Wanted - A Bride

CHAPTER ONE 1868-1

CHAPTER ONE 1868Lord Templeton was in a bad temper as he travelled to London.

He was enjoying himself in the country breaking in two extremely good horses that he had only recently added to his stable.

It was hot and humid in London and he wanted to stay in the country where it was very much cooler and to be with his animals.

Yet the letter he had received from Lord Stanley, the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, said that it was important for him to come urgently to London for a meeting in his office.

Lord Templeton considered for some time whether he should say that it was just impossible at this time for him to go to London.

Then because he had done so much over the years for the Department for Foreign Affairs, he knew clearly that it was his duty to do as Lord Stanley asked.

At the same time it had infuriated him while he was driving away yet again from his ancestral home in Sussex on the road back to London.

Finally he left behind him the empty dusty country roads for the more crowded streets leading into the Capital itself.

And then he pulled his horses up at the front of his impressive mansion in Berkeley Square.

He handed the reins to a smartly dressed groom, ran up the stone steps and proceeded to tidy himself after the tiring journey.

Then, almost with some reluctance, he set off for the Department for Foreign Affairs in Whitehall.

He had been there so often, but thought that after the last time he had helped them, he had done his duty and could now enjoy himself peacefully at home.

The Officer who he met as he entered held out his hand.

“Good morning, my Lord,” he greeted him. “We were hoping that you would be here earlier. Lord Stanley stayed until he was forced to return to No. 10 Downing Street where the Prime Minister was waiting for him.”

“I am sorry to have missed him,” Lord Templeton replied, “but I did not arrive in London until well after one o’clock.”

While they were talking, the Officer was taking him along a corridor that led to the Secretary of State’s private office.

When he entered, Lord Templeton was delighted to see his old friend, Sir James Redwell, the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

Sir James was indeed the most knowledgeable and intelligent man that Lord Templeton had ever met and he had enjoyed working with him more than anyone else in the Department.

As he came in, Sir James jumped up from his desk and held out his hand.

“It is delightful to see you, Ivan,” he began. “I was afraid that you would refuse to leave your horses and your beautiful country house.”

Lord Templeton laughed abruptly and sat down in a chair near to Sir James’s desk.

“I came,” he replied, “because I felt it was my duty. But I can tell you straight away that I have no intention of going to some obscure and uncivilised part of the world simply because you fancy that there might be an outbreak of war or attrition in perhaps the next twenty years or so.”

Sir James sat back in his chair and laughed.

“That sounds so like you, Ivan,” he chuckled. “But you know as well as I do that I would not have sent for you if it had not been of great importance.”

Lord Templeton groaned.

“Important or unimportant,” he protested, “I am too busy in the country to leave England.”

There was silence for a moment.

Then Sir James said,

“I think when you hear where I want you to go that you will feel differently. It is, in point of fact, someone you admire who has been asking for you.”

“I am doing my best not to listen,” Lord Templeton grumbled.

They both laughed.

Then Sir James, picking up some papers from his desk, went on,

“Ivan, I know that you have always been impressed by King Mongkut and the great success that he has been in Siam during the last few years.”

Lord Templeton sat up sharply.

“You are not telling me that he is in trouble!” he exclaimed. “I thought that Siam was the most delightful and the most peaceful place that I have ever visited in all my travels.”

“No! No! Fortunately it is not the King himself who is in trouble,” Sir James replied. “I agree with you that he is an excellent King and it would be a disaster if anything happened to him.”

“Then what is wrong?” Lord Templeton asked.

“It is the King himself who has asked for our help because he is worried about what is going on in Khmer, the country next to his.”

Lord Templeton frowned.

“You don’t mean to tell me that the French are up to their old tricks again?”

“I am afraid that is the truth,” Sir James confessed. “As you can imagine, because King Mongkut has applied to us, we can hardly refuse to help him.”

Lord Templeton gave a deep sigh.

“What exactly does he want?” he asked.

“He wants us to send out someone who understands the whole situation and to make sure that the rumours they have heard are correct and that the French are deliberately infiltrating into Kymer with the intention of taking it over eventually.”

There was silence for a moment.

Then Lord Templeton said,

“I suppose it would be too optimistic to think that it was just the usual ignorant chatter that can so easily in the East be misconstrued and exaggerated.”

“There I would agree with you,” Sir James replied. “At the same time, you know as well as I do, that the King would not have asked us for our help unless he was really upset and aware that there was likely to be trouble.”

Lord Templeton knew this to be true.

King Mongkut had reigned over Siam for seventeen years and he had been most successful in making Siam one of the most delightful and char places that Lord Templeton had ever visited.

The country of Khmer on the other side of Siam was a very different cup of tea.

The King of Khmer had only recently come to the throne and he was far more intent on enjoying himself than attending to all the difficulties or the dangers of ruling his country.

The British Government had known for some time that the French were anxious to enlarge their possessions in the East and Khmer seemed an easy place to intrude into and eventually possess.

As Lord Templeton did not speak, Sir James said,

“What we want you to do, if it is possible, and you know as well as I do that it is possible, is for you to go out and use your charm and your intelligence as you always have, in finding out the truth of the situation, at the same time making it clear to the King of Khmer that he must, at all costs, keep his throne to himself and not let the French take over his country.”

“Do you think that it will be an easy task?” Lord Templeton quizzed him.

Sir James smiled.

“No King likes being told how to behave. And, as I have never met the King of Khmer, I have a feeling that he will not listen to anything I have to say to him anyway.”

Then Lord Templeton remarked,

“The French are very clever and I am sure if they have set their hearts on owning Khmer they will in some way of their own infiltrate into the country before the King is hardly aware of what they are up to.”

“I agree with you,” Sir James said. “But there is no one else I can send who has had half the success that you have had already when you have helped us out in so many difficult situations.”

He paused for a moment and then went on,

“And I can think of no one else who can speak the languages of the East as well as you do.”

Lord Templeton realised that this was indeed true.

He had been very fortunate when he was young that his father, who had been a diplomat, had taken his wife and son with him on many of his journeys.

Because he enjoyed being able to talk to the people in the many countries he had visited, his son had, at a very early age, learnt to speak foreign languages almost as well as he spoke his own.

It was only the fact that his father had been so rich, which had prevented his only son from having, in any way, to work for his living.

Lord Templeton had therefore travelled around the world when he grew older.

After becoming a friend of the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, he had helped him in many ways which were not official but very much appreciated by the Prime Minister and the British Cabinet.

And as his friendship with Sir James grew he found himself, time after time, being sent abroad on some strange mission to an outlandish spot simply because there was no one else who would be able to converse with the occupants of the place in question.

Now, as Sir James looked at him almost pleadingly, Lord Templeton said,

“I really do want to be in England at this moment. What is very important to me is that I have a horse, which I think may win the Gold Cup at Ascot.”

“I know I am asking a great deal of you,” Sir James replied. “But you do understand, Ivan, better than anyone else how tactfully this situation has to be approached and no one could do it better than you and I mean no one.”

Lord Templeton sighed.

“The trouble with you,” he said, “is that you always ask me in a way that I find difficult to refuse. If I had any sense, I would never come inside this office again!”

“I just knew that you would not fail me,” Sir James answered thankfully.

“I have not actually agreed to do what you ask,” Lord Templeton protested. “I presume that you want it done immediately.”

“If possible, yesterday!”

“Of course, of course,” Lord Templeton sighed. “I might have known that I should be out of England for the two months I do so want to be in it!”

He spoke despairingly, but Sir James just laughed.

“It may not be quite as bad as all that. You may find that the whole rumour is just a load of rubbish. At the same time if it is not, you should be able to prevent the French taking over at Khmer without anyone being aware of it happening until it is too late.”

“I know, I know,” Lord Templeton murmured. “I have heard all this before. I suppose I will have to do as you ask. But let me make it quite clear that I am not doing it willingly.”

“It does not matter a bit whether you go willingly or unwillingly,” Sir James answered, “as long as you go. There is however one thing that I must say to you and you may think it very odd.”

“What is that?” Lord Templeton asked.

Sir James seemed to hesitate for a moment before he said,

“For your own comfort and because things may be very difficult for you when you arrive, you must say that, since you last visited King Mongkut and his country, you are a married man.”

Lord Templeton stared at him in astonishment.

“A married man!” he exclaimed. “But you know as well as I do that I have no intention of marrying anyone until I am very old and require an heir to my estate and my title.”

“I have heard you say that before,” Sir James said. “That is why, Ivan, I think for your own comfort and safety that you should tell both Kings that you are a married man. In fact that your wife is travelling with you.”

“I think you must have really gone mad! Why has this happened so suddenly and why should I pretend to be married when I am not?”

“Because both King Mongkut and King Norodom of Khmer have the intelligence to realise that if someone of importance in their country was married to an Englishman it would give them greater powers against an enemy and de facto a closer association with Great Britain.”

Lord Templeton smiled.

“A great number of countries have already thought of that,” he replied. “As you very well know, the Queen is called ‘the Matchmaker of Europe’.”

“Which she most surely is,” Sir James agreed, “and Europe has certainly had many English brides flying the Union Jack over them.”

He threw out his hands as he continued,