Hobson frowned in exasperation. 'Mr. Renzi! This continual adverting to some form of espionage does you no credit at all. You have my word on it that no spying is involved. In point of fact, should you be so far in want of gentlemanly conduct as to undertake such on a private basis, then His Majesty's ministers will utterly condemn you. You will go openly, under your own auspices and with stated diplomatic objectives, while no doubt you will be, from the first, subject to a form of surveillance by the authorities. Provided you are earnest and diligent in the discharge of your duties and refrain from being seen near locations of a military nature, I can see no difficulties pursuant to an interesting and rewarding experience.'
'I shall proceed in cartel, as a full member of the mission to . . . ?'
'Mr. Renzi, if you have a stated moral objection to assisting at such a level then please to let me know at this point,' Hobson said, with a touch of impatience. 'I shall then be obliged to find another.'
'No, not at all. I was merely—'
'Then shall we continue? An accreditation to the mission requires more than a few diplomatic formalities, which should be put in hand without further delay. Mr. Haslip has let it be known he wishes to depart at the earliest possible opportunity.'
'Of course,' said Renzi, hastily. 'I shall immediately put my affairs in order in my ship and—'
'There will be time for that later. Now, to the first. Do you wish to travel under your own name or another? Some feel it more congenial to their privacy to discourage curious prying by a foreign power.'
'Oh? Then, er, 'Smith' will answer, I believe.'
'Certainly. There are other details we shall need to record, and then, under your signature, these will be sent to Whitehall by special messenger for your formal accession to the body of the mission. I suspect Mr. Haslip will therefore wish to be aboard the cartel ship, departing this Thursday night from Ramsgate.
'There may be final matters to discuss before you leave, so perhaps we shall meet once more on Wednesday. Oh, and as no doubt you have already been told, the invariable custom in these affairs is that complete secrecy is to be observed. Not even your captain must know.'
He looked Renzi directly in the eye. 'You have no conception of the villainous creatures who inhabit the nether world, ready to take advantage.'
'Quite, quite,' Renzi said, with feeling.
'You're taking a holiday?' Kydd asked, in surprise, as Renzi assembled his bags in the larger space of the great cabin. 'Where will this be, old trout?'
Renzi fought with the temptation to mention casually that he intended to spend the weekend in Paris. 'It did seem the most suitable opportunity,
Light-headed with exhilaration at the prospect before him, he deliberated whether the old but finer blue coat would more suit in a Paris of fashion and gaiety, or was it to be the newer but sombre brown? In the end he decided that if he was to put up a decent showing as a diplomat then perhaps he would visit a fashionable tailor while he was there. After all, he was representing his country.
Kydd would not let it rest. 'Fine weather, just the ticket for a bit o' sporting in the sun?' He tried again. 'Do you have anyone to go with, Nicholas?'
'You mean in the character of a female?'
Kydd grinned. 'I see, you wicked dog.'
'No.'
'Then where?'
Renzi picked up one of the bags, as though checking its weight. Thwarted, Kydd stumped off to annoy the officer-of-the-watch.
The day before the cartel ship was due to sail Renzi made acquaintance of Haslip. He was a humourless, pompous bureaucratic functionary but Renzi knew how to handle such as him.
Hobson greeted him warmly. 'So you're leaving tomorrow for Paris? I envy you, Renzi. My position seldom allows me such diversions.' He closed the door. 'Now, one thing has come up, old fellow. Do see if you can help us. While you're in Paris there is one chap we'd like you to look up. He's an artist, portraiture and such, the Duke of Devonshire and similar. Rather good, too—he's hung in the Royal Academy, no less.'
'Oh?'
'Yes indeed,' Hobson said smoothly. 'You see, he's an odd kind of cove, head full of strange notions, but we'd like you to let him know that we're quite keen to see him back in the old country. I'll let you have a sum of money to that end—you'll sign and account for it in the usual way, of course, but we are rather concerned to have him return.'
'You mean—to smuggle him back?'
'Goodness gracious, no! He's a citizen of the United States, a neutral, and is quite free to go where he pleases. Name of Fulton.'
The cartel ship left the pier at Ramsgate in the anonymous darkness and was soon butting into a chill south-easterly. The passengers scuttled below to light and warmth, but Renzi stood on the foredeck, clutching a shroud and burning with indignation.
He had been well and truly hooked, caught and landed. Dazzled by the daring thought of Paris in the summer he had not stopped to consider why he, Renzi, had been plucked out of obscurity to perform the task. The real reason for his visit turned out not to be spying but something infinitely worse and more dangerous. The stakes for him and England could not have been higher.
This Fulton, or Francis, the code-name he sometimes went by, was an extraordinary man, possibly a genius. From childhood poverty in Maryland he had attracted early support for his painting talent sufficient to have him sent to England, where he had shone as a portrait painter. He had spent some fruitful years in Devon, then come to the attention and patronage of Benjamin West, the president of the prestigious Royal Academy. In the course of time he had been hung beside the great masters.
On the continent the hideous excesses of the French Revolution had turned to power struggles and thence a fragile form of stability while energies were directed outward in war. With England convulsed in the bloody mutinies of Spithead and the Nore, Fulton had suddenly decided to leave and cross to France, where he had quickly taken up with the circle of expatriate radicals and friends of the Revolution who encouraged the blossoming of his growing
