Arthur shook his head.‘Austerlitz changes nothing.We are still at war with France and the future peace of Europe can only be achieved if we defeat Bonaparte. Pitt knew that well enough and devoted his life to the prosecution of the war.’
‘Well, now Pitt is dead, and so is his grand alliance against France,’ William continued gravely. ‘Austria has been humbled, Prussia is too afraid to fight and the armies of Sweden and Russia have retreated back inside their national boundaries. Our new Prime Minister and his government are of a very different line to Pitt and his followers. More’s the pity.There are many men in Parliament who argue that now is the time to make peace with France.’
‘Then they are fools.’ Arthur reached for the decanter and topped up both their glasses.They were dining at William’s London house. Richard had been invited but had sent word that he was too ill to attend, so they had started eating without him. Arthur had only recently returned from the abortive attempt to land an army in Germany to march and join with the Russians and Austrians against the French Emperor. News of the crushing defeat at Austerlitz had reached the expeditionary force before it had even landed, and the transports and warships had been recalled to Britain. A frustrated Major-General Wellesley had returned to London to seek a new opportunity to serve his country on the battlefield. But the national mood was far from bellicose and he had been offered, and reluctantly accepted, command of a brigade based at Hastings.
It was over a month since William Pitt had died, his declining health given its death blow by the news of Austerlitz. The nation had marked his passing with solemn respect. Arthur knew the worth of the man who had given the best years of his life in the service of his nation. Not only had Pitt’s single-mindedness and administrative genius made it possible for Britain to counter the threat of France, but also he had made it possible for the powers of Europe to join the fight against the Republic, and the Corsican tyrant who usurped it.Vast sums of money, and convoys of supplies and equipment, had flowed to Britain’s allies thanks to Pitt’s vision. Now that he was dead, and Napoleon had crushed the alliance forged by Britain, the will to continue the fight was ebbing away swiftly, Arthur reflected sadly. The newspapers were filled with items bemoaning the continuation of a war that had yielded little in the nation’s interest and only served to deepen the national debt.The talk in the coffee houses was dominated by those who proclaimed the invincibility of Bonaparte.
There had been no obvious successor to Pitt.There were men with the ability to take on the responsibility of the office, Arthur mused, but none had sufficient support in Parliament to form a stable government. The mercurial Canning was not trusted by the political class, and Castlereagh was unpopular with the people. In the end it was Pitt’s cousin, Lord Grenville, who had emerged as a compromise candidate and persuaded the King to confer the position on him. But at a price. Gone were all the old friends and supporters of William Pitt and in their place was a mixed bag of politicians of all political persuasions. When Arthur attended a handful of debates in Parliament, the Whigs, who had opposed the war for many years, made smug speeches about the unnecessary cost in lives and bullion and demanded an end to the war. The so-called government of ‘all the talents’ even included the populist liberal Charles Fox. Arthur frowned.
‘What’s the matter?’ asked William, noting his brother’s expression. ‘Something wrong with the soup?’
‘No, it’s not the soup. I was just thinking about that scoundrel Fox. If Pitt could see it now he would groan in his grave. I can’t believe that Grenville would make such a man Foreign Secretary. Good God,’Arthur shook his head, ‘Fox betrayed us to the rebels of the American colonies, and I’ve even heard people mutter that he is in the pay of Talleyrand.’
‘You should not believe everything you hear, Arthur, but I agree with you that Fox holds some questionable views.’
‘Questionable!’ Arthur’s eyes widened. ‘You’ve heard the man often enough in Parliament. Time and again he has spoken out against the war. And now he would even have us open peace negotiations with France! He would dishonour all that we have sacrificed over the years.’
William shrugged. ‘Charles Fox is a political animal, Arthur. As such he is a pragmatist, and a weathervane in the cross-currents of popular opinion. He knows that the people are weary of war and desire peace, so much that they would even treat with the Corsican tyrant himself. So Fox will use every ounce of his charm to persuade Grenville to open negotiations with Talleyrand.’
‘God help us,’ Arthur responded bitterly. ‘Is the man so foolish that he thinks he can persuade Bonaparte to agree to terms that are remotely in the interests of Britain?’
‘His position is a little more subtle than you think.’ William spoke evenly as he raised his glass and sipped it contemplatively. ‘Consider for a moment the question of Napoleon’s primary virtue.’
‘Virtue?’ Arthur smiled thinly. ‘There! You have me already, brother, for I cannot think of a single virtue pertaining to Bonaparte.’
William sighed irritably. ‘Indulge me, then. Let us suppose that Napoleon’s ability finds its truest expression in the art of war.Would you agree with me on that at least?’
Arthur considered this for a moment and then nodded.‘For the sake of argument.’
‘I do not see how you can deny it, Arthur. He has defeated his enemies comprehensively, and, indeed, seems to relish the substance and trappings of a martial existence. All of Europe, and many of our own countrymen, regard the French Emperor as the greatest commander of the age. Now, whether you agree with that or not is immaterial. The point is that Fox believes it. So, being the shrewd thinker that he is,’ William laced his words with irony, ‘the Foreign Secretary has concluded that the best way to frustrate our enemy is to deny him that which he craves above all things, namely war. To which end Fox has persuaded Grenville to allow him to approach Talleyrand with some preliminary proposals for a lasting peace.’
Arthur had lowered his glass as his brother spoke and now stared at him across the table. ‘Good God . . . Do you have any detail on these proposals?’
‘Oh, yes.’ William smiled. ‘Fox was good enough to discuss his ideas when I met him in the House earlier this week.’
‘You met him? Why?’
‘I wanted to discuss the prospect of finding you a seat in Parliament.’
‘Parliament?’ Arthur’s eyebrows rose. ‘Why would I want such a thing? I am a blunt soldier. I lack the necessary tact and guile to be a politician.’
‘Come now, Arthur, false modesty is a vice, not a virtue.You are as capable of being a politician as any man, and besides, I dare say that a bit of blunt speaking would be a welcome change in the House. I must talk to some people and see what I can do.’
Arthur stared at his brother for a moment before shaking his head. ‘I’d rather not, all the same. I had my fill of politics back in the Irish Parliament.’
‘Ah, but you were nothing then,’ said William, and then waved a hand in apology as he saw his brother’s expression darken. ‘I mean no offence. But then you were young and inexperienced, with little achievement to your credit. Now, you are Sir Arthur Wellesley, hero of Assaye. Your voice would count and you would be able to influence events. Besides,’ William’s tone became more serious, ‘our brother Richard needs all the friends he can get in the House. His political future is at stake, and that of our family.Without influence, Arthur, what hope have you of being given any worthwhile military appointment? Do you know how many major-generals there are on the army list? One hundred and forty-eight, and the majority of them are senior to you. That is why you have been assigned to that tedious backwater down in Hastings.’
Arthur laughed lightly. ‘You have done your homework, William. At least the Hastings command keeps me on the active list.’
‘Really? I wonder just how active a soldier can be in such a place. I imagine the gravest danger one must face is being pelted with guano by the seagulls.’William sat back with a brief sigh and
folded his hands over his stomach.‘You will need political friends if you are to rise to important military commands. Now then, I have arranged a quiet meeting with Grenville and Fox. Primarily as an opportunity for Richard to see them and put his case in private before he is exposed to the full rigour of parliamentary examination. If you come with me as well, as a prospective member of the House, it will add strength to our cause. Besides, I think you will have something to say on the matter of Fox’s peace proposals that it might do him good to hear.’
Arthur listened wearily. In truth, he accepted that William was right. The plain fact of it was that no man ever rose to prominence purely by his own efforts and abilities. It seemed that to become a successful general one must also become something of a successful politician as well. He nodded. ‘Very well, I’ll come.’
William had arranged for the meeting to take place in a private dining room in one of the gentlemen’s clubs off Park Lane. Crauford’s was a club favoured by clients with an interest in card games, and when Arthur entered on the stroke of nine in the evening and gave his name to a footman he was ushered through a room containing half a dozen tables at which men were playing whist. Their concentration was absolute. Not one looked up as Arthur passed by, and he realised why his brother had chosen this club for the encounter between the three Wellesley brothers and the two most powerful men in the government. Beyond the card room was a short corridor with two rooms leading off each side.The footman opened the second door on the right and bowed his head as Arthur stepped inside, then closed the door behind him.The others were already seated at the end of a long dining table, which was bare save for a large decanter of port and the glasses set out for the guests.The other four men were already seated.
‘Arthur, delighted you could join us.’William smiled.‘Do take a seat.’
Arthur glanced at his brothers as he strode round the table.William appeared to be his usual robust self, but Richard was as wan and pale as when he had returned from India and looked to be in poor health as he rested his chin on the knuckles of one hand and steadily regarded the two men on the other side of the table.Arthur knew both Grenville and Fox by sight, having seen them both in parliamentary debates and at social events. Grenville was tall and slender but Fox was by far the more arresting of the two. Tall, broad-shouldered and rotund, he had a jowly, good-humoured face and his eyes sparkled with energy. He returned Arthur’s gaze with an intense searching look and then rose and offered his hand as Arthur approached.
‘Ah! One of the younger brothers of the Wellesley family!’
‘Yes, sir.’ Arthur shook his hand, returning the powerful grip with a tightening of his own fist, until he sensed the other man slacken his hold and release his hand. Arthur turned to Grenville, who had risen to his feet a moment after Fox. ‘Prime Minister.’ Arthur bowed his head respectfully. ‘My condolences on the loss of your cousin. Mr Pitt was a fine man.’
‘My loss is the nation’s loss, Sir Arthur. Make no mistake about that.’ Grenville nodded sadly. ‘But we must move on, and take full advantage of the stable condition in which my brother left our nation.’
‘Stable condition?’ Fox chuckled. ‘I hardly think such a vast mountain of public debt and a state of war with the most powerful nation in Europe constitutes stability.’
Grenville turned to his companion with an irritated air.‘Pitt’s legacy is that he saved us from revolution and defeat. I think that is more than enough justification for describing Britain as stable.’
‘If you say so.’ Fox chuckled. ‘Although some of my friends in the House might disagree.’
‘And we must always consider the views of your friends,’ Grenville responded in an acid tone.
The two men stared at each other for a brief moment, and Arthur wondered how such a political partnership could work. In Britain’s present rudderless state perhaps such compromises were inevitable.
Fox cleared his throat. ‘This is a free country, and a man should be free to speak his mind. After all, those are the values that we are fighting for, or so it appears to me.’
Richard’s sickly white face seemed to drain of the very lost drop of blood. When he spoke, it was in a cold, hostile tone. ‘I do not need any lectures on freedom from a man who has been in open communication with the very nation that is determined to end the liberties enjoyed by every man in Britain.’
There was a faint smile on Fox’s lips, but he replied with a hard edge to his voice.‘That is hearsay and rumour, and you would be well advised not to repeat such scurrilous untruths.’
Arthur tapped his finger on the table and interrupted. ‘And yet you would have us negotiate peace with France, if I understand correctly?’ He glanced at Grenville, who nodded.
‘Times change,’ Fox continued. ‘What might once have been considered a lack of blind patriotism might now be seen as the best hope for Britain, under the present circumstances.’
‘Circumstances change,’ Arthur responded.‘Bonaparte’s enemies will not long tolerate his power over Europe. Equally, I doubt whether he would tolerate a prolonged peace. Bonaparte will always want more territory, more power and more glory. He needs these things as other men need food and water. Unless Britain is prepared to continue submitting to his demands, however humiliating, there will be further wars.You cannot appease such a despot for ever, Mr Fox.’
‘You may have a point, young man. But try telling that to the merchants of this country who increasingly find themselves closed off from continental markets. Try telling it to the hungry mobs of unemployed in our great industrial cities whose jobs have gone as trade has withered.Try telling it to those countless families up and down this land whose sons and fathers have been killed in the wars against France, or have come home crippled by wounds and incapable of earning a crust. Do you really think they will rejoice at the prospect of war unending?’
‘No one is asking them to rejoice.And the war will end, the moment France is free of Bonaparte.’
Fox suddenly sat back in his chair and took a swift draught of port from his glass. Then he looked closely at Arthur. ‘It’s peculiar that you should say that.’
‘Really? Why, sir?’
‘I was approached by a French dissident earlier this week, who had come to London in secret in order to present me with a plan to assassinate his Emperor.’
‘Good God!’ Grenville stared at his Foreign Secretary. ‘And you didn’t think to tell me?’
‘You are a busy man, Prime Minister. The fellow’s plan seemed madcap when he broached it, and he needs a large sum, in gold, to pay the assassin. So I declined the offer. Moreover, I decided to inform my opposite number in Paris of his countryman’s plan.’
‘You would reveal this to Talleyrand?’ Richard could not hide his amazement.‘By God, why would you do such a thing? This Frenchman and his agent would be caught and killed.Would you have that on your conscience?’
‘No more than I would the killing of an emperor. Considerably less, in fact. Besides, you are missing the point. By exposing this conspiracy we could demonstrate our good faith to Talleyrand, and, through him, to Napoleon. It would surely help our attempt to open peace negotiations. In any case, the argument is academic. I have already sent a message to Talleyrand to warn him of the plot.’
There was silence in the room as the others took this in and showed their surprise, and some disgust. Grenville was the first to recover and he turned fully towards Fox and glared. ‘You go too far, sir. The dissident’s approach to you should have been reported to me directly. The decision as to whether to back the man, or turn him down, was not yours to make.’
‘It was a foreign policy issue, sir, and therefore well within the responsibilities of my office.’
‘That is enough! You should have discussed this with the Cabinet, or me at the very least. In future, I demand that you report any further such activity to me directly. Understand?’
‘Yes, Prime Minister. I understand.’ Fox smiled faintly, then suddenly reached down
and examined his pocket watch in the candlelight. ‘Ah, I’m afraid I must beg your pardon and leave you, gentlemen. I have a prior engagement. I am taking my wife to a late recital.’
‘A recital?’ Grenville gently stroked his frown-streaked brow. ‘Don’t you think this meeting is more important than a recital?’
‘In truth? No. A man who neglects his wife is no man at all, sir. So I must go. Gentlemen.’ Fox stood up and bowed his head to each of the brothers on the opposite side of the table. ‘I will leave you to your politics, then. Good night.’
He clasped his hands together, stretched his back and strode towards the door. ‘I’m sure I will be seeing you all again soon. Especially the Wellesleys, who will have to face some tough questions in the House if I am any judge of my own supporters. Once again, good night, gentlemen.’
Taking his cape and hat from the stand, Fox opened the door and left the room.The others stared after him as the door clicked shut. Richard let out a low dry laugh and was the first to speak.
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