England is a nation of shopkeepers.
CHAPTER 8
The Lure
For a long while Drinkwater sat in silence and Nicholas watched anxiously. The longer the silence persisted, the less Nicholas thought he had convinced his listener. He began reciting a catalogue of reasons why the mission could not possibly be misjudged.
'If you have any misgivings, Captain Drinkwater, consider the facts. The funds of the Secret Service have been worse spent. We have squandered thousands on the Chouans ... we have wasted huge amounts on fomenting the émigrés in Switzerland ... the Comte D'Antraigues and Mr Wickham have gobbled up fantastic sums, all to no effect ...'
But Drinkwater was not listening. Nicholas's words had acted like a drum beat to his tired heart. First the anger roused by Hamilton's rudeness had made him receptive to Nicholas's proposal; then the chance meeting with Sullivan, the ci-devant American, who had sown the seed of an idea ...
He got up and began pacing up and down the spartan room: three paces to the wall, three paces to the bed, up and down, up and down.
'We have already enjoyed one brilliant success, sir, from this very island when Mr Mackenzie was here and superintended the mission of Father Robertson ...'
Drinkwater stopped pacing and held up his hand. 'Stop, Mr Nicholas, you are being indiscreet. Whatever Mr Mackenzie's achievements, beware of seeking a reputation imprudently.
Your case has much to recommend it; now I desire that you listen to me.'
Drinkwater began to walk back and forth again, though at a slower pace, his head down and his forehead creased in concentration.
'There will be a gale by morning and the packet will be delayed. We must use this time to bring the Governor round. He has only to arrest and deport me for this scheme of yours to be stillborn. That I must leave to you, but I will give you some cogent reasons for pressing the point.
'To enable us to deliver a convoy would necessitate the co-operation of too many men and I doubt the fellows on those merchant ships will agree. However, we might mount an operation with two vessels. It will be known in Hamburg that these ships have been idling here for months; it would not be difficult to persuade the authorities there that their crews are disaffected, or threatened with the naval press. The Emperor Napoleon has inveighed against the application of the press against the hapless seamen of Great Britain ...
'Apart from these two vessels, the remaining ships may be deployed as decoys in such a way as to give the impression of our sincerity, without committing them. Is there a rendezvous with the mainland that would not admit too great a risk to our people?'
'Yes, Neuwerk, an island ten leagues to the east and three from Cuxhaven.'
'Ah, yes, I recollect it from the chart. Well then, under the strictest discipline I think we might achieve something. Holding back most of the ships will perhaps serve to salve Colonel Hamilton's conscience, but he must put it about publicly that now the Ordnance Department have relinquished responsibility for the vessels, he wants them out of his charge.'
'I have no doubt but that he'd oblige you there.'
'He has no love of the mercantile lobby. Can we guarantee such an attitude will be made known ashore?'
'Gilham and company have rumbled with discontent for nigh on six or seven months, sir. The smugglers who buy from the warehouses report the movements of ships to and from the island. It cannot have escaped the notice of the authorities in Hamburg that some of them have been choking the anchorage for a long time.'
'And that they bear the distinctive marks of troop transports,' added Drinkwater, thinking of the large 'DA' painted on the bows of Gilham's Ocean.
'Quite so, sir, and if you make much of the disaffection of the crews when you are obliged to confront the douaniers ...'
'Yes, Mr Nicholas,' Drinkwater broke in, 'but such a claim needs to be corroborated by whatever gossip precedes us. You say you have a trusted contact in Hamburg; I shall need also a German linguist. I know you to speak the language, do you know a person of such calibre that would accompany us?'
'Yes, I do. You recollect Colonel Hamilton spoke of delaying the packet until a message arrived?' Drinkwater nodded. 'And you recall me saying that it was only tonight that events conspired to make this present proposal possible?'
'I recollect.'
'There is a merchant house whose head is a man called Liepmann, a Jew, resident at Altona and master of a considerable business chiefly connected with the import of sugar. He is adept at maintaining this trade notwithstanding the present blockade and we are sympathetic to his needs. He is known to the French, having opened up a lucrative communication with the city's former Governor, M'sieur Bourrienne. He is a go-between, a broker ...'
'And will handle the commercial aspects of this transaction of ours, eh?' Drinkwater asked, jumping to the obvious conclusion.
'Quite so. We, I mean, the Governor, is awaiting news as to how matters are to be conducted in the wake of Bourrienne's departure and under the rule of Reinhardt, the new French minister. The man who brings this, Herr Reinke, is surveyor to the Chamber of Commerce, continually mapping the shifting sandbanks of the Elbe, a man whose absence is not missed for a few days and who can be relied upon as an expert pilot and linguist. It is his arrival the Colonel anticipates.'
'I see. And Liepmann, can you communicate a matter of this complexity with him directly, or must we wait for Herr Reinke to return to Hamburg?'
Nicholas shook his head. 'I can send him a cryptogram by way of a fishing boat.'
'Very well.'
Drinkwater stopped pacing up and down and stood over Nicholas. He was resolved now, convinced that they had a chance of success.
'You will explain our intention in full to London, Mr Nicholas, is that clearly understood?' He did not want his motives misunderstood if the affair did miscarry, or he himself failed to return. 'Encode the message and do your best to reassure Colonel Hamilton that what we intend is a bold stroke.'
'A decisive stroke, wouldn't you say, sir?'
Drinkwater caught the twinkle of humour in the younger man's eyes.
'Indeed.' He smiled, then added, 'it would be even better managed if you could persuade him the idea was his own.'
Nicholas's eyebrows shot up. 'I could try, but I doubt that I possess sufficient tact for that.'
They laughed, just like conspirators, Drinkwater thought afterwards.
'And the communication with Herr Liepmann ...'
'If you draft it, I will code it.' Nicholas hesitated then said, 'I think, Captain Drinkwater, that it would be to our advantage if you also knew the method of communication with Herr Liepmann. It might, after all, be useful to you in the event of any problems that might arise.'
'I see you are well cut out to be a diplomat, Mr Nicholas,' Drinkwater said wryly. 'This code is known to you and the Colonel ...'
'And Herr Liepmann.'
'Very well. I agree. Now, Mr Nicholas, paper and ink, if you please. I will see you tomorrow when I hope to have spoken with Littlewood and, I think Gilham. In the mean time, oblige me by seeing if there is sufficient bunting on this
God-forsaken island to manufacture a dozen Yankee ensigns.' 'Yankee ensigns, Captain, you mean American ensigns?' 'That is precisely what I mean, Mr Nicholas.' 'May I ask why?' 'No, you may not. I shall tell you tomorrow evening, when
I have decided whether or not this lunatic proposal of yours has the least chance of success. Now, sir, pen and ink, and then leave me alone.'