“I suppose it’s all right with me, Robbie,” she said.
Robbie relaxed. “Well, that’s good, Lou. I’m pleased that we can count you in on this.”
On what? thought Big Lou.
Robbie provided the answer. “We’re Jacobites, you see, Lou.
And we like to talk about the cause. And we like to remind people from time to time who is the real king of Scotland.”
“Oh,” said Big Lou. “Where does he live, this real king?”
“Germany,” replied Robbie.
59. A Visitor from Belgium Is Expected Only a few minutes elapsed between Big Lou’s conversation with Robbie about the Jacobite cause and the arrival in her coffeehouse of the Jacobites in person. Big Lou, her back turned to the door, did not see them come in, and turned round to find Michael, Jimmy, and Heather, now seated at a table with Robbie.
They sneaked in, she thought, behind my back, furtively.
She made coffee and took it over on a tray. Michael looked up and smiled at her. “Thank you, Lou,” he said. “Won’t you join us?”
Big Lou looked at Robbie, who nodded his encouragement.
“Why not, Lou?”
198 A Visitor from Belgium Is Expected Big Lou sat down. Jimmy was on one side of her, Heather McDowall on the other.
“I love your coffee,” said Heather. “Mmm. Smell that, folks.
Gorgeous.”
“It’s just coffee,” said Big Lou. “That’s all.”
“But it’s the way you make it,” enthused Heather. “That’s where the skill lies. Oh yes.”
Big Lou said nothing. She did not like this woman, with her gushing ways, and as for Jimmy, sitting there, his eyes fixed on Michael, he’s like an adoring dog, thought Big Lou; it’s unhealthy.
Michael cleared his throat. “Is Lou . . . ?” he began tentatively. “Is Lou . . . on board?”
Robbie glanced at Lou. “You’re a sympathiser, aren’t you, Lou?” he asked. There was an eagerness in his tone which made Big Lou realise that it was important to him that she should agree with him on this issue. That was a problem, she thought, but it was a problem that many women had, and husbands too, come to think of it. Could one be out of political sympathy with one’s spouse? There were probably plenty of couples who voted different ways in the privacy of the polling booth, but that probably only applied when the spouses concerned were not particularly political. It was rare – if not almost unheard of – for the wives or husbands of active politicians to take a different political view from that of their spouses. It was implicit, thought Big Lou, that the wife of the prime minister did not support the Opposition, although there were cases – and she had heard of one or two – where the wives or husbands of ministers of religion were less than enthusiastic about religion. But she was in no doubt of the fact that Robbie wanted her support, and she was similarly in no doubt that she wanted Robbie.
“Well,” began Big Lou, “I see nothing wrong in taking an interest in . . . in historical matters. If it makes you happy. After all . . .” She was on the point of saying it makes absolutely no difference, but decided not to, even if it was perfectly obvious that nothing that these people believed in relation to the succession to the crown would have the slightest impact on anything.
A Visitor from Belgium Is Expected 199
“That’s fine, then,” said Michael. “Welcome to the movement, Lou.”
Lou inclined her head graciously. “Thank you.” She was not sure if she was expected to say anything more than that, but it became apparent that she was not, as Michael immediately moved the conversation on.
“Now, friends,” he said. “Heather has some very interesting news to report.” He turned to Heather, who was sitting back in her chair, arms folded in the satisfied manner of one who is harbouring information that others do not have.
“Extremely interesting,” Heather said. “News from Belgium.”
Big Lou watched her, repelled, yet fascinated, by the air of triumph. There’s something wrong with this woman, she thought.
Heather lowered her voice. “Our visitor,” she said, “has confirmed that he is coming. He will arrive. It’s confirmed.”
For a few moments, there was complete silence. Jimmy was staring at Michael, waiting for his response; Robbie had clasped his hands together and glanced at Big Lou, as if to gauge her reaction; Michael had reached out across the table to grip Heather’s forearm.
When Michael spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper.
“When?” he asked.
Heather leaned forward. “Just over three weeks from now,”
she whispered. “Three weeks on Friday.”
Again, a silence descended. The Jacobites looked at one another, to all intents and purposes, thought Big Lou, like children who had just heard of an impending treat. They were to receive a visitor from Belgium; obviously somebody of importance in their movement, a historian perhaps or . . . No, that was highly unlikely; in fact it was absurd.
“Who exactly . . . ?” Big Lou began to ask.
Michael interrupted her, raising a finger in the air in warning. “One minute,” he said. “Before further details are revealed, I must ask you, Lou, to give your word that this conversation will be kept confidential. It’s absolutely impera-tive that . . .”
200 A Visitor from Belgium Is Expected Robbie now interrupted Michael. “You will, won’t you, Lou?
You won’t speak about this, will you?”
Big Lou shrugged. “I don’t like secrets very much,” she said.
“But then I don’t talk about things it’s no business of mine to talk about.”
“That’s fine, then,” said Robbie, turning to Michael. “Lou’s fine on that.”
Michael looked doubtful for a moment, but Robbie held his gaze and eventually he nodded. “All right, this is it. We’re receiving a visit from a member of the Stuart family. He’s coming to Scotland. A direct descendant of Charles Edward Stuart, or Bonnie Prince Charlie as you may know him, Lou.”
Jimmy, who had been hanging on Michael’s every word, now turned and looked at Big Lou. She noticed, as he did so, a trace of milk from his cappuccino making a thin line around his weak, immature mouth. “See,” he said. “Just like Charlie himself. A Young Pretender.”
Big Lou stared at him. “Really?” she said. “Coming to Scotland to claim his kingdom?”
“Well, not exactly,” said Michael, glancing discouragingly at Jimmy. “What Jimmy means is that there are parallels. As you know, Charles Edward Stuart came to incite an uprising against the usurpers. Conditions are different today. This is more of a consciousness-raising exercise. This member of the Stuart family is not exactly acting on behalf of His Majesty King Francis, whom we recognise as the rightful king, even if he’s never made that claim himself and doesn’t use that title.
His Majesty keeps himself out of all of this. He’s very digni-fied. This young man’s a descendant of Charles through a subsidiary line. He’s coming for a few weeks to assist us in our endeavours.”
“So this is not the Forty-Five all over again?” asked Big Lou.
Michael laughed, waving a hand in the air. “Hardly! No, this is more of a courtesy call by a member of the family to those in this country who have kept alive the claims of the Stuarts.
That’s all.”
Does Scotland Need All This Nonsense? 201
“Yes,” said Jimmy, slightly aggressively. “That’s all. We’re not bampots, you know.”
Big Lou looked at him. “Have you finished with that coffee cup?” she asked.
60. Does Scotland Need All This Nonsense?