‘Charming greeting, I must say.After such an arduous journey, and not having seen you for so long, I’d have expected something better.’ Henry reined in and slid down from the saddle. A servant darted out from the side of the house and took the reins as he stretched his back and rubbed his seat. He nodded to the servant. ‘Have him watered, fed and groomed.’

Arthur raised his eyebrows. ‘You’re not staying?’

‘Only long enough to brief you. Then I’ll carry your reply back to Richard.’

‘Brief me? Why, what’s happened?’

Henry gestured to the table where Close was still seated, and they exchanged a brief wave.‘Let me take some refreshment first. I swear I have half the dust of India lining my throat. We’ve ridden directly from Madras, only stopping to rest when the nags were on the verge of collapse. Not a pleasant experience.’

Arthur smiled at his brother’s affected insouciance before replying in kind. ‘I beg your pardon, how inhospitable of me. Do please be my guest.’ He gestured to the table and they climbed the steps to join Close. While Arthur ordered the steward to bring a jug of pressed juices, Henry beat some of the dust from his coat and eased himself into one of the cane chairs.

‘So.’ Arthur turned to him. ‘Tell me. What brings you here?’

‘It’s the French.You know that Richard has been holding off their claims for their colony at Pondicherry to be returned to them.’

‘I had heard about it.’

‘The situation has changed. A French frigate arrived to reclaim the colony on the fifteenth of June. Over two hundred men landed and took possession of the fort. They say that a powerful squadron of warships is sailing to join them, together with a general and a division of French soldiers.’

‘Most awkward. Who else knows about this?’

‘Richard sent me as soon as he found out, but you can be sure that word will have reached most of our Mahratta friends by now.’

‘Which means they will be making speedy efforts to contact the French and come to some arrangement to inconvenience our interests.’

‘To put it mildly.’ Henry leaned forward and his tone became serious. ‘We can’t delay the inevitable a moment longer. Richard wants you to move against Scindia at once. He’s already given orders to General Lake to advance into the land between Jumna and the Ganges. Everything turns on a decisive defeat of the Mahrattas. Then we can enforce British influence across the breadth of the subcontinent.’

‘You have to admire our brother’s ambition,’Arthur responded drily. ‘The situation is rather more complicated here in the field. My army is stuck in mud and my supplies are tenuous.’

‘Now is not the best time to start a new campaign,’ said Close.

‘There never is a best time,’ said Henry. ‘Anyway, those are his instructions.’

Arthur raised an eyebrow. ‘Instructions, or orders?’