Stephanie Barron - Jane and the Genius of the Place

“But that is incredible,” Neddie cried. “How is half such a sum to be paid?”

“I used the term contribute only loosely, to be sure,” Mr. Emilious replied. “It is the most blatant extortion, at which the fiends of Buonaparte are too sadly adept. But to continue: Spain has failed in its payments for nearly a year, and the French treasury has suffered. There are rumours of bankruptcy, and of an Emperor grown desperate at the cost of power.”

“We have heard those rumours,” I told him.

“Spain offered this year's treasure fleet in payment of its debt. But you may recall, Miss Austen, that we are presently at war with Spain; and that only last summer, a Royal Navy squadron was so daring as to seize the annual shipment from the Americas, to general lamentation in Cadiz. Spain could not sustain such a loss again. The very stability of the Spanish crown must depend upon its fulfillment of Buonaparte's demands.”

“Yes, yes,” I returned impatiently. “But what of Mr. Grey?”

“The Spanish crown approached our Prime Minister, Mr. Pitt. They informed him of the difficulties they faced on every side. They spoke of complicated arrangements. They looked for expressions of good faith. The Government could hardly extend an obvious hand of assistance — no more than it should do on behalf of France. But Mr. Pitt believed that an accommodation might be found.”

“That being?” Neddie enquired. His voice was as taut as a bowstring.

“The result of these delicate negotiations has been that the Spanish treasure was to be transported this year in English vessels commissioned in the Royal Navy. [60] Alan Schom refers to this remarkable instance of intergovernmental cooperation in Trafalgar: Countdown to Battle, 1803–1805 , but the full story behind events is outlined for the first time here. — Editor's note. The money was to be received in Amsterdam, by the House of Hope, which undertook to extend a loan to the French government. Mr. Grey's part in all of this, was to indemnify the British ships, in the event of a loss at sea. A minor role, but a necessary one.”

“The House of Hope has recently refused its loan,” I broke in, puzzled. “You told me yourself that Lord Harold was sent to Amsterdam, as Mr. Pitt's envoy. Has the entire matter gone awry?”

“I believe that it has gone exactly as was intended,” Mr. Emilious replied with satisfaction.

“The treasure ships never arrived,” Neddie concluded.

“They struck a reef not far from these shores, and unfortunately were lost. It is a pity that Mr. Pitt chose to consign the treasure to some of the Navy's oldest vessels; but it cannot be helped. With Mr. Grey's indemnification in hand, the Navy might build several new ships of the line, of course, and hardly see themselves the poorer.”

“Unlike Mr. Grey,” I said, remembering Henry's assessment of his household.

“Oh, you need not concern yourself with Grey , Miss Austen. A grateful Crown will make all possible amends, I am sure.”

“And the treasure?” Neddie asked.

“—Is presumed to have been lost with the ships.” Mr. Emilious Finch-Hatton's gaze was blandly innocent. “How even Lord Harold intends to smooth those troubled waters, I cannot begin to think. But I shall trust, as ever, in his inimitable powers.”

To my surprise, Neddie almost smiled. “And we have this to thank for the preservation of our peace! They may say what they like of the Tory Pitt — drunkard, idiot, enfeebled dotard — but, by God, he is a man of policy! If England stands another year without a Frenchman on her shores, we shall have Pitt to thank!”

“And now I may inform you of a piece of news I received by messenger yesterday morning,” Mr. Emilious said. “The French are reported to be breaking camp at their Channel ports. The mass of armed troops — nearly an hundred thousand men, who have been rotting along the coast for two years — have been ordered to the Empire's eastern borders. It is almost certain that Buonaparte intends war with Austria.” [61] Finch-Hatton had early news of the troop pullout, something we may attribute to George Canning and his Secret Funds. As historian Alan Schom points out in Trafalgar: Countdown to Battle, 1803–1805 , the French government's bankruptcy forced Napoleon to abandon the invasion of England and turn east to Austria, where he believed an easy land campaign would replenish his coffers. His instincts were richly rewarded. The Austrian indemnity alone at the Treaty of Pressburg amounted to forty million francs. — Editor's note.

“Austria!” I cried. “And is the Comte de Penfleur aware of the ruin of his hopes?”

“We must pray that he continues in ignorance a little while longer,” Mr. Emilious replied. “Else he will be gone from these shores before we find sufficient cause to arrest him.”

Neddie consumed the last of his bread, and pushed back his chair from the table. The look of elation had quite fled from his features. “Gratified as I may be by this frank avowal of all your interests,” he told Mr. Emilious, “I rather wonder at your revealing so much. You have exposed Mr. Sothey as an agent of Government; you have declared yourself to be very nearly the same; and you have disclosed not a little of that Government's policy. To what end, sir? The diversion of our interest? For is it not irrefutable, that Mrs. Grey died as a result of your efforts? Something alerted her confederates to the failure of their hopes. I have not forgot the French courier that was seen at her house the very morning of her death— revealing, perhaps, the nature of her betrayal. Am I not charged, Mr. Finch-Hatton, with the pursuit of her murderer, and the resolution of her death?”

There was a heavy silence about the table. Then Mr. Emilious said, “I trust you will comprehend, Mr. Austen, the impenetrable nature of espionage. We may never know for a fact who killed Mrs. Grey. It is probable, however, that she died at the hands of the Comte de Pen-fleur. Certainly he had reason to believe that she had betrayed him; the promised funds failed to arrive, precipitating his own highly perilous journey to these shores; and he may even have suspected that the lady was a victim of her sources.”

“It was for this that I quitted The Larches on Monday,” Mr. Sothey broke in. “I could not be assured of my own safety, did I remain too long in the household. I learned of the Comte's intended arrival from that selfsame courier you would mention, Mr. Austen — and I freely own, I prepared to depart. Mrs. Grey's fury upon learning my intention, precipitated a public attack—”

“The whip, brought down upon your neck,” I murmured.

“—but even still, I cannot think she understood the extent of my subtle use of her. She believed me to the last, a poor idiot employed for her own devices; it was I, she thought, who had urged her husband to receive the Comte de Penfleur's letter, begging that he should indemnify the Royal Navy's ships — when, in fact, it was Mr. Pitt himself, who proposed the plan.”

“I should not like to be Grey,” my brother said suddenly, “does the Comte ever tumble to the truth of what occurred. We must hope, as you said, that he is yet in ignorance of the truth, or Grey's life should not be worth a farthing.” His voice trailed away suddenly, and he stared fixedly at Emilious Finch-Hatton.

“Those were almost your exact words, Mr. Emilious.” I forced the gentleman to meet my gaze. “—That the Comte must be kept in ignorance a little longer. A Comte in doubt as to the state of the funds was all very well — but a Comte who knew the truth, that he had been betrayed by Mr. Grey and England, should stop at nothing! It was for that — the preservation of his ignorance — that Mrs. Grey was killed.”