The poor fools will soon have cause to rue it,' Roger commented with a cynical laugh, 'as did the Belgians earlier in the war when they opened the gates of their towns to General Dumouriez's cut-throat soldiery. Within three months, the bringers of Liberty had stripped them of all but their shirts.
'What, in your opinion, will Buonaparte's next move be?' Mr. Pitt enquired. 'Both the Papal States and Tuscany lie open to him and neither could put up a serious resistance. Such easy prey must be very tempting to him.'
.'No, he will not turn south. At least, not if he adheres to his grand design, as he expounded it to me. It was to drive north through the Venetian lands, and so into the Tyrol. There, he hopes to join up with the Army of the Rhine and thence, with the united armies giving him overwhelming strength, march direct on Vienna.'
One cannot but admire the breadth of such a conception. He must be a remarkable man and is, I gather, not much older than yourself.'
'He is, in fact, my junior, Sir, by some eight months.'
For a few minutes the Prime Minister remained silent, then he said:
'Your mention of Venice reminds me of the main reason for my sending for you; but I'll not enter on that for the moment. Your grasp of military matters has always impressed me, and I would like to hear what you consider General Buonaparte's chances to be of carrying through his great plan?'
'You flatter me, Sir,' Roger smiled. 'But my work has oft necessitated my living for long spells at the Headquarters of Generals commanding armies in the field, and maybe there is some little truth in the old adage that “the looker-on sees most of the game”. Even so, I hesitate to make a prediction in this case, because it is subject to so many unknown factors. In the first place, will the Emperor be able to continue the war without the new subsidy for which he has asked you?'
'He shall have it, Mr. Brook.'
'In time for it to serve its purpose?'
'Yes; it shall be furnished to him within a month.'
'Do you intend, then, to recall Parliament?'
'No. I shall send it on my own responsibility.'
Roger raised his eyebrows. 'Should you do that, Sir, surely you would risk impeachment?'
The Prime Minister gave his pale smile. 'It will be ground enough and will raise no small outcry. Did you see Gillray's cartoon based on the stoning of his Majesty's coach? I was depicted as his coachman, driving like Jehu through a hail of bad eggs, carrots and dead cats, while Lansdowne, Bedford and Whitbread strove to stop the vehicle's wheels. Fox and Sheridan, armed with bludgeons, were endeavouring to wrench open its door, and Norfolk was aiming a blunderbuss at the King. All these Whig nabobs will seize on such an unconstitutional act as a fine chance to demand my head; but I doubt not I'll keep it on my shoulders.'
'It is those traitors who should be sent to the block on Tower Hill,' Roger declared, his face reddening with indignation. 'Ever since '89 Fox and the Holland House crew have at every turn encouraged the French revolutionaries by applauding their acts, and striven to thwart your measures for the defence of Britain.'
'The right of the Opposition to attack Government in Parliament is the very cornerstone of our liberties,' replied the Prime Minister mildly. 'So I would be the last to wish things otherwise. And in himself, Charles Fox is a most generous and kindly man. But tell me; what prospects do you consider the Austrians have, given that we can keep them in the field?'
'They should be able to prevent the enemy from invading their own territory, for this year at least; and they have one great asset which should aid them in doing so. That is the fortress of Mantua. It is one of the strongest in Italy. I greatly doubt if Buonaparte would dare to leave it untaken in his rear, and, if well provisioned, it should be able to hold out for several months.'
'Should treachery or incompetence cause Mantua to fall within the next few weeks, what then?'
'Then all would depend upon the Army of the Rhine, Buonaparte's line of communications would be so long and, having to pass twice through the Alps, too hazardous for him to advance on Vienna unsupported. Unless Moreau and Jourdan can, in accordance with his plan, rendezvous with him at Innsbruck by the early autumn, he would have to winter in the Tyrol.'
'Can you, Mr. Brook, suggest any means by which we might assist our Austrian allies to prevent the junction of the two enemy armies?'
Roger shook his head. 'I can think of none; other than an attempt to rebuild the Coalition, and thus provide the French with additional enemies.'
'If the war drags on there may come a time when that would be possible; but for the present it is out of the question. However, because I have had great hopes of negotiating a peace with the French this summer, that does not mean that I have altogether ignored the possibility that we might have to continue at war. And there is one powerful state that by skilful handling I believe could be drawn in to our assistance. I refer to the Serene Republic'
'Venice!' The widening of Roger's blue eyes showed his astonishment. 'Admittedly I have never visited that city but, from all I have heard, centuries of luxury and debauchery have rendered its inhabitants the last word in decadence. Already both the French and Austrians have violated the Serene Republic's neutrality by sending troops across her borders, yet that has not led to her even making a serious protest.'
'It is true that the Senate have not yet defined the position that they intend to take up. But having witnessed the Kingdom of Sardinia, three out of the four Duchies and their sister republic, Genoa, all so swiftly brought under the heel of revolutionary France, you may be sure that they are greatly concerned about the future. I know that to be so for they now have a secret envoy in London. His instructions are to assess our capability and will to carry on the war, so that they can decide whether to ask us for an alliance and declare against the French, or if it would pay them better to offer General Buonaparte free access to all their strong places in exchange for a guarantee of the return thereof after the war and of the Republic's continuance as a Sovereign State.'
'Did you grant this envoy an interview yourself. Sir.' Roger
enquired, 'or did my Lord Grenville see him at the Foreign Office?'
'Neither of us has seen him; and we are not likely to. That's just the rub. I have been privately informed about him. He is not here to make an official approach to His Majesty's Government, but has been sent only to spy out the land; and from our point of view he could not have made a worse beginning. Like so many of these wealthy foreigners he was already acquainted with several of our die-hard Whig nobility; so he was promptly made much of at Holland House, and Sheridan has appointed himself his bear-leader during his stay in London.'
'In that case 'tis a certainty that those pro-French traitors will send him back to Venice convinced that Britain is near down and out.' With a shrug, Roger added lightly, 'But I'd not let that worry you unduly, Sir. I doubt if the Venetians have a kick left in them; so whichever way their Senate may decide will make little odds to us.'
'On the contrary, Mr. Brook. While the war continues, no chance whatever of securing help in it should be neglected. Despite my sanguine hopes that, within the next few months, peace might be restored, I have never lost sight of that. It is the reason that I sent for you. I desire you to make the acquaintance of this Signor Rinaldo Malderini, and give him clearly to understand that Britain still has great resources and will never agree a peace that does not embody a full recognition of her allies' interests. Before our talk this morning, I had accounted this small commission as merely a precautionary measure, and one unlikely to require following up; but now I regard it as both urgent and of the first importance.'