“By God, sir — I can. You have lost your war and now you will pay the price.”
Disraeli coughed lightly in the ensuing silence, then spoke. “Might I ask — have all the arrangements been made for the Queen to open Parliament?” Again his voice held no hint of the immense purport of his question.
“She will not. The private citizen Victoria Saxe-Coburg will remain in her residence on the Isle of Wight for the time being. This is a new Britain, a freer Britain, and you gentlemen must learn to accommodate yourself to it.”
“This is still a constitutional Britain,” Russell broke in. “It is the Queen’s parliament and she must be there to open it. That is the law of the land.”
“Was,” General Sherman said. “I repeat. Your war has been lost and your country occupied. The Queen will not open Parliament.”
Disraeli nodded slowly. “I presume that there is a reason for calling this session of Parliament to sit.”
Sherman nodded. “There is indeed. Mr. Mill will be happy to enlighten you when he speaks to your assembly. Are there any further questions? No? Good. The Parliament will assemble in two days.”
“Impossible!” Lord Russell fought to control his voice without succeeding. “The members of Parliament are spread across this land, dispersed…”
“I envisage no problems. All of the telegraph lines are now open and the trains running as scheduled. There should be no difficulty in assembling these gentlemen.” Sherman rose to his feet. “I bid you good day.”
Russell stamped from the room, but Disraeli held back. “What do you hope to accomplish, General?”
“I? Why nothing at all, Mr. Disraeli. My work is complete. The war is over. It is Mr. Mill who will be speaking to you about the future.”
Disraeli turned to the philosopher and smiled. “In that case, sir, I ask you if you would be so kind as to join me? My carriage is outside, my London chambers close by. Any intelligence of what you plan to speak of would be gratefully received.”
“Most kind, sir.” Mill was unsure of himself. “You must know that people in these isles do not take kindly to my presence.”
“Why then, we shall ignore them, Mr. Mill. I have taken great pleasure, even inspiration, from your works, and would deem it a singular honor if you would accept my invitation.”
Sherman started to speak — then held his counsel. Mill would have to decide for himself in this matter.
“Most willingly, sir,” Mill said, drawing himself up. “It will be my great pleasure.”
Only after Mill and Disraeli had left did Colonel Summers bring General Sherman the message.
“This arrived a few minutes ago,” he said, handing over the envelope. “The messenger is still here awaiting an answer. He was worried about being seen speaking with us, so we put him in a room down the hall.”
“That’s very secretive.”
“With good reason — as you will see when you read the communication.”
Sherman nodded as he read the brief message. “This concerns the emissaries that just arrived from Scotland?”
“It does indeed. A General McGregor and a Mr. MacLaren of the Highland Council. A third man also traveled with them, but he did not reveal his name.”
“Getting more mysterious all the time. They want me to attend a meeting after dark at the home of a Scots nobleman. Do we know anything about him?”
“Just his name, the Earl of Eglinton, and the fact that he was a member of the House of Lords.”
“Isn’t this kind of thing more in Gus Fox’s line of work?”
“The messenger was insistent that he must talk to you first on an unofficial basis. I asked him what authority he had. It was then that, ever so reluctantly, he revealed the fact that he was Earl of Eglinton himself.”
“More and more interesting. Let’s have him in here.”
The Earl of Eglinton was tall and gray-haired, with a military bearing that was not reflected in his plain black suit. He did not speak until the soldier who had ushered him in had left.
“It is very good of you to see me, General.” He nodded at Summers. “I am sure that the colonel has told you of the need for secrecy.”
“He has — though not the reason for it.”