Authors: Anne Perry
No Graves As Yet (41 page)
It took him nearly ten minutes to prise the paper out without tearing it, and then unroll it and hold it open. It was in German. They read it together.
It was an agreement between the kaiser and King George V, the terms of which were shatteringly simple. Britain would stand aside and allow Germany to invade and conquer Belgium, France, and of course Luxembourg, saving the hundreds of thousands of lives that would be lost in trying to defend them.
In return, a new Anglo-German empire would be formed with unassailable power on land and sea. The riches of the world would be divided between them: Africa, India, the Far East, and best of all, America.
The surgery of war would be swift and almost painless, the reward beyond measure. The document was signed by the kaiser, and obviously had been on its way to the king for countersignature.
“God almighty!” Matthew said hoarsely. “It’s . . . it’s monstrous! It’s . . .”
“It’s what Father died to prevent,” Joseph said, tears choking his voice. It was the one thing he had believed that had stood fast and whole through all the loss. His father had been right. Nothing had misled or deceived him; he had been right. It spread a peace through Joseph, a kind of certainty at the core. “And perhaps he succeeded,” he went on aloud. “There will be war. God knows how many will die, but England gave her word to Belgium, and she will not betray it. That would be worse than death.”
Matthew rubbed his hands over his face. “Who’s behind it?” He was weary, but in him, too, there was something stronger within, a doubt, a vulnerability gone.
“I don’t know,” Joseph said. “Someone in Germany close to the kaiser, very clever, with a great deal of vision and power. And more importantly to us, someone here in England, too, who was going to get it to the king—and damn nearly did.”
“I know.” Matthew shook his head. “It could be anyone. Chetwin . . . Shearing himself, I suppose. Even Sandwell! I don’t know, either.”
“Or anyone else we haven’t even thought of,” Joseph added.
Matthew stared at him. “But whoever it is, he’s brilliant and ruthless, and he’s still out there.”
“But he’s failed. . . .”
“He won’t accept failure.” Matthew bit his lip, his voice tight, his face almost bloodless. “A man who could dream up this won’t stop here. He’ll have contingency plans, other ideas. And he’s far from alone. He has allies, other naive dreamers, wounded idealists, the disaffected, the ambitious. We never know who they are until it’s too late. But by God, I’ll put every spare minute I’ve got into hunting him down. I’ll follow every trail, wherever it goes, whoever it touches, until I’ve got him. If we don’t, he’ll destory everything we care about.”
Something in the words crystalized the knowledge in Joseph’s mind, and it became undeniable, sealed forever. Whatever he felt, regardless of mind or heart, horror or his own weakness to achieve anything of use, he must join the war. If honor, faith, any values, human or divine, were to be kept, then there was no escape. He would do everything he could. He would learn to preserve his emotions apart, not to feel the rage or the pity; then he could survive.
“I’ll join the army,” he said aloud. “As a chaplain.” It was an absolute statement, no question, no alteration possible. “I won’t fight, but I’ll be there. I’ll help.”
Matthew smiled, his face softening to an extraordinary gentleness. In his eyes was something that Joseph recognized with amazement as pride.
“Thought you would,” Matthew said quietly.
Somewhere far away in the house the telephone rang.
The light outside was softening, turning hazy.
“What are we going to do with this?” Matthew asked, looking at the document.
“Put it back in the gun,” Joseph answered without hesitation. “We may want it one day. No one would believe its existence without seeing it. They didn’t find it here before, and they looked. That’s as safe as anywhere. Disable the gun where they’ll see it, and then no one will think to use it.”
Matthew regarded the old gun ruefully. “I hate to do that,” he said, but even as he spoke, he removed the firing pin.
Joseph rolled up the document again and pushed it down the barrel, using the rod to jam it in as far as possible.
They had just finished when Judith came to the door, her face pale.
“Who was it?” Joseph asked.
“It was for Matthew,” she said a little jerkily. “It was Mr. Shearing. Sir Edward Grey said in Parliament that if Germany invades Belgium, then Great Britain will honor the treaty to safeguard Belgian neutrality and we will be at war. He wants you back as soon as we know.” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “It will happen, won’t it?”
“Yes,” Joseph answered. “It will.” He glanced at Matthew.
Matthew nodded.
“We found the document Father died for,” he said to Judith. “You’d better come to the sitting room and we’ll tell you about it.”
She stood motionless. “What is it?” she demanded. “Where was it? Why didn’t we find it before?”
“In the punt gun,” Joseph told her. “It was every bit as terrible as he said . . . more.”
“I want to see it!” she said without moving.
Matthew drew in his breath.
“I want to!” she repeated.
It was Joseph who went to the gun and very carefully started to lever the paper out again. Matthew held the gun to help him. Finally he had it. He unrolled it and opened it for Judith.
She took it in her hands and read it slowly.
Instead of fear in her face there was a kind of fierce, hurting pride. The tears stood out in her eyes, and she ignored them as they slid down her cheeks. She looked up at them. “So he was right!”
“Oh, yes!” Joseph found his own voice choked. “Typical of Father—he understated it. It would have changed the whole world and made England the most dishonorable nation in the annals of history. It might have saved lives, or not—but only in the short term. In the end the cost would be beyond counting or measuring. There are things we have to fight for. . . .”
She nodded and turned away, walking back to the sitting room. The sun was sinking already, casting long shadows.
Joseph and Matthew carefully replaced the treaty yet again, then went after her.
They sat quietly together, remembering, while the light lasted, all the moments they had shared, past laughter, the happier times woven into the fabric of memory to shine in the darkness ahead.
Later Shearing telephoned again. Matthew answered it and listened.
“Yes,” he said at length. “Yes, sir. Of course. I’ll be there first thing in the morning.” He hung up and turned to Joseph and Judith. “Germany has declared war on France—and is massed to invade Belgium. When it happens, we will send Germany an ultimatum, which, of course, they will refuse. By midnight tomorrow we shall be at war. Grey said, ‘The lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.’ “
“Perhaps not.” Joseph took a deep breath. “We shall have to carry our own light . . . the best we can.”
Judith buried her head in his shoulder, and Matthew reached out around her to take Joseph’s hand and grip it.
By Anne Perry
Published by The Random House Publishing Group
Featuring William Monk
The Face of a Stranger
A Dangerous Mourning
Defend and Betray
A Sudden, Fearful Death
The Sins of the Wolf
Cain His Brother
Weighed in the Balance
The Silent Cry
A Breach of Promise
The Twisted Root
Slaves of Obsession
Funeral in Blue
Death of a Stranger
Featuring Thomas and Charlotte Pitt
The Cater Street Hangman
Callander Square
Paragon Walk
Resurrection Row
Bluegate Fields
Rutland Place
Death in the Devil’s Acre
Cardington Crescent
Silence in Hanover Close
Bethlehem Road
Highgate Rise
Belgrave Square
Farriers’ Lane
The Hyde Park Headsman
Traitors Gate
Pentecost Alley
Ashworth Hall
Brunswick Gardens
Bedford Square
Half Moon Street
The Whitechapel Conspiracy
Southampton Row
Seven Dials
A Ballantine Book
Published by The Random House Publishing Group
Copyright © 2003 by Anne Perry
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
Ballantine and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Perry, Anne.
No graves as yet : a novel of World War I / Anne Perry.
p. cm.
1. Great Britain—History—George V, 1910–1936—Fiction. 2. World War, 1914–1918—England—Fiction. I. Title.
PR6066.E693N6 2003
823′.914—dc21
2003052233
eISBN: 978-0-345-46978-6
v3.0
