long fighting the French with no prospect of ultimate victory. I freely admit that I was carried away by the rhetoric when the Grand Alliance was first formed. With England, Prussia, Austria and others to help us, I felt that we could defeat the French army at last. They've held sway over Europe for far too long.'
'It's easy to see why, Johannes. They've always had the finest soldiers and the most astute commanders.'
'I'd hoped that the Duke of Marlborough could match their commanders and, in all fairness, from time to time he did.'
'It was only because he was supported by able Dutch generals.'
'Marlborough says that our generals held him back.'
'They merely saved him from making rash decisions.'
'Our soldiers are brave,' said Mytens, 'but the fact remains that we fight best at sea. While our army is competent, our navy is our real strength. Unfortunately, there's little chance of using them in this war. We're restricted largely to land battles.'
'That's one of my complaints. The English steal all the glory at sea.'
'I don't see much glory,' said Ketel, removing his wig to scratch his head. 'I know that they captured Gibraltar and withstood a French siege but what else has the navy done? Those leaky, old, disease- ridden ships of theirs have spent most of their time carrying soldiers to Portugal and Spain.'
'I approved of the treaty with Portugal,' admitted Mytens, his jowls wobbling more than ever. 'I accepted Marlborough's argument that he needed naval bases there. He was eager for his men to cross the border into Spain supported by the Portuguese army.'
'Never trust the Portuguese, I say.'
'They've been dubious allies, I grant you.'
'It's a question of resources,' argued Ketel, replacing his wig. 'We need all the men we have to defend our boundaries and to advance into French territory. Yet Marlborough, our commander- in-chief, the self-proclaimed hero of Blenheim, the man who boasts that he has a grand strategy, has diverted almost as many soldiers to Spain.'
'His mistake was in thinking that he could control operations in the peninsula from here.'
'We're all paying a high price for that mistake.'
'I agree, Willem.'
'On a single voyage from Lisbon to Valencia, we lost over four thousand men who could have been put to better use in Flanders.'
Mytens smiled. 'You're remarkably well-informed.'
'I'm a merchant, Johannes. My success depends on knowing what happens where. When a ship of mine puts into port, I always go out of my way to talk to the captain to hear what news he has for me.' He sucked his teeth. 'And I have other sources of information as well.'
'It's no wonder that you've prospered.'
'There are ways of making money out of war and I've used every one of them. I don't deny it. That's what anyone in my position would do. But my prosperity — our prosperity as a nation — relies on a long period of peace that allows us to invest our money prudently instead of wasting it on a war we can never win.'
Mytens clasped his hands across his paunch and gave a nod. 'We've had this conversation before, Willem.'
'And are you still of the same mind?'
'I am. Marlborough must go.'
'But whatever means necessary?'
'By whatever means,' repeated Mytens, firmly.
'Where is he at the moment?'
'I thought you'd know that. You seem to know everything else.'
'Is he still in Flanders?'
'No, Willem, he's on his way to Dusseldorf to wheedle more troops out of the Elector Palatine. After that, he's visiting our other allies to get promises of men and money out of them. Give the man his due,' he continued, 'Marlborough is a sublime diplomat. That English charm of his works time and again.'
'And it sends men off to pointless deaths on the battlefield.'
'Why did you ask about his whereabouts?'
'I wanted to make sure that he'd be out of the way.'
'Marlborough won't be back here until December.'
'That will give us ample time,' said Ketel. 'I hope to be bringing a friend to meet you in due course, Johannes.'
'Is it someone from Amsterdam?'
'No — he comes from Paris.'
Mytens was guarded. 'Who is the fellow?'
'You don't need to know his name yet and you certainly don't need to feel perturbed. My friend wants exactly what we want and that's a promise of peace and a rest from this perpetual warfare.' He slipped a hand under his wig for another scratch. 'If we can reach agreement with France, we all stand to benefit.'
'Marlborough will oppose any peace manoeuvres.'
'He won't be here to do so, will he?' said Ketel with a smile before turning to look at the tapestry. 'I'd know the work of Emanuel Janssen anywhere. Whenever I'm in this room, I always admire it.'
'I'm not sure that I should keep it, Willem.'
'Nothing would make me part with such a masterpiece.'
'Emanuel Janssen is a traitor. He's working at Versailles.'
'King Louis always had exquisite taste.'
'That doesn't entitle him to lure away our best tapestry- maker. It's true,' said Mytens, studying the tapestry, 'that it's a masterpiece but should I have it hanging there when the man who created it is now in the pay of the enemy?'
'Leave it where it is, Johannes,' urged Ketel. 'It deserves a place in any house. Besides, Janssen may be in the pay of our enemy at the moment but that enemy could soon become our friend.'
Daniel rose early next morning and, after breakfast at the tavern, rode off to explore the city carefully and to find the best way out of it for them. Because it covered a relatively small area, it was densely populated. Straddling the river, it was bounded on the north by the boulevards from Porte Saint-Antoine to Porte Saint- Honore. Its southern border was the Boulevard Saint-Germain. Paris was divided into 20 quartiers and had something close to 500,000 inhabitants. Early in his reign — and he had been on the throne for over four decades now — Louis XIV had instructed Jean-Baptiste Colbert, his Superintendent of Finance, to create a capital city worthy of the name. The enterprising Colbert did so by embarking on an ambitious programme of building and he transformed Paris.
Working people, along with the poor and sickly, were forced out to the suburbs so that the centre of the city could be occupied by wide new thoroughfares, impressive monuments, grandiose palaces, vast mansions and splendid gardens. New bridges spanned the Seine and factories manufacturing glass and carpets were set up. It was a compact, bustling city where beauty and ugliness lived cheek by jowl and where fabulous riches contrasted with the most degrading poverty. Though Daniel was bound to marvel at the superb architecture of buildings like the Invalides hospital and the Hotel Colbert, he preferred Amsterdam in every way. The Dutch city, the greatest port in the world, was altogether cleaner, healthier, safer, more modest in its aspirations and, because of its plethora of lamps, the best lit city in Europe.
Daniel yearned to be there again, ideally in the company of Amalia Janssen. His orders had been to take her father to The Hague but the Janssen family would in time return to their home. He hoped that his friendship with Amalia would continue and blossom. When it was known that the tapestry-maker had not after all betrayed his country, he'd be acclaimed once more in Amsterdam. All that Daniel had to do was to convey him there. The task seemed more difficult every time he contemplated it but he responded to the challenge. Riding from gate to gate, he saw how well-guarded all the exits were and was sure that those on duty had descriptions of Amalia and her companions. It was Daniel who'd killed Jacques Serval but the others would be regarded as confederates and punished accordingly.
After his tour of the city's portals, he returned to the tavern well before noon and stabled his horse there. As
