Dennis Wheatley - The Sultan's Daughter

As soon as he woke, he went in to her again, to find her sleeping; but the doctor, who had arrived on his morning visit, said that all hopes for her recovery now depended entirely on her not having another relapse, for her powers of resistance were still so low that she would die of it from sheer exhaustion.

At ten o'clock she was still asleep and Roger had to tear himself away from her bedside to set out for London. His sleep and a good breakfast had restored his strength to some extent, but the events of the past week had put so great a strain upon him that he was far from being himself; so, still a prey to acute anxiety, he decided that, instead of riding, he would drive up in Colonel Thursby's coach.

When he arrived at the Foreign Office, there was a message for him that he was to go to No. 10 Downing Street at four o'clock. It was cold and miserable and he had two hours to kill. First he went to Amesbury House in Arlington Street, but his old friend ' Droopy Ned' was not at home. Feeling that he could not face talking to people at his club, instead of going to White's he had a meal in a chop-house. He then spent three-quarters of an hour in Westminster Abbey, praying that Georgina might live.

At four o'clock he was shown up to the Prime Minister's room on the first floor of No. 10. Tall, lean, grey, his face more lined than ever with care, Mr. Pitt was sitting at his desk. Lord Grenville was with him. As Roger entered they both rose and shook him warmly by the hand then, waving him to a chair, the Prime Minister said:

'You have been long away, Mr. Brook, but far from idle as we know. Admiral Nelson wrote twice, commending you most highly for having obtained two of General Bonaparte's despatches for him, and the detailed report of the situation in Egypt that you sent back to me has proved most valuable. But clearly you have been anything but successful in carrying out my wish with regard to Bonaparte. It seems that the cards were stacked against you, and that you might bring about his ruin was too much to expect. At all events he is now firmly in the saddle.'

Roger frowned. 'You surprise me, sir, in harking back to that.' 'Why should I not, seeing that the man has just achieved a position in which he has the power to do this country far greater damage than before? '

'The power, yes; but . . . sir, I do not understand. Your instructions were given to me near two years ago. Since then there have been new developments. The situation has become entirely different. I have never yet deceived you about anything, and I will now admit that I aided General Bonaparte to become First Consul.'

'You . . . you mean to tell me that you deliberately acted contrary to my orders? '

'I did,' replied Roger firmly. 'As an Englishman, watching Britain's interests in a foreign land, I have, in the past, more than once used my own judgement. In this case I did so again. In other matters I have been proved wrong. This time what possible grounds can you advance for bringing my judgment into question? But for General Bonaparte's having become First Consul, with M. de Talleyrand as his Foreign Minister, the letters I delivered to my Lord Grenville three days ago would never have been penned. They offer Peace, sir. Peace after eight years of war! And no other Government in France would ever have made this blessed overture to us.'

Mr. Pitt tapped a paper lying in front of him, then put his fingertips together. 'You refer, Mr. Brook, to this letter. That you should have succeeded in having yourself appointed Envoye Extraordinaire to bring it to London fills me with amazement and admiration. But we have had to bear in mind the man by whom it was written. It is clear to me that you have fallen under his spell. Therefore I attach no blame to you for having become one of his partisans. But we, here in London, judge him by his deeds. He is a proved liar, an atheist, a thief, a blackguard of the meanest order. What faith could His Majesty's Government put in protestations of such a man? I am convinced he has sent this letter only to trick us.'

'Then you are wrong! Wrong, utterly wrong! ' Roger burst out. '1 know that he started life as a revolutionary. He may be all you say. But he has other qualities. He is above politics and has only the welfare of France at heart. Apart from a handful of Jacobins, everyone in France longs for peace. General Bonaparte knows that and his most earnest wish is to give it to them. M. de Talleyrand, whom I know well, has ever maintained that no lasting prosperity can come to Britain and France unless they make an accommodation over their differences.'

'Talleyrand,' Grenville cut in. 'That revolting ex-priest, who would sell his own mother for a guinea! His corruption and immortality stink in the nostrils of the whole world.'

'By God, m'Lord, I resent your assessment of him,' Roger cried angrily. 'His morals I'll not seek to defend, but I'd shed my own blood in defence of my opinion that he is the friend of England.'

'Enough, Mr. Brook! ' the Prime Minister broke in. 'It is understandable that you should have conceived a personal attachment to these people while so long resident in France. The standards there are very different from our own. But we must view this matter objectively and, sorry as I am to disappoint you, I fear that the answer you must carry back to France will not please the friends that you have made there.'

'What!' Roger exclaimed, aghast. 'Can you possibly mean that you are unwilling to enter into negotiations? '

Grenville had taken a paper from his pocket and he said, 'Here is the answer to Bonaparte's letter which we wish you to carry back.' Then he read:

Lord Grenville in reply to the Minister of Foreign Relations in

Paris.

Sir,

/ have read and laid before the King the two letters you have transmitted to me; and His Majesty, seeing no reason to depart from those forms which have long been established in Europe for transacting business with foreign States, has commanded me to return, in his name, the official answer which I send you herewith enclosed.

Then he added, 'The answer is, of course, that Talleyrand's memorandum of basic requirements is not one upon which we should be prepared to treat.'

'Depart from forms long established! ' Roger quoted angrily. 'Sir! My Lord! Can you not realize that we have entered a new age. What matter forms if only we can prevent the war going on and save the lives of a million men? I beg you! I beg you on my knees to reconsider this.'

Mr. Pitt shook his head. 'Nay, Mr. Brook. I realize that your intentions are of the best; but reconsideration is out of the question. His Majesty and the Cabinet are agreed that we might have given the Corsican upstart a chance to prove his sincerity, but for one stipulation. In Talleyrand's memorandum it is stated clearly that France could not agree to King Charles Emmanuel's receiving back his Piedmontese dominions, whereas we have promised to restore him to his throne in Turin.'

'What! ' Roger exclaimed, 'and he not even Britain's ally in an effective sense! Can you possibly mean that to restore this petty Italian Prince you would deny Peace to the whole of Europe? '

The Prime Minister drew himself up and said haughtily, 'Mr. Brook, you know well that I have ever desired Peace with my whole heart. But the honour of our country must come before all other consideration, and it is pledged to King Charles Emmanuel.'

'Just as it was pledged to Austria about the restoration of her Belgian lands,' Roger said with an angry sneer. 'Had you been willing three years ago to let the French continue in occupation of them, we could have had Peace then. But, no! And with what result A year later, the Austrians went behind your back and gave them up in exchange for the territories of Venice.'