Some of the younger men began to talk excitedly and a voice bellowed out, ‘Hurrah for Nelson! Three cheers for Admiral Nelson!’ The orchestra hurriedly made ready to play a patriotic jingle, scrabbling through their sheet music.

‘Hah!’ General Sparrow clapped Arthur on the back. ‘They’ll make him a duke for this!’

But Arthur was still watching Pitt. There was no joy in the Prime Minister’s expression, only grief and despair as he raised his hands to attract the audience’s attention once more.

‘Please! Quiet, please, I beg you. There is more.’

Gradually the crowd hushed and stared expectantly, hardly daring to believe there was even better news to follow.

‘It is with the very greatest regret that I have to announce that Admiral Nelson fell in the battle, at the hour of his greatest service to the nation.’

‘Dead?’ Olivia Sparrow whispered and clutched her hand to her mouth. ‘Nelson is dead?’

The silence was total in the salon as the party guests stood, stunned into stillness. Pitt tried to say something further, but the words died on his lips. He shook his head and turned to leave the room, the first tears gleaming in his eyes.

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The following morning Lord Buckingham’s guests returned to London. They were desperate to discover the full details of the victory at Trafalgar. The politicians were also aware that it would be useful to be seen in Parliament paying tribute to the fallen hero. A few choice words of sorrowful rhetoric would be sure to be quoted somewhere in one of the country’s newspapers.

As Arthur rose from his breakfast at one of the tables that had been set in the salon, he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see the Prime Minister.

‘Sir Arthur, I take it you are returning to London today.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Are you leaving soon?’

‘As soon as my bags are packed and my carriage is ready.’

‘Ah, that is good. I wonder if you would do me the honour of sharing my carriage on the road to London?’

Arthur was taken aback. It would indeed be an honour, but for Arthur rather than William Pitt. Instinctively he wondered if the offer was being made in order to derive some kind of political benefit for the Prime Minister. Perhaps he was trying to drive a wedge between Arthur and his host, Lord Buckingham.Arthur glanced across the room and saw Buckingham engrossed in conversation with a fat, pasty-faced man whom Arthur recognised as one of the Whig members of Parliament who had made a reputation for himself in constantly advocating peace with France. Pitt saw the direction of his gaze and smiled thinly.

‘Put your fears at rest, Sir Arthur; I will make sure that your presence in my carriage is not detected. I suggest you take your own carriage as far as the nearest village and send it on from there while you wait for me.’