Dennis Wheatley - The wanton princess

Canning took him up quickly, 'Could we persuade them to act, sir, our whole position would be saved. I am told that his Heir Apparent, the Grand Duke Alexander, is a most sen­sible young man: healthy, sane and, having been brought up by a Swiss tutor, liberal-minded, yet most opposed to Bonaparte and his revolutionary precepts with which he indoctrinates the people of other countries that he cither conquers or become associated with.'

They all discussed the matter for some while, then the Prime Minister said to Roger:

'Mr. Brook. I appreciate that you have now become averse to acting against Bonaparte's interests in any other than matters that may menace the security of your own country. But by reporting his intentions against India to me, you have entirely regained my confidence. This matter of the Czar is a thing apart from any feelings you may have for your friends in France. Time and again you have shown yourself to be an extraordinarily able secret agent. Will you not now consider travelling to Russia on our behalf, make an attempt to rally the forces in opposition to the Czar, and endeavour to con­cert measures which will prevent him from joining Bonaparte against us?'

Roger considered for some minutes. In order to avoid being sent to India he must keep out of Paris for some months to come. He would soon start his liaison with Geor­gina again, but that would last only a few weeks and then there would be nothing to keep him in England. On the other hand, apart from the misfortune of incurring the displeasure of the Empress Catherine, he had much enjoyed his stay in St. Petersburg in '88. To spend a month or two in the Russian capital seemed an admirable way of filling in his time, and it would be intriguing to initiate a conspiracy with the object of rendering the mad Czar harmless. At length he said:

'Why not, sir? If I can succeed in serving my country and yourself in this way, I should be happy to do so.'

So the die was cast. Georgina arrived in London on January 4th and for a fortnight they took their old joy of one another. During this time Roger paid a visit to Vorontzoff at his fine mansion in St. John's Wood, which had for many years been the Russian Embassy. To the Ambassador Roger made no secret about the purpose of the mission upon which he was being sent. In duty bound Vorontzoff refrained from formally expressing his approval of it. Nevertheless, he fur­nished Roger with letters of introduction to a number of people who he thought might prove useful to him, and gave him much valuable information about the Court of St. Peters­burg.

A few days later he spent an hour with Lord Grenville, who briefed him on what had been occurring in the Northern capitals. It had been towards the end of August that the Czar's mounting antagonism towards Britain had culminated in his inviting the monarchs of Prussia, Sweden and Denmark to revive with him the League of Armed Neutrality, and in November he had arbitrarily placed an embargo on all British vessels in Russian ports. As the sea trade of both Sweden and Denmark had suffered severely from the restrictions imposed upon it by Britain, the young Gustavus IV of Sweden had given Paul his enthusiastic support, while in Denmark the peace-loving but ailing King Christian VII had been over­ruled by the pro-Russian Prince Royal and his Minister Bernstorff. The cautious and vacillating Frederick William of Prussia was still sitting on the fence but it was feared that he would soon join the others.

Between them these Powers could muster a Fleet of forty-one ships of the Line, and the British Navy was already severely stretched in the Channel, the Mediterranean and the West Indies. Should it also have to engage the Northern Fleet there would not be enough ships to continue the blockade of France. That might well result in Bonaparte's invading England: so the importance of Roger's mission could not be overstresscd.

They then discussed possible concessions that Britain might offer to induce Russia to retire from the League should another government replace that of Paul I. Finally, the Foreign Secretary furnished Roger with a Lettre de Marque to show as his credential should he find it possible to initiate negotiations.

On January 18th he took a loving farewell of Georgina and that night embarked in a ship that was about to sail from London to Bremen, as the first stage of his long journey to St. Petersburg.

8

The Mad Czar

Considering the time of year, Roger was lucky in the weather for his crossing of the North Sea, and four days later he landed at the Free Port of Bremen. As the city lay in the middle of Hanover and that country still was a part of the dominions of the British Crown, he received every facility for continuing his journey without delay. After covering the hundred miles to Lubeck in a coach he had to waste two days before he could get a ship that was sailing up the Baltic and, when he did, she had not been long at sea before he was regretting that he had not gone by coach via Berlin and Warsaw. But over icy roads in mid-winter the twelve hundred mile journey might have taken him anything up to six weeks.

The cold was bitter, even the furs he had bought in Bremen could not protect him for long from the icy, knife-like winds, his cabin was little more than a cupboard, and the food so revolting that, had he not brought aboard supplies of his own, he would almost have preferred to starve. But the weather might have been much worse; so he was sea-sick only on two days, and the brig landed him at Riga on her tenth day out.

Ice floes would have made it too dangerous for her to proceed further north at that season, and St. Petersburg itself would remain ice-bound for at least several weeks to come. At Riga he hired a troika and, drawn by three powerful horses, proceeded on his way. The posting service proved reasonably adequate but the inns at which he had to spend the nights were atrocious.

The nobility always sent couriers ahead to make special arrangements for them and travelled with their own mattres­ses and other furniture. Lacking these amenities, Roger had usually to share a room with several people of both sexes, there was no linen and the sparse furnishings were always riddled with bed-bugs. After suffering stoically for a further eight days, he entered the Russian capital on the afternoon of February 12th.

During his earlier stay there he had found an excellent friend in the Reverend William Tooke, then the chaplain of the English 'Factory'—as was called a large enclosed area in which stood the warehouses of the British merchants trading regularly with Russia. Making his way to the docks, Roger enquired at the gate for the Reverend William, only to learn that nine years before he had come into a considerable for­tune and had returned to England to enjoy it. However," his successor, the Reverend James Peabody, received Roger kindly, said how agreeable it would be to have news from home and offered to put aim up until he could find suitable accommodation.

Roger did not, of course, disclose to the Reverend James the purpose that lay behind his coming to St Petersburg, but said that he found his greatest pleasure in travel, had enough money to indulge his taste and not having been in Russia for twelve years had decided to pay it a second visit.

The parson shook his head, 'I fear your visit is ill-timed, Mr. Brook. In the Empress Catherine's day. when you were last here, I'm told St. Petersburg was a wondrously gay city; but it is far from being so at present, and for an Englishman particularly so.'

'You mean, sir, that as we no longer enjoy diplomatic representation here I cannot apply to be presented at Court?'

'That, and the fact that you are an Englishman. Owing to the violent prejudice against our country with which the Emperor has been seized this past year, few of the nobility would be willing to give you a welcome in their houses from fear that the Czar should hear of it and vent his displeasure on them. Such is his rancour against us that last August, when he first announced his intention of reviving the League of Armed Neutrality to our detriment, he actually went to the length of seizing the goods in our Factory here and. on a trumped-up pretext, imprisoned a number of British seamen: both acts that any sane Monarch would have been ashamed to perform."