believe that he’d already guessed everything we subsequently deduced?’
‘He’s a close one, for sure. But I had my eye on him all the time you was talkin’, and that’s the way I see it.’
‘You don’t like him.’
‘I’m not bothered one way or t’other,’ Pender replied. ‘Though I can’t see how come if he’s an Indian chief, a savage, he sounds just like Lord Drumdryan.’
Harry didn’t get a chance to stop James, who was onto the opportunity presented by the question in a flash.
‘Because, Pender, like our brother-in-law, the Scots have no more control over their loins than they do over their avarice.’
‘Thank the Lord you’re not like that, your honour,’ replied Pender, with devastating irony, leaving James and Harry wondering who he was referring to.
Saraille returned to his cupboard of an office in quite a sweat. His fat pink face was excited, though he tried, with his manner, to behave otherwise.
‘Your information is correct. De Guerin left at night, a party of twelve soldiers, each with a spare mount and a pack-horse, carrying rations for ten days.’
‘Who told you this?’ asked James.
‘The quartermaster,’ Saraille replied, with an air of triumph. ‘I slipped him the gold that you gave me, which is something he’s not seen for an age. If you want to know what is going on in an army, ask the men who issue their food and clothing. They are without exception open to a bribe.’
Harry forced himself to sound uninterested. ‘Did he tell you what else they were carrying?’
‘No. But he did tell me what they didn’t take with them, and that is just as important.’ James opened his mouth to speak, but Saraille held up his hand. ‘No guns or ammunition, except standard rations. No stores of the kind that they would be carrying to an outlying garrison. And, unusually for soldiers, there was no gossip about their destination, or moans about the journey.’
‘That is very interesting, Monsieur.’
‘It will be even more interesting to see how de Carondelet reacts when I pose the question in the Moniteur. A mission so secret that I think he hasn’t even told the officers of the army or navy, or the members of his Cabildo.’
Harry leant forward. ‘I think you are right. But if I was to say to you, Monsieur Saraille, that should you hold fire I could bring you a much better tale, what would you say?’
‘What kind of tale?’
‘One that would so embarrass the Barón de Carondelet, and so incense his neighbours and his superiors, that the whole edifice of Spanish control in Louisiana could be threatened.’
‘Can you not tell me now?’
‘No. But I can say it is well worth waiting for.’
The pink jowls shook excitedly. ‘When would this be?’
‘Of that I can’t be certain,’ Harry replied, leaning back. ‘It could be a week, or a month.’
‘Will I be the first one to hear it?’
‘Monsieur Saraille, you will be the only one to hear it. Everyone else will have to read it in the Moniteur.’
‘What a fine piece of legerdemain, Harry. You’ve got Saraille salivating for a story that you don’t have. He’s going to be very disappointed when he finds out that you’ve misled him.’
‘I think you’re being overly pessimistic.’
‘Even after what Pender observed you believe that McGillivray is telling the truth?’
‘Let’s say that his supposition is the only one that fits all the facts.’
‘Facts! There are no facts, Harry. You have not established one single certainty on which to base a conclusion. If you wish to go dashing up the Mississippi and have a fight with a dozen Royal Walloon Guards on what is probably a wild-goose chase, don’t clothe it in this cloak of false verisimilitude.’
Harry smiled. ‘Is that all I’m doing, James, looking for a fight?’
‘I believe so.’
‘So you will not even admit that I may have the right of it? That there might be two hundred thousand dollars in ingots strapped to those pack-horses?’
‘May and might in the same breath, brother. Not a shred of certainty. I rest my case.’
Harry was grinning now. ‘Let’s go and see if we can get some, shall we?’
‘And where will we do that?’
‘In the Governor’s quarters.’
‘You’re going to ask de Carondelet?’
‘I don’t know, James. I might.’
‘How can you suggest to me, Barón, that I can restore my fortune by locating what you have lost if you will not answer any of the questions I ask you, nor allow me to question anyone?’
‘I have not refused to do so, Captain Ludlow. But the enquiries you pose border on the offensive. And you lard them with direct insults.’
‘I merely asked if you trusted your officers and the magistrates. Let me remind you that the Gauchos was intercepted by someone who knew what she was carrying. That implies a betrayal of trust. If only those present knew the secret, then it must be one of them, unless of course …’
Harry’s voice trailed off, as though a solution had suddenly presented itself. James was deliberately looking at de Carondelet’s portrait, trying to a
void participation. But the sharp note in the Governor’s voice made him turn round.
‘Unless what?’ demanded de Carondelet.
‘Does it occur to you that the ingots may not have ever been loaded on the ship?’
De Carondelet turned away abruptly, hiding his face from both men. ‘Don’t be absurd, I supervised it personally.’
‘You mean you actually put the gold and silver in the boxes, then loaded them on board?’
‘No! The task was undertaken by my most trusted subordinate. He filled the boxes in full view of all the people you have mentioned. He then took them down to be loaded aboard the Gauchos. Since I accompanied the carts almost to the levee, there can be no doubt that he carried out his task to the letter.’
‘And who, sir, is this officer?’
‘Captain de Guerin, of the Royal Walloon Guards.’
‘I haven’t met him.’
‘He is not in the city at present,’ said the Governor, turning back to face the brothers.
‘That is most unfortunate. When will he be back?’
‘Why?’
‘It would be helpful to have him confirm that the gold was safely stowed aboard.’
‘Are you implying that my word is not good enough?’
‘I am saying that the only person who can say with absolute certainty that those boxes remained untouched before being put into the ship is Captain de Guerin.’
‘Then there can be no doubt. He is a most honourable officer, a man I have known since childhood.’
‘Even the most honourable creature can be tempted by a large sum of money, Excellency,’ said James.
De Carondelet didn’t respond to the gibe, even though, judging by the way his eyes bulged, he understood what James meant.
‘This is an officer I would trust with my life.’
‘That is an irrelevance, Barón,’ Harry snapped. ‘The question is, do you trust him to look after two hundred thousand dollars?’
‘I do.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
‘IF HE MEANT the past tense, James, he’d have used it,’ Harry insisted. The three men, Pender slightly to the rear, were walking north, heading back to the Hôtel de la Port d’Orléans. ‘He most definitely used the present.’
The Scent of Betrayal Page 27