Everyone else turned to look at her also, clearly thinking she had some special knowledge. They had heard, at the very least, that Pitt had been in the police. Of course it was not an occupation for a gentleman, but there was a certain gruesome fascination in it, all the same.
Charlotte was annoyed. She had to guard her tongue in so many things, she was compensating for it by being less conciliatory in others. Right now she was ready for battle. She looked at Arabella with a smile.
“Oh, yes, I agree with you,” she replied, ignoring Emily’s look of surprise. “We are very hard on heroes, exactly as you say. And often we praise the wrong people, not even realizing who has done what. We can accept the most superficial of explanations and attribute courage to people who are merely foolhardy, or even stupid and self-serving. Then we totally ignore those who set the good of others before their own profit. How wise you are to see it, and brave to point it out, if I may say so.”
Arabella looked completely nonplussed. The last thing she had intended to be was brave, as Charlotte well knew.
Flora Jefferson blinked. “Maybe I am not paying due attention, but I am not certain if you mean that Dr. Jameson is a hero, or that he is not,” she said pointedly.
Emily drew in her breath, watching Charlotte.
“Neither am I,” Charlotte said charmingly. “I hear one story, then I hear another. According to some people, Dr. Jameson led an army of patriots to save Mr. Rhodes’s railway in the Pitsani Strip, which I believe borders on the Transvaal, which belongs to the Boers and, of course, is said to be riddled with gold and diamonds.”
“He did it to protect the Uitlanders,” Arabella explained with slightly condescending patience. “They are being thoroughly exploited by the Boers.”
Flora and Sabine Munro nodded agreement.
Charlotte’s smile became a little more fixed. She was not about to back down. “And then I hear that this army of about five hundred well-armed men actually crossed over into the Transvaal and marched on Johannesburg,” she went on. “And were met by the Boers, whose city it is, and thoroughly thrashed.” The moment she had said it, she wished she had used less emotive words, but it was too late.
“Heroes do not have to win in order to be heroes,” Arabella said with a flash of anger reddening her face.
“Of course not,” Charlotte said quickly, before anyone else could attack or defend her. “It is hardly heroic to fight if you cannot lose. Any jackanapes can do that. It was unquestionably brave. The question I hear raised is as to whether it was wise or not. In fact, I suppose, as to whether it was right.”
“Right?” Arabella said indignantly.
“Morally right,” Charlotte elaborated patiently. “We invaded Boer land.”
“For heaven’s sake, do you want the Boers to rule South Africa?” Arabella asked, aghast at the idea.
“Not at all,” Charlotte answered levelly. There was no backing out now. “But the fact that I want a thing does not automatically make it right-or wrong.”
Marie Grosvenor now returned to the fray. “It is a matter of loyalty,” she said stiffly. “Loyalty is always right.” It was a statement and she expected no dissent.
“Is it?” Charlotte looked from one to the other of them, all sitting in gorgeous silks and delicate embroidered muslins in the dappled shade. “So if we are loyal to opposing sides, we can all be equally right?”
“Charlotte,” Emily said quietly.
“We are all equally right, then,” Charlotte continued, ignoring her. “It is just that the Boers, being loyal to their own homes and fighting for their own lands, were better at it than we were, so they beat us?”
“We were fighting for the Queen and Empire,” Arabella said stiffly. “Are you not British, that you don’t understand that?”
“I am British.” Charlotte kept her voice level. “But that doesn’t mean I am always right.”
“Indeed you are not!” Sabine agreed heatedly.
“If always being right is a quality intrinsic to being British, then none of us are British,” Charlotte added. “Even Dr. Jameson. We can all make mistakes, especially when we are frightened … or when there is a great deal of money involved.”
“It has nothing to do with money!” Sabine was openly angry now. “That is a dreadful thing to say.”
“Of course it has to do with money,” Flora put in. “Those who invested in this raid stand to lose a fortune, if the verdict goes against Dr. Jameson.”
“So you think he’s guilty?” Marie accused.
“I think he could be found guilty,” Flora corrected. “That is not always the same thing. Has he ever denied he led the raid?”
“Of course not!” Arabella snapped. “He’s no coward!”
“I wonder how much of it is his money?” Emily said, and the instant afterward clearly regretted it. She scrambled to make amends. “I suppose he risked everything?”
There was a moment’s silence while each one of them weighed what they thought, and what they judged wise to say.
“I don’t know what will happen,” Charlotte said thoughtfully. “Trials sometimes disclose evidence no one had foreseen, and make the verdict quite unexpected. I have heard that Mr. Churchill said the trial may lead to war. Is that not so?” She looked at Emily.
Emily shot her a look like daggers. “So I am told,” she conceded grudgingly. “And Mr. Chamberlain of the Colonial Office is caught in a most embarrassing situation because he can neither deny knowledge of the raid nor admit to it.”
“I daresay the British South Africa Company will have to pay a great deal of compensation to the Transvaal,” Charlotte added, hoping she had her facts correct. “It will depend, of course, on who has staked fortunes in that.” She had overheard this and did not really know for certain, but it seemed a reasonable thought.
Flora and Sabine looked at each other, both now clearly anxious.
“A great deal?” Arabella said with an edge to her voice. “What do you mean by that?”
It occurred to Charlotte that the “great deal” to be made or lost in such ventures might include the fortunes of those in this quiet London garden. She had meant to discomfort their unthinking arrogance, not seriously frighten them.
“There is gold in the Transvaal, and diamonds,” she replied. “Where there are fortunes to be made, there are fortunes to be lost as well. The raid failed. It was a big gamble, and we have no idea yet what the end may be. Perhaps you are right and, to take the chance with such high stakes, Dr. Jameson is a hero.”
There were several moments of silence. No one was comfortable. The peace and satisfaction of the party had been shattered by a sudden and very chilling reality.
“There won’t be war,” Sabine said dismissively, waving her hand with its heavy emerald ring. “Mr. Churchill is talking nonsense, as usual. He will say anything to draw attention to himself. All kinds of people have invested in Africa. They won’t allow a war to break out. If you knew a little more about real money, finance, and investment, you wouldn’t even say such a thing.”
Charlotte decided to let it go. “Perhaps not,” she agreed. “And undeniably, Mr. Rhodes is usually very successful. No one needs to win every skirmish to win a war.”
“It’s not a war,” Arabella said waspishly. “It was an attempt to-” She realized she was not sure what she meant and stopped abruptly. “Mr. Churchill is a buffoon,” she finished, glaring at Charlotte.
At last Emily was stung to defend her own position. “I cannot allow you to say that unchallenged.” She spoke quietly and with a smile, but there was a degree of steel in her voice. “He is not always right-I know of no one who is-but at times he is remarkably perceptive, and a voice of warning that should be heeded. The Jameson Raid was a fiasco, and Mr. Chamberlain has had to order Sir Hercules Robinson, the Governor-General of the Cape Colony, to repudiate it.”
“He wouldn’t have if it had succeeded,” Marie pointed out.
“Of course not.” Emily made a slight gesture of conciliation.
“If.” Charlotte smiled also. “If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride. Unfortunately, they aren’t. Perhaps that is what heroes are about, which is why one nation’s heroes are another nation’s enemies.”
“Well, I am British, and I shall honor our heroes.” Arabella fixed Charlotte with a glare. “You must choose whatever you will.”
Charlotte kept her smile, although she felt it false. “I shall wait until I know more about it. At the moment I
