Rumours Of War

*

Kat was at his quarters still, enjoying a breakfast of coffee and brioche, Johnson attending her with all the address of a practised lady’s maid. Hervey told her what Forbes had said, and thanked her again for her interventions. He had even managed to find flowers for her, gardenias.

‘I shall leave by noon, Kat,’ he said, taking her hand once Johnson had left.

‘The Portuguese lady will not be accompanying you?’ asked Kat imperatively.

Hervey smiled reassuringly. ‘She will not. The general at Elvas speaks excellent English. There is no need of Senhora Broke.’

‘And that is the sole consideration, Matthew?’

‘Kat,’ he insisted, squeezing her hand. It had hurt her to discover so casually that Isabella Delgado had been at Elvas: he understood it full well.

‘I will stay with you until you go. I have sent for my clothes. Perhaps we might take a little air together?’

‘Of course.’

‘And then, as soon as you are gone, I shall continue the embassy on your behalf with Mr Forbes. It pays always, I think, to be constantly represented at the centres of affairs.’

She said it with a kind of sportive smile, suggesting that she relished the notion for its own sake.

Not for the first time did Hervey think that if Kat could be so fervent an ally, how formidable an opponent she could also make.

PART THREE

THE LESSONS OF HISTORY

‘The truth is that we have retreated before a rumour – an uncertain speculation – and Moore knows it . . . O that we had an enterprizing general with a reputation to make instead of one to save! ’

Mr Canning, Foreign Secretary, to Lord Bathurst, Secretary for War and Colonies, 9 January 1809

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

THE HORNS OF THE DILEMMA

Elvas, 29 October 1826

Hervey, with Corporal Wainwright, reached Elvas late the following evening. They might have done so sooner but instead of riding post they had each led a second horse, changing and leading the other after the first thirty miles, then alternating every twenty or so thereafter. Hervey counted it a fair feat of endurance – a hundred and twenty miles in thirty-six hours. Lusitanos, good little stayers with their Arab blood; he had never thought much of them as battle chargers, but they had served him well since coming to Portugal this time. All four were well blown by the time they reached the fortress, but they were sound still, wanting only a day or so’s rest, and not a shoe loose between them. He wondered if Johnson was being even half as well served as he made his slower progress with the bat-horses.

In his map room, in the citadel, Brigadier-General Dom Mateo de Braganca received him with evident pleasure, and an air of unconcern. Surrounded by so much polished wood, and stone the thickness of a man-o-war’s hull, it was not difficult to imagine oneself secure, thought Hervey. The paintings, the green-leather furniture, the reflecting lamps, all gave the impression of permanence, of fastness. Whether or not Dom Mateo’s composure was studied, he could not tell, and he imagined there might have been further intelligence during his journey, that the original information had been faulty. But Dom Mateo put him to rights: the rebels were assembled, he said, and waiting only the signal from Madrid, for there was to be a concert of assaults in the north and south, as well as the centre.

‘And all this intelligence from the Church,’ he said, coolly. ‘Or a part of it, for I fear a good many holy men would throw in with Miguel, thinking the fatter life would be with him.’

Hervey raised an eyebrow.

‘I have spies too, Hervey,’ he assured him, and with a look of satisfaction. He poured out two good measures of red wine. ‘I know where yet the rebels are. They cling to the walls of Badajoz, sheltering under their cannon like curs!’

Hervey raised his glass in salute. ‘To see the other side of the hill, General,’ he replied, with an approving smile.

‘The whole business of war, Hervey.’ Dom Mateo raised his glass in return. ‘Douro says so, then I am bound to succeed!’

Hervey could not but admire the fidalgo assurance. He was tired, however. They had slept not two hours since leaving Lisbon. But he did want to know the reason for the assurance, for he was unaware what had changed in their favour so. Dom Mateo hardly appeared a man about to begin a bullfight.

‘May I enquire your design for battle, General?’

Dom Mateo looked suddenly less sure. ‘It is true that I have not the men both to defend the fortress and to meet the rebels in the field, but yet I must. It is impossible that I should lose the fortress of Elvas – great was our humiliation when it fell to the French.’

This told Hervey nothing new, save that Dom Mateo had no fixed idea of a plan. A general must always appear confident, however, and he admired him for that at least. ‘Elvas shall therefore be your principal object?’

Dom Mateo frowned. ‘It must be so. And yet by harbouring all my strength here, the rebels may do as they will – may take the high road to Lisbon if they please. Do I defend the fortress, in that case, or does the fortress imprison me?’

‘Dom Mateo, yours must be the decision. When is it supposed the attack will come?’

‘Soon. Within one week. I have observing officers in Badajoz; they will alert us to any movement.’

Of that he sounded confident. Hervey nodded approvingly.

‘What would be your counsel, my friend?’

Hervey could feel the effects of a comfortable chair and strong wine. It would not have been so when he had first come to Portugal: Cornet Hervey could ride for days without sleep (that, at least, was how he recalled it). But he could not retire with the design uncertain. They had rehearsed the dilemma before, and tired though he was, Hervey thought he must do so again. ‘Senhor Saldanha himself led a force out of Lisbon to check the Duke of Abrantes in Algarve. Have you any promise of such assistance?’

‘The Conselho da Guerra would send every man it could spare!’

‘I am sure of it. But do you know how long that would be?’

‘It is impossible to say. First it would be necessary to send word to Lisbon.’

They had come full circle. The defence turned on the rapidity with which word could be got to the capital. Hervey explained his own design once again, supposing, as it did, the arrival of ten thousand British troops, the mobilization of the militia and ordenanca, and the telegraph open. ‘Let us imagine, then,