The Death of Hope Andrew Wareham (book club reads TXT) 📖

not be surprised if we ended upwith three or four hundred garages across the country, with the chance of eachone making a thousand or so in profit! It would need a keen young brain incharge, part of the modern age, not an old hangover from Victorian days such asmyself. What do you think? A damned good income for you and a money-spinner forthe family.”

“What an excellent idea, sir! A lot of work,especially in the early years, but well worthwhile. I would be more than glad toassist, sir.”

“Hoped you might!”

“What of Arthur, sir? Will he be up to abusy life?”

The Viscount’s face clouded. He shook hishead brusquely.

“It’s a quiet existence on the estate forhim, Christopher. He might be sufficiently active to do some of the work ofrunning the farms. Chances are he will spend his days sitting out on thebalcony, looking out over the hills. It’s all he can do to walk downstairs fromhis room to sit at table. His lungs are gone. He might just recover to be ableto sit a horse – I don’t know and neither do the doctors. He must spend most ofhis life in the clean air of the countryside, that is a certainty.”

“Is he out of bed during the day?”

“Not at this time of the morning. Anothercouple of hours before you will see him downstairs.”

“How did he come to be in the firing line,sir? I had thought him to be on the staff.”

“He was, doing rather well and set up tobecome major very soon. There was a report that the Germans were advancingunder the cover of poison gas – chlorine, I believe – and that the men were breakingbefore it. His general did not believe it, could not imagine that even the Hunwould stoop so low, and Arthur volunteered to go forward and discover thereality. It would seem that he found out the hard way.”

“Poor chap. No such thing as a gasmask, isthere?”

“They exist, the Germans have them! Nonehave been issued to British forces. I am told that the possibility wascanvassed and was turned down as too expensive – a quarter of a million masksinitially and an ongoing supply of as many again each year. At least fortythousand pounds.”

It was a large sum of money, Christopheradmitted.

“It is nothing, Christopher! We arespending as much as a million a day already, purely on the war! It might bemore, probably is, but the accounting systems have failed under the strain. Howmuch is being syphoned off into private pockets, God alone knows! We are shortof shells for the artillery and the Navy both; even basic items of uniform arenot always available; prices are rocketing, as far a government contracts areconcerned. Nothing to be done about it, either! Lloyd George will have no partin a policing of the system, says we must accept a little of criminality as theprice of a massive expansion of production.”

“I presume, sir, that means he is taking acut himself?”

“Some, undoubtedly. He mostly accepts othersorts of favours – the man is sexually insatiable, it seems!”

“Unpleasant, sir! One generally expectsthat sort of thing to be conducted discreetly, not in the apparent open view ofall in Whitehall!”

“Not quite that bad, Christopher. Nearly so.Not our sort at all, Lloyd George. Strange thing is, he is also honest in hisdetermination to improve the lot of the ordinary man. I speak to him most weeksin the way of business and there can be no doubt of his integrity in that way.A man of two personalities, one might say. I do not understand him, at all.”

The Navy had left Christopher with a finesense of right and wrong, of black and white; he could not comprehend a personwho was both.

“Beyond me, sir. What of you, sir? If youwill pardon me prying, have you ever considered taking another lady? My motherhas been dead these ten years now, sir.”

“No. Thought about it, Christopher. Cannotbring myself to do so. I was happy with your mother, as you know. A once in alifetime experience, I would suggest. In my fifties now – no time to set uphouse again! Good of you to be concerned, my boy. I have suggested to Jeremythat it is more than time that he regularised his existence – he needs toproduce an heir. Arthur will hardly do so now. You are at sea and in adangerous occupation, it seems, bearing in mind the losses the Navy hassuffered.”

“Not on Black Prince, sir. A cruiser whowill be accompanying the Grand Fleet if she goes into action. Protecting thebattleships by picking off the torpedo flotillas and their accompanying lightcruisers is our role. Always a bigger target than us to attract enemy fire, sir!”

Chapter Three

“Yourhalf-flotilla will take station back in your old hunting grounds, Sturton, justoutside Dutch territorial waters off the Scheldt. Placing yourself ready foraction by about an hour after nightfall, earlier if there is cloud cover andrain to reduce visibility, crawl down the coast towards the site of the bombardment,off Zeebrugge. We are using the new monitors for the first time. Heavy guns, oldtwelve inch taken from predreadnoughts, poor engines – almost as if they werelarge scale Humbers. Don’t know what the end result might be. We want you inplace to pick up anything that comes down from the north, from any of the smallports. Thing is, Sturton, we don’t quite know what might have worked its way downto the Belgian ports. Might be small, fast gunboats; could be torpedo launches;might be coasters given some armour and with a couple of guns bolted on;possible that there is a larger merchantman or two set up as conventionalmerchant cruisers; sure to be converted trawlers. Depends what was in harbourwhen they were taken.”

Simon showed a keen face to the Commodore.There was no gain to expressing doubts. It seemed to him that the monitors werebeing set up as bait, their bombardment no more than an invitation for theenemy to come out to play.

“What of submarines, sir?”

“Good question! We think they are all keptin pens upriver from Zeebrugge, the other side of the big locks. That being thecase, if it