The Man From St. Petersburg Page 8

  Suddenly Charlotte was at the entrance, and the attendant was laying down her train, then giving her a gentle push, and she was walking along the red carpet, head held high, looking perfectly serene and confident. Lydia thought: This is the moment I have lived for. The girl ahead of Charlotte curtsied--and then the unthinkable happened.

  Instead of getting up from her curtsy, the debutante looked at the King, stretched out her arms in a gesture of supplication, and cried in a loud voice:

  "Your Majesty, for God's sake stop torturing women!"

  Lydia thought: A suffragette!

  Her eyes flashed to her daughter. Charlotte was standing dead still, halfway to the dais, staring at the tableau with an expression of horror on her ashen face.

  The shocked silence in the Throne Room lasted for only a second. Two gentlemen-in-waiting were the fastest to react. They sprang forward, took the girl firmly by either arm and marched her unceremoniously away.

  The Queen was blushing crimson. The King managed to look as if nothing had happened. Lydia looked again at Charlotte, thinking: Why did my daughter have to be next in line?

  Now all eyes were on Charlotte. Lydia wanted to call out to her: Pretend it never happened! Just carry on!

  Charlotte stood still. A little color came back into her cheeks. Lydia could see that she was taking a deep breath.

  Then she walked forward. Lydia could not breathe. Charlotte handed her card to the Lord Chamberlain, who said: "Presentation of Lady Charlotte Walden." Charlotte stood before the King.

  Lydia thought: Careful!

  Charlotte curtsied perfectly.

  She curtsied again to the Queen.

  She half turned, and walked away.

  Lydia let out her breath in a long sigh.

  The woman standing next to Lydia--a baroness whom she vaguely recognized but did not really know--whispered: "She handled that very well."

  "She's my daughter," Lydia said with a smile.

  Walden was secretly amused by the suffragette. Spirited girl! he thought. Of course, if Charlotte had done such a thing at the court he would have been horrified, but as it was someone else's daughter he regarded the incident as a welcome break in the interminable ceremony. He had noticed how Charlotte had carried on, unruffled: he would have expected no less of her. She was a highly self-assured young lady, and in his opinion Lydia should congratulate herself on the girl's upbringing instead of worrying all the time.

  He used to enjoy these occasions, years ago. As a young man he had quite liked to put on court dress and cut a dash. In those days he had had the legs for it, too. Now he felt foolish in knee breeches and silk stockings, not to mention a damn great steel sword. And he had attended so many courts that the colorful ritual no longer fascinated him.

  He wondered how King George felt about it. Walden liked the King. Of course, by comparison with his father, Edward VII, George was a rather colorless, mild fellow. The crowds would never shout, "Good old Georgie!" the way they had shouted, "Good old Teddy!" But in the end they would like George for his quiet charm and his modest way of life. He knew how to be firm, although as yet he did it too rarely; and Walden liked a man who could shoot straight. Walden thought he would turn out very well indeed.

  Finally the last debutante curtsied and passed on, and the King and Queen stood up. The orchestra played the national anthem again. The King bowed, and the Queen curtsied, first to the ambassadors, then to the ambassadors' wives, then to the duchesses, and lastly to the ministers. The King took the Queen by the hand. The pages picked up her train. The attendants went out backward. The royal couple left, followed by the rest of the company in order of precedence.

  They divided to go into three supper rooms: one for the royal family and their close friends, one for the diplomatic corps and one for the rest. Walden was a friend, but not an intimate friend, of the King: he went with the general assembly. Aleks went with the diplomats.

  In the supper room Walden met up with his family again. Lydia was glowing. Walden said: "Congratulations, Charlotte."

  Lydia said: "Who was that awful girl?"

  "I heard someone say she's the daughter of an architect," Walden replied.

  "That explains it," said Lydia.

  Charlotte looked mystified. "Why does that explain it?"

  Walden smiled. "Your mama means that the girl is not quite out of the top drawer."

  "But why does she think the King tortures women?"

  "She was talking about the suffragettes. But let's not go into all that tonight; this is a grand occasion for us. Let's have supper. It looks marvelous."

  There was a long buffet table loaded with flowers and hot and cold food. Servants in the scarlet-and-gold royal livery waited to offer the guests lobster, filleted trout, quail, York ham, plovers' eggs and a host of pastries and desserts. Walden got a loaded plate and sat down to eat. After standing about in the Throne Room for more than two hours he was hungry.

  Sooner or later Charlotte would have to learn about the suffragettes, their hunger strikes, and the consequent force-feeding; but the subject was indelicate, to say the least, and the longer she remained in blissful ignorance the better, Walden thought. At her age life should be all parties and picnics, frocks and hats, gossip and flirtation.

  But everyone was talking about "the incident" and "that girl." Walden's brother, George, sat beside him and said without preamble: "She's a Miss Mary Blomfield, daughter of the late Sir Arthur Blomfield. Her mother was in the drawing room at the time. When she was told what her daughter had done she fainted right off." He seemed to relish the scandal.

  "Only thing she could do, I suppose," Walden replied.

  "Damn shame for the family," George said. "You won't see Blomfields at court again for two or three generations."

  "We shan't miss them."

  "No."

  Walden saw Churchill pushing through the crowd toward where they sat. He had written to Churchill about his talk with Aleks, and he was impatient to discuss the next step--but not here. He looked away, hoping Churchill would get the hint. He should have known better than to hope that such a subtle message would get through.

  Churchill bent over Walden's chair. "Can we have a few words together?"

  Walden looked at his brother. George wore an expression of horror. Walden threw him a resigned look and got up.

  "Let's walk in the picture gallery," Churchill said.

  Walden followed him out.

  Churchill said: "I suppose you, too, will tell me that this suffragette protest is all the fault of the Liberal party."

  "I expect it is," Walden said. "But that isn't what you want to talk about."

  "No, indeed."

  The two men walked side by side through the long gallery. Churchill said: "We can't acknowledge the Balkans as a Russian sphere of influence."

  "I was afraid you'd say that."

  "What do they want the Balkans for? I mean, forgetting all this nonsense about sympathy with Slav nationalism."

  "They want passage through to the Mediterranean."

  "That would be to our advantage, if they were our allies."

  "Exactly."

  They reached the end of the gallery and stopped. Churchill said: "Is there some way we can give them that passage without redrawing the map of the Balkan Peninsula?"

  "I've been thinking about that."

  Churchill smiled. "And you've got a counterproposal."

  "Yes."

  "Let's hear it."

  Walden said, "What we're talking about here is three stretches of water: the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles. If we can give them those waterways, they won't need the Balkans. Now, suppose that whole passage between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean could be declared an international waterway, with free passage to ships of all nations guaranteed jointly by Russia and England."

  Churchill started walking again, slow and thoughtful. Walden walked beside him, waiting for his answer.

  Eventually Churchill said: "That
passage ought to be an international waterway, in any event. What you're suggesting is that we offer, as if it were a concession, something which we want anyway."

  "Yes."

  Churchill looked up and grinned suddenly. "When it comes to Machiavellian maneuvering, there's no one to beat the English aristocracy. All right. Go ahead and propose it to Orlov."

  "You don't want to put it to the Cabinet?"

  "No."

  "Not even to the Foreign Secretary?"

  "Not at this stage. The Russians are certain to want to modify the proposal--they'll want details of how the guarantee is to be enforced, at least--so I'll go to the Cabinet when the deal is fully elaborated."

  "Very well." Walden wondered just how much the Cabinet knew about what Churchill and he were up to. Churchill, too, could be Machiavellian. Were there wheels within wheels?

  Churchill said: "Where is Orlov now?"

  "In the diplomatic supper room."

  "Let's go and put it to him right away."

  Walden shook his head, thinking that people were right when they accused Churchill of being impulsive. "This is not the moment."

  "We can't wait for the moment, Walden. Every day counts."

  It will take a bigger man than you to bully me, Walden thought. He said: "You're going to have to leave that to my judgment, Churchill. I'll put this to Orlov tomorrow morning."

  Churchill seemed disposed to argue, but he restrained himself visibly and said: "I don't suppose Germany will declare war tonight. Very well." He looked at his watch. "I'm going to leave. Keep me fully informed."

  "Of course. Good-bye."

  Churchill went down the staircase and Walden went back into the supper room. The party was breaking up. Now that the King and Queen had disappeared and everyone had been fed there was nothing to stay for. Walden rounded up his family and took them downstairs. They met up with Aleks in the great hall.

  While the ladies went into the cloakroom Walden asked one of the attendants to summon his carriage.

  All in all, he thought as he waited, it had been a rather successful evening.

  The Mall reminded Feliks of the streets of the Old Equerries Quarter of Moscow. It was a wide, straight avenue that ran from Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace. On one side was a series of grand houses including St. James's Palace. On the other side was St. James's Park. The carriages and motor cars of the great were lined up on both sides of The Mall for half its length. Chauffeurs and coachmen leaned against their vehicles, yawning and fidgeting, waiting to be summoned to the palace to collect their masters and mistresses.

  The Walden carriage waited on the park side of The Mall. Their coachman, in the blue-and-pink Walden livery, stood beside the horses, reading a newspaper by the light of a carriage lamp. A few yards away, in the darkness of the park, Feliks stood watching him.

  Feliks was desperate. His plan was in ruins.

  He had not understood the difference between the English words "coachman" and "footman" and consequently he had misunderstood the notice in The Times about summoning carriages. He had thought that the driver of the coach would wait at the palace gate until his master emerged, then would come running to fetch the coach. At that point, Feliks had planned, he would have overpowered the coachman, taken his livery and driven the coach to the palace himself.

  What happened in fact was that the coachman stayed with the vehicle and the footman waited at the palace gate. When the coach was wanted, the footman would come running; then he and the coachman would go with the carriage to pick up the passengers. That meant Feliks had to overpower two people, not one; and the difficulty was that it had to be done surreptitiously, so that none of the hundreds of other servants in The Mall would know anything was wrong.

  Since realizing his mistake a couple of hours ago he had worried at the problem, while he watched the coachman chatting with his colleagues, examining a nearby Rolls-Royce car, playing some kind of game with halfpennies and polishing the carriage windows. It might have been sensible to abandon the plan and kill Orlov another day.

  But Feliks hated that idea. For one thing, there was no certainty that another good opportunity would arise. For another, Feliks wanted to kill him now. He had been anticipating the bang of the gun, the way the prince would fall; he had composed the coded cable which would go to Ulrich in Geneva; he had pictured the excitement in the little printing shop, and then the headlines in the world's newspapers, and then the final wave of revolution sweeping through Russia. I can't postpone this any longer, he thought; I want it now.

  As he watched, a young man in green livery approached the Walden coachman and said: "What ho, William."

  So the coachman's name is William, Feliks thought.

  William said: "Mustn't grumble, John."

  Feliks did not understand that.

  "Anything in the news?" said John.

  "Yeah, revolution. The King says that next year all the coachmen can go in the palace for supper and the toffs will wait in The Mall."

  "A likely tale."

  "You're telling me."

  John moved on.

  I can get rid of William, Feliks thought, but what about the footman?

  In his mind he ran over the probable sequence of events. Walden and Orlov would come to the palace door. The doorman would alert Walden's footman, who would run from the palace to the carriage--a distance of about a quarter of a mile. The footman would see Feliks dressed in the coachman's clothes, and would sound the alarm.

  Suppose the footman arrived at the parking place to find that the carriage was no longer there?

  That was a thought!

  The footman would wonder whether he had misremembered the spot. He would look up and down. In something of a panic he would search for the coach. Finally he would admit defeat and return to the palace to tell his master that he could not find the coach. By which time Feliks would be driving the coach and its owner through the park.

  It could still be done!

  It was more risky than before, but it could still be done.

  There was no more time for reflection. The first two or three footmen were already running down The Mall. The Rolls-Royce car in front of the Walden coach was summoned. William put on his top hat in readiness.

  Feliks emerged from the bushes and walked a little way toward him, calling: "Hey! Hey, William!"

  The coachman looked toward him, frowning.

  Feliks beckoned urgently. "Come here, quick!"

  William folded his newspaper, hesitated, then walked slowly toward Feliks.

  Feliks allowed his own tension to put a note of panic into his voice. "Look at this!" he said, pointing to the bushes. "Do you know anything about this?"

  "What?" William said, mystified. He drew level and peered the way Feliks was pointing.

  "This." Feliks showed him the gun. "If you make a noise I'll shoot you."

  William was terrified. Feliks could see the whites of his eyes in the half dark. He was a heavily built man, but he was older than Feliks. If he does something foolish and messes this up I'll kill him, Feliks thought savagely.

  "Walk on," Feliks said.

  The man hesitated.

  I've got to get him out of the light. "Walk, you bastard!"

  William walked into the bushes.

  Feliks followed him. When they were about fifty yards away from The Mall Feliks said: "Stop."

  William stopped and turned around.

  Feliks thought: If he's going to fight, this is where he will do it. He said: "Take off your clothes."

  "What?"

  "Undress!"

  "You're mad," William whispered.

  "You're right--I'm mad! Take off your clothes!"

  William hesitated.

  If I shoot him, will people come running? Will the bushes muffle the sound? Could I kill him without making a hole in his uniform? Could I take his coat off and run away before anyone arrived?

  Feliks cocked the gun.

  William began to undress.

 
; Feliks could hear the increasing activity in The Mall: motor cars were started, harnesses jingled, hooves clattered and men shouted to one another and to their horses. Any minute now the footman might come running for the Walden coach. "Faster!" Feliks said.

  William got down to his underwear.

  "The rest also," Feliks said.

  William hesitated. Feliks lifted the gun.

  William pulled off his undershirt, dropped his underpants, and stood naked, shivering with fear, covering his genitals with his hands.

  "Turn around," said Feliks. William turned his back.

  "Lie on the ground, facedown."

  He did so.

  Feliks put down the gun. Hurriedly, he took off his coat and hat and put on the livery coat and the top hat which William had dropped on the ground. He contemplated the knee breeches and white stockings but decided to leave them: when he was sitting up on the coach no one would notice his trousers and boots, especially in the uncertain light of the streetlamps.

  He put the gun into the pocket of his own coat and folded the coat over his arm. He picked up William's clothes in a bundle.

  William tried to look around.

  "Don't move!" Feliks said sharply.

  Softly, he walked away.

  William would stay there for a while; then, naked as he was, he would try to get back to the Walden house unobserved. It was highly unlikely that he would report that he had been robbed of his clothes before he had a chance to get some more, unless he was an extraordinarily immodest man. Of course if he had known Feliks was going to kill Prince Orlov he might have thrown modesty to the winds--but how could he possibly guess that?

  Feliks pushed William's clothes under a bush, then walked out into the lights of The Mall.

  This was where things might go wrong. Until now he had been merely a suspicious person lurking in the bushes. From this moment on he was plainly an impostor. If one of William's friends--John, for instance--should look closely at his face, the game would be up.

  He climbed rapidly onto the coach, put his own coat on the seat beside him, adjusted his top hat, released the brake and flicked the reins. The coach pulled out into the road.

  He sighed with relief. I've got this far, he thought; I'll get Orlov! As he drove down The Mall he watched the pavements, looking for a running footman in the blue-and-pink livery. The worst possible mischance would be for the Walden footman to see him now, recognize the colors, and jump onto the back of the coach. Feliks cursed as a motor car pulled out in front of him, forcing him to slow the horses to a halt. He looked around anxiously. There was no sign of the footman. After a moment the road was clear and he went on.