Andrew Pepper - The Revenge of Captain Paine

‘What was it in the letters Johnny stole that’s whipped everyone up into a frenzy?’

Kate sat up, pulled two crumpled letters from under her bodice and handed them to Pyke. When he’d finished reading them, he looked at her and whistled but didn’t hand them back. Briefly he wondered whether Kate realised just how explosive the revelations would be if they were ever made public.

The first letter was written by the princess’s mother, Victoria, Duchess of Kent, to Conroy. It was dated the twenty-ninth of August 1818. In the letter, she rhapsodised about Conroy’s visit to the Saxe-Coburg home she shared with her husband, Edward, the Duke of York, and her ‘ardent’ hopes that Conroy would be appointed as her husband’s private equerry. In florid language, the duchess had recounted some of the more intimate details of Conroy’s visit, happily remembering details of their ‘passionate’ exchanges and making explicit references to Edward’s ‘inadequacies’ and the fact they hadn’t ‘enjoyed proper marital relations’ for four or five years. But the second letter was the real fox in the henhouse. This one was much briefer and was seemingly written in response to something Conroy had written. It simply said, ‘In answer to your question, my darling, I can only say yes, she is yours. But I’m sure I don’t need to impress on you the importance of never, ever speaking again of this matter so long as we both may live.’ The second letter was dated the twenty-sixth of May 1819.

Pyke looked at Helen and Kate and said, ‘And the princess was born on the twenty-fifth of May?’

‘The twenty-fourth,’ Helen said, in a tone that suggested she’d read the letters, too, and knew.

‘Even if it’s not definitive proof,’ Pyke said, ‘a man like Cumberland would seize hold of this and never let it go. He’s like a dog with a bone that way.’

Cumberland, who was next in line to the throne; Cumberland, who had kidnapped Emily and Felix…

‘It isn’t ever going to go away, is it?’ Kate asked, staring glumly at her little sister. Milly gave her a supportive hug.

‘Not unless you allow me to do something with this.’ He held up the second letter and briefly wondered why Conroy hadn’t destroyed it; perhaps he’d kept it to use for his own purpose at some future point.

‘Make it public?’ Kate seemed aghast and Helen stepped in and said, ‘ Never. I’ll not allow the princess to be hurt.’

Pyke gave them both a hard stare. ‘Listen, I want Cumberland to be our next king even less than you do, but in order to be able to make this problem go away, I’m going to need two things. The letters…’

‘And?’ Helen and Kate said at the same time.

‘An audience with the princess.’ Among other things, he needed to ask her about royal seals.

‘You’re planning to tell her about this?’ Helen said, appalled.

Pyke shook his head. ‘But I need to see her, for her own good, if nothing else.’

‘Conroy won’t sanction it.’

‘Allow me to worry about the comptroller,’ he said, wondering whether the replacement carriage had yet returned to Ramsgate with the stranded passengers.

‘Lehzen would never allow it, either. She’s very, very protective of the princess.’

‘I’m not planning to ask her permission.’

‘You mean you’re just going to barge into the princess’s room?’

He looked at the lady of the bedchamber and smiled. ‘That’s where you’re going to help me.’

In the darkness Pyke moved carefully around the dressing table, taking care not to disturb the yellow chintz curtains, and approached the four-poster bed where the princess lay under a Marseilles quilt. A sharp intake of breath was quickly followed by her sudden move bolt upright. ‘Who’s there?’ a small, timid voice asked. ‘Is that you, Lehzen?’ The sixteen-year-old princess was sitting up in the bed, her pinched cheeks and pointy chin just about visible in the gloom.

‘Don’t be alarmed and above all don’t shout for help. My name’s Pyke. I come as a friend. I have information about Sir John Conroy I know you’ll want to hear.’ He spoke quietly but firmly and stood at the end of the bed, not daring or wanting to get any closer to her.

There was a long pause, neither of them moving at all, and Pyke prepared himself for a scream or a cry for help.

It didn’t come.

‘Rest assured, sir, that if you come any closer or attempt to hurt or even touch me in any way I will scream as loudly as I can and within seconds there will sufficient bodies in this room to restrain you. Is that quite clear?’

‘Yes.’

‘Please continue.’ Pyke could hear the tension in her voice but she didn’t sound panicked.

‘Do you remember a female servant called Kate Sutton who worked in the kitchen at Kensington Palace and came with you here to Ramsgate?’

The princess sat forward in her bed. ‘Yes, I do. I was sorry to hear that she left her post. She was a sweet thing.’

A moment’s silence passed between them. ‘Do you know why she left?’

She laughed gently. ‘I’m afraid I’m never told about such matters.’

‘She was put in fear for her life because she saw something in the kitchen,’ Pyke whispered, taking a step closer to the bed.

‘Come closer, sir. I can’t hear you properly.’ Victoria pointed to a chair. ‘Sit down and tell me about the young girl.’

‘She saw Sir John Conroy introducing something into your food.’ He paused for a moment, to allow the information to be absorbed, and then sat down on the chair. ‘A small dose of arsenic perhaps.’ Up close, he saw that the skin was hanging off her cheekbones and her head was almost entirely bald, just a few wisps remaining at the back and the sides.

‘You’re suggesting Conroy has been trying to poison me?’ There was incredulity in her voice.

‘Fortunately for you, Kate informed your lady of the bedchamber, Helen Milner-Gibson, who in turn told Lehzen. For the last few months, I’m told, Lehzen has overseen the preparation and delivery of all your meals.’

This seemed to intrigue her. ‘I’ve been wondering why Lehzen has shown such an interest in what I eat.’ She paused for a moment, to digest this news. ‘You say Helen M-G is a friend? I always thought she’d been chosen for the post by Conroy to spy on me.’ The princess laughed and became self-conscious, trying to arrange her few remaining locks of hair. ‘It was falling out due to my illness. Lehzen cut the rest of it off but she assures me it’ll grow back.’

Pyke watched her for a while and decided that she reminded him of Felix; they were both frail, both prone to illness and both isolated from the world. ‘Perhaps whatever Conroy put in your food contributed to your illness.’

‘Dr Clark said I’d contracted some kind of fever.’

‘And was Dr Clark brought here to look after you by Conroy?’

The princess was silent while she considered what he’d told her. ‘Just before I got sick,’ she said, eventually, ‘I had a visit from my beloved uncle, Leopold, and his darling wife, Louise. I asked how I should go about preparing to be queen. He told me to beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing.’

‘And you think he was referring to Conroy?’

‘Perhaps.’ She shrugged. ‘Uncle Leopold didn’t mention anyone in particular. But I do know Conroy dislikes me. He thinks I’m sickly, spoiled, girlish, prone to whims and flights of fancy, frivolous and intellectually younger than my years.’ She spoke as if she were quoting him.

‘Should I assume that the antipathy is mutual?’

That drew a slight giggle. ‘Perhaps, but I’m afraid my mother adores him and in case you haven’t noticed I’m a minor.’ She paused for a moment to rearrange her pillows. ‘But he also needs me. I should add that he calls me those things merely to press my mother’s case for a regency, even if the King lives until I come of age.’