entrusted the package to Mijnheer de Vries. Mijnheer de Vries is dead. Sir Theodore therefore requires the return of the package. He is entitled to insist upon it.'
'Then let him come here and insist.'
'That is not presently possible.'
'Quite. Let us turn, then, to what is possible. Spandrel has told all who will listen that Zuyler murdered Mijnheer de Vries and conspired with de Vries's wife to incriminate him. The Sheriff prefers to believe that Spandrel murdered de Vries, acting on behalf of a hostile foreign power.'
'Spandrel is no assassin, sir.'
'He does not seem to have the makings of one, does he? And now the two people he accused have left Amsterdam, with, you believe, the package he delivered to de Vries.' Cloisterman paused, expecting Jupe to confirm this last point. When no confirmation came, he frowned at the other man and said, 'What is the package worth, Mr Jupe?'
'Worth, sir?'
'Yes. What is it worth?'
'I have no way of knowing, sir.'
Cloisterman gave an exasperated sigh. 'In that case, neither you nor I can say whether Spandrel's accusations are likely to have any substance.' He picked up his newspaper and reopened it with a flourish. 'And there would appear to be nothing more I can do for you.'
In London, that same Friday morning, Dalrymple's despatch reached the desk of James, Earl Stanhope, His Majesty's Secretary of State for the Northern Department. It did not find his noble lordship in a receptive mood. Recent weeks had been a trial for him. He had known little and understood less of the whole South Sea affair, preferring to leave financial matters to the management of his principal political ally and First Lord of the Treasury, the Earl of Sunderland, while he concentrated his endeavours on the creation of a new and stable order of relations between the European states. All his achievements in that regard were now imperilled, however, by the embarrassment, bordering on disgrace, that the failure of the South Sea scheme had brought to the Government.
Brodrick's committee, it was rumoured, had extracted evidence from Joye and Blunt of corruption extending to the most senior of ministers, including Aislabie, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Craggs, the Postmaster-General, and Stanhope's own cousin, Charles, who as Secretary to the Treasury had personally conducted most of the negotiations leading to the South Sea Company's generous offer, as it had seemed at the time, to take over the lion's share of the National Debt. Some of the more alarmist rumour-mongers suggested that Sunderland himself was tainted. If so, the lease on power Stanhope had shared with Sunderland for the past four years might be about to expire. Sunderland could not be persuaded to tell him how great the danger was, but tomorrow, when the House of Lords was due to examine Blunt, it would surely become apparent.
These were nerve-testing times, therefore, for Lord Stanhope. As the responsible minister, he had instructed the Embassy in Brussels to secure Knight's arrest as soon as his whereabouts became known. Latest reports suggested that this was imminent. Stanhope was aware, however, that there was a constitutional objection in Brabant, within whose jurisdiction Knight had placed himself, to the extradition of criminal suspects, an objection the Austrian authorities could not readily override. He had pointed this out to Sunderland at their last meeting, only for Sunderland to reply enigmatically, 'That may be no cause to shed tears.'
What did the fellow mean by that? It was hard to resist the conclusion that Knight confined somewhere abroad, out of the committee's reach, was an outcome Sunderland distinctly approved of. But even if matters did resolve themselves in that way, it would not still the tongues of their accusers. And sooner or later those accusers would have to be answered. If ministers were forced to resign, especially if Sunderland was one of them, the King would be obliged to reconstruct the Government.
'Then let him come here and insist.'
'That is not presently possible.'
'Quite. Let us turn, then, to what is possible. Spandrel has told all who will listen that Zuyler murdered Mijnheer de Vries and conspired with de Vries's wife to incriminate him. The Sheriff prefers to believe that Spandrel murdered de Vries, acting on behalf of a hostile foreign power.'
'Spandrel is no assassin, sir.'
'He does not seem to have the makings of one, does he? And now the two people he accused have left Amsterdam, with, you believe, the package he delivered to de Vries.' Cloisterman paused, expecting Jupe to confirm this last point. When no confirmation came, he frowned at the other man and said, 'What is the package worth, Mr Jupe?'
'Worth, sir?'
'Yes. What is it worth?'
'I have no way of knowing, sir.'
Cloisterman gave an exasperated sigh. 'In that case, neither you nor I can say whether Spandrel's accusations are likely to have any substance.' He picked up his newspaper and reopened it with a flourish. 'And there would appear to be nothing more I can do for you.'
In London, that same Friday morning, Dalrymple's despatch reached the desk of James, Earl Stanhope, His Majesty's Secretary of State for the Northern Department. It did not find his noble lordship in a receptive mood. Recent weeks had been a trial for him. He had known little and understood less of the whole South Sea affair, preferring to leave financial matters to the management of his principal political ally and First Lord of the Treasury, the Earl of Sunderland, while he concentrated his endeavours on the creation of a new and stable order of relations between the European states. All his achievements in that regard were now imperilled, however, by the embarrassment, bordering on disgrace, that the failure of the South Sea scheme had brought to the Government.
Brodrick's committee, it was rumoured, had extracted evidence from Joye and Blunt of corruption extending to the most senior of ministers, including Aislabie, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Craggs, the Postmaster-General, and Stanhope's own cousin, Charles, who as Secretary to the Treasury had personally conducted most of the negotiations leading to the South Sea Company's generous offer, as it had seemed at the time, to take over the lion's share of the National Debt. Some of the more alarmist rumour-mongers suggested that Sunderland himself was tainted. If so, the lease on power Stanhope had shared with Sunderland for the past four years might be about to expire. Sunderland could not be persuaded to tell him how great the danger was, but tomorrow, when the House of Lords was due to examine Blunt, it would surely become apparent.
These were nerve-testing times, therefore, for Lord Stanhope. As the responsible minister, he had instructed the Embassy in Brussels to secure Knight's arrest as soon as his whereabouts became known. Latest reports suggested that this was imminent. Stanhope was aware, however, that there was a constitutional objection in Brabant, within whose jurisdiction Knight had placed himself, to the extradition of criminal suspects, an objection the Austrian authorities could not readily override. He had pointed this out to Sunderland at their last meeting, only for Sunderland to reply enigmatically, 'That may be no cause to shed tears.'
What did the fellow mean by that? It was hard to resist the conclusion that Knight confined somewhere abroad, out of the committee's reach, was an outcome Sunderland distinctly approved of. But even if matters did resolve themselves in that way, it would not still the tongues of their accusers. And sooner or later those accusers would have to be answered. If ministers were forced to resign, especially if Sunderland was one of them, the King would be obliged to reconstruct the Government.
Similar Books
