CHAPTER X
THE ENGLISH AMBASSADOR
"M. D'Albeville?" echoed the Landgrave.
"It can be none other, Highness," answered William, with energy. "Noone else was privy to my Lord Sunderland his part----"
M. Fagel gave a quick exclamation.
"He knoweth that?"
"Yes--he scenteth it," said the Stadtholder grimly. "And he hath apretty idea of the preparations, only he doth not guess either theirmagnitude nor their forwardness."
He seated himself, and the others took their places again. There was, inthe whole assembly, a breathless air of expectation and excitement. Theroom was full of steady mellow sunshine, which brought out every detailof the persons of the gentlemen about the walnut table and glimmered inthe fair hair of M. de Lunenburgh, who sat facing the window.
The Stadtholder glanced round these intent faces and took off hisgloves, unclasped his cloak, and said, in a passionate voice, directlyaddressing the Grand Pensionary--
"M. Fagel, the design is to frighten the States, by declaring that anydesign against England will at once provoke France into an attack on theProvinces."
M. Fagel was silent. This stroke was unexpected and tremendous. IfLouis fell on the frontiers of the States, Their High Mightinesses wouldcertainly not permit the Prince and the army to sail for England.
"You know my opinion," continued William, looking at the Spaniard, "thatif M. de Castagnana can but keep Ostend, Mons, and Namur till thespring, I shall then have settled this English business, and be able toreturn with a sufficient force to drive the French out of Flanders."
"I think," said M. Fagel, "that the States would not take the risks, andthis threat from France will have a very ill effect among the commonpeople."
"And," added M. Dyckfelt, who had primary charge of English affairs, "ifM. D'Avaux and M. Skelton succeed in undeceiving King James as to thetrue design of M. de Sunderland that would be a shrewd blow----"
"One which shall not be delivered," said the Prince firmly. "M. deSunderland is the one man who can keep the foreign intelligence from theKing, and he stayeth in office. M. D'Albeville is a dirty tool, butthere is more use to be got out of him----"
"But he, Your Highness, you say hath betrayed us?" questioned M. deHesse.
"And now he can betray them," said William. "By Heaven, Highness, doyou think we, at this stage of our endeavours, shall trip over an insectlike this D'Albeville?"
He finished his sentence with a smile at M. de Hesse. He was himself ofa German House, a German Prince and a Grandee of the Holy Empire, andhad alway an affection for and a powerful influence over the Landgraves,Electors, and Princes who made up the German confederacy.
M. de Hesse responded--
"We are, as ever, ready to do what Your Highness thinketh fit in thisjuncture."
"Ah!" answered William warmly. "I should do ill to fail with suchfriends----"
"Should we not," asked M. Bentinck, "consult with some of the English atThe Hague?"
"No," said the Stadtholder firmly. "They have none of them anyconception of continental affairs, and at present are engaged indisputing over the form of the Declaration, for they seem already to besplit into very decided parties."
M. Fagel and M. Dyckfelt both considered it a mistake not to more fullytrust the English nobles, but both were aware that the Prince's distrustof that nation (but too well founded on experience) was not to beshaken.
The German Princes and Ministers were willing enough to keep the threadsof the coalition as much as possible in their own hands, and none ofthem could believe that a youth like Lord Shrewsbury and an eccentricrake like Lord Mordaunt could be of use in serious counsels.
The envoy of the Elector of Hanover proceeded to lay before William theplans for the fortifications of the Rhine which the Germans had agreedto defend with troops, replacing those withdrawn by the States, in thesame way as M. de Castagnana had engaged to fortify the frontier ofBrabant on the side of Flanders.
William surveyed the plans and listened to the explanations, in whichthe Landgrave and M. de Lunenburgh eagerly joined, with an elatedsatisfaction which even the stroke about to be dealt by M. D'Avaux couldnot destroy. His spirits, as ever, rose with increasing difficultiesand dangers, and after having to listen to the thousand, to him, paltryarguments of the English party leaders, this talk of the real heart ofaffairs, the hand-to-hand grips with France, had a ringing pleasure forhis ears.
M. Fagel, withdrawn into the window embrasure, was speaking with WilliamBentinck, a tall, fair, and handsome man, of a quiet dignity, a fewyears older than the Stadtholder, and that Prince's closest friend, ofthe probable effect of this move planned by the wit and watchfulness ofMr. Skelton and M. D'Avaux, when an usher entered to inform His Highnessthat the English Ambassador requested an immediate audience.
William was roused at once from his maps and papers, and a movement ofexcitement silenced the low, serious voices.
"M. D'Albeville!" exclaimed the Stadtholder. His eyes flashed, and herose. "Conduct him here."
As the usher left, all looked at the Prince.
"Why should he come?" asked M. de Lunenburgh.
William laid his hand affectionately on the German's brown velvetsleeve.
"My child," he said softly, "whatever he hath come for, we will turn himto our own uses."
At this moment the English Ambassador entered, amid an absolute silence;he paused on the threshold and glanced at the men before him: theStadtholder between M. de Lunenburgh, the Landgrave and the Hanoverianenvoy at the opposite side of the dark circular walnut table; theSpaniard, very splendid in gold brocade that caught the sun, standingwith his back to the hearth, and opposite him in the dazzling length ofthe window M. Bentinck with the two Dutch ministers.
So were gathered in this small, plain room representatives of the mostof the members of the huge coalition which the formidable Stadtholderhad laboured so long to combine against France; and M. D'Albeville,standing for England, equally precious both to these allies and toLouis, instinctively drew back a little, as one who has stepped amongsilent enemies.
He was a slight Irishman, and had been handsome, but dissipation,poverty, and meanness had given him a haggard and livid appearance; hewore gaudy, but tarnished, finery, and a huge red-brown peruke that hungin knots of heavy curls either side his sharp face.
"I desired a private audience, Highness," he said, speaking in perfectFrench.
"We are private here, M. le Marquis," answered William, handing thepacket of papers back to M. de Hesse. "And we are glad that you havecome, for we had business to discuss with you."
He seated himself at that, and M. D'Albeville came to the opposite sideof the table, so directly facing him; the others remained standing.
"You," said William, with energy, "have been trying to fool me, M. leMarquis. You have seen fit to convey warnings to the court of Englandand to M. D'Avaux."
The look of fear that was never quite absent from the Irishman's facedeepened; he seemed to shrink into his stiff buckram and brocadeclothes.
"So God help me----" he began.
"Oh, enough of your oaths!" cried the Prince, in a sudden burst of fury."Do you think I have time to listen to your cursed excuses? How muchhave you told that damned Frenchman?"
So direct, terrible, and sincere was his passion that the object of itretreated towards the door, and even the spectators were awed.
"I protest," answered the Ambassador, dry-lipped, "I have told nothing.I have sent reassuring messages to His Majesty, as Your Highnessknoweth----"
"Were you not well enough paid for them," demanded William fiercely,"that you must go cry your wares in the French market?"
"Monseigneur, you are misinformed----"
The Prince cut him short.
"M. D'Avaux hath been told of M. de Sunderland's part--you told him.Hath King James been warned also?"
"I came to tell Your Highness so," stammered
M. D'Albeville. "Not by me,God knoweth; but I had this morning a message----"
"From whom?"
"Not from my Lord Sunderland--_direct from His Majesty_ bidding me askthe States the reason of the preparations of Your Highness----"
The Stadtholder glanced at his friends; he was still taut with passion.Dealing with mean creatures such as this roused that rare fury in himthat brought him out of himself.
"So now you are afraid, eh?" he asked. "You are not quite so sure whichis the winning side, M. le Marquis----"
M. D'Albeville came nearer the table. Another fear conquered his fearof the terrible Prince.
"I cannot go on," he said feverishly. "I dare not. I can help you nomore, Monsieur. I must deliver that message, and I must tell the Kingeverything----"
"You will deliver the message," interrupted William grimly; "but youwill not open the eyes of His Majesty until I bid you."
The Irishman clutched his hand on his breast, with a contortion ofterror and despair on his face. He had been playing fast and loosebetween France and Holland so long that he scarcely knew how far he hadbetrayed one to the other, only that of late he had kept the greaterfaith with the Prince, who terrorized him, as did all the Englishenvoys, except those he won by friendship, such as Temple and Sidney.
M. D'Albeville was now convinced that, in view of the coming Frenchaction, the Prince could not succeed, and he wished fervently that hewas before James or Louis that he might gain a good price by tellingwhat he knew of William's plans. He already regretted having comebefore His Highness, yet he had not dared act without warning him, andhad been in some hopes of persuading him of his own faith and use.
Disappointed in this, he groaned aloud, began a feeble sentence thatdied on his lips, and cast a furtive glance for a way of escape.
This did not fail of notice by the Prince.
"Bentinck," he said, "look to the door."
That nobleman stepped quietly in front of it, and the wretchedAmbassador shrilled a protest.
"Doth Your Highness intend violence?"
"I intend to make use of you, Monsieur!" cried the Prince. "We are menin earnest. Do you think that we should allow you to in any wayincommode us?"
"It will be Tower Hill for me!" cried M. D'Albeville. "I dare keepsilent no longer--if my Lord President goeth, what protection have Igot?"
"M. de Sunderland shall not go until I have sailed from Helvoetsluys,"said William. "How much hath M. D'Avaux promised you for tellingeverything to the Court of St. James?"
M. D'Albeville shrugged, but obviously brightened as the talk changed tomoney.
"You are quite mistaken, Your Highness----"
"How much was it?" interrupted William.
"Naturally, if I could help M. D'Avaux--I should expect someconsideration for the trouble----"
The Prince for a moment took his great eyes from the Irishman andaddressed a rapid sentence in Dutch to M. Dyckfelt, who at once went tothe Chinese bureau at the side of the fireplace and unlocked a drawer.
"I must deliver the message to the States," said M. D'Albeville, betweencringing and defiance. He was really afraid of what might have happenedin England--Sunderland might be in disgrace, and the whole intriguediscovered by James, for all he knew.
"It is my wish that you should," answered William. "It will come verypat with M. D'Avaux _his_ message."
M. Dyckfelt put on the table a gold standish, a sheet of paper, and acasket, which last the Prince kept before himself.
"M. le Marquis," he said, "you will do me one more service--you willwrite to His Majesty that his suspicions are quite unfounded, that mypreparations, you are assured, are against Denmark, and that no creditis to be given to the tales of M. Skelton and M. D'Avaux about M. deSunderland."
The Ambassador's face became absolutely blanched; he moistened his lips,and murmured, "I dare not--I dare not," between dry breaths.
"You dare not refuse," answered William. "I could so expose you thatnot a court in Europe would employ you. Besides, it is enough that Icommand you. Sit down and write."
M. D'Albeville came slowly nearer the table.
"I would do anything to serve Your Highness, but not this--it is toolate--it has gone too far----"
"Write," said the Stadtholder briefly. "I pay well, you know that."
M. D'Albeville sat down in the chair opposite the paper and standish.
"But His Majesty will learn from others, and I shall be recalled and"... he complained miserably ... "death ... treason is death. Oh, myGod, I cannot do----"
"M. le Marquis," interrupted William, "His Majesty is simple enough totrust you, and for the rest I protect those whom I use."
M. D'Albeville shivered and took up the pen. He had, and knew it, nochance with the Prince, whose potent personality always completelymastered his. He dared not, from some sheer unnameable fear, refuse orresist, but the damp stood on his brow and his heart was cramped at thethought of the possible vengeance of the master whom he was betraying.
"You know what to write," said William. "Put it in your own hand andyour own style--you do not, I think, use cipher----"
Tears of terror, rage, and mortification stood in the Irishman's eyes.He had come to excuse himself from a service that had become toodangerous, and found himself overpowered into going still greaterlengths. He could not bring himself to write the letter which wouldeventually cut him off from all hope of pardon from England.
"He shall write," said the Prince, in a low tone, to M. de Hesse, "if Ihave to hold a pistol to his head the while."
And he came softly round behind the Ambassador's chair.
"Gentlemen," complained M. D'Albeville, "is this a way to treat therepresentative of His Britannic Majesty?"
The Landgrave and M. de Lunenburgh closed nearer round him.
M. D'Albeville looked up at the grave faces bent on him, and began towrite.
"Make haste," said the Prince, drawing a round filigree watch from hispocket and glancing at the time.
The Ambassador groaned and drove his pen the faster; in a few momentsthe sheet of paper was covered, sanded, and signed.
"There is my ruin, Highness," said M. D'Albeville dramatically, handingit with shaking fingers.
"Men like you are never ruined," returned the Prince. He glanced overthe letter, ill spelt, ill expressed, but all that Sunderland would needto quiet the fears of his master.
The Prince folded it across, and M. D'Albeville held out his hand.
"By your leave, M. le Marquis, I will post this." William opened thecasket M. Dyckfelt had brought from the Chinese bureau, and took out acouple of little linen bags, which he slid along the table towards thecrumpled figure of the Ambassador; the glint of gold could be seenbetween the wide meshes. "The audience is over," he added dryly.
M. D'Albeville got to his feet and began to pick up the money and thrustit into the huge flap pockets of his silver-branched coat, making thewhile little sounds of protest, and shaking his head dismally.
"Listen," said the Prince vigorously. "You will give your message tothe States to-morrow, and you will send no letters of any kind toEngland until I request you to----"
"I am always the servant of Your Highness," said M. D'Albeville with adreary submission, yet with a kind of satisfaction in the bribe that layheavy in his pockets; the Prince always paid better than M. D'Avaux,kept short by M. de Louvois, who disliked him.
"All packets leaving our ports are watched," remarked William. "So donot try to send any secret messages to England."
The Ambassador picked up his white-plumed hat, that had fallen to thefloor, then came towards the Prince with a humble gesture, as if hewould have kissed his hand; but William drew back with a haughty disgustthat brought a blush even to M. D'Albeville's brazen cheek. He withdrewbackwards, M. Bentinck opened the door for him, and closed it after hehad departed, bowing.
"By Heaven!" burst out the Landgrave, "to think that a great nationshould send as representative such a rascal!"
"His Majesty hath always been unlucky, Highness," answered William, "inthe gentlemen he sendeth to The Hague. To use such tools!" he addedimpatiently; "but I think we have checkmated M. D'Avaux.--M. Fagel," heturned swiftly to the Grand Pensionary, "you see your part? The twomessages will come the same day, and you are to protest that there mustbe some secret alliance between France and England that the States havebeen kept in the dark about, and that we can give no answer till that isexplained; you must feign alarm which will further inflame the peopleagainst France and her designs, and so we may provoke King James intorepudiating the French alliance and offending His Christian Majesty."
Having thus indicated the policy that his genius had instantlyconceived, he paused with a little cough, then laughed, which he seldomdid save when he had discomfited some one. He laughed now, thinking ofM. D'Avaux, and there was a malicious note in it that would not havepleased that diplomat to hear.
The German princes laughed also, in a more good-natured fashion, and thewhole company moved from their places with a sense that a final resolvehad been reached.
"Come, gentlemen," said the Prince in his tired voice, "I think we haveearned our dinner."
He handed to M. Fagel the letter written by M. D'Albeville.
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