Abigail's Cousin (40 page)

To the
coachman doing this and that, he cried cheerily: "Asseyez,
monsieur, et mangez. Il y a suffisant pour tous." Maurice the
coachman expressed his gratitude answering Mesnager's praise of the
cheese that it was imported from neighbouring Normandy, adding that
although the people were barbarians they did make a good cheese,
their so-called Camembert.

After each
pronounced he had had enough, Maurice was left to clear away the
'repas en campagn' or picnic, in English while Gaultier busied
himself removing the nosebags of the horses, then taking a bucket
to fetch water from a nearby stream at which Mesnager commented to
Prior:

"The Abbe is a
wonderful man and as a monk, of course, he is accustomed to all
this. There is not a thing he cannnot do. Failing Maurice, he could
drive us. He can milk cows, plough the fields, sickle the
harvest."

"And drink the
beer!" called the priest with a chuckle overhearing Mesnager's
somewhat sycophantic praise of him which silenced Mesnager though
it was clear the banker turned envoy held the older man in awe.

Prior felt somewhat useless himself as he
watched Maurice pack the things back into the hampers replacing
them in the luggage compartment before raising the flap securing it
and climbing up into his seat at the front t
o await Mesnager's
instructions.

Having
satisfied himself nothing betrayed their presence, Mesnager even
sought to obliterate their footprints apart from those leading from
the dunes and taking a last look round, entered the coach to join
Gaultier and Prior. He called to Maurice and the carriage began to
move. It proceeded parallel to the beach for some considerable
distance before turning inland and not meeting another soul or
other vehicle. The location was certainly well chosen and it said
much for the person who had selected it for clandestine meetings
with enemy agents. Evidently it seemed to Prior the French secret
service knew their business.

The full
repast with its share of excellent red wine brought a drowsiness to
Prior that the gentle shaking of the carriage on the even coastal
roads hastened and he was soon fast asleep as was the Abbe while
Mesnager though had no difficulty in keeping his eyes open as such
meals were common in his former position. He felt thrilled to be in
charge of the project and busied himself with future plans.

Meanwhile
Maurice the coachman blessed his foresight in ramming a felt hat on
to his head before the journey. Perched as he was atop the
carriage, he was exposed to the direct rays of the sun and blessed
the occasional manifestation of clouds bringing him relief.
Occasionally their road carried them through bocage, clumps of
trees or infrequently avenues of Lombard poplars planted as
windbreaks. Maurice peered ahead as, with a four horse team, he
needed plenty of time to slow down before taking divergent roads.
Under his breath he thanked the military engineers such as Vauban
who not only concerned themselves with castles such as Mahon, Aire
and Bethune but also the roads leading to them so the forts could
be more easily provisioned.

Yet, they had
neglected to build bridges leaving it to local farmers. His route
was thought out to avoid rivers like, for instance, the Lys, whose
source was the low foothills to the south east. Unknown to him
beyond the Lys was the field of Agincourt where the longbowmen of
England and Wales inflicted the sort of mayhem on the French
knights which Marlborough's trained musketeers were inflicting on
French Cuirassiers. There had been a widespread feeling that Louis
and his marshals were restoring pride in La France until 'Le
Malbrouk" appeared on the scene and in scarcely half a decade by
his victories had all but destroyed French confidence in
themselves.

It was
fortunate for France that Le Malbrouk's masters in England were
also concerned about his success so much so that they wished to
bring his campaigns to an end. A tool towards this end was sitting
in Maurice's carriage below and from that fact Maurice began to
conceive the idea that this man's capacity, so highly prized by his
countrymen, might be profitable to Maurice. He began to think of
ways and means to bring about the happy outcome that would benefit
himself and his family.

Meanwhile
inside Maurice's carriage, Prior briefly opened his eyes to judge
the elevation of the sun and estimate the time of day though it
proved difficult as it disappeared behind scudding clouds. He
wondered about his watch and whether he wanted to move from his
comfortable position to get at it when the seemingly watchful
Mesnager spotting a raised eyelid commented as if pleased to have
someone with whom to chat:

"It is two
hours after midday, monsieur." At which remark Prior shifted his
pupils towards the speaker still not wanting to alter his position
enjoying his drowsiness. Outside the countryside raced by recalling
English downland and Prior vaguely recalled his Cambridge
countryside idly speculating something about his geography
concerning a gigantic sheet of ice that stretched from the Humber
to the Seine before the great thaw and inundation which drowned the
lowlying valley creating the English Channel. He wanted to be
amenable to Mesnager and said:

"C'est bocage,
monsieur. C'est semblable de la campagne de l'Angleterre."

Mesnager
agreed: "Yes, the English countryside has similar little woods
which everywhere are dotted around on gentle uplands. Perhaps you
do have more hedges, monsieur. But they are man-made."

From the
corner came a gentle snore as the Abbe Gaultier unphased by the
increasing bumpiness in the roads settled into a deep sleep.
Mesnager asked Prior: "Pray monsieur, what is your official
title?"

"Ministre
extraordinaire is the title on the letter appointing me."

Mesnager
smiled not understanding the politicking of the title which sounded
imposing to him but which reflected Queen Anne's extraordinary view
that a 'person of mean extraction' should not be allowed to
represent their country despite his eminent qualifications having
been present at the Anglo-French negotiations leading to the
Barrier Treaty and being under-secretary to the former envoy, the
earl of Jersey. The queen had even objected to Jersey though not
upon his nobility but that for various reasons she disliked him. He
was otherwise a skilled diplomatist, spoke French and grasped
international affairs.

To the great
good fortune of the English, Mathew Prior was skilled in trade
matters having been a one-time Commissioner of Excise leaving that
post to become Under-secretary to the Earl of Jersey. Mesnager
would not have understood at that time the complexities of English
business being himself connected to French banking circles, in
particular the Rothschilds, which though present in England, had
little to do with actual trading.

English trade was burgeoning and to
protect which it needed to strengthen the Royal Navy. In Parliament
this had led to tension between two political parties the Whigs who
stood for trade, industry and banking, and the Tories who
represented the landed gentry and the Church. Parodoxically Prior's
mission was a Tory initiative but engineered for personal ambition
rath
er than the welfare
of England.

Mesnager
wondered what was monsieur Prior's brief concerning the Pretender.
The Earl of Jersey confessed to him that he envisaged a Jacobite
restoration in England and Mesnager had reported as such to his
chief, the marquis de Torcy, yet false promises had been raised
before without a positive outcome and he wondered whether, after
all, the shrewd English politicians were using the possibility, for
bargaining purposes.

The carriage
began to pass soldiers, and groups of uniformed men then columns of
them who shook their fists at him as the carriage forced them on to
the verges. The number of men seemed to indicate a military camp in
the vicinity and spotting a cluster of houses in the distance he
guessed he was nearing a village or small town and was on the alert
as the team slowed down as it passed outlying cottages and
houses.

Mesnager’s attention was diverted by the
increased rattling of the carriage sounding louder as he realised
they were passing along a road with occasional houses on both sides
and soon they were passing across a village square and could not
fail to notice men in uniform, some of ragged appearance standing
around. He sensed their hostility by their staring eyes. He heard a
shout then more and saw men running at the
carriage
, but it was
going too fast and he heard Maurice shouting, heard the crack of
his whip urging them yet faster. All three men stared at each other
as bangs were heard and the acrid whiff of burnt gunpowder assailed
their nostrils. Then a ball must have struck the door of the coach
for there was a splintering of glass followed by the whistle of the
wind blowing in the gap, but they were now free of the
village.

"Is anyone
hurt?" It was Mesnager and Prior indicated he needed to stand and
did so hanging on the side as glass splinters fell from his lap
onto the floor. Relieved each sat back in their seat, the Abbe once
again resuming his doze. Prior suddenly felt the urge to laugh and
did so; Mesnager laughed and soon nervous tension caused them both
to laugh. It relieved the fear which had reared up in each of
them.

The horses after that mad, headlong dash
now slowed and Mesnager spoke: "As you saw monsieur, the situation
in France is desperate in places and Prior asked helpfully:
“Monsieur St John explained
about your gendarmerie. We had heard about some unrest in France
and he wanted to reassure me."

Mesnager
sighed: "Usually the gendarmerie would be expected to prevent any
unrest. Alas, many are former soldiers themselves and sympathise
with the insurgents." Prior clucked sympathetically and changed the
subject by speculating where they could be and finally said: "Where
are we monsieur? When and where do you plan to stop for the
night?

Mesnager
replied: "Amiens should not be too far. I expect Maurice will stop
at the same inn as on the previous occasion. Judging from the
countryside, it should not be far."

To their right
an expanse of water appeared and shimmered in the evening sun and
Mesnager speculated it was the River Somme. He said: "You will like
the proprietress of the Veau en Gros, the inn. Her name is Madame
Poulin and she was recently widowed but she is still very gay.

Prior gave
Mesnager a quick look" "She seems to have made a hit with you,
monsieur. My only hope is that she can cook."

"Her savoury
pies are delicious, I assure you monsieur."

"Alors! C'est
magnifique." Answered Prior and Mesnager chuckled. Both men had to
hold on as the coach was making a tight turn as Maurice was turning
into the yard of an inn.

"It looks as
though you will be trying those pies sooner than I thought,
monsieur."

--------------------------------------------

Having
ascertained the hour of sunrise and having notified all concerned
of his wish for an early start, Mesnager was surprised to discover
Maurice coming out of Madame Poulin's apartment though he reasoned,
Madame was a widow and Maurice a strong, virile young man so there
was no reason for raised eyebrows especially as the coachman had
already shown his worth as together they manhandled the horses into
the shafts of the carriage in preparation for the onward journey.
He discussed the encounter the previous day and whether any trouble
might be expected anywhere along the route to Paris, as, for
example, at the bridge where they were due to cross the
fast-flowing river Somme; Maurice assured him there would be none
at that time of the day and so it proved.

The great
limestone plateau that formed much of Artois and Picardy was
crossed by rivers though only three were of concern namely the
Therain which could be skirted, the Oise which was bridged and
later on having reached Paris, the Seine, which must be crossed in
order to arrive at the Quai d'Orsay on the left bank. So anxious
was Mesnager about aspects of the journey that he failed to point
out to monsieur Prior the magnificence of the gothic cathedral at
Amiens.

After
traversing interminable stretches of countryside boasting wave
after wave of market gardens producing vegetables, fruit and
flowers necessary for the provisioning of a great city, Prior began
to notice huge tracts of unbroken swathes of grassland with the
occasional paddock and the presence of horses, at first in dozens,
then hundreds, many with riders exercising them, taking them
through disciplined routines or perhaps just allowing their mounts
to gallop either in pairs or together in the company of others.
Mesnager was keen to point out that the area they were travelling
through was Chantilly, home to the largest concentration of horses
in France for the training and supply of bloodstock to many royal
houses as well as to many aristocratic families throughout
Europe.

On the
outskirts of the city of Paris Mesnager had arranged for the
carriage to stop with a view to watering and feeding the horses. It
was situated at St Denis and seemed to Prior to resemble a small
fort consisting of a round tower above which a flagpole flew a
pennant emblazoned with the fleur-de-lys, an emblem of the royal
house. Inside the tower was an office to which Mesnager went
showing his credentials to a smartly dressed clerk who stamped it
allowing Mesnager to obtain the victuals for their four horses.

To Prior's
enquiry about the sign outside which read COURRIER, Mesnager told
him this post at St Denis was part of a nationwide network visited
by king's messengers. Sadly the place had a rundown look arising
out of shortages occasioned by the war. When Maurice had arranged
for the horses to be fed and watered, he let down the rear flap and
prepared a picnic such as they had enjoyed at Wissant though the
bread bought at their overnight inn was stale, the butter running
away and the cheese stank somewhat. Even so with the exception of
the Abbe Gaultier, the three proved the maxim that hunger is the
best appetiser. The wine though no longer cool was also thirst
quenching.