‘I had plenty of time to read about my new posting on the voyage over, sir,’ Arthur explained. ‘I have even made a little progress in one of the local tongues, though of course I will need some further tutoring.’

Sir John laughed. ‘That’s the damnedest thing I ever heard! I doubt that one in a hundred of my staff here can claim more than a few words of Hindoostani.What on earth did you do that for?’

Arthur shrugged. ‘It seemed the sensible thing to do, sir. If a man is to serve to best effect he must be familiar with the geography and people amongst whom he is required to campaign.’>

‘That’s a bloody odd notion,Wesley. But if you think it serves a purpose then stick with it.’

‘I intend to, sir.’

‘Ah . . . where was I?’

‘Iqbal, sir.You said we ruled here because the locals believed in our good fortune.’

‘Yes, that’s it.That’s the most important thing for you to learn while you are here, Wesley. Whatever else you do, you will be judged by the good fortune that attends you.Therefore it is vital that you suffer no reverses, that you build on a reputation for success. That means that you must plan for every eventuality, consider every detail of your operations so that they progress as if blessed by fate, rather than as a result of tireless staff work.You follow me?’

Arthur nodded.

‘Good. Because you will need all the luck you can get to meet the challenges facing us here in India. Bombay, Madras and Calcutta are surrounded by the territories of powerful nations. Some of them are bitterly opposed to us. Take that fellow Tipoo Sahib, the Sultan of Mysore. Caused no end of trouble to my predecessor, Lord Cornwallis. We’ve had an uneasy peace with Mysore since then, but now I hear from my spies that Tipoo is negotiating with France to enter into some kind of alliance. Worse still, the Nizam of Hyderabad and the rulers of the Mahratta confederation are employing a large number of French officers to train and command their armies. Of course, we have had a number of English officers in the employ of such states, but lately they have been having their contracts cancelled and finding themselves thrown out by their former employers, and always replaced by a Frenchman. For now we have peace, but the French will be using their influence to do whatever they can to defeat us in India.’

‘I imagine they would, sir,’Arthur responded.‘While the Navy keeps them from the shores of England, all the French can do is attack our trade. The loss of India would cost England dear.’