The Shadow of Tyburn Tree

Regent, and to the effect that the King's signature should no longer be valid unless counter­signed by himself. His uncle and Guldberg were completely taken by surprise and found their power snatched from them before they could do a thing to prevent it.'

Roger smiled. 'What an amazing feat, for a boy of that age to have carried through a bloodless revolution.'

'It was indeed; but 'twas touch and go for a few days. I had been en postehere for two years then. I immediately offered the young Prince my support, and as there were several English ships in the harbour at the time nothing would have pleased me better than to lead their crews into action against the supporters of the Queen Dowager. But 'twas unnecessary. Juliana Maria and her son were so stunned that they lost all power of initiative. Count Bernstorff was recalled and the Crown Prince became King in all but name. That was four years ago this month, and poor Caroline Matilda's son shows every sign of con­tinuing to be a wise and talented ruler.'

' 'Tis a fascinating story,' Roger declared. 'And I shall look for­ward now with even greater interest to seeing some of the actors in it.'

For the rest of the evening they talked of other matters, and when Roger left it was arranged that Hugh Elliot should call for him at his inn on Tuesday evening, to take him to the Prime Minister's soiree.

At the soireeeverything went according to plan. Monsieur le Chevalier de Breucwas duly presented to Monsieur le Baron la Houze, a charming and polished diplomat. They talked of Paris at some length and Roger said that he had spent a year there after completing his education at Strasbourg. He was able to speak with truth of his friend­ship with the Abbe de Talleyrand-Perigord, the Vicomte de la Tour d'Auvergne, and the Comte de Choiseul-Goumer, whom he knew to be still the French Ambassador at Constantinople, and he inferred that he had more than an acquaintance with the Baron de Breteuil, the Due de Polignac, and other members of Queen Marie Antoinette's intimate circle. La Houze was as favourably impressed by Roger's delightful manners as by his admirable connections, and within ten minutes of their having met, offered to present him at the Saturday evening drawing-room.

Four evenings later Roger accompanied his new friend to the Christiansborg Palace. It seemed even vaster inside than out, and the few score of courtiers and ladies present appeared almost lost in the huge reception-hall; but several great wood-fires gave the place a cheer­ful atmosphere, and the etiquette of the small court was not so rigidly formal as to prevent the Danes from obviously taking pleasure in the function.

The French Minister duly presented Roger to the half-mad King, who was now thirty-eight years of age but looked considerably older. He was a puny, sly-eyed creature and much embarrassed Roger by digging him in the ribs and asking him several extremely indecent personal questions; but Count Bernstorff drew His Majesty's attention away from the visitor and the King spent most of the remainder of the evening sitting on the floor playing with his dog.

His son, the young Crown Prince, proved a most pleasing contrast and held Roger for some twenty minutes in intelligent conversation. He was then presented to the sinister Queen Dowager, her awkward, horse-faced son, and several other notabilities. Hugh Elliot was there and introduced him to the Count and Countess Reventlow, who invited him to accompany the British Minister to their house next day; and a number of other people he met asked him to call upon them.

Having achieved his first objective of establishing himself as a young French nobleman, travelling for pleasure through the northern capitals, he returned to his inn highly satisfied. Then the following morning he once more rode through the sabbath quiet of the city streets to the wooded parks of Christiansholm, and spent some very pleasant hours at the Reventlow mansion, as one of a charming family circle of about a dozen people.

When the party broke up it was still light, as the long evenings of the northern summer were already beginning; and Elliot suggested that Roger should ride back with him as far as the Legation. After going at an easy canter through the park, on the grass of which the big trees were now casting fantastically elongated shadows, the diplomat reined his horse in to a walk, and as Roger followed suit, said to him:

'I took this opportunity for a word with you, because it is unlikely that my interest in a young Frenchman would normally lead me to entertain him privately more than once; and now that you are known to la Houze I shall not invite you again, for fear of arousing his sus­picions that you are not, after all, quite what you seem. Tell me, now, is there any further way in which I can be of service to you, or do you feel that you have got what you can from Denmark?'

'I could doubtless learn many things of interest from a prolonged stay, Sir, but little of moment by remaining for a fortnight,' Roger replied. 'So I feel that I ought to go on my way as soon as I can decently do so. Numerous persons of the court were kind enough last night to ask me to call upon them, and la Houze has bidden me to sup with him on Wednesday. I therefore plan to busy myself socially these next few days, and, in the meantime, see if I can find a ship which will carry me to Sweden towards the end of the week.'

'That should not be difficult, as there is a large and constant traffic between Copenhagen and Stockholm.'

Roger acknowledged the information with a nod, and went on. 'As to your other question; although I am now the domestic scene I still know next to nothing of Denmark's foreign policy, and I'd be still more your debtor if you would give me a few pointers on that.'

'Most willingly,' Elliot smiled. 'Denmark is still a maritime power of some consequence, but in other respects she is a poor country and seeks to keep herself free of entanglements. For many years her policy was governed by her anxieties over the Duchies of Schleswig-Holstein; since, as you may know, the Czarina's late husband, Peter III, was a Holstein-Gottorp and inherited the Duchies from his father. Peter's claim to them was undoubtedly legal, and the idea of having a Russian army established on their border was, not unnaturally, viewed with the gravest apprehension by the Danes. However, in '73 they succeeded in persuading Catherine to forego her claim to the Duchies in exchange for those of Oldenberg and Delmenhorst.'

'That would appear to have been but a poor swop as far as the Russians are concerned,' Roger commented.

' Twas indeed. And for that reason I have always suspected that there was something fishy about the deal— some secret clause in the treaty that has never been disclosed.'

' 'Tis certainly unlike all one hears of the Empress to give much for little.'

Elliot nodded. 'Mayhap the real price was that Denmark should remain neutral in the event of Russia going to war with Sweden. Some years ago Denmark feared that Gustavus III harboured designs against her Norwegian territories, so it seems that her interest lies in a pact with Sweden which would secure them from his aggression. Yet now that more recently he has endeavoured to win Denmark to him his efforts have proved unsuccessful. Last year, soon after the out­break of the Russian war against the Turks, King Gustavus came here on a visit to his nephew, the Prince Regent, and did his utmost to persuade the Danes to enter into an alliance with him against Russia; but although the Prince and Count Bernstorff showed him much polite­ness, they firmly rejected all his overtures.'

' That admittedly gives grounds for supposing that they are already bound to neutrality, as you suggest. If so, there can be little prospect of gaining their support for the Triple Alliance.'

'None, I fear. Our only hope of counteracting Catherine's designs in the north lies in Gustavus. He is an able and forceful monarch, with a strong ambition to revive Sweden's ancient glories. 'Tis secretly reported that he is already receiving subsidies from the Turk and plans a campaign against Russia this summer. 'Twas that which made me feel that you would do well to make an early remove to the Swedish capital.'

'I hope to obtain a letter of introduction from Baron la Houze to the French Minister in Stockholm,' Roger remarked. 'But it might be helpful, Sir, if you would also be good enough to furnish me with one for the British representative.'

The diplomat laughed a shade bitterly. 'Had we one I would willingly do so; but for reasons best known to our Foreign Secretary the post has been vacant for some time; and I have no intelligence that it is likely to be filled in the near future, although it is now the key point of the north. In tbe meantime I am charged with a watching brief, but there is little I can do at such a distance.'

For a moment Roger was silent, then he asked: 'What think you of Sweden's chances against Russia should Gustavus decide to attack her?'

' 'Tis hard to say,' Elliot shrugged. 'While Russia remains fully extended against the Turks Gustavus will have