Fire and Sword

Chapter 50

Arthur

London, December 1808

‘It was a mistake to ever send an army into Spain,’William grumbled as he poured himself another glass of madeira and settled back into his chair in the front parlour of Arthur’s Harley Street home.‘Nothing good will come of it. How can General Moore hope to take on Napoleon’s Grand Army with his puny force?’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Arthur replied calmly.‘Moore is a fine officer. He might yet upset the plans of the Corsican tyrant.You’ll see.’

William took a sip and looked across at his younger brother.‘If there was any justice, or common sense, in this world it would be you in command of that army.’

Arthur smiled slightly. ‘Well, I don’t know about the rest of the world, but there is precious little justice or common sense here in London at present.’

William nodded with feeling.

From the moment Arthur had stepped ashore following his return from Portugal he had been under attack from all those who opposed the treaty that had been signed at Cintra, allowing General Junot and his army to evade surrender.The image of the Royal Navy being used as a passenger service for the French army had humiliated the nation. The London newspapers had accused Arthur, Dalrymple and Burrard of everything from incompetence to cowardice. It had upset Kitty dreadfully and for the present she kept to the house rather than brave the hostile looks of Arthur’s enemies, and the embarrassment of his friends.

Some politicians in Parliament, scenting the opportunity to settle old scores, had immediately seized the chance to extend the attack to the rest of the family. Richard was still denied government office and had fallen back into a mire of self-pity and whoring.To make matters worse he had approached the King to request that Arthur be ennobled as a reward for his victory at Vimeiro. Lesser generals had won smaller engagements and received far greater honours, yet the timing of Richard’s approach was hardly ideal.With public opinion set against the generals held responsible for the Cintra treaty, now was not the time for the King to reward Arthur, and as things stood he doubted he would ever become Viscount Vimeiro.

Worse still, the enemies of the Wellesley family had finally convinced the government to set up a military inquiry into the events leading up to the Cintra treaty and it had been taking evidence for the last two weeks of November. Both Dalrymple and Burrard and their supporters had been busy laying the blame at each other’s door, when they were not directing it at Arthur. For his part he had kept silent, reserving any comment for the moment when he would make his case in front of the panel of senior officers in the Great Hall of Chelsea College. The day appointed for him to give his evidence and face cross-examination was two days hence. Before that Arthur had been invited to a royal levee: an early morning reception by the King himself.

‘Are you certain about tomorrow?’ William suddenly asked, as if he had been reading Arthur’s thoughts. ‘It might be wise to stay out of public view, at least until the inquiry is complete.’

‘I will go,’ Arthur replied firmly. ‘Neither the newspapers, nor the politicians, nor the London mob will have the satisfaction of having dissuaded me from showing my face in public.’

‘I suppose that is a good thing,’William said doubtfully. ‘In any case, I shall be coming with you.They might as well have two targets for their anger as one.’

Arthur laughed. ‘Spoken like a true soldier!’

‘God forbid.’

Several soldiers stood guard at the palace gates and a sergeant inspected invitations as each carriage rumbled to a halt. A small crowd of Londoners had braved the chilly morning air to gather round the gates to watch the great and the good arrive at the palace.As the sergeant read off the names on the invitations they raised a cheer for popular public figures, showed blank indifference to those without a reputation and booed and whistled at a handful of those who had incurred public displeasure for whatever reason.

‘I don’t like the look of that mob,’ William muttered as he ducked back into the carriage.

‘Ignore them,’ Arthur replied calmly. ‘They are as fickle as the wind. Today I am dangled in front of them as a villain. In a year’s time, who knows? I may be the darling of the mob.’

‘Small comfort,’William muttered. ‘It’s today I am worried about.’

The carriage slowed to a halt at the gates and the driver handed over the invitation to the sergeant. The latter filled his lungs and bellowed out, ‘Admit the honourable William Wellesley, member of Parliament, and Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Wellesley!’

At once there was a chorus of boos from the mob and as the carriage rattled forward some muddy slime struck the carriage window. Arthur raised an eyebrow. ‘Charming.’

They entered the inner courtyard of the palace and descended from the carriage to join the other guests climbing the steps into the reception hall. A number of footmen lined the route to the chamber hosting the levee. William nudged Arthur.

‘Do you see that tall fellow ahead of us? The one with the fair hair?’

Arthur craned his neck and saw the man indicated. ‘Yes. What of him?’

‘That is Charles Franks, a parliamentary Whig. Those others he’s talking to are some of his followers in the House.’

‘Ah, yes,’ said Arthur.‘I recall the name now. Recently elected, wasn’t he?’

‘Yes, and keen to make a name for himself.’William lowered his voice and leaned closer to his brother. ‘Franks and those others have drafted a certain document. I gather that they intend to petition the King to have you tried for treason.’

‘Good God, treason? The dogs. They’ll never make that stick.’

‘I hope not, Arthur. But in the present climate, who knows?’

The line of guests edged forward into the chamber and took up their places on either side of a broad red carpet leading up to a dais where an ornate chair awaited the King. When all were present, the royal chamberlain entered and rapped his staff loudly on the tiled floor to one side of the carpet.

‘My lords and gentlemen, pray silence for his majesty the King and his highness, Prince George!’

The chamberlain stepped gracefully to one side and bowed deeply as the King entered the chamber in a dark blue frock coat, laced with gold. He wore several jewelled stars on his breast. Behind him came the Prince, also in blue, but with less decoration. They walked serenely down the length of the carpet, stopping here and there to exchange a brief word with friends and familiars.As they came abreast of Arthur the King suddenly stopped and turned to him.

‘General Wellesley, is it not?’

‘Yes, sire.’ Arthur bowed.

‘We are pleased that you have attended the levee, Sir Arthur. We are even more pleased that you have proved to the world that the armies of France are not invincible. Your country is grateful to you.’ The King paused and smiled. ‘At least, your country should be grateful, and they will be in due course, I have no doubt.’

‘I thank your majesty.’

The King moved on.When he was out of earshot, Arthur muttered to his brother,‘It seems that at least one person approves of my actions.’

On the dais, the King coughed to clear his throat and addressed the chamber. ‘Before the morning’s entertainment begins I would like to take the chance to offer my profound thanks to the officers of the Navy and the army who are present here tonight. Our nation stands in an hour of great peril, and sometimes our people forget to show due deference and respect to those who risk their lives for their King and country. To which end I trust that those of us who are not in the services will join me in applauding our brave soldiers and sailors.’

He gently clapped his hands together and instantly the chamber was filled with the sound of applause. Arthur nodded his thanks to those on either side of him, as did the other guests who were in the services.

As the King folded his hands his guests quickly ceased their applause and the royal chamberlain nodded a signal to the small orchestra in the gallery.At once they struck up with a light piece of music and the guests slowly began to mill together, talking in an animated hubbub, as those who were to be presented to the King formed a loose queue to one side of the dais.

Arthur and William began to work their way through the guests, greeting old friends and acquaintances. Arthur was saddened by the coolness they met from many of those he had once counted as friends and political allies.

‘What did you expect?’ asked William. ‘Richard is still waiting to be cleared of the accusations made against him from his time in India.You are about to go before a court of inquiry whose report may damn your political and military careers for ever.Who would want to be associated with a family like that? Failure and shame are contagious.’

‘Sir Arthur! My dear fellow!’

The brothers looked round to see Castlereagh striding through the crowds towards them with a broad smile on his face. Arthur turned to William and cocked an eyebrow. It seems that we are not completely abandoned.’

‘Not yet,’William muttered sourly.

Castlereagh took their hands in turn and pumped them vigorously. ‘A bad business, this hue and cry over the Cintra treaty. But I am sure it will die away once the inquiry makes its report.’

‘I hope so,’ Arthur responded evenly.

‘Speaking of which,’ Castlereagh looked at Arthur with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, ‘there is someone I think I should introduce you to. Do come with me.’

He took Arthur’s arm and guided him through the crowd towards Charles Franks and his small entourage, who watched their approach with dismay.

Castlereagh waved his hand. ‘Charles! Good to see you here.There’s someone I would like you to meet.’ Arthur’s gaze met that of Charles Franks, and the men stared at each other frostily until Castlereagh continued in an ebullient tone, ‘I don’t think you have ever formally been introduced to Sir Arthur Wellesley, have you?’

‘No, I have not . . .’ Franks attempted to smile politely, but the tension between the dictates of good manners and the knowledge that he was hoping to petition the King to destroy Arthur tied the politician’s tongue.

‘Not what?’ Castlereagh prompted. ‘Not had the pleasure?’

‘Yes. That’s what I meant.’ Charles Franks smiled weakly.

‘Of course that’s what you meant. Now then, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Wellesley, the hero of Vimeiro.’ He paused and repeated the words with heavy emphasis. ‘The hero of Vimeiro. Has a nice ring to it, wouldn’t you say?’

‘I suppose so,’ Franks replied uncomfortably, his eyes flickering towards Arthur. ‘I congratulate you on your victory, Sir Arthur. However, it is a shame that so signal an achievement should be followed by so shameful a sequel.’

‘That is a matter of opinion,’ Arthur replied flatly.

‘Yes. But I imagine you are just as keen to cast the blame on to Dalrymple and Burrard as they are to cast it on you.’

Arthur shook his head. ‘I keep my opinions to myself. On matters relating to events that took place in Portugal, I reserve my words for the inquiry, which is the proper arena for such comments, as I am sure you would agree?’

‘I suppose so, yes.’

Castlereagh clapped both men on the shoulder. ‘Good! That’s how these things should be done, eh?’

Charles Franks smiled weakly at the Foreign Secretary and then bowed his head. ‘It has been a pleasure to meet you, Sir Arthur, but my friends and I must leave early.We have another engagement, so I bid you good day.’

His friends looked at each other in surprise before they echoed their farewells and the little band made its way through the crowd towards the entrance to the audience chamber. As he watched them depart, Castlereagh muttered,‘So much for their petition. I don’t think it would have had much chance of support in Parliament. Still less now it is seen that his majesty evidently favours you.’

‘Quite.’ Arthur nodded, then turned to the minister. ‘However, I still have to go before the inquiry.’

‘Of course. But I am sure the panel will be persuaded that you cannot be held responsible for the Cintra treaty. Solely responsible, that is. Either all three generals will be condemned or none will.’ Castlereagh shook his hand again. ‘Good luck, Sir Arthur. And goodbye to you, William.’ He turned and strode away to work another section of the crowd.

‘Either all three condemned, or none,’ William echoed. ‘Was that supposed to be a few words of encouragement, do you think?’