In Guards We Trust Page 5

Chapter 5 – The return of Lord Cavendish

  Jason Cavendish had no sooner returned to his villa in Monte Vista, when his butler, Claymore, mentioned that the British ambassador, Lord William Graveny had arrived. He received the ambassador on the elevated covered patio overlooking Monte Vista harbour. That April 1793 morning was no different to any other in that the harbour was a hive of activity. A variety of sailing ships were at anchor in the bay waiting for a turn to dock. Few berths remained unoccupied for long. The Monte Vista Trade Centre, the brainchild of king Julien, had achieved success beyond the wildest of his initial expectations.

  ‘My dear Lord Cavendish. How delightful it is to see you again.’

  ‘My dear Lord Graveny. As always, the feeling is mutual.’ Jason smiled as he shook the ambassador’s hand. He did not particularly like, nor did he trust the ambassador. He knew that Britain was none too happy about the trade centre’s success. Significant trade which had once passed through London and other British ports and which had been subject to government tariffs there was now being channelled through the Monte Vista trade centre. Britain viewed itself as the world’s leading naval and merchant sea power. This was not a position it intended to relinquish easily. The ambassador doubtless possessed orders to ensure that Britain was kept up to date with every morsel of information about Montuga, its harbour and the trade centre. Jason suspected that the British government was probably planning to set-up a competing trade centre in London.

  ‘I trust you had a pleasant trip.’

  ‘Indeed I did,’ replied Jason. ‘We docked earlier this morning.’ He had the tanned complexion of one who had recently encountered good weather at sea. He was fit and chiselled rather than muscular. He had short dark hair and fine facial features, the most striking of which were his turquoise coloured eyes.

  ‘So I was told.’ The ambassador made a point of being well briefed about all traffic entering and leaving Monte Vista harbour.

  Jason’s fleet of sailing ships regularly conveyed tobacco from the Americas for sale or auction at the trade centre. Despite Jason’s misgivings about Graveny’s agenda, he nonetheless looked forward to the ambassador’s visits. The inquisitive old man was always armed with the latest news from England, Jason’s country of origin. In addition, Graveny’s general knowledge of world affairs and his penchant for sharing gossip about the antics of aristocrats and royals from various kingdoms meant that time spent with him usually proved anything but dull.

  ‘How long has it been? A year?’

  ‘Yes. Routine fleet maintenance, you understand. In the United States. But you can imagine my surprise when the first thing I heard upon my return is that France declared itself a republic during our absence.’ Jason wore a white shirt which was only partially buttoned, a pair of trousers, and no shoes. He refused to dress for those who failed to provide Claymore with advance notice of their intention to drop by.

  In sharp contrast, the ambassador was dressed in an elegant jacket, waistcoat and trousers. He also sported a smart pair of black leather shoes.

  ‘Of course I predicted it months before,’ Graveny said immodestly. ‘And yet, when the news arrived here in Montuga, it still came as a shock.’ He paused. ‘When the Americans declared a republic, that was one thing. It was a colony after all.’ He sighed. ‘But to learn that a centuries old monarchy has been cast aside by its own subjects. That is another matter entirely.’

  ‘Agreed. Personally, I thought it would end in constitutional monarchy.’

  ‘I have little doubt that Louis also thought so. But the republican delegates at the National Assembly managed to convince the masses that this system was in reality, an alliance between the king, the nobility and the upper middle class, to the exclusion of the people. As you can imagine, the streets were full of angry peasants who distrusted the privileged. It did not take much to convert most of them to republicanism.’

  ‘What surprises me though, is that the Church, with all its power and influence, not to mention the respect and authority it retains amongst almost all the French people, was unable to intercede to save the monarchy in some form,’ Jason observed as Claymore appeared with a selection of drinks including, cognac, whisky and a freshly brewed pot of tea. ‘You need only to point to your selection and my good man Claymore will do the rest.’

  ‘Don’t fool yourself, almost to a man, the high ranking clergy did try to protect the king, not to mention their own not inconsiderable fortunes. But most of the bishops sided with their communities. I suppose that supporting the starving masses against the excesses of the aristocracy and the upper clergy seemed the proper Christian thing to do.’ The ambassador pointed to the bottle of twenty year old Ruberg Cognac.

  Claymore attended to the necessary with efficient dignity despite the fact that his latest attempt to convert the ambassador to morning tea had, like all of his previous efforts, ended in ignominious failure.

  ‘Your assumption, my Lord, that the bishops were motivated by conscience is, I believe, unduly generous. I suspect instead that their convenient abandonment of the principle that a king’s power is ordained by God was informed by the writing they saw on the wall.’

  ‘Of course, far be it from me to persuade anyone who never sets foot in church to give the clergy the benefit of the doubt,’ Graveny retorted with a grin.

  ‘I believe Austria and Prussia declared war on France in support of the French monarchy,’ Jason said, changing the subject.

  ‘Indeed. Although in truth, their invasion of France had more to do with the suppression of the republicanism disease before it spread to other monarchies or closer to home.’

  ‘I imagine that the French royal family and most French aristocrats welcomed the invasion.’

  ‘Quite so. Those who were able to slip away to join the invasion in the hope of restoring the old order in France, did so. Many of these French aristocrats had been high ranking officers in King Louis’ military,’ Graveny explained. ‘Surprisingly, however, a not insignificant number of former French aristocrats and officers chose instead to join the large new republican army which gathered in Paris. I suspect that made a difference, because although the royalist allies came surprisingly close to liberating Paris, the republican army managed to stop them before they could reach the royal family.’

  ‘From what I hear, the republican army not only defended Paris, but they have since surprised everyone by going on the offensive.’

  ‘Yes, and that is when the emboldened National Assembly decided to deal firmly with the threat posed by former aristocrats and military officers. Thousands of them were arrested and executed together with their families, all without trial. It was considered sufficient if the loyalty of the condemned towards the revolution was perceived to be in doubt.’ The ambassador paused to have a sip of cognac. The reddish hue of his nose hinted that tea also did not feature prominently at the embassy as morning refreshment. His greying eyebrows suggested that the colour of the hairs on his distinguished wig was several shades darker than his own.

  ‘I assume that they were executed by this awful guillotine thing which everyone is talking about.’

  ‘I regret so,’ Graveny winced, and then shuddered. ‘And to crown it all, King Louis was apparently arrested while trying to flee Paris in an apparent bid to join armies of the royalist allies. The royals were incarcerated whist the republicans went on to the offensive against the royalist invaders. Surprisingly, they succeeded in driving the allies out of France.’ As he spoke, the ambassador twirled his moustache.

  ‘This, I presume, is when they decided it would be safe to execute Louis?’ Jason intervened.

  ‘Indeed so. The national assembly voted to find King Louis guilty of treason and he was guillotined in public. I do not need to tell you that his majesty’s government in England deplores the barbarity of this execution and that of the others which have taken place. It is simply no way to treat a gentleman, not to mention royalty.’

  ‘Of course it is not,’
agreed Jason as he considered the knock-on effects of these developments for Montuga. Jason’s fleet of seven merchant ships was presently based in Monte Vista. Without Jason having specifically intended it, Monte Vista had become his home.

  He could scarcely believe that six years had elapsed since he had first disembarked in this port as a young twenty five year old Englishman with a fleet which then comprised of two ships. He had been fortunate that year. An armada of twelve merchant ships laden with tobacco had departed from Baltimore for Monte Vista a few days ahead of his two vessels. Jason’s ships had taken a longer more southerly route after he had noticed unusual wind patterns. It was only after they had arrived in Monte Vista nine weeks later that they learned that eight out of the twelve ships which had sailed ahead of them had perished in a severe North Atlantic storm. Although he and his sailors had been dismayed to hear about the disaster, they were able to take considerable solace in the ensuing record prices their cargo of tobacco had fetched.

  At the time his decision to follow a more southerly route had not been well received by the majority of the crew of his two vessels. In stark contrast to the officers’ quarters, the crew’s quarters below deck were generally dark, cramped and crowded. An additional week at sea often felt more like a fortnight to the ordinary sailors. Longer voyages also caused a proliferation of the less than pleasant odours which ordinarily permeated their quarters. Word had reached Jason’s ears that both crews and even some of the officers viewed Jason’s decision as overly cautious. The news of the fate of the eight doomed vessels had, however, inspired an instant review of his seamanship and his nautical instincts. It did not bother Jason to learn that a handful of doubters nonetheless preferred to assign their good fortune to luck. Given the proclivity for superstition amongst many sailors, being spoken of as a lucky captain was almost as beneficial as being recognised as a competent one.

  Shortly after its inception, the Monte Vista Trade Centre had become an international hub for the exchange of commodities in general and luxury goods in particular. Jason feared that his English merchant fleet might not be as well received in Monte Vista if the principality were to fall into French hands. He had captured two of his vessels from the French as a privateer. Jason would not be able to safely sail either of those vessels into Monte Vista harbour if French authorities were to gain control of it.

  ‘And in Montuga? I left during the siege and the protests. I dare say I was prepared for anything when I returned. Instead not a protestor in sight and everything seems, on the surface at least, to be like it was.’

  ‘Don’t be fooled by appearances. There’s a lot of tension and uncertainty below that surface.’ Graveny said seriously. ‘

  ‘The word in the port is that the king managed to resist the protestors’ demands for change.’

  ‘The king initially refused to consider any negotiations. But this changed after armed and masked riders carried out a few night raids during which they set fire to some sheds on lands belonging to Montugan nobles. Some livestock and vines were also destroyed. You can imagine the panic it caused. It did not escape anyone’s notice that the lands of the minority of nobles who seemed to favour some negotiations were not targeted in these raids. The king was placed under rather a lot of pressure by many of the nobles to reconsider. He was told that his failure to entertain discussion about a constitutional monarchy could spell the end of the monarchy, the Montugan aristocracy and the kingdom to boot.’

  ‘Did the king adopt a more flexible posture?’

  ‘He flatly refused to meet with the protestors in person. Instead he permitted a series of meetings between the Council of Six and two of the protestors’ representatives, but this was subject to the precondition that the abolition of the monarchy would not be tabled.

  ‘And the protestors accepted this?’

  ‘They did. Apparently most of the protestors favoured some form of constitutional monarchy in Montuga,’ Graveny explained. ‘The people were offered an elected council, which together with the royal Council of Six, would jointly advise the king. The people’s representatives, on the other hand, insisted on an elected parliament which would operate in a constitutional monarchy in which the role of the king would be rather limited.’

  ‘A stalemate,’ Jason observed.

  ‘Precisely. But it seems, that prior to agreeing to negotiate, the king received information that one of their negotiators, a man called Chagal, was in fact, an ardent republican. The king had been given a secret letter penned by Chagal, which revealed that acquiescence to constitutional monarchy by the republicans would simply be a precursor to the eventual overthrow of the monarchy, by any means necessary, in order that the kingdom could be re-united with France under French republican rule.’

  ‘Not a real surprise, although clearly a breach of the precondition for negotiation,’ Jason observed.

  ‘The king’s instructions to the Council were that they were to wait until the negotiations were on the verge of deadlock before revealing the letter.’ Graveny paused. ‘Of course, this all took place prior to France declaring itself a republic.’

  ‘Was the document genuine?’

  ‘It seems that it was. And, as you can imagine, as soon as its contents were revealed, it caused immediate tensions to break out between Monteverdi, the other negotiator, and Chagal at the meeting. Monteverdi’s supporters are largely of Italian descent. They mostly favour retention of the monarchy in some form. Most of Chagal’s supporters are republicans of French descent, and many of them favour union with France. In any event, the meeting broke up with Duke Le Riche accusing the protest movement of treason and with Monteverdi and Chagal accusing each other of bad faith. When news of these developments reached the supporters of the two leaders, it immediately caused several serious splits in the protest movement.’

  ‘I assume the king relied on these developments as a pretext to cease the negotiations.’

  ‘Precisely! Things could not have worked out better for the king. In fact, some of the protestors were so incensed at the republicans that they also supported the king’s refusal to agree to further negotiations. Needless to say, the protest movement lost considerable momentum after that.’

  ‘What happened to this Chagal?’

  ‘He was arrested for treason. The king was advised, however, that putting Chagal on trial or having him executed could serve to revitalise the protest movement at a time when it was in disarray. Instead, Chagal agreed to be deported to France. In the meantime, news of the violent executions by guillotine in France began to filter into Montuga. This also played into the king’s hands because many of the Montugan protestors condemned the executions and the apparent lawlessness which seems to have afflicted the revolution in France.’

  ‘What impact did the news of Louis’ execution have here?’

  ‘Most Montugan republicans celebrated I shouldn’t wonder. I assume they are now waiting for France to take the lead in deciding about the future of Montuga’s monarchy.’

  ‘And the other protestors?’

  ‘I presume that they too are waiting for France to make a move. It is a volatile situation indeed,’ Graveny sighed before he redirected his attention to what little remained of his cognac. Jason nodded as he considered everything he had been told by the ambassador. It seemed clear that he might not have unlimited time to consider his future plans.

  ‘Your glass appears to have suffered the most horrendous misfortune imaginable. May I fill it for you?’ inquired Jason.

  ‘Well I shouldn’t really my good man… but….’