Free Dennis Wheatley - Duke de Richleau 07 by The Second Seal Page A

boomed Sir Pellinore. “That’s why I asked him to
lunch.”

CHAPTER IV - THE
BRIEFING OF A RELUCTANT SPY
    Ten days after the masked ball at Dorchester House, four men sat round
a small table in a quiet corner of the smoking-room at the Carlton Club. They
were Sir Pellinore Gwaine-Cust, General Sir Henry Wilson, Sir Bindon Blackers
and the Duke de Richleau. They had just lunched together and were waiting to be
served with the liqueur brandies which they had ordered with their coffee.
    The Duke had
already lunched with Sir Pellinore during the previous week, and had, moreover,
spent two long evening sessions with him, at which they had talked far into the
night in the library of the millionaire baronet’s big mansion, a stone’s throw
away in Carlton House Terrace. So they now had one another’s measure; but De
Richleau was meeting the other two men for the first time.
    As he took from
his case, and lit, a long Hoyo de Monterrey cigar— a brand that he especially
favoured, and he was a connoisseur of no mean order in such matters—his
apparently casual glance rested on the face of first one then the other of his
new acquaintances, seeking to probe the real personalities that lay behind the
pleasant, carefree manner they had both displayed at the luncheon table.
    The General was
a tall man with quick, humorous eyes, great vitality, and a hearty laugh. De
Richleau knew a little, although not much, about him. He was Director of
Military Operations at the War Office. He spoke French with great fluency, and
was said to be the only British officer who had succeeded in winning the
complete confidence of the French General Staff. Sir Bindon Blackers was slim
and round-shouldered, with a fine domed forehead from which the hair was
receding, and a large, fair fluffed-out moustache. About him, De Richleau knew
nothing except that he was the Foreign Office representative on the Committee
of Imperial Defence.
    A dark-liveried
club servant of ecclesiastical mien reverently placed the brandies on the table
and silently withdrew. When they had all sniffed and sipped the fine champagne appreciatively, De Richleau broke the brief
silence by addressing the soldier and the diplomat.
    “Gentlemen, I
have made my position plain to Sir Pellinore. and it might be as well if I do
so to you. He has asked me, on behalf of the British Government, to undertake
certain work abroad. I must state frankly that the mission proposed was not of
my seeking, and is not to my liking. I am by trade a soldier and, therefore,
accustomed to inflict such damage as I can on the enemy in the open. Having
held high rank in several foreign armies, I am well aware of the value of
secret intelligence; but never before have I visualized myself going out to get
it. I have always admired the courage of those who do; but I am sure you will
agree that to men of our standing the thought of attempting to steal papers in
a house to which one has been invited as a guest, of pandering to weak men’s
vices in order to blackmail or worm their secrets out of them, of seeking to
win the friendship and confidence of people with the deliberate intention of
betraying them, can only be repulsive.”
    “Oh come!”
protested the General cheerfully. “You’re thinking of exceptional cases, Duke.
It’s not usually as bad as all that, and to my mind serving one’s country
justifies most things.”
    De Richleau
nodded and rejoined a trifle coldly, “If it were not for that aspect of the
matter, General, I should not be here. Sir Pellinore has been at great pains to
point out to me that previous circumstances in my career, coupled with my
considerable knowledge of military matters, provide me with such unique
equipment for undertaking this mission with a fair chance of success, that I
should be little short of a traitor if I declined it.”
    “So you would be,”
growled Sir Pellinore. “It’s you who told us that this feller Dissiwitch has
the power to dish out life or death for