‘How much work is left on the tapestry?’
‘A fortnight, at most, I’d say.’ He saw the concern etched in her face. ‘It’s nothing to worry about, Amalia. It just means that I won’t be able to work for such long periods. Hand-sewing requires such care and stamina. Eyes get tired. Fingers are bound to hurt.’
‘Yet you’ve never had pain in the past, Father.’
He smiled. ‘You mean that I’ve never told you about it before.’
‘Has this been happening for a long time?’ she asked, anxiously.
‘No, it hasn’t. At the end of a long day, my hands have often been sore but that’s to be expected. One must suffer for one’s art.’
‘I was thinking about the Duke of Marlborough’s tapestry.’
‘What about it?’
‘Well,’ she said, fretfully, ‘it would be a tragedy if your hands got so bad that you weren’t able to complete it. I mean, it will be such an honour for you to have your work hanging in Blenheim Palace.’
‘Have no fears,’ he assured her. ‘My fingers have lost nothing of their skill. They’re not about to drop off yet, Amalia. Work on the battle of Ramillies will start again as soon as we’ve finished this tapestry. It’s a much bigger project, of course, so I’ll have to take on more assistants. We’ll all work side by side on different looms. It may be a long time before it can go to England to take its rightful place at Blenheim Palace but at least it will be ready.’
Amalia was relieved. ‘I’m so pleased to hear that.’
‘I’ll be producing tapestries for years yet. One of them, I trust, will commemorate the Duke’s next triumph.’
‘Where will that be?’
‘I was counting on you to tell me that,’ he teased. ‘I hoped that Captain Rawson might have given us forewarning in his last letter.’
‘He never mentions things like that.’
‘One thing is certain, anyhow.’
‘What’s that, Father?’
‘Wherever the next battle does take place, we can be sure that the captain will be in the thick of it.’
‘Well done, Daniel,’ said Marlborough, cheerily. ‘It’s yet another feather in your cap.’
‘Thank you, Your Grace,’ replied Daniel, ‘but the person who deserves the praise is Sergeant Welbeck of the 24^th. It was he who first suspected the fellow.’
‘I’ll make a point of writing to thank him.’
It was no idle promise. Marlborough was always ready to give credit where it was due. Daniel was part of the entourage that was following him on his tour through the camp on a beautiful June day. Corporal John had fought under commanders who were aloof and detached. One or two of them had openly despised the ranks, viewing them as no more than cannon fodder. Marlborough, by contrast, respected the most humble members of his army and let them see him in person from time to time. The sight of their captain general, striding through the camp in his finery, was always uplifting.
‘Where’s this sutler now?’ asked Marlborough.
‘He’s still in custody, Your Grace.’
‘Has he been interrogated?’
‘Oh, yes,’ said Daniel with a grin. ‘Ralph Higgins was thoroughly examined. I invited Sergeant Welbeck to take part in the exercise. He has a rare talent for loosening a man’s tongue.’
‘What did you learn?’
‘For a start, we know the cipher that he’s been using.’
‘Excellent!’
And we’ve also identified his accomplice — a corporal in the Royal Scots Fusiliers. Higgins refused to give us the man’s name at first but Sergeant Welbeck eventually drew it out of him. What we don’t yet know is the name of the go-between.’
‘The go-between?’ echoed Marlborough.
‘There were three of them involved. Higgins gathered the intelligence and gave it to the corporal. He in turn passed it on to someone who delivered it to the enemy. Corporal Rennie proved to be a harder man to crack,’ said Daniel. ‘He admitted nothing.’
‘Couldn’t you get the name of this third man from Higgins?’
‘He swears that he doesn’t know it and I believe him.’
‘Keep interrogating him.’
‘We will, Your Grace.’
Marlborough broke off to exchange a few words with some officers he encountered. When he moved on, he waved to a group of privates who were unloading a wagon. Daniel noticed how pleased they were to be acknowledged. The tour continued.
‘You and Sergeant Welbeck are to be congratulated, Daniel,’ said Marlborough. ‘You caught this man red-handed, so to speak.’
‘It takes a spy to recognise a spy.’
‘Why did you suspect him?’
‘He tried to be too clever,’ recalled Daniel. ‘To convince us that he was genuine, he told us far more than he needed. I’ve learnt to keep explanations to a minimum. Higgins talked too much. The only way to be certain, of course, was to give him the chance to escape. That would be an obvious confession of guilt. So we prepared a little welcome for him.’
‘How long has he been with us?’
‘Since the start of the campaign, Your Grace.’
Marlborough pondered. ‘I suppose that a sutler would be in a position to hear all the gossip in the camp,’ he said at length. ‘Soldiers are off guard when they’re buying things from the back of a wagon.’
‘Don’t forget his sketches,’ said Daniel. ‘They were a means of wheedling himself into the company of officers. He’d flatter them by offering to paint their portraits then draw what information he could from them. He was an artist of no mean talent.’
‘He should have put it to better use.’
‘Higgins felt that it was put to good use, Your Grace. When he questioned him, he confessed that his father was English and had died when his son was just a boy. He was brought up by his mother, who was French by birth. That’s where his allegiances lay.’
‘Not any more,’ said Marlborough. ‘He’s finished.’
‘And so is Corporal Rennie. He comes from a proud regiment. They were appalled to discover that they had a traitor in their midst. However,’ Daniel said, ‘Higgins was the real danger. He was a spy. Rennie simply handed on reports to a courier.’
‘We must find out who that courier was.’
Marlborough paused again to pass a few remarks to a sergeant major. There was no sense of condescension. He talked to the man as if they were on an equal footing and the sergeant major appreciated that. After a few minutes, they were on the move again.
‘I’m surprised that I was not on Higgins’ list,’ said Marlborough.
‘What list is that?’
‘Well, the obvious way to get the most reliable intelligence was to try to inveigle me into providing it. To manage that, he’d have had to do a sketch of me.’
‘That would have been unnecessary,’ said Daniel.
‘Why?’
‘Every soldier in Europe would recognise you, Your Grace. It was different in my case. He was desperate for a portrait of me.’
‘You’re a handsome fellow, Daniel. Any artist would enjoy painting a picture of you.’
‘Higgins wouldn’t have done it for his own benefit,’ said Daniel. ‘I think the portrait had been commissioned. Somebody is very keen to know exactly what I look like.’
‘So this is the intrepid Captain Rawson, is it?’ said Vendome, studying the rough sketch. ‘He’s just as I imagined him to be.’
‘This note came as well,’ said the messenger, offering the paper. ‘It’s been deciphered.’
‘Thank you.’
Snatching it from him, Vendome read it. As he did so, his eyes bulged and his mouth fell open. He was patently startled. He looked at the sketch again with renewed interest. Before he could make any comment, however, the flap of the tent was held open by a guard so that the duc de Burgundy could sail in. Greeting the newcomer with a bow, the messenger scurried out. Burgundy took up a pose.
‘I’m glad that I find you standing up for once,’ he said.
‘I think best when seated on my chaise-percee,’ Vendome told him. ‘Contemplation helps the bowels to function.’
‘I’ll take your word for it, my lord Duke. As it happens, that’s not something I came here to discuss.’
‘Have you heard from Versailles?’