'They have already made that request,' Sir Charles put in. 'I received it at eight o'clock this morning. To gain a few hours for Mr. Brook, I replied that I could not comply until I had consulted our lawyers. But the Portuguese are our allies. They have the law on their side, and it is my duty to maintain good relations with them. I feel, therefore, that unless the matter can be settled within the next twenty-four hours, I shall have no alternative but to hand Mr. Brook over.'
'I am grateful to Your Excellency for having secured me that much grace,' Roger said, 'but in so short a time I see little hope of our buying over the duenna. Once I have been arrested, the case will go forward and our chance of persuading her to retract become very much more slender. It seems the only course open to me is to leave the Legation tonight and endeavour to get aboard a ship that will carry me to England.'
The Minister shook his head. 'I fear you will not find that possible. The Legation is under observation by guardas. And, as your enemies are people of influence, they will no doubt have pressed the authorities to have others watching for you on the docks.'
Roger remained silent for a moment, then he said, 'May I impose on Your Excellency's good nature by asking you to send a note to General Lord Wellington informing him of my situation? As it is impossible for me to go to him, I pray you request him to come here sometime this evening; so that, before I am arrested, I may confide to him a matter of considerable importance.'
Sir Charles having readily agreed to oblige Roger, the conference broke up.
Somehow Roger got through the rest of the day, spending most of it in the company of the two girls. Both showed great concern for him. Deborah, who was deeply religious, said she would pray for him several times each day while he was in prison. Mary, who was of a more practical turn of mind, urged him to attempt to escape arrest, and proposed that they should smuggle him out of the back of the Legation in a large hamper. But, even had the Minister consented to risk becoming compromised by lending himself to such a plan, to take the hamper down to a ship would be certain to arouse the suspicions of the guarda, who would insist on having it opened.
Neither of the girls could suggest anywhere else to which it could profitably be taken. Roger, however, had his own ideas about that, although he was not prepared to disclose them for the moment.
Lord Wellington did not arrive until after dinner. In the Minister's study, over a decanter of port, he was informed more fully of Roger's situation, then Sir Charles tactfully left them alone together.
When the door had closed, the tall General ran a finger down his big, high-bridged nose, smiled and said, 'So, Mr, Brook, you are, after all, going to make an expedition into enemy-held territory.'
Roger smiled back. 'I might have known, my lord that you would have guessed why I should have taken the liberty of requesting you to come here. Although I am innocent of the deed of which I am accused, I see no hope of proving that. Since to save my life I must leave Lisbon and tonight, the only sure method of doing so that presents itself is for me to ask your aid to cross the lines, and there resume my French identity.'
'And then?'
'I could make my way to any of a dozen places on the French held coast and thence have a smuggler run me across to England. But if I do that, I'll still have this charge hanging over my head should I ever return to Portugal, and a time may come when I'll wish to do so, Moreover I am loath to leave the field to these people who have sought to entrap me. There is a possibility that, given a month or so, Mr. Lessor may be able to secure me a clean bill. If so, I could return to Lisbon and claim my inheritance.'
'And during this month or so?'
'Doubtless I could make my way into Spain and there lie low. But since I must spend it in enemy-held territory, 'twould be unpatriotic of me not to take the opportunity of serving your lordship; so I'll go to Massena's headquarters.'
'Ah! There speaks the man I had supposed you to be,' Wellington stood up and patted Roger on the shoulder. 'It remains then only for us to decide how you can be removed from here."
'This afternoon, Lady Mary Ware suggested that I
should be smuggled out in a big hamper; although, of course, knowing nothing of my secret activities, she could think of no place to which I could then be taken.'
After a moment's thought Wellington said, 'I like it not. The agents watching the house might suspect you to be in the hamper. You are tall to pass as a woman, but could do so in darkness. And, if you left the Embassy on my arm, no policeman would dare challenge you.'
Roger laughed. 'I'll count it an honour, my lord, to have you as my cavalier.'
Within an hour, final arrangements had been made. Roger signed a draft on Hoare's Bank for five thousand pounds which Mr. Lessor would discount, then do his best to win over the duenna. Next day the Minister was to inform the Portuguese authorities that, during the night, Roger had left the Legation without anyone being aware of how he had done so, and send a sum of money as compensation to the guarda whom Mary had wounded with her parasol. Lady Stuart who, fortunately, was a tall woman, provided Roger with female attire and unearthed from the attic a long discarded wig. Tittering, the girls helped him to pad out his chest. At nine o'clock, he took an affectionate leave of them and expressed his gratitude to the Stuarts. Lord Wellington's carriage was driven up, his mounted escort called to attention and Roger, stooping to disguise his height, left the Legation on the General's arm.
Twenty minutes later, Roger's clothes and belongings were sent after him to Wellington's headquarters. After he had changed, he spent two hours in conference with the General. Massena, having remained for a month before the lines of Torres Vedras and decided that they were too strong to justify an assault, had retired to the town of Santarem, some twenty miles north-east of Lisbon, and his army was encamped about it. The country between had then become a no-man's-land, on which vedettes of British cavalry occasionally had brief encounters with troops of French, seeking, generally in vain, for hidden supplies left behind by the peasantry. Owing to Wellington's scorched-earth policy, it was almost uninhabited; but, here and there, Portuguese continued to live secretly in caves and barns, as postboxes through which news of enemy movements could swiftly be transmitted to the British. On a large scale map, the General pointed out to Roger half a dozen of these hide outs, and gave him the password by which their occupants would know him to be a friend.
Then he said:
'Massena will be certain to question you about the state of things in Lisbon. Without going into details, tell him the truth. That not only has my own army been greatly reinforced during the winter months but I have also embodied, trained and armed, many thousands of Portuguese, and I am very pleased with them. The first regiments I formed participated in our clash with Massena at Busaco. They stood up well to the assault and had good reason to be proud of themselves.
'It will then be for Massena to take the decision to which the starving condition of his army is driving him nearer every day. Should he decide to gamble everything on an all out attack, I'll let him come right up to our lines, then tear him to pieces with my artillery. If, on the other hand, he elects to fall back into Spain, I want to be ready to follow him with all possible speed and hope to trounce him thoroughly in the open field.'