The Launching of Roger Brook (78 page)

‘You’re monstrous fortunate,’ Roger told her. ‘Or perhaps I should say, clever. Since it seems to me you both have your cake and eat it.’

‘’Tis the art of life to know what one wants and have at it,’ she smiled. ‘And if I am any judge, dear Roger, I think from the fine figure you now cut, that you have become not altogether inept at that.’

‘If so, I owe more than I can ever repay to you,’ he said seriously. ‘You not only made me a man, but by your gift of yourself to me showed me what was worth having and what to cast aside. Had things been otherwise my first experiences might well have been so sordid as to alter my whole outlook.’

She leaned over and kissed him lightly on the cheek. ‘’Tis good to hear that you are fastidious in your loves, and not become a rake. I hate a man who turns up the skirts of every wench he meets in a dark passage.’

For a further ten minutes they talked of old times. Then Jenny came in with a tray of hot dishes that she put upon a heater, on a side table, and left them to help themselves.

While Roger opened the champagne, Georgina served the food, then they sat down to supper.

They ate well but with long pauses between each dish for talking over their wine. Halfway through the meal Georgina
urged him to keep her in suspense no longer about his doings, so he began with their parting four years before and his meeting with Dan, the smuggler. He told her how he had narrowly escaped both becoming a prisoner in the French galleys, and drowning; of his meeting with De Roubec and how the Chevalier had swindled him out of her jewels; of old Doctor Aristotle Fenélon and their disastrous meeting with Joseph Fouché; of how Athénaïs had rescued him and he had then become the whipping boy of a lawyer’s apprentices; of the Légers’ kindness to him and his hopeless longing for Athénaïs; of his employment by the Marquis de Rochambeau to go into the matter of the
Domaine
de
St. Hilaire
; of his becoming the Maquis’s junior secretary and his friendship with the Abbé de Périgord; of his promotion on the Abbé d’Heury’s death and of Athénaïs’s illness; of her love for him and the international intrigues of her father; of the appearance of de la Tour d’Auvergne upon the scene and of Athénaïs’s engagement; of his duel with de Caylus and his flight with the eloping couple; of his escape from France and the assault that Fouché had made upon him; of his dash to London and recovery of the letter; of his interview with Mr. Pitt and his mission to the United Provinces; of his duel with George Gunston and of his present danger of being extradited to France on a warrant for murder.

When he had done it was nearly midnight, although Georgina had hardly spoken a word, except from time to time to encourage him to go on. So fascinated was she by his story that they had not even moved, and were still sitting over the table. At length, when the tale was told, she said:

‘Thou hast fulfilled all thy promise, Roger. ’Twas a hard, uphill road that thou wast forced to tread, but having breasted the hill I foresee a great future for thee.’

He made a grimace. ‘I pray you may be right; but unless Mr. Pitt is prepared to divert the normal course of justice on my behalf I may yet find myself handed over to the tender mercies of the French; and if that occurs M. de Rochambeau will make it his business to see that I die upon a scaffold.’

‘Have no fear,’ she smiled. ‘In view of your services, Billy Pitt could never look in his own mirror again did he refuse
to intervene. But he is a good and loyal friend, so I have no doubt at all that he will do so without pressing. Even if he did not you have no cause to worry. It so chances that the Count d’Adhémar, who is the French Ambassador here, is one of my beaux. I vow that at my request he will get the charge against you withdrawn from the French Courts.’

Roger looked up quickly. ‘Could you really do that? Mr. Pitt will protect me, I am convinced, by staying the execution of the warrant here. But if you could get the charge withdrawn in France that would be a boon indeed. ’Twould mean that I could return there as a free man, if I wished.’

‘And ’tis your wish to return to France, Roger?’ she asked.

‘Why, yes; I’d like to, sometime.’

‘Not now, at once, to rejoin Athénaïs?’

He shook his head. ‘Nay, she is married, and to my friend. That is over and done with.’

‘Do you miss her very much?’

‘Yes, damnably.’

‘You loved her very deeply, then?’

‘I did indeed. She was wondrous beautiful.’

‘Was she more beautiful than I am, Roger?’

He smiled. ‘I would be a most ungracious guest were I to tell you so. But I will tell you something else. You have some quality that she lacked. Maybe ’tis your vitality, your good-fellowship, your warmth, your forthright mind, or maybe, ’tis nought but your infectious laughter. I do not know. Yet there it is. You have some gift, some power, some touch, that will attract men to you long after your beauty fades, and Athénaïs has become the pleasant but quite uninteresting mother of a grown-up family.’

‘I thank thee, Roger,’ she smiled back. ‘It seems then that thou wert in love with her beauty rather than herself; yet that makes no difference to the longing one can feel in such a case. Many a poor girl, knowing nothing of your mind, is yet destined to suffer the most desperate cravings for kind looks from those damnably attractive blue eyes of thine. Dost know that thou hast grown monstrous handsome, Roger?’

‘I have no cause to quarrel with my looks,’ he said slowly; ‘so we must make a pretty pair. For if I’ll not say that thou are the loveliest creature in the world, I’ll say that thou hast no rival in the length and breadth of Britain.’

Georgina stood up. Although the room was still pleasantly warm she threw another log on the fire. Then she came round behind him and, laying a hand on his shoulder, checked his movement to rise from the table.

For a moment she remained there in silence. Then she began to stroke his cheek softly with the tips of her fingers, as she whispered: ‘Yes, thou hast grown monstrous handsome, Roger darling; and ’tis pleasant to think that thou doest not find me ill to look upon. Dost know that we two are marooned here for the night? That is, unless thou hast the wish to undertake a plaguey long walk back to London. Thinkest thou that it lies within my power to console thee a little for the loss of Athénaïs?’

. . . . .

At four o’clock on the following afternoon Roger was shown into Mr. Pitt’s office. The Prime Minister greeted him kindly, offered him a glass of port and, when he was seated, said at once:

‘Mr. Brook, I pray you concern yourself no further about this warrant for your extradition. I have had it quashed; and would have written to tell you so, had I not wished to express my thanks to you in person for all that you have done; and let you have, in confidence, the final outcome of the affair in which you were so deeply involved.’

‘I am most grateful to you, Sir,’ Roger murmured, but the Prime Minister waved his thanks aside.

‘Sir James Harris wrote Lord Carmarthen of the assistance you gave us on your trip abroad, so I know you to be informed of events in the United Provinces up to the end of last month. Since then, Amsterdam, the last stronghold of the rebels, surrendered on the 10th of October, and the French have entirely come to heel. Unable to face a war they have suffered the humiliation of being compelled to entirely reverse their policy. Last week the Court of Versailles exchanged declarations with us, agreeing for the
future to sustain the Stadtholder in the full rights of his office.’

Roger nodded. Then there is no longer any fear of a European conflagration?’

‘None, I am happy to say; and that is very largely due to Sir James Harris and yourself. You will, I know, be pleased to hear that His Majesty is rewarding Sir James for his long and arduous toil on the nation’s behalf, by elevating him to the peerage under the title of Baron Malmesbury. As to yourself, your case presents certain difficulties, since it is contrary to all practice to confer a public award for work of a secret nature. But if I can be of service to you in anyway you have but to name it.’

Mr. Pitt paused for a moment, then added: ‘I have no desire to pry into your private affairs, but if a gift of money would be of any assistance to you …?’

‘I thank you, Sir.’ Roger smiled. ‘But my father has recently made me an allowance of three hundred a year, and that is ample for my needs.’

The Prime Minister took a swig of port, and said: ‘None the less, I shall feel aggrieved unless I can do something for you. Surely, now that you are returned to England, you intend to take up some career. With gifts such as yours you should go far.’

‘Ah, there’s the rub, Sir,’ Roger replied. ‘My father set his heart upon my entering the Navy, but four years ago I ran away to France rather than be sent to sea. I’ve no wish to remain idle, yet those four years are now entirely lost to me. I am not trained to anything except secretarial work and I’ve no desire to do that all my life. Yet no other opening seems to offer.’

Mr. Pitt stood up, and began to walk about the room, as he asked: ‘What type of work would really hold your interest, and what qualifications have you?’

‘I am said to have a flair for languages, Sir. I now speak French as well as most Frenchmen and know a little German. I have proved to myself that I do not lack for courage or resource and would meet any man with either sword or pistol, were I called upon to do so. As to the type of work I would prefer, ’tis hard to put a name to it, but I would like to retain my independence of action as far as
possible, and I’ve a strong desire to travel again. But I fear I shall find it monstrous hard to launch myself in any manner that will fulfil those wishes.’

‘I think not,’ said young Mr. Pitt, laying a kindly hand on Roger’s shoulder. ‘Consider yourself launched, Mr. Brook. England and I have a hundred uses for a man like you.’

DENNIS WHEATLEY

Dennis Wheatley (1897–1977) was an English author whose prolific output of stylish thrillers and occult novels made him one of the world’s best-selling writers from the 1930s through the 1960s.

Wheatley was the eldest of three children, and his parents were the owners of Wheatley & Son of Mayfair, a wine business. He admitted to little aptitude for schooling, and was expelled from Dulwich College, London. In 1919 he assumed management of the family wine business but in 1931, after a decline in business due to the depression, he began writing.

His first book,
The Forbidden Territory
, became a bestseller overnight, and since then his books have sold over 50 million copies worldwide. During the 1960s, his publishers sold one million copies of Wheatley titles per year, and his Gregory Sallust series was one of the main inspirations for Ian Fleming’s James Bond stories.

During the Second World War, Wheatley was a member of the London Controlling Section, which secretly coordinated strategic military deception and cover plans. His literary talents gained him employment with planning staffs for the War Office. He wrote numerous papers for the War Office, including suggestions for dealing with a German invasion of Britain.

Dennis Wheatley died on 11th November 1977. During his life he wrote over 70 books and sold over 50 million copies.

Discover books by Dennis Wheatley published by Bloomsbury Reader at
www.bloomsbury.com/DennisWheatley

Duke de Richleau
The Forbidden Territory
The Devil Rides Out
The Golden Spaniard
Three Inquisitive People
Strange Conflict
Codeword Golden Fleece
The Second Seal
The Prisoner in the Mask
Vendetta in Spain
Dangerous Inheritance
Gateway to Hell

Gregory Sallust
Black August
Contraband
The Scarlet Impostor
Faked Passports
The Black Baroness
V for Vengeance
Come into My Parlour
The Island Where Time Stands Still
Traitors’ Gate
They Used Dark Forces
The White Witch of the South Seas

Julian Day
The Quest of Julian Day
The Sword of Fate
Bill for the Use of a Body

Roger Brook
The Launching of Roger Brook
The Shadow of Tyburn Tree
The Rising Storm
The Man Who Killed the King
The Dark Secret of Josephine
The Rape of Venice
The Sultan’s Daughter
The Wanton Princess
Evil in a Mask
The Ravishing of Lady Mary Ware
The Irish Witch
Desperate Measures

Molly Fountain
To the Devil a Daughter
The Satanist

Lost World
They Found Atlantis
Uncharted Seas
The Man Who Missed the War

Espionage
Mayhem in Greece
The Eunuch of Stamboul
The Fabulous Valley
The Strange Story of Linda Lee
Such Power is Dangerous
The Secret War

Science Fiction
Sixty Days to Live
Star of Ill-Omen

Black Magic
The Haunting of Toby Jugg
The KA of Gifford Hillary
Unholy Crusade

Short Stories
Mediterranean Nights
Gunmen, Gallants and Ghosts