02 Shanghai Dreams (The Earl’s Other Son #2)

by Andrew Wareham

  “Who would wish to push him, Captain Hawkins?”

  Hawkins smiled, savouring his reply.

  “Well, my lord, you first and foremost. The gains to you are massive. A very fortunate thing that one, you are far distant, and two, you had no access to the telegraph to send instructions to an agent in England. You are exonerated. The next most likely candidate is your father, of course, but he is unlikely because killing your brother makes you heir – and that is not a prospect he would view with equanimity.”

  Magnus laughed.

  “The old gentleman believes me to be a changeling, I am told, sir. There is no entail to our lands and I will lay you long odds that he has already had his lawyer in to remake his Will. I will see not an acre nor a penny-piece, almost of a certainty. The title will be mine, but he will probably send the coronet and robes to the pawn-shop rather than let me wear them.”

  “I had not realised he had so much ill-will for you, my lord. I wonder, is he entirely sane? Might the courts be persuaded that he should have a trustee to oversee his spending, perhaps?”

  “Thus to take away his power to make any Will at all? Could it be done?”

  Captain Hawkins beamed, avuncular and kind.

  “Why should it not be, my lord? The Earl is a favourite at Court, Her Majesty has the greatest affection for him. Was she to come to understand that grief and horror for his son’s acts, which had culminated in self-murder, had overcome his reason, then her Majesty would be urgent to seek legal protection for the poor gentleman – and all very quietly done, for one must not bandy about the Queen’s name.”

  “My word! It would be an excellent thing for me, of course…”

  “Then consider it done, my lord.”

  Magnus wondered why, but only for a few seconds. He was placed under an obligation, which he must honour, for that which was given could always be taken away. Even if he remained as no more than a simple sailor-man, he would one day have a vote in the House of Lords, and there would be friendly, but insistent, advice on how he should cast it.

  “By the way, Captain Hawkins, who are the remaining suspects?”

  “There are two. First, the government, or more accurately, their special policemen, who might fear that Eskdale would name names – he will not be the sole prominent figure to have used this particular procurer of small boys. Scandal of that sort is best scotched. I could name two very prominent military figures of the inclination, and at least three members of the Cabinet who are known to dabble. The Daily Mail and Tit-Bits and the Pall Mall Gazette would love no more than to splash those names on their pages following an appearance in court. Court cases are dangerous, as you must be aware, Lord Eskdale.”

  Every word said and name mentioned in a court of law was protected by judicial privilege and could be reported without restriction. The daily newspapers served up a healthy dollop of near-pornography trawled from the divorce courts, and the music halls made songs about them, all without fear of libel or slander cases.

  “And the last, sir?”

  “Why, the owner of the of the brothel, the pander himself. He might well wish to close any possible blabbing mouth – particularly if he is a French or German agent or working for such.”

  Magnus had not been aware of that possibility; it seemed not unlikely, now that he knew of it.

  “My brother was not a man who might suicide, you know, Captain Hawkins. A stiff-necked fool, certainly, and he might well have fled, but not one to kill himself, and especially, not by jumping in the Thames. He would have thought that a very underbred way of going about things, you know. I am sure he would have had guns in the house – he was a sporting man. Far more gentlemanly, putting a gun or pistol to his head.”

  “Would you object to my informing my masters in England of that opinion, Lord Eskdale?”

  “No. Do so, if you would be so good. If it leads to questions being asked of a few nasty foreigners, so much the better!”

  “And so say I, my lord! Now then, to business – Baron Hildesheim, who you know of.”

  “The gentleman who was behind the pirating of the Lee-Enfield rifles, we believe, sir.”

  “And several other little escapades, my lord. He may well have been the source of the Krupp guns recently emplaced along the coast. If he was, then he had influence in the Chinese Navy to supply the manpower required. They have the gunners he would need, and trained on those particular guns. He was involved in the manoeuvring that led to the German presence in Tsingtao and is now thought to be making overtures to the Japanese.”

  “To what end, sir?”

  “I would much like to know, my lord. Was you to keep your ears open, I would be much obliged. It might be no more than a simple attempt to persuade the Japanese to offer trade concessions to Germany, or to purchase ships from their builders. At the moment, the Japanese fleet is predominantly British built. They are establishing their own yards, of course, but are inclined to ally themselves to us.”

  Magnus wondered why.

  “They like us, it would seem, my lord. I think because our people have tended to be better mannered than most of the others they have come across, primarily in China. We have shown willing to give the Japanese a free run in China, on the same terms as ourselves.”

  “Why not? The place is big enough for a few more bodies to land, I think, sir.”

  “So do I, possibly because we have India and the rest of the Empire. Germany might like to turn China into their Raj, in which case they need to control the competition. Add to that, the Germans can’t tell the difference between one little yellow man and another, which has irritated the Japanese in the past.”

  Magnus was puzzled – this seemed somewhat complex to him.

  “If the Germans have no liking for any of them, Chinese or Japanese equally, then why…”

  “Ah! Russia, do you see?”

  “No.”

  “If the Japanese can be encouraged to take the whole of Korea, which they have always wanted, then they will butt up to the Russian frontier, and force them to direct their army and navy towards the Pacific. Russia will as a result reduce its forces in Europe. One day, my lord, Germany will attack Russia and endeavour to take the wheat lands from her. Perhaps soon, more likely not for twenty years, but it makes good sense to Germany for the Russians to be encouraged to spend some of their limited military budget on building their strength and fortifying their harbours and towns in the Far East rather than on the German borders.”

  “Do the Japanese know this?”

  “Perhaps. The aims of Japanese diplomacy, and the limits of their understanding of the world, are unclear, but we far prefer them to be our friends rather than enemies. We shall make that clear to them. I do not think we need fear that they will change sides, but we must show willing. It might be sensible, for example, for Racoon to make a courtesy call on the Japanese navy, possibly in process discussing what we have seen in Tsingtao. Should there ever be a war with Germany – which is not by any means a certainty, yet – then Tsingtao would be offered to Japan. That is already laid down as our policy, known in Tokyo, and will be held to, unless the French lobby should lose influence.”

  “What is the possibility that the government might prefer an alliance with Germany, sir?”

  “God knows! Quite possibly literally so. The Queen cannot last too many more years, but she might nonetheless outlast her profligate son. He is a fat, drunken, libertine, chain-smoking glutton, after all – heart failure is always on the cards, or some other less creditable disease. Should Edward die then his influence will go with him. Jacky Fisher would lose his support and Charlie B would experience a resurgence – but whether sufficient to change the thrust of policy is unknown. The new king, whoever he may be, and whenever, will not make policy, but he will have a degree of influence. Then will come the question of who is Prime Minister of the day, and that is unpredictable since this damned stupid Reform Act which has now taken effect. Virtually every man in Britain now has a vote, you know, Es
kdale! The village idiot and the Oxford don, each has a single vote! Ridiculous! A manufacturer who employs ten thousand hands has but one vote, no more than the night watchman! Ludicrous! I blame Gladstone for such foolishness. At least that’s one bloody fool who is dead – went in May, you know. Anyway, the result is that we cannot be at all sure who will be in power in the next few years, but we can be certain that things will not potter on unchanged. Necessary therefore that we should discover what is happening in Germany, where the Emperor will continue to hold a degree of power and which may be more predictable.”

  Magnus tried to make sense of that outpouring, decided that it owed as much to nostalgia as to common sense. Times were changing and the old ways were being supplanted, which translated as the aristocracy of the Land being replaced by a new aristocracy of Money, who could purchase votes rather than rule by some sort of divine right. As he had, or would have, land but no money worth talking about, that meant that he was one of the eclipsed. As he had no particular wish to rule the roost, he really did not care.

  That accepted, he had no wish to see England defeated in war, or losing its empire, and no desire at all to see a vulgar little beast like the German Emperor strutting as a world Centurion.

  “So, sir, we must keep well in with Japan, that is clear. What of Russia and France? Are they allied, do we know?”

  “Probably, though they have not released details of any treaties they may have signed, but the French are very unreliable, always have been. They would make far better enemies than friends, you know. The Russians as well are not white men, truly speaking, and cannot be predicted at all, or safely allied with. Add to that, their Tsar is a strange one! Religious mania, you know. Not something we go in for!”

  Magnus was not so sure.

  “This Newman fellow, you know – very popular among the Society ladies of Mayfair. Quite a growth in religious feeling there, any number of otherwise sensible people converting to the RCs, I am told.”

  “The Queen does not approve, I believe. It will not come to anything. Society has its fads and fashions, as you will know far better than I, my lord! As for the Prince of Wales – you won’t get him in a church except at gunpoint! No, nothing to worry about there, Eskdale. Not like Russia, where you find the ignorant and the unwashed down on their knees and howling in front of the Court. Almost as bad as Spain!”

  Magnus shook his head, truly appalled at such barbarity. He endeavoured to sum up his understanding of the meeting.

  “Then, Captain Hawkins, it seems that the Navy must be ready to fight against Germany at the side of the French, or against France at the side of Germany, with Russia insignificant on the sidelines. But, whichever it is, we want Japan as an ally.”

  “Concise and precise, Lord Eskdale. Anything is possible, but we will do better for the aid of the Japanese.”

  “Good, sir. What about the Chinese?”

  “Good question. If the current dynasty would only come to an end, then we could build a powerful China. We cannot make China part of the Empire, you know – we haven’t got the men to hold another huge Eastern population in thrall. So, logic says, better a powerful friend than an enemy of any sort. We should build China, but we can’t, because the country won’t let us. Too rich to wash our hands of – if we walked away then we would give all of its wealth to Germany and France and Russia, and we want the cash anyway. Give China to the Japanese, let them make sense of the place, and keep them as trading allies. That would give us access to China’s wealth while the Japanese took on the tasks of government. That, of course, would take all of Japan’s military power to achieve, and keep them harmlessly busy for another generation. Harmless to us, that is; the Chinese might find them slightly toxic.”

  Magnus nodded thoughtfully.

  “Which brings us back to Baron Hildesheim and why he wants to bring the Japanese onto the German side. Where is he at the moment?”

  “Unknown, my dear chap! I suspect he is in Indo-China now, poking his nose into French business there – he was thought to be travelling south when last he was spotted, but he could be anywhere. There is a possibility that he returned to Berlin, reporting back and being feted for his successes, which have been substantial, after all.”

  “Relatively quick, these days, sir, using the railways across America or Canada. Four or five weeks is all.”

  “There’s talk in Berlin of building a railway to Constantinople and then extending it as far east as possible. By way of Persia and crossing Afghanistan and there’s entry to China overland. Less than two weeks from Berlin to Peking, so the proponents say.”

  Magnus tried to visualise a map of the lands of Asia.

  “Is that practical, sir? If they stay south of Russian territory then they must come very close to mountains, must they not?”

  “It would require some very fine engineering, I suspect, my lord. One must accept, however, that Germany is the home of the world’s best engineers, and many of them. It is not impossible, although we could not do it.”

  “More shame on us, sir! There’s something wrong with Britain these days, sir. A rotten streak in the country.”

  Captain Hawkins was inclined to agree.

  “Royally rotten, my lord?”

  Magnus looked about him, somewhat theatrically.

  “Only with the door closed, sir. An unpleasant and perverse gentleman, in my opinion, sir, and one who has much to answer for, having warped Society into his own image. The really annoying thing, sir, is that he is not entirely stupid – he has some degree of talent that he could put to use for the benefit of his country. Was he as fundamentally dull as the Kaiser, then I could find more excuse for him.”

  “Agreed, my lord, but only when out of sight and hearing!”

  “It will be a strange country when he is king, sir.”

  “It will be. Still, we are out here and will not be affected so much. With luck, that is. Best place to be at the moment – the country is going mad with strikes and lock-outs and such. Need to put the mob in its place – bloody workers thinking they have the right to tell their betters what to do!”

  Magnus had never been a worker; he had never spoken to one of them to his knowledge; he had never come close to a factory or mill or mine or ironworks. That being the case, he had no knowledge of the rights or wrongs of the current set of disputes. There was the point as well that he did not especially care. The manufacturers he had met in Society – a very few who had used their money to purchase a title – had not seemed sympathetic types to him, so he was hardly on their side. He did not feel particularly close to the jumped-up peasants of the mills and factories and mines either. None of his business, all in all, though he did not like to think of people starving or children ill and untreated for lack of money.

  “We are a rich country, sir. No harm in spreading the money to the less fortunate. None of my business, though – I shan’t be going on strike and I can’t imagine that I shall be locked out, so it don’t worry me.”

  Captain Hawkins was unimpressed, regarded that attitude as rather slack. They were the protectors of England, and of the English way of life – there was no virtue in permitting things to change. Particularly, he saw no reason why the leaders of the land should not continue in that privilege for all eternity.

  “It’s all the fault of foreigners, in any case, my lord. Can’t trust them an inch. This damned German, Marx, as an example – should have sent him back to Prussia, where he belonged. They would have soon shot him and brought all the nonsense to an end, as it should have been.”

  Magnus had not heard of Marx but thought it wiser not to say so.

  “So, sir, if I spot Hildesheim, what is to be done about him?”

  “We are not at war with Germany, my lord so one cannot actually do anything, unless we are quite certain that nothing will surface…”

  Magnus made no direct response – he had not been ordered to kill Hildesheim.

  “Certainly, sir. Now, sir, Hanshan – we are to offer to empl
ace a pair of five inch breech-loaders to defend the harbour, and give them a gunnery PO for training, with a single gun crew, I expect. What am I to look for in particular when I’m there, sir?”

  “Any signs of the French, my lord. Russia ain’t interested in those parts, being tied up in their Manchurian naval base, Port Arthur for the while. The Frogs may well have it in mind to be a nuisance in our part of the world. Your offer of a pair of guns should be more than sufficient to keep Ping Wu in line, because the French can’t afford to give away very much at all at the moment. On a tight budget, the Frogs. Add to that, their military is split due to this Dreyfus business.”

  Magnus had heard the name but few of the details. He had been told in Mayfair that the whole thing was a Jewish conspiracy, which he doubted on general principles – the sort of people who believed in Jewish conspiracies were not his favourites.

  “Right, sir; a bad business from the little I know of it. Wouldn’t happen in England, of course, we don’t let Jews become officers, do we?”

  Captain Hawkins winced – that was not an especially tactful comment.

  “None in the Navy that I know of, my lord. Might be some in the Army, though not in the cavalry, of course. Not so many Jews in England as in France, which helps. Mind you, if the Prince of Wales lives long enough to become King, then things will change – he has nothing at all against Jews, especially rich ones who will make loans to him.”

  Magnus was inclined to sympathise with that viewpoint. He brought the conversation back to the Franco-Russian alliance, that might or might not exist.

  “You mentioned Port Arthur – will we wish to visit there as well, one day?”