‘Well, sir, those at Elvas know, the general – the Portuguese general, I mean. And Dona Delgado and her father; they’re old friends of Major Hervey’s, sir. I went to them straight away.’
‘Delgado? Baron Delgado, is he?’
‘Sir; you know him, sir?’
‘Many years ago.’ Laming began to think he ought to let Wainwright give a chronological account, but he needed to know one thing more. ‘Who has sent you here, from Elvas to Lisbon, I mean?’
‘The general, sir. Well, he said as I could go.’
Laming frowned. ‘Corporal, I know from Major Hervey what sort of a man you are, but—’
‘No, sir. I mean that when it started to look like they weren’t going to be able to get Major Hervey out of Badajoz I said that we had to tell somebody in Lisbon – the colonel or somebody. The general didn’t want to because he says that it wouldn’t go well for Major Hervey if it got out.’
Laming huffed. ‘And no doubt it would go very ill for the general too!’
‘No, sir, he’s not like that. He’s offered to exchange with Major Hervey, but the Spaniards won’t have it.’
‘I bow to your good opinion, Corporal. So why have you not told the colonel yet? Which colonel, by the way?’
‘Colonel Norris, sir. He’s in charge of the mission here, the special mission, I mean, the one from England. There are three other majors too.’
‘Then why have you not told him? He is Major Hervey’s commanding officer, is he not? Yours too!’
‘Sir. But as I thought of it, coming to Lisbon from Elvas, I don’t think Major Hervey would want it. You see, he and the colonel had their differences about what should be done if troops come from England. The colonel wanted just to go as far as Torres Vedras, sir, but Major Hervey wanted to have men up near the border.’
Laming raised an eyebrow, and sighed. He had heard it all before: Hervey and his certainty. ‘Major Hervey is ever of the opinion that between himself and the commander-in-chief there is but dead wood!’
‘Sir?’
Laming shook his head. ‘No matter. Are you aware of any good reason for Major Hervey’s contrary opinion to that of a superior officer, Corporal? No – that is unfair. Proceed.’
‘Well, sir, as I said, I went to tell Major Hervey’s friends at Belem, the Delgados, and then came here, thinking as I might try to find Major Cope. He’s the Rifles major who gets on with Major Hervey, but he’s not here still, and neither are the others. And I don’t think Colonel Norris is either. So I was just wondering how I could get the message to Mr Forbes, sir. He’s the envoy here, and he seems to take Major Hervey’s side.’
Laming raised an eyebrow. ‘You are remarkably well informed, Wainwright!’
Wainwright was not in the slightest abashed. ‘I am Major Hervey’s covering corporal, sir. I couldn’t do my job right if I didn’t know. That’s what Major Hervey says, sir. He tells me everything. At least, everything he can, sir.’
‘Admirable,’ said Laming, sounding not altogether convinced. ‘Well, I think we may have resolved your difficulty in bringing the matter before the envoy, since that is very plainly what I myself am able to do. But there is now a British general here, and we must inform him.’
Wainwright looked uneasy. ‘Would that be wise, sir?’
Laming’s head rocked back. ‘You are very sure of yourself, Corporal!’
Wainwright said nothing.
‘But then, as I recall, you did aim a pistol at one of your own officers in Rangoon.’
‘Sir, that was because he would have sawn off Major Hervey’s arm if I hadn’t. That’s why I took the major to the ship, sir. The surgeon there was able to save it!’ Wainwright was now sitting at attention.
Laming held up a hand. ‘Hold hard, Corporal! I am by no means of a contrary mind to yours, but this is hardly something that the general is not going to hear of, one way or another. And it would be a deuced fine thing if he did so and then found out he might have had it from his own men earlier.’
‘Sir.’
‘Sit easy, man. Now tell me, why did you go to Baron Delgado?’
‘Because he wanted Major Hervey to go to Elvas in the first place, sir. His brother is a bishop there, and both of them are strong for the regent. And Dona Delgado, sir – she’s his daughter – she speaks English and went with him; the first time, I mean. And then Major Hervey came back here and wrote a report for Colonel Norris, but then later there was word from Baron Delgado that the Miguelites were going to attack Elvas, and so Major Hervey went there again.’
‘Without Colonel Norris’s permission, I imagine?’
‘I’m not rightly sure, sir, but I would think so, yes.’
Laming sighed. ‘Dona Delgado – is her name Isabella, do you know?’
‘Sir.’
Laming nodded, slowly. ‘When the regiment was in Portugal,’ he began, as if explaining to a fellow officer, ‘during the war, that is, we rescued Baron Delgado and his family and brought them to Lisbon. We were going into the lines at Torres Vedras, and the baron had an estate at Santarem, on what would have been the French side. He was an officer in the militia, too, I think. What did they say to you when you told them of Major Hervey?’
‘Sir, Dona Delgado said to come here and speak to Mr Forbes while she went to see a friend of theirs in the government, and then to come back to Belem, where they live, so as to work out what to do next. Sir.’
Laming looked long at Wainwright, trying to judge the affair properly, for here, indeed, was an NCO of uncommon percipience. ‘Dona Delgado – she speaks English well?’
‘Sir. She was married to an Englishman here, a consul.’
Laming nodded again. As he recalled, when first the Sixth’s subalterns had paid court to Isabella Delgado, she had spoken a sort of English – very formal, learned from books. They had all got on so much better in French, with the baron especially. ‘What do you imagine Dona Delgado will say to this friend in the government?’
‘I don’t rightly know, sir, but I know that she won’t say that Major Hervey is in Badajoz. She said that right plainly, sir.’
‘Very well. When I have concluded business here we will go to Belem, and on the way you may tell me exactly how it came about that Major Hervey was made prisoner. Is there anything else I ought to know at present?’
Wainwright thought for a moment. ‘No, sir.’ He stood up.
Laming remained seated, mulling over things one more time before committing himself to his interview with the chargé. ‘One more matter, Corporal Wainwright; sit down.’ He waited, then forced himself to the question. ‘Do you know who is Lady Katherine Greville?’
Wainwright shifted only a fraction, but it was enough to alert Laming to the awkwardness – as if he needed alerting. ‘Sir.’
‘She is here in Lisbon, is she not?’
Wainwright rested easy again, for the question was matter of fact. He shook his head. ‘Sir. Her ladyship was here, sir, up unto a fortnight ago, but then she went to Madeira, as was always her intention, she said.’
Laming could only wonder again at Wainwright’s easy confidence. He did not like exposing so much to a corporal, but Wainwright’s attentiveness and discretion gave him confidence to pursue his line of questions. ‘Did she have dealings with the legation, do you know?’
‘Sir. She used to go there a lot.’
‘And Colonel Norris – were they acquainted?’
Wainwright shifted again. ‘Sir. Lady Katherine tried to get him to see things Major Hervey’s way.’
‘Did she indeed. How very fortunate is Major Hervey with his female supporters.’