‘Librarian-in-Chief?’
‘Present,’ said Shrike.
‘Good,’ said Smew. ‘All present and correct.’
He closed the register and set it to one side.
Shrike’s swift advance through the hierarchy reminded me, once again, that I ought to begin pressing for Greylag’s freedom. With all the fine work he was doing he thoroughly deserved it. This, however, was neither the time nor the place for such matters. The twelve-day feast was over and, at Dotterel’s insistence, an emergency meeting of the cabinet had been convened.
‘Now, Dotterel,’ Smew began, ‘tell us what exactly is bothering you.’
‘I’m gravely concerned,’ said Dotterel, ‘that my artisans are being enticed away from the empire.’
‘In what sense?’ asked Smew.
‘The railwaymen are behind it,’ Dotterel continued. ‘They’ve established recruitment pavilions at the edge of the capital and they’ve spent the last two weeks trying to lure my men away with promises of jobs in the east. Hundreds of skilled workers have signed up already. They’re shipping them out by the trainload.’
‘I see,’ said Smew.
‘It’s not only the skilled workers,’ added Garganey. ‘My postmen are walking around with so-called “recruiting sixpences” jingling in their pockets. They’ve been accustomed to a penny a day and now they all think they’re going to be living like lords.’
‘Sixpence is a huge sum to a commoner,’ remarked Wryneck.
‘Indeed,’ said Garganey, ‘but actually the whole scheme’s a complete fraud. The coins they’ve been given look identical to imperial sixpences, but were actually struck in the City of Scoffers, wherever that may be.’
‘The City of Scoffers,’ repeated Smew. ‘The predominant society in the east.’
‘You’ve heard of it then?’
‘Of course,’ Smew replied. ‘It’s one of the friendly cities I alluded to during my series of talks. Clearly it has expanded beyond its boundaries; and like any growing city it requires more people to work, and yet more after that.’
‘So they’ve come here to recruit,’ said Brambling.
‘Correct,’ said Smew.
‘By fair means or foul,’ intoned Garganey.
‘Why foul?’ Brambling enquired. ‘Surely our people are signing up of their own volition: it’s their choice if they want to leave the empire.’
‘Not quite,’ said Garganey. ‘True enough, these recruitment pavilions are all above board. They’re only glorified tents, actually, but rumour has it that queues of eager applicants are forming every day; once they’ve signed up and received their payment it’s merely a question of waiting for the next available train.’
Garganey paused and glanced around the table.
‘Not everyone signs up, however. Some people are recruited by roving parties whose methods are altogether different. What they do is they slip unsuspecting persons a sixpence on some pretext, for example, in return for a small favour. Once the coin has been accepted it’s deemed a “consideration”. Thereafter the contract is binding. That’s how they snared most of my postmen.’
‘Well, in my humble opinion,’ said Brambling, ‘anyone who accepts money from a stranger deserves all he gets. Besides which, these “recruiting sixpences” aren’t legal tender. They can’t spend them in the empire.’
‘I was coming to that,’ rejoined Garganey. ‘The new coins are so ubiquitous they’re beginning to circulate freely of their own accord. Even as we speak, they’re being honoured in the Maypole.’
‘But what about the edict,’ demanded Wryneck, ‘limiting sales of beers, wines and spirits?’
‘I’m afraid it’s fallen by the wayside,’ said Garganey.
As the discussion unfolded Whimbrel, Sanderling and I remained silent. None of us looked at each other directly, but we all must have been thinking the same thing: we’d been unwittingly recruited. Vaguely I wondered what I’d let myself in for: slaving down a mine, perhaps, or going round and round on a treadmill?
I was quite surprised, then, when Sanderling raised an entirely different subject.
‘This City of Scoffers,’ he said. ‘Do they have dancing girls?’
Before anyone could answer there was a knock on the outer door. Immediately Shrike rushed out to answer it. Then he came back.
‘It was the postman,’ he announced.
Smew was about to take the letter when Garganey intervened.
‘In my capacity as Postmaster General I’d like to examine the postmark, if nobody minds.’
Nobody did, and Garganey quickly reached his conclusion.
‘Local postage, same-day delivery,’ he declared, handing the letter to Smew.
A moment later we all knew the contents. It was a final reminder from the railwaymen. They wanted their invoice settled forthwith. The letter also mentioned that we could expect a visit from Messrs Gadwall, Merganser and Grosbeak. They would meet us at the counting house at twelve o’clock.
‘I suppose we have no alternative but to pay,’ said Smew. ‘After all, they’ve fulfilled their part of the bargain.’ He turned to Brambling. ‘Do we have enough money in the imperial purse?’
‘Almost,’ Brambling replied. ‘We’re just half-a-crown short.’
‘That’s the amount we lent to those strolling players,’ said Wryneck. ‘They’ll have to pay it back immediately.’
‘Well, they should have recouped the outlay by now,’ remarked Dotterel. ‘I gather their production has been a huge success.’
‘Surely, though,’ said Garganey, ‘if we’re down to our last half-crown we’re in dire straits indeed.’
‘Not necessarily,’ said Smew. ‘You really should have more faith in the empire. Our people are our greatest resource, and I have no doubt that together we will all pull through.’
These were precisely the kind of words I wanted to hear. Indeed, I was most impressed by Smew’s bearing during this episode. He seemed to possess all the prerequisites of a true ruler of men: sound judgement, patience and calmness. Smew was unflappable, which meant that we had nothing to worry about.
‘I will lead a delegation to the counting house,’ he continued. ‘Accompanying me will be the following officers: Chancellor of the Exchequer, Pellitory-of-the-Wall and Principal Composer to the Imperial Court. The rest of you should proceed directly to the reading room of the great library. After the meeting I intend to invite the visiting envoys for high tea; surprise them with a nice treat and demonstrate by example what the empire is capable of.’
Thus encouraged we set about getting ready for twelve o’clock. Exactly why Smew had chosen me to join the delegation I had no idea, but I was determined to live up to the part. Accordingly, I decided to wear my dandy coat, which I happened to have left at the cake. There was just time to retrieve it before the scheduled meeting, so with Smew’s permission I hurried off.
When I reached the cake I found Greylag in a very ruffled state. His usual manner was placid to say the least, but when I entered the auditorium he had a hunted look about him. The orchestra were all sitting fiddling with their instruments distractedly, while Greylag paced around in front of them.
‘Greylag,’ I said. ‘Whatever is the matter?’
It took a few moments for Greylag to recover, and then I sat him down and got him to tell me all about it.
‘I’m sorry, sir,’ he said, ‘but these two men were here not half an hour ago. They asked all sorts of questions about the orchestra: how many musicians do we have; how many pieces in our repertoire; how many instruments in each section; how many years’ experience as musicians; they even went through my manuscripts.’
‘Did they leave them all intact?’ I enquired.
‘Yes,’ said Greylag. ‘They handled everything very carefully, but they shouldn’t have interrupted our work, should they, sir? We’re supposed to be getting on and they made us stop.’