The Hidden Man: A Phineas Starblower Adventure (Phineas Starblower Adventures)

by Giles

  As he closed and locked his cabin door a realization came to Jerard. He actually liked this Baron Gyldenfeldt. The man was intelligent and every inch the soldier. He had displayed a genuine interest and enthusiasm for the Discretion during the tour Phillips had given him earlier. Tash and Carstares had excused themselves from that duty. Instead they had told Jerard that they wished for him to get a personal ‘feel’ for the Baron and perhaps some insight into his motives. After spending time with the man Jerard felt certain that his impression of the Baron did not match theirs. It seemed that Tash had come away from their first meeting totally distrusting Gyldenfeldt, in fact she appeared to be hell-bent on finding a flaw in the man’s story. Carstares, on the other hand, seemed to feel that they had had a stroke of luck in their dealings with the fellow. However, in his own conversation Jerard could detect nothing duplicitous in the Baron’s nature. But who knew what dinner would show him? This afternoon had been all about two soldiers discussing war, weapons and tactics; this evening will no doubt be something quite different.

  As Jerard approached the passenger lounge he heard male laughter and quickened his step. He hoped he was not late, it would not do for the Captain of the ship to be seen to have a poor grasp of time. Upon entering the room his fears were assuaged. Inside were the Baron and Carstares seated opposite one another over the chessboard. A quick look around showed Gopal standing impassively by the drinks cabinet on one side of the room and the Baron’s manservant standing just opposite on the other side of the room; Jerard racked his brain to try to remember his name. The man did not so much look like a valet as a bare-knuckle prize fighter. Which was probably why Jerard kept wanting to call him John as in the American fellow he had read about, John Lawrence Sullivan.

  “Good evening Captain” Gopal greeted him quietly. “May I get you a drink?”

  “Yes, thank you Gopal, I’ll have what the...” Jerard stopped as Gopal raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly at the nearly empty bottle of 20 year old Scotch. “...glass of claret.” Jerard finished with a wicked grin. So that’s how it is he thought, accepting the glass from Gopal and making his way over to the other gentlemen. The chess game’s progress would give him a better idea of just how long these two gentlemen had been entertaining themselves. He had to admire Tash for having the foresight to send Gopal along to keep one eye on the whiskey and the other on Carstares. No, he corrected himself, must think of him as Mr. Starblower.

  Carstares burst out laughing again. “Oh my good lord Bodil! I can’t believe you did that! How the hell did you keep from getting cashiered man?”

  “It was my father, you see. The man would have done anything to keep me in the army and out of his house. Can you imagine good Sir? My father deemed me a troublemaker!”

  Carstares raised his glass and toasted the Baron. “To troublemakers! No wait, to Youth! Isn't that where the trouble always begins?”

  Both men laughed at the jest and clinked their glasses together rather harder than was necessary.

  “Gopal! Our glasses are empty!” Carstares called merrily to the manservant..

  “Indeed Mr. Starblower, and so too is the bottle. Perhaps I may offer you something else before I go to retrieve a fresh one?”

  Carstares looked at Gopal in mild shock, had he and Bodil consumed and entire bottle of Scotch? Spotting the Captain he decided to address Phillips instead of answering Gopal’s question. “Phillips! I did not see you there. Come join us. Bodil was regaling me with tales of his misspent youth.”

  “Me?” The Baron said laughing. “Phineous! Your little tale of the late Mrs. Robinson...well Sir, I could not top that one with my own Mother’s arrrrr....My Lady! You look lovely this evening!” Gyldenfeldt finished getting hastily to his feet.

  Tash executed a slow graceful curtsey giving Carstares time to get to his feet as well. “Gentlemen,” She said sweetly. “Paulo informs me that dinner is ready.”

  Jerard was glad he was already on his feet. He handed the glass back to Gopal. Then stepped forward to offer his arm to this vision of beauty and charm. “I must agree with the Baron madam. You look lovely indeed.”

  “Why thank you Captain Phillips.” Tash replied and wound her arm through his and tiltied her head up to meet his eye.

  Jerard’s breath caught in his throat. He did not know what was more heady, the subtle spicy scent of her perfume, the expression in those laughing blue eyes or the delicious expanse of decollete just barely visible beneath the delicate lace that covered the bodice of her gown from waist to neck. Either way the appreciative smile he wore was genuine in the extreme.

  “Captain?” Tash queried softly. “You’re staring.”

  “I know.” He replied, loath to break the spell.

  “Shall we?”

  Jerard blinked several times, for a moment there, it almost sounded like quite a different invitation. He mentally gave himself a good shake and replied as a proper gentleman. “Yes, right this way madam.”

  The two left the room seemingly oblivious to everything else.

  “What was that all about, Phineous?” The Baron asked.

  “I am damned if I know Bodil, damned if I know...” Carstares said. “But what I do know is that we’ve got the best chef to fly the seven seas on board. Let’s eat!”

  “Fly the seven seas? Good one Sir, good one! The Baron chortled and followed Carstares out of the room.

  Gopal stood quietly for another moment. A very thoughtful look on his face. He had observed more about tonight’s players in the last five minutes than he had in the last twelve hours. Gopal gestured to Gyldenfeldt’s manservant for them to follow their masters. Marius seemed reluctant to proceed Gopal out of the room but the Indian stood his ground and gave the man no choice. With a shrug Marius walked out of the room. Following behind the hulking man, Gopal noted he only carried one weapon. A knife, tucked inelegantly in his boot. Crude but effective Gopal noted.

  Jerard was a little surprised on entering the passenger dining room. Only one small table was set by the window. Its snowy white linens glowed a rich ivory in the candlelight while the crystal and silver sparkled a stunning contrast. A silver bowl set neatly in the center of the table held a few flowers and what appeared to be floating candles. The effect was simple and elegant and very intimate. He raised his eyebrows at Tash in question and was a little put-off when she declined to comment on the the setting. So he escorted her to the nearest chair and held it for her. After she was seated she motioned to the chair across from herself and Jerard obliged by taking that seat.

  “How lovely!” Carstares boomed. “Dear Theodosia you have quite out done yourself. Ah Bodil, you see now why she is my right hand, take a seat man. From the look of things I believe this will be a dinner to remember.” The Colonel smiled at Tash. She really had performed a stroke of genius, the small intimate table that had no official “head” put everyone on an equal footing, even Tash herself Carstares realized. Clever girl.

  After everyone was seated Mr. Howell approached the table holding a bottle of wine. “Mr. Starblower, as you requested Sir, here is the wine for the first course.”

  To hide his surprise Carstares quickly fished out his monocle and peered at the bottle. Hm, he thought, never heard of it; so he executed a curt nod and motioned for Jon to pour. While Carstares was not a complete novice he would not trust himself to choose dinner wine. Thankfully Tash had thought ahead, again. He was betting he was going to have to taste and approve the wine for every course, how tedious. At least his first taste of this offering was superb.

  Just as Mr. Howell finished pouring the wine Tanner and Phelps seemed to appear out of nowhere with small plates that they sat in front of each diner. Carstares had no clue as to what the small pile of colorful food in the center of the plate might be although it smelled vaguely of fish. Gathering up his nerve Carstares took a fork-full.

  “Magnificent!” Bodil Gyldenfelt exclaimed as he closed his eyes in apparent ecstasy. “I must have this recipe for my cook. I did no
t know that your chef was Danish, I thought his name was something Italian sounding. Oh this is quite fabulous indeed, I never would have thought to put oranges together with herring.”

  The Colonel blinked several times not sure of how to reply. The kippers were ok in his book but he much preferred them smoked. Fortunately Tash came to his rescue.

  “Oh thank you LensBaron! Paulo will be so pleased when I tell him that you are enjoying this dish. And your observation is very astute as well. Yes our chef Paulo is Italian but he is first and foremost a chef. This afternoon he was in your local market and discovered the fresh herring and set about discovering how it was locally prepared. He returned quite excited. I believe this is the prime fishing time for herring here in your country, yes?”

  “You are quite correct Madam. We only fish for herring for about six weeks in the summer, from about the end of May until the first week of July. That is when the fish is at its true peak; the flesh delicate and tender as you can see.”

  “Indeed.” Jerard interjected. “I don’t believe I’ve ever tasted anything quite like this, it is delicious.” Jerard had to refrain from smacking his lips so he raised his wine glass and offered a toast. “To the perfect beginning of a fine meal. Cheers!”

  “Cheers!” Tash and Carstares repeated; Gyldenfeldt chimed in a moment later. And dinner was underway.

  The conversation centered around the airship and the wonderful food until after the arrival of desert. Paulo himself served the Tiramisu and accepted the accolades and compliments of everyone with perfect aplomb.

  “So Phineas,” the LensBaron began. “What will you take for your marvelous chef? I believe I shall offer up half of all of my assets.”

  Carstares laughed easily. “Ah, Sir, while the offer is tempting I fear that our Paulo is truly one of a kind and I shall have to decline.”

  “Well then, what else will you tempt me with?” Gyldenfeldt replied, a sly note crept into his voice.

  Carstares sobered instantly. “A good question Sir. What would you like?" He paused only a moment before continuing. “Ah, I believe I see your point. How about a fine cigar and some rare brandy to round out our evening?”

  Gyldenfeldt chuckled. “Most excellent idea! But I rather had something else in mind. I would like to hear about this business proposition you mentioned earlier or was that pure ruse?”

  Caught off guard Carstares blustered. “Ruse? I am offended!”

  “Nay Sir, no offence was intended. Please forgive my blunt way of speaking. It is just that I was curious. If you recall, I had written to you early last year regarding your company doing business in Aalborg but I never received any more than a pro-forma reply. Why this sudden change of heart?”

  Tash swallowed nervously, she had written that terse refusal herself and she was racking her brain to remember exactly what she had said.

  “Timing don’t ya know! Timing is everything my good man.” Carstares said, a trifle too loudly.

  “Yes, I have heard that...” The LensBaron trailed off, narrowing his eyes.

  “If I may Mr. Starblower?” Tash said quietly.

  “Of course my dear, I am sure you could explain it better than I could.”

  “You see Sir, we had just opened our facility in Norway at that time.”

  “Yes I am aware of that, it was the reason I wrote to you.”

  “Then you must be aware that the particular facility we are speaking of was an experiment. All of the employees are Norwegen save for the two managers. The facility is more for researching how Scandinavian leatherworking skills could be used to improve Starblower manufacturing.”

  “I see, and could not the Danes provide you with the same services?” Gyldenfelt said frowning.

  “Well of course they could LensBaron! But this is why the timing of your letter was most unfortunate. Starblower Ltd. was already engaged in one experiment and the cost of running two would have been prohibitive. However what your letter did do was turn our eyes to the results of the experiment and how best they could be used.”

  “Oh, how so Miss Smythe-Harris?”

  “Well Sir, the experiment has been wildly successful. What we have learned from the Norwegians stands to greatly benefit our manufacturing process. We have designed a new factory using this information.”

  “Well how nice for Starblower Ltd.” Gyldenfeldt said, not bothering to hide his sarcasm.

  Undaunted Tash continued on. “We hope that by using this partnership formula with Aalborg we can build a new factory that will benefit all. The factory will produce military boots of a comfortable and waterproof design. All of the workers will be hired locally; this would produce nearly 500 jobs for your people. Not to mention that the boots will be provided to your army at a massively discounted cost.”

  “Forgive me if I sound a bit negative, but what’s in it for your company madam?”

  Tash laughed lightly. “Why boots of course! When the whole of Europe see these marvelous designs for both military and civilian footwear I suspect that we will not be able to keep up with the demand. A situation that in my experience leads to profit. Tell me LensBaron, I know that you own a rather extensive estate. How many times have you gone out for review and returned with wet, muddy feet? Our boots are waterproof and easily clean off with water.

  “I admit,” the LensBaron began reluctantly, “that I have ruined many pairs of good leather boots.” He sat back in his chair and studied Tash for moment. “All right, I am intrigued and I can see how this may be of a benefit to Aalborg. How would you like to proceed?”

  “In the morning we can meet in the passenger lounge and I can give you details. We can exchange agent names and hammer out the licensing details.”

  Carstares had been carefully watching Gyldenfeldt while Tash made her pitch. He had become aware just how much this was going to cost Starblower Ltd. and he had to admire Tash’s tenacity. But he did not sense this generous proposition would bring the LensBaron over to their side. The man had all but hijacked their mission to assuage his own damaged prestige. Which in the main was fine but Carstares needed to be able to trust the man and in order to do so it would be better if the LensBaron were in their debt. “Well this is excellent I say!”

  Tash and the LensBaron both turned startled eyes on Carstares who smiled benignly. “LensBaron, there is another reason your timing was off. You see, even if we had known of your interest in having a Starblower factory in your fair city we would have still placed it in Norway.”

  The LensBaron’s expression went from confusion to full blown anger in a matter of seconds. He opened his mouth to speak but was forestalled by Carstares who held up his hand.

  “Please Sir, allow me to further explain. You see there are quite a few of us British who wish to invest in the Scandinavian...’states’. I agreed to be the first to test the waters as it were. We decided as a group that Carl the Fourth, the King of the united Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway would probably be our biggest hurdle.”

  “Well obviously he wasn’t.” Gyldenfelt replied acidly.

  “Well more than you might have thought good Sir.” Carstares let out a loud, long sigh and theatrically shook his head in sorrow. “What my fellow investors and I discovered is that the way things are set up now it is probably not worth investing in Scandanavia despite how much the trade would do for the people and the profits.”

  The LensBaron did not deign to reply, instead he crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at Carstares, silently demanding further explanation.

  “Given the nature of recent events it seemed to me and my fellows that a sad but nonetheless undeniable truth is that not all of the great nations of Europe have been blessed with a monarch as prudent and decisive as our own dear Queen. Fortunately for some, they do have noble individuals who act as...captains of the body politic, if you will. They grant stabilising council, nay, leadership, to their monarchs in these turbulent times.” Carstares paused for effect and to gauge Gyldenfeldt’s reaction, which was less than
encouraging. Never the less he continued on.

  “I am coming to see, my dear Bodil, that you may indeed be the man for your people in that regard. A fact I had not appreciated when making my initial offer in Norway. At the time it seemed but prudent to deal with the consolidated states of Norway and Sweden, but perhaps in that I was in error. Our recent visit highlighted some shall we say disquiet among the Norwegians, some lingering doubts caused by King Charles’s noble but rashly executed promise to aid the Danish a few years ago during the Prussian Invasion.”

  Gyldenfeldt bristled. “King Charles was foremost in offering aid to repulse the German adventurism and illegal seizure of our lands, Sir! What exactly do you imply here?”

  Carstares held the irate man’s eye cooly. “Only that had the governments of Scandinavia had a sound and loyal political leader, then his majesty’s offer of aid could have arrived in a more timely fashion when your member state so clearly needed it, Sir. That is my implication, which is not short of the truth. LensBaron, you are needed by your people, and if not you, another like you with your vision and decisiveness.”

  Carstares relaxed back in his chair with a sigh. “Honor must have careful support or else the valor of brave men will be wasted. Organization Bodil, that is what led to the defeat of six years ago. Not lack of heart or courage.” Carstares risked a brief smile at the suddenly more thoughtful nobleman. “Basically a good business sense if y’ prefer Bodil. That’s something I know well!”

  “And organization is something that even I cannot argue the Prussians have in great supply” Gyldenfeldt remarked ruefully. All of them could see that he was weighing Carstares’ words thoughtfully. “So you and your ‘friends’ simply decided to back the apparent biggest side then Phineas?”