Part 3 (1/2)
”Indeed, sir.”
”Sir David himself finds the task rather daunting and suspects he will not accomplish it before Reginald's wedding day.”
”Indeed, sir.”
”The point is, Stevens, I'm terribly busy. Sir David should know that, but he's asked me none the less.” His lords.h.i.+p paused and went on studying his page.
”Do I understand, sir,” I said, ”that you wish me to convey the information to the young gentleman?”
”If you don't mind, Stevens. Be an awful lot off my mind. Sir David continues to ask me every couple of hours if I've done it yet.”
”I see, sir. It must be most trying under the present pressures.”
”Of course, this is far beyond the call of duty, Stevens.”
”I will do my best, sir. I may, however, have difficulty finding the appropriate moment to convey such information.”
”I'd be very grateful if you'd even try, Stevens.
Awfully decent of you. Look here, there's no need to make a song and dance of it. Just convey the basic facts and be done with it. Simple approach is the best, that's my advice, Stevens.”
”Yes, sir. I shall do my best.”
”Jolly grateful to you, Stevens. Let me know how you get on.” I was, as you might imagine, a little taken aback by this request -and ordinarily the matter might have been one I would have spent some time pondering. Coming upon me as it did, however, in the midst of such a busy period, I could not afford to let it preoccupy me unduly, and I thus decided I should resolve it at the earliest opportunity. As I recall, then, it was only an hour or so after being first entrusted with the mission that I noticed the young Mr Cardinal alone in the library, sitting at one of the writing tables, absorbed in some doc.u.ments. On studying the young gentleman closely, one could, as it were, appreciate the difficulty experienced by his lords.h.i.+p - and indeed, by the young gentleman's father. My employer's G.o.dson looked an earnest, scholarly young man, and one could see many fine qualities in his features; yet given the topic one wished to raise, one would have certainly preferred a lighter-hearted, even a more frivolous sort of young gentleman. In any case, resolved to bring the whole matter to a satisfactory conclusion as quickly as possible, I proceeded further into the library, and stopping a little way from Mr Cardinal's writing desk, gave a cough.
”Excuse me, sir, but I have a message to convey to you.”
”Oh, really?” Mr Cardinal said eagerly, looking up from his papers.
”From Father?”
”Yes, sir. That is, effectively.”
”Just a minute.”
The young gentleman reached down into the attache case at his feet and brought out a notebook and pencil. ”Fire away, Stevens.”
I coughed again and set my voice into as impersonal a tone as I could manage.
”Sir David wishes you to know, sir, that ladies and gentlemen differ in several key respects.”
I must have paused a little to form my next phrase, for Mr Cardinal gave a sigh and said: ”I'm only too aware of that, Stevens. Would you mind coming to the point?”
”You are aware, sir?”
”Father is perpetually underestimating me. I've done extensive reading and background work on this whole area.”
”Is that so, sir?”
”I've thought about virtually nothing else for the past month.”
”Really, sir. In that case, perhaps my message is rather redundant.”
”You can a.s.sure Father I'm very well briefed indeed. This attache case” - he nudged it with his foot - ”is chock-full of notes on every possible angle one can imagine.”
”Is that so, sir?”
”I really think I've thought through every permutation the human mind is capable of. I wish you'd rea.s.sure Father of that.”
”I will, sir.”
Mr Cardinal seemed to relax a little. He prodded once more his attache case - which I felt inclined to keep my eyes averted from - and said: ”I suppose you've been wondering why I never let go of this case. Well, now you know. Imagine if the wrong person opened it.”
”That would be most awkward, sir.”
”That is, of course,” he said, sitting up again suddenly, ”unless Father has come up with an entirely new factor he wants me to think about.”
”I cannot imagine he has, sir.”
”No? Nothing more on this Dupont fellow?”
”I fear not, sir.”
I did my best not to give away anything of my exasperation on discovering that a task I had thought all but behind me was in fact still there una.s.saulted before me.' I believe I was collecting my thoughts for a renewed effort when the young gentleman suddenly rose to his feet, and clutching his attache case to his person, said: ”Well, I think I'll go and take a little fresh air. Thanks for your help, Stevens.” It had been my intention to seek out a further interview with Mr Cardinal with minimum delay, but this proved to be impossible, owing largely to the arrival that same afternoon - some two days earlier than expected - of Mr Lewis, the American senator. I had been down in my pantry working through the supplies sheets, when I had heard somewhere above my head the unmistakable sounds of motor cars pulling up in the courtyard. As I hastened to go upstairs, I happened to encounter Miss Kenton in the back corridor - the scene, of course, of our last disagreement - and it was perhaps this unhappy coincidence that encouraged her to maintain the childish behaviour she had adopted on that previous occasion. For when I inquired who it was that had arrived, Miss Kenton continued past me, stating simply: ”A message if it is urgent, Mr Stevens.” This was extremely annoying, but, of course, I had no choice but to hurry on upstairs.
My recollection of Mr Lewis is that of a gentleman of generous dimensions with a genial smile that rarely left his face. His early arrival was clearly something of an inconvenience to his lords.h.i.+p and his colleagues who had reckoned on a day or two more of privacy for their preparations. However, Mr Lewis's engagingly informal manner, and his statement at dinner that the United States ”would always stand on the side of justice and didn't mind admitting mistakes had been made at Versailles” seemed to do much to win the confidence of his lords.h.i.+p's 'home team'; as dinner progressed, the conversation had slowly but surely turned from topics such as the merits of Mr Lewis's native Pennsylvania back to the conference ahead, and by the time the gentlemen were lighting their cigars, some of the speculations being offered appeared to be as intimate as those exchanged prior to Mr Lewis's arrival. At one point, Mr Lewis said to the company: ”I agree with you, gentlemen, our M. Dupont can be very unpredictable. But let me tell you, there's one thing you can bet on about him. One thing you can bet on for sure.” He leaned forward and waved his cigar for emphasis. ”Dupont hates Germans. He hated them before the war and he hates them now with a depth you gentlemen here would find hard to understand.” With that, Mr Lewis sat back in his chair again, the genial smile returning fully to his face. ”But tell me, gentlemen,” he continued, ”you can hardly blame a Frenchman for hating the Germans, can you? After all, a Frenchman has good cause to do so, hasn't he?” There was a moment of slight awkwardness as Mr Lewis glanced around the table. Then Lord Darlington said: ”Naturally, some bitterness is inevitable. But then, of course, we English also fought the Germans long and hard.”
”But the difference with you Englishmen”, Mr Lewis said, seems to be-that you don't really hate the Germans any more. But the way the French see it, the Germans destroyed civilization here in Europe and no punishment is too bad for them. Of course, that looks an impractical kind of position to us in the United States, but what's always puzzled me is how you English don't seem to share the view of the French. After all, like you say, Britain lost a lot in that war too.” There was another awkward pause before Sir David said, rather uncertainly: ”We English have often had a different way of looking at such things from the French, Mr Lewis.” might say.” Mr Lewis's smile seemed to broaden slightly as he said this. He nodded to himself, as though many things had now become clear to him, and drew on his cigar. It is possible this is . a case of hindsight colouring my memory, but I have a distinct feeling that it was at that moment I first sensed something odd, something duplicitous perhaps, about this apparently charming American gentleman. But if my own suspicions were aroused at that moment, Lord Darlington evidently did not share them. For after another second or two of awkward silence, his lords.h.i.+p seemed to come to a decision.
”Mr Lewis,” he said, ”let me put it frankly.
Most of us in England find the present French att.i.tude despicable. You may indeed call it a temperamental difference, but I venture we are talking about something rather more. It is unbecoming to go on hating an enemy like this once a conflict is over. Once you've got a man on the canvas, that ought to be the end of it. You don't then proceed to kick him. To us, the French behaviour has become increasingly barbarous. ”
This utterance seemed to give Mr Lewis some satisfaction. He muttered something in sympathy and smiled with contentment at his fellow diners through the clouds of tobacco smoke by now hanging thickly across the table.
The next morning brought more early arrivals; namely, the two ladies from Germany - who had travelled together despite what one would have imagined to have been the great contrast in their backgrounds - bringing with them a large team of ladies-in-waiting and footmen, as well as a great many trunks. Then in the afternoon, an Italian gentleman arrived accompanied by a valet, a secretary, an 'expert' and two bodyguards. I cannot imagine what sort of place this gentleman imagined he was coming to in bringing the latter, but I must say it struck something of an odd note to see in Darlington Hall these two large silent men staring suspiciously in all directions a few yards from wherever the Italian gentleman happened to be. Incidentally, the working pattern of these bodyguards, so it transpired over the following days, entailed one or the other of them going up to sleep at unusual hours so as to ensure at least one was on duty throughout the night. But when on first hearing of this arrangement I tried to inform Miss Kenton of it, she once again refused to converse with me, and in order to accomplish matters as quickly as possible I was actually obliged to write a note and put it under the door of her parlour.
The following day brought several more guests and with two days yet to go to the start of the conference, Darlington Hall was filled with people of all nationalities, talking in rooms, or else standing around, apparently aimlessly, in the hall, in corridors and on landings, examining pictures or objects. The guests were never less than courteous to one another, but for all that, a rather tense atmosphere, characterized largely by distrust, seemed to prevail at this stage. And reflecting this unease, the visiting valets and footmen appeared to regard one another with marked coldness and my own staff were rather glad to be too busy to spend much time with them.
It was around this point, in the midst of dealing with the many demands being made on my attention, that I happened to glance out of a window and spotted the figure of the young Mr Cardinal taking some fresh air around the grounds. He was clutching his attache case as usual and I could see he was strolling slowly along the path that runs the outer perimeter of the lawn, deeply absorbed in thought. I was of course reminded of my mission regarding the young gentleman and it occurred to me that an outdoor setting, with the general proximity of nature, and in particular the example of the geese close at hand, would not be an unsuitable setting at all in which to convey the sort of message I was bearing. I could see, moreover, that if I were quickly to go outside and conceal my person behind the large rhododendron bush beside the path, it would not be long before Mr Cardinal came by. I would then be able to emerge and convey my message to him. It was not, admittedly, the most subtle of strategies, but you will appreciate that this particular task, though no doubt important in its way, hardly took the highest priority at that moment. There was a light frost covering the ground and much of the foliage, but it was a mild day for that time of the year. I crossed the gra.s.s quickly, placed my person behind the bush, and before long heard Mr Cardinal's footsteps approaching. Unfortunately, I misjudged slightly the timing of my emergence. I had intended to emerge while Mr Cardinal was still a reasonable distance away, so that he would see me in good time and suppose I was on my way to the summerhouse, or perhaps to the gardener's lodge. I could then have pretended to notice him for the first time and have engaged him in conversation in an impromptu manner. As it happened, I emerged a little late and I fear I rather startled the young gentleman, who immediately pulled his attache case away from me and clutched it to his chest with both arms.
”I'm very sorry, sir.”
”My goodness - Stevens. You gave me a shock.
I thought things were hotting up a bit there.”
”I'm very sorry, sir. But as it happens I have something to convey to you.”
”My goodness yes, you gave me quite a fright.”