Part 34 (1/2)
”You trust such a man?”
”Unaccountably, irrationally, inadvisably, I do. I am his father confessor. He is my disciple and bodyguard. It is another conversation for another day-”
”Touche.”
”This fellow has made inquiries. He has found evidence that the order to hunt me down was despatched to Ed Teach from London from London.”
”I did not think pirates took orders from London.”
”Oh, on the contrary, it is an ancient, celebrated practice.”
”So by combining these data data you have settled upon a hypothesis that some spy you have settled upon a hypothesis that some spy here here became aware of the letter that her royal highness sent to you via Enoch Root; that this spy sent word to an important Jacobite in London; who then sent a despatch to Ed Teach off the coast of Ma.s.sachusetts, using some London Black-guard as his Mercury.” became aware of the letter that her royal highness sent to you via Enoch Root; that this spy sent word to an important Jacobite in London; who then sent a despatch to Ed Teach off the coast of Ma.s.sachusetts, using some London Black-guard as his Mercury.”
”That is my hypothesis, admirably stated.”
”It is a good one. I have one question only.”
”Yes?”
”Why are we walking down the Herrenhauser Allee in the wee hours of the morning?”
”What, the sun's been up for hours!”
”My question still stands.”
”Do you know why I came to Hanover?”
”Certainly not for the funeral, as Sophie was alive when you got here. If memory serves, you were a part of the delegation that brought Sophie the letter that is said to have killed her.”
”I haven't heard anyone say that!”
”Its contents are said to have been so vexatious as to have struck the Electress dead on the spot.”
”The Viscount Bolingbroke is known to have a genius for such word-play,” Daniel mused, ”and he probably penned it. But it is neither here nor there. Yes, I was included in the delegation, as a token Whig. No doubt you have already met my Tory counterparts.”
”I have endured that honor. Again, why are we walking down the Herrenhauser Allee at this time?”
”It occurred to me, on the journey hither from London, that if the Jacobites did did have a spy in Hanover, why then my Tory companions would make every effort to arrange a tryst with him, or her. So I have been alert since we arrived-while spreading the rumor, and fostering the illusion, that I was senile, and deaf to boot. Yester evening, at dinner, I heard two of the Tories asking questions of a minor Hanoverian n.o.ble: what is that park that extends from the Herrenhauser Allee north and west to the banks of the Leine? Is it solid ground, or marsh? Are there any notable landmarks, such as great trees or-” have a spy in Hanover, why then my Tory companions would make every effort to arrange a tryst with him, or her. So I have been alert since we arrived-while spreading the rumor, and fostering the illusion, that I was senile, and deaf to boot. Yester evening, at dinner, I heard two of the Tories asking questions of a minor Hanoverian n.o.ble: what is that park that extends from the Herrenhauser Allee north and west to the banks of the Leine? Is it solid ground, or marsh? Are there any notable landmarks, such as great trees or-”
”There is a n.o.ble oak-tree just ahead and to the right,” Johann remarked.
”I know there is, for that's just what this Hanoverian said.”
”So you guessed that they were arranging a spy-tryst, and needed to choose a place. But how did you settle upon such a horrid time of day?”
”The entire delegation shall attend the funeral. Immediately after, we depart for London. This was the only possible time.”
”I hope you are right.”
”I know I am.”
”How do you know it?” do you know it?”
”I left word with the servants that I wanted to be awakened at the same time as the other Englishmen. A servant woke me up at dawn.”
With that Daniel Waterhouse cut sharply in front of Johann von Hacklheber, forcing the younger man to shorten his stride. Daniel stepped off the central road of the Allee and pa.s.sed between two of the lime trees that screened it from the narrower paths to either side. Johann followed him; and as he did, he glanced down the length of the road and saw a lone man on horseback approaching from the direction of Hanover.
Daniel had already hiked off into the adjoining park and found a winding lead between shrubs and trees. Johann followed him for a minute or so, until his peripheral vision was darkened by the crown of an enormous oak. In the distance he could hear voices conversing, not in German. It struck his ear rather like a sheet of tin being wobbled.
He nearly tripped over Daniel, who had squatted down behind a bush. Johann followed his example, and then his gaze. Gathered a stone's throw away beneath the spreading limbs of the oak, and looking for all the world like artists' models posing for a pastoral scene, were three of the English Tories who had come with Daniel from London.
”Sir, my admiration for your work is mingled with wonder that a man of your age and dignity is out doing things like this.”
Daniel turned to look him in the eye; and his creased face was grave and calm in the morning light. He looked nothing like the daft codger who had come to dinner yesterday evening and embarra.s.sed the other English by dribbling wine down his s.h.i.+rt-front.
”Listen to me. I did not wish to be summoned by your Princess. Summoned, I did not wish to come. But having been summoned, and having come, I mean to give a good account of myself. That's how I was taught by my father, and the men of his age who slew Kings and swept away not merely Governments but whole Systems of Thought, like Khans of the Mind. I would have my son in Boston know of my doings, and be proud of them, and carry my ways forward to another generation on another continent. Any opponent who does not know this about me, stands at a grave disadvantage; a disadvantage I am not above profiting from.”
It was then that the hoof-beats out on the road turned into soft thuds as the lone rider from Hanover drove his mount off the beaten track and into the park. He was headed directly for the oak. At a glance they could see he was richly attired, hence, probably had begun his ride in the Leine Schlo. On a second look Johann recognized him. He crouched down lower and spoke into Daniel's ear: ”That is the Englishman-supposedly a staunch Whig-Harold Braithwaite.”
”IT SEEMS SO OBVIOUS in retrospect,” Johann lamented, a quarter of an hour later, after they had stolen back through the park to the Allee, and begun walking back toward Herrenhausen Palace. in retrospect,” Johann lamented, a quarter of an hour later, after they had stolen back through the park to the Allee, and begun walking back toward Herrenhausen Palace.
”Great discoveries always do,” Daniel said, and shrugged. ”Ask me some day how I feel about the Inverse Square Law.”
”He and his wife came here, what, five years ago, just as things began to go awry for the Whig Juncto. Oxford and Bolingbroke were plotting the Tory resurgence, getting the Queen's ear-as I recall, there had been a run on the Bank of England, occasioned by rumors of a Jacobite uprising in Scotland.”
”Is that what Braithwaite said when he showed up here penniless? That he'd been ruined in the bank run?”
”He mentioned that the Mobb had rioted against the Bank.”
”That it did. But this has little to do with Braithwaite. He is the sort of Englishman who is exported with great enthusiasm by his countrymen.”
”There were were rumors-” rumors-”
”Just enough, I am certain, to make him out as a saucy picaroon, and get him invited to dinner.”
”Indeed.”
”The true story is depressingly familiar. He spent his inheritance gambling. Then he became a highwayman-not a very good one, for on his first outing he scuffled with one of his victims, and gashed him with a cutla.s.s. The wound suppurated, the victim died, the victim's family-Tories, who had money-posted a reward so high that every thief-taker in London cleared his calendar. Braithwaite fled the Isle, perhaps the only prudent thing he has ever done.”
”He painted himself as an arch-Whig.”
”In that there was some truth, for his oppressors were Tories. But he has no principles whatever.”
”That much is now proved. But why would such a man act as a spy for the Tory Lords?”
”His legal situation is awkward. This means he might benefit enormously from some adroit manipulation of certain affairs in London. He must make his peace with whatever Faction has the power to a.s.sist him; behold, the Whigs are out, and the Tories are in.”