Roger looked puzzled and far from happy as he said:
'Permit me, Sir, to question your choice of me for this particular mission. I'd need to see the Venetian a number of times to make any worth-while impression on him. Sheridan well knows my political allegiance to yourself, so 'tis certain he would prejudice him against me, and thus doubtful if I would be accorded more than one brief unsatisfactory interview.'
'My choice fell on you largely because I believe you to be in a position to get over that hurdle with ease. You are still staying with the Countess of St. Ermins at her place down in Surrey, are you not?'
'Yes. The loss of my wife in Martinique has made me reluctant to live again as yet in the home we shared at Richmond; so I shall probably continue for some while at Stillwaters, as Lady St. Ermins's guest.'
'Did I not know of your long attachment to her, I should count such an association strange, seeing that she frequently entertains there my worst enemies, but in…"
'Your pardon, Sir,' Roger cut in, his eyes suddenly bright with anger. 'Georgina St. Ermins is a woman of exceptional intelligence as well as beauty; so it is natural that she should cultivate the friendship of gifted men who play a part in the affairs of this and other nations. She is in no way governed by politics, and were you not so averse to going into society she would, I know, be happy to welcome you to her house. As for her patriotism, it is beyond question.'
Mr. Pitt made a little bow. 'I pray you overlook my- inept remark. I knew only that Fox, Sheridan and others of their complexion enjoy her hospitality, and at times make use of her house to show their foreign friends something of the English countryside. It was that which gave me the idea that she is unlikely to refuse a request from you to ask Sheridan to bring Signor Malderini down for a weekend. Such an arrangement would afford you a perfect opportunity for conversations with him.'
'Lady St. Ermins would, I am sure, oblige me,' Roger replied with a shrug. 'But, in my opinion, even if we succeeded in drawing the Venetians in, as allies, you would find them worthless.'
'You speak without having given the matter due thought. The Serene Republic has lasted near a thousand years, so you may be sure that it will not lightly surrender its independence. Its territories have a population of over three million, so they could put a considerable army into the field; and the Croatian levies that they draw from across the Adriatic are said to be exceptionally brave fighters. Look, too, again at the map. The Venetian lands lie right athwart Buonaparte's only line of advance to the Tyrol. All this makes Venice a potential ally that we should now spare no pains to secure. Like our other allies she will, of course, demand a subsidy to pay her troops, and you have my authority to tell Signor Malderini that it will be forthcoming.'
'Devil take me!' Roger jumped to his feet. 'You can't really mean that with our Treasury near empty, and our taxes so high, you'd actually pay these soft, lazy decadent Italians to make ugly faces at Buonaparte. For I'll vow that's all they will do.'
The Prime Minister's glance became icy, and he snapped, 'That, Mr. Brook, is my affair, not yours. If the war must go on I'll leave nothing untried which may help to bring us victory. All I require from you is an answer to the question: will you, or will you not, do as I wish?'
In an instant Roger's whole attitude changed. Placing his hand upon his heart, he replied, 'Such sentiments, Sir, make me as ever your devoted servant. You may count upon me to do my best.'
Chapter 2
The Unexpected Happens
Georgina lay dozing in her great canopied bed at Stillwaters, the gracious Palladian mansion, near Ripley in Surrey, of which she enjoyed a life tenancy under the marriage settlement made by her first husband. She greatly preferred it to White Knights Park, the seat in Northamptonshire of the Earl of St. Ermins, whose tragic death had made her a widow eighteen months before; so she made her home in Surrey for the greater part of each spring and summer.
She was now twenty-nine, and in the full flower of her striking beauty. Although blessed with the voluptuous curves that were considered the hall-mark of a perfect figure in Georgian times, she had not a pound of superfluous flesh, and, on the splendid mounts she kept in her stables, she could outride most men. Her rich complexion, strong white teeth, glossy dark hair and full red lips all testified to her abundant vitality. Her wicked black eyes were constantly alight with laughter, but when she felt inclined, from under their thick lashes she could launch a challenge that even a monk would have found irresistible.
A discreet knock came on the door of the room. She called 'Good morning, Jenny', then sat up in bed and stretched out a hand for the nightdress that she had left draped over a nearby chair. As the figure beside her did not move, she added, 'Roger, my love, did you not hear. 'Tis time for you to leave me.'
'Plague on it!' Roger muttered drowsily. 'Although but half awake my thoughts were set on making love to you.'
Smiling, she leant over and kissed his cheek. 'Then you have left it too late, dear heart. In ten minutes Jenny will be bringing me my chocolate.'
Jenny had been Georgina's personal maid since her girlhood, and it was a long established custom that she should call her mistress a short while before coming in with the breakfast tray. In theory the interval was to give Georgina an opportunity to wash and tidy herself, but in fact it was to give time for her lover, if she had one with her, to make himself scarce by way of the boudoir.
'Really!' Roger protested a shade petulantly. 'That we should continue to behave like ostriches is farcical. Jenny knows that we have been lovers on and off for years. As you have no secrets from her, I'll wager that some time or other you have even told her that it was you who seduced me when a boy.'
'Roger, how dare you! I did nothing of the kind. It was mutual.'
'Nonsense,' he laughed. 'You know well enough that you were my first experience, and I certainly was not yours.'
As a girl of sixteen she had, not altogether unwillingly, become the victim of a handsome highwayman; and being a young wanton by nature had later gloried in the affair, declaring it to be 'a fine romantic way to lose one's maidenhead'. Now, she returned Roger's smile and said: 'You've never got over your regret at not having been the first with me, have you? But that was no fault of mine; and I trust, Sir, that I've givers you no cause to complain of me since.'
'On the contrary, Madam. You have given me many of the happiest hours of my life, and none more so than during these past two months. Yet it irks me that we should continue to pretend in front of Jenny instead of enjoying breakfast in bed together in the mornings.'
'What! Have Jenny bring to my room a tray for two, with hot dishes and cold meats to appease your hunger. How, pray, could she explain that in the kitchen? What my servants may guess at I care not; but 'tis quite another thing to give them clear grounds for dubbing me a whore. The price far breaking your fast in bed with me, m'dear, is beyond your purse; for it would be no less than marriage.'
'Damme, I've half a mind to take you up on that! You've had two husbands and I two wives, yet neither of us has had the joy with them we've had with one another. We've the same interests, never had a cross word…'
'Enough!' she cut in sharply. I was but joking and you are talking like a fool. The very essence of our golden hours is their impermanence, and the lack of obligation on either side. We've long since agreed that were we permanently united the time would come when we would tire of one another; physically I mean. We'd then begin to yearn for pastures new and end like most other married couples, observing the courtesies before the world but cheating, bickering, and disillusioned in private.'