'In the past month the Russian state bank has withdrawn substantial amounts of the gold it habitually holds in London for safe-keeping. It has withdrawn money from the Bank of England, and also from Barings itself. All for perfectly good reasons, I am sure, but if it were able to announce it was reversing this policy, then the problem would be significantly lessened. That is all I require.'
I had lost him, I could see. He was a man of diplomatic balls and negotiations between grand men. He understood not one thing about how Empires are really made, or how countries satisfy the needs and desires of their people. It had never occurred to him to wonder how the food on his plate got there, how it was grown, harvested, moved from place to place and merchant to merchant along the great paths of invisible money that encircle the globe, tying every man and every town to each other so efficiently that most people did not even suspect they were there. He took it for granted. And we never value what we never think about.
'You want Russia to move gold . . .'
I suppressed a groan. 'No, Excellency. There is no need to move it. Simply saying that you will not move it will be more than sufficient. Belief is as good as reality, where money is concerned.'
He frowned. 'As you see, Mr Cort, I know little of these things. Nor do I care about them much. An oversight on my part, no doubt. But it means that I have no idea whatsoever whether you are asking me a small favour or a gigantic one. We wish to make an exchange, but that depends on a fair price for each side. I do not know the value of what you are asking.'
'Then I suggest you consult one of your people in the Embassy who does know, Excellency,' I said. 'But I would request that you do so swiftly. Time is of the greatest importance here.'
He surprised me then. He was not at all the sort of person I had imagined. He stood immediately and called for a servant. 'Prepare my clothes. I must go to the Embassy immediately. And send messengers to . . .' here he reeled off a list of Russian names – 'and tell them to meet me there within the hour.'
He turned back to me, and smiled. 'I will meet my people, and attempt to understand what this is about,' he said. 'I may need to get hold of you, so if you would leave your address . . . ?'
I nodded.
'And I will hold you to your word, Mr Cort. I must have that information, whether I can assist you or no.'
'You will have that, and willingly,' I said. 'All I know at the moment is that Drennan is probably living on the Ile Saint-Louis, and that the plot involves an attack against the Russian cathedral some time next week. Please place guards around it. Twenty-four hours a day.' I gave Drennan's description. 'He is not a member of the Orthodox Church, cares nothing for Eastern music and has no opinion whatsoever of modern ecclesiastical architecture. If he goes there at all, it will not be for the state of his soul.'
'Then you have given me a great deal to do,' he said. 'Diplomats must dress properly, and that takes an extraordinary amount of time.'
It was a dismissal, so I thanked him, left the room and headed back home.
I had made progress, or so I thought. That is, I had contacted two powerful people in the Russian and the French camps and opened communication. The next stage was to discover their price, if indeed they were prepared to sell. I realised, however, that I had little enough to offer in exchange.
And if the price was too high? What would happen then? I paused at a café in the rue du Faubourg St-Honoré and ordered an omelette and a glass of red wine; I had not eaten since morning and I was desperately hungry. I might as well eat and think at the same time.
Britain would be desperately weakened, of course; trade all over the world would shrink; factories would close, ships be laid up. People would lose their jobs. The Government's revenue and its ability to pay for the Royal Navy, would fall. The colonies would then be exposed and vulnerable – India, South Africa, the Far East – and the French and Russians would move to drive home their advantage. What could we do? Except go cap in hand to the Germans, asking them to name their price. They would, no doubt, want a free hand in Eastern Africa for a start, maybe much more than that. And would they even want to assist, sandwiched as they were between Russia to the east and France to the west?
All this for a few tons of metal. And I had made things even more complicated by introducing the business of an attempted atrocity, which I would now have to plan. What on earth was I thinking of? It was going to make my life very much more difficult. Still, I could worry about that when it was all over. Waiting and watching, not doing anything unless it is necessary; these have always been my main characteristics in the business of intelligence. It was what distinguished me from others, like Drennan, who no doubt would have blown something up first of all, as a way of catching people's attention.
