Free Abigail's Cousin by Ron Pearse Page A

question, then ventured: "I do believe
the Treaty of Ryswick gave Louis all he needed. It's checkmate. The
Dutch won't move without us, and we have no pretext." This speech
left him disconsolate and he was silent.
    Spencer turned
to Godolphin: "We've heard from the general, my lord. What says the
diplomat?"
    Godolphin was
also reflective before he spoke: "Have you heard of the balance of
power, Charles?"
    Spencer shook his head but then said
almost in contempt: "You don't mean that old howler from the
schoolroom! What possible referen ce has it in our modern world?"
    Churchill
moved closer to listen to what his friend was about to say:
    "Just this,"
answered Godolphin gravely, "when the Spanish invited Louis XIV's
grandson, Philip, to occupy their vacant throne, the Austrians were
alarmed, as were the Dutch and the Germans - and England should be
too. The French army is a formidable force without Spain, but their
combined strength will serious threaten the status quo."
    Churchill
said: "Admiral Russell beat a French fleet at La Hogue. Now just
imagine a combined Franco-Spanish fleet. It will be
unassailable."
    "Is the
position hopeless? Can anything be done?" said Spencer to nobody in
particular.
    Churchill
positioned his chair even closer to the table motioning his friends
to come closer and Spencer smiling nervously chaffed his
friend:
    "We are
surrounded by French spies eh!" Then casting a look around the cafe
whispered in jest: Where are the pitchers, John? I mean the ones
large enough to hold a spy."
    Godolphin
rebuked Spencer in friendly manner: "You may joke, Charles, yet
only recently was a message intercepted from a French agent. The
French was not easy to decipher as the subject matter only made
sense when I was shown the translated text. The message was
addressed to St. Germain."
    Seeing his
friends' puzzlement Godolphin explained: "St Germain is where Louis
has put a palace at the disposal of our late monarch, James."
    Spencer
whistled, commenting: "He has not given up hope then of returning
at the head of a Catholic army, then? By the bye you still haven't
told us about the message."
    Godolphin
said: "James is clutching at straws. The message said that the lord
Godolphin, yours truly, was spending more time with the princess,
Anne, as she then was, than with Queen Mary, joint monarch and wife
to Caliban, I mean, King William. The puzzle is how the agent got
hold of that information. I can only surmise there are spies within
the palace itself."
    While
Godolphin was talking Churchill had arisen and removed his heavy
coat rolling up his sleeves muttering about the heat in the room.
Godolphin stopped his discourse as he spotted something:
    "Those two
scars on your arm, John; they look fearful."
    Churchill
looked at the scars which were raised from the skin and he said
ruefully:
    "Young Hubert
Fenwick's handiwork, but he carries my wound upon his thigh. Those
were the days."
    "When would
that have been John?" asked Godolphin and Churchill answered
promptly: "January 6th, 1671. I feel like an old man compared to
those heady days."
    Spencer said:
"It might have been worse, John. He called you out so you had the
choice of weapon. He was a crack shot, d'you remember?"
    Churchill
rolled down his sleeve, leaned over the table and said in a
whisper" "Talking of guns, Cadogan tells me about a new type of
musket, a wheel-lock, he calls it, which gives a higher rate of
fire. It'll give us the edge over the French, when it comes to a
fight."
    "If I did not
know you better, I would say, here is a conspiracy."
    All three
raised their heads towards the speaker, a newcomer who stood near
their table.
    It was Churchill who spoke first: "Ah! Mr
Harley welcome." He got up to greet the newcomer. "Join the
conspiracy. Draw up a chair." At the same time he signalled one of
the serving men who hovered around their private
room .
    But it was the
proprietor who entered with an extra chair, inviting Harley to be
seated taking an order for