'Oh, I see him now.' Sarah stared for a moment in surprise. 'That's Arthur?' Arthur?'

'Yes, I'm certain of it now.'

'That's the same Arthur you've been telling me about? "Thin, surly and quite dull" is how I believe you described him to me. Well, Anne, he's certainly not how I imagined him.'

'No.' Anne looked confused. 'Follow me. Let's go and speak to him. I'm interested to know how long it is since he returned from France.'

They moved through the crowd towards the staircase. The crowd was emerging from a revival of The Rivals The Rivals, still high-spirited from the performance of the dashing lead. After much genteel shoving and muttering of apologies they reached the foot of the staircase and Anne waved a gloved hand to attract her son's attention.

'Arthur!'

As soon as he heard his name, the young man turned his gaze in her direction. After a word of apology to his friends, he strode down the steps and took his mother's hands. She offered her face for a kiss and then looked him up and down.

'You've changed. Taller, somehow, and you carry yourself so much better.'

'Thank you, Mother.' He bowed his head graciously. 'I'm glad you approve. It seems that your money was well spent in sending me to Monsieur de Pignerolle's establishment.'

'When did you get back from France?'

'The tenth of December. I travelled back with Simpson there.' He pointed towards one of the young men watching the reunion from the stairs. 'He invited me to stay with his family in Mayfair for a few days. After that, it was my intention to come to you.'

'I see.'

There was no hiding Anne's hurt expression and her companion quickly intervened. 'I'm delighted to meet you, Arthur. I've heard so very much about you. I am Sarah Ponsonby.' She extended her hand and Arthur made a pretty bow and kissed her hand before straightening up with a good-humoured smile.

'I trust not everything my mother said was derogatory.'

'Oh, no!' Sarah glanced at her friend. 'Not everything. Although one would struggle to recognise you from her descriptions. '

'No doubt!' They shared a spontaneous laugh while Anne blushed. As she looked at Arthur she found it hard to believe the difference in him. So self-a.s.sured and with an easy charm that was already working its way with Sarah Ponsonby.When the laughter had subsided she addressed her son again.

'So, Arthur, how was it in France?'

'Very pleasant, Mother. My French has improved considerably, my riding is first rate, my manner is far more dignified and I have learned to drink the hardest old sweat of a drill instructor under the table.'

'Your accomplishments are most impressive,' she responded acidly. 'I merely asked to see if you had a good time in Angers.'

'The best of times, Mother.'

'That's good. And what now? Have you entertained any thoughts of a career?'

'The army. I think I will like the military life enormously. As soon as Christmas is over I'll ask Richard if he can use some influence to find me an opening. I believe he's still employed on the Board of the Treasury?'

Anne inwardly winced at the mention of employment, but it was true: Richard had made a place for himself within the government and had been rewarded with a senior position in the Lord Chancellor's department. It was said that he had a very promising political future ahead of him, and therefore should be in a good position to help advance the prospects of his far less gifted brother.

'Yes, you can speak to him about it as soon as possible.'

Arthur frowned.'Not as soon as possible, Mother. I'm enjoying myself too much at present. Let me approach Richard when I've had a little more time to enjoy London.There'll be plenty of time to consider my career in the New Year.'

'Why wait? Richard is joining us for Christmas Day.You can speak to him then.'

'Christmas Day . . .' Arthur considered. 'Very well. If it will make you happy.'

He turned to Sarah Ponsonby and flashed a brilliant smile. 'So tell me, what did you make of the play?'

'Oh, it's a fine piece of fiction, but bears little resemblance to real life.'

'You think so?' Arthur raised an eyebrow and turned to his friends up on the staircase. 'Christopher! That fellow Sheridan. You say he told you that Captain Absolute was based on an actual acquaintance of his?'

'That's right.'

'Surely not.' Sarah refused to believe a word of it. 'That can't be true.'

'Oh, it is.' Arthur lowered his voice and leaned closer. 'Absolutely true.'

He started laughing, a peculiar dry barking noise that always aggravated his mother, and she tapped him gently on the shoulder.'That will do,Arthur. It appears that you have not grown up quite as much as I'd hoped. So I think we'll leave you to amuse yourself with your little friends. Do send word to me when you are ready to come home.'

'As soon as I've had some fun, Mother.'

'By Christmas, at any rate.'

The day, when it came, was cold, wet and windy, and Arthur was glad to shut the door on it when he arrived at his mother's small house in Chelsea, not so very far from Brown's establishment where he had pa.s.sed a few miserable years as a child. He handed his coat and hat to a servant and followed the sounds of conversation down the carpeted hall to an open door at the end. The parlour was a decent size, but seemed bigger due to the small amount of furniture it contained. A fire was glowing in a large grate and seated around it were his mother, Richard and William. Lady Mornington's other children were staying with friends to celebrate Christmas. Or so she claimed, thought Arthur. Far more likely was the prospect that they had been sent away so that she could engineer a small conference of the more senior members of the family to settle Arthur on a career as expeditiously as possible.

Richard rose from the chair with a smile and crossed the room to shake his hand. 'Welcome, Arthur! It's good to see you again after, what, over a year?'

'A year and a half actually.'

'Mother tells me that you had a profitable time in France. That's good. Better still, you have settled on a military career.'

'Yes, that's what I intend, eventually,' Arthur replied. 'I should quite like to be a soldier.'

'Excellent! Then I shall see what I can do to further that aim.' Richard stood aside and waved his younger brother towards an empty seat by the fireplace. 'There. We can talk until the meal is ready.'

Once Arthur was seated, it was William's turn to make small talk. 'So, Arthur, what did they teach you in France?'

Arthur had been asked this many times since his return from Angers, mostly by relatives and friends of his mother, and the temptation to be flippant was overwhelming. 'Let me see. In addition to French, riding and fencing I became quite adept at drinking.'

His attempt at levity met with a stony silence. He shrugged. 'So, how are things at Oxford? Still dabbling in the cla.s.sics?'

'Dabbling?' William smiled. 'I see, you are teasing me.'

'Am I?' Arthur looked surprised. 'Why, bless me. I think you may be right!'

He laughed and after a short delay the others joined in, before William stopped and addressed his younger brother. 'Actually, I'm doing very well. I have been told that I should have a chair at one of the colleges before the end of next year.'

'Congratulations. I'm very proud of you.'

William sat back with a warm smile of satisfaction, then noted the cross expression on his mother's face and sat forward again with a start as she entered the conversation.

'William and Richard are both making the family proud. So is young Gerald. I would not be surprised if he followed William's example and became a scholar.' She fixed her eyes on Arthur. 'That leaves you, Arthur. You lack a purpose in life. You always have. Playing the violin and carousing with your friends is not very fulfilling.'

'Oh, it is. I can a.s.sure you.'

'Arthur,' Richard said wearily, 'don't be so tiresome. Don't pretend you don't know what we're talking about. It's time you made your own way in life. Mother and I will not continue to subsidise your idle pleasures any longer.You must make something of yourself in uniform, that has been agreed. I have already taken the liberty of broaching the subject with a friend of mine, the Duke of Rutland, who happens to be the lord-lieutenant of Ireland. He has some influence at the War Ministry and is trying to secure a commission for you. We will need to move quickly, before he forgets his promise.'

'I'm not sure I'm quite ready to commit myself just yet,' said Arthur. 'A few more months in London should allow me to mature to the point where I can make a decent soldier.'

'Arthur, you are almost eighteen. I know of scores of youngsters who have been in uniform for over a year already. If you are to make up for lost time and compete with them then we must secure a commission for you at once.'

'Supposing, for argument's sake, that I didn't want to join the army just yet?'

'Arthur!' Lady Mornington snapped in frustration. 'Be quiet! You are going to join the army, whether you like it or not. And do you know why? Because it is all you are fit for. You are so lacking in apt.i.tude for anything that we have been forced to make the choice for you.'

Inside his breast Arthur felt something give way and a torrent of injured pride and anger finally poured through his veins and found its voice. He stood up. 'Enough! I've had enough. All my life I've had to listen to you berating me. Sure, I'm not as clever as Richard and William. I'll never show the promise of Gerald. I won't ever be as accomplished a musician as Father. I know all that, Mother! And you know what? The knowledge sits in my heart like a rock.'

'Calm down.' Richard raised a hand. 'This is not solving anything. Arthur, can you blame us for the perception you create of yourself ? I, at least, believe that you have some potential.'

'Why, thank you, brother.'

'So why act the fop?'

Arthur made a hurt expression. 'I thought I was acting the dandy.'

Richard smiled. 'Either way, you can't keep this performance up for ever.'

'We'll see. I'm game.'

'I'm sure you are, Arthur. But the question is, when are you going to stop punishing us for what you see as your own failings? Acting as you do will not change things. It makes you look foolish and irresponsible. And it reflects badly on the rest of the family. So you see, no one wins. In fact, we all lose.You most of all.You must see that?'

Arthur shrugged. 'So what should I do?'

'Just as Mother says. Join the army. Commit yourself to the career. I'm sure you will do well. And, if any opportunity comes up outside the army, for which I deem you suitable, then you might want to pursue a new path instead.'

'I see.You quietly thrust me into the army so I can stop being an embarra.s.sment to the family. If you're lucky there might even be another war, or some plague-ridden posting halfway across the world for which I might be deemed suitable. That would dispose of me very satisfactorily.'

'No one's trying to get rid of you, Arthur. We just want what's best for you. If there is a war, who knows, it might be the making of you.'

Arthur suddenly felt very weary of it all. He had hoped for some kind of a reconciliation with his family, some kind of acceptance that he could do just as well as them, in a field of his own choosing.

'I need to think about this. I need a rest. Somewhere quiet. Mother?'

'Upstairs,' she replied. 'First door on the left. Be sure to take your shoes off before you take to the bed. I'll send for you when the meal is served. Please be in a more convivial mood at the table.'

'Thank you.'Arthur left the room.As he mounted the stairs the conversation in the parlour resumed at a low level. He was tempted to stop, and listen, but it was pointless. He already knew what would be said.

As if to confirm his expectations William's voice suddenly rose up.'I've never known such monstrous ingrat.i.tude! Why, the fellow has the audacity to blame us for his shortcomings!'

'Thank you, William,' Richard cut in. 'But we need to be a little more productive in our contributions right now.'

Arthur smiled tiredly, and carried on up the stairs. The room his mother had suggested was dark and cold, but the bed was comfortable and had been made up with thick quilts. Once his shoes had been removed he drew his stockinged feet up beneath the covers, curled up in a ball and closed his eyes. For a while his mind turned over his prospects. In truth he was tired of being directionless.The diversions that he had enjoyed in London were just that and nothing more. His heart and mind ached for something more nourishing, and he was not yet wholly convinced that a life in the army would fill that need. Even though Colonel Ross had cut an elegant figure, and one that Arthur would happily emulate, he could not help suspecting that the military regime was as subservient to routine as the dull halls of Eton, though marginally more dangerous.

Chapter 35.

On 17 March 1787 a message arrived at Lady Mornington's house. It was addressed to the Honourable Arthur Wesley and although there was no external indication of where the message had come from, she knew at once what it must be and had it sent up to her son's room as soon as it arrived. At the tap on his door Arthur laid down the book he had been reading.

'Come.'

The door opened and one of the two footmen that Lady Mornington could afford stepped into the room. He carried a small silver tray on which rested a letter. Arthur tried not to smile. The letter salve was one of his mother's latest affectations, picked up on the tail end of a fashion that had swept through the best houses in the capital.

'For you, sir.' The footman offered him the salve with a slight bow. 'Arrived just this minute.'

'Thank you, Harrington.' Arthur took the letter. 'You may go.'

The footman bowed again and left the room, quietly closing the door behind him. Arthur wasted no time in breaking the wafer that sealed the letter and unfolding it.The message was terse and formal, as he had expected, and briefly informed him that he had been gazetted as an ensign in the 73rd Highland Regiment. Not terribly exclusive, Arthur mused, but Richard had done his best. Arthur would have preferred a cavalry regiment commission with all the a.s.sociated dash, but Richard had been adamant that such a commission would have been unreasonably costly to obtain and sustain. The artillery was out of the question since it would make quite unfair demands on Arthur's intellect. Besides, that branch of the army tended to be so professional that its officers might as well be employed in some form of trade. So his commission had to be in an infantry regiment. But, by G.o.d, did it have to be a Scottish regiment? Did that mean he had to wear one of those b.l.o.o.d.y ridiculous kilts? Or were officers permitted to dress in a more civilised manner? Arthur read on.

The regiment was temporarily attached to the garrison in Chelsea Barracks. Ensign Wesley was requested and required to attend the barracks to formally take up his commission on 24 March. Thereafter, he would be inducted into the duties of an officer of infantry by the drill instructor at the barracks.

Arthur folded up the letter and tapped it against his chin as he reflected that his military career was at last about to begin. In the months since Christmas he had resigned himself to this path, and had therefore done as much background reading into military matters as possible. Whatever else he may have failed at in his life so far, Arthur was determined that he would be a good soldier at least. One that even his family would come to admire, however grudgingly.

The uniform and other accoutrements he had ordered arrived from the tailor the day before he was due to attend the Chelsea Barracks.With a sense of excitement that was palpable to all those who shared the house with him, Arthur dressed in the full uniform and then stood in front of a full-length mirror in his mother's room and gazed at his reflection. He presented quite a striking image, he decided. He buffed the shiny b.u.t.tons on his coat with his sleeve and left the room, descending the narrow staircase into the hall, before striding purposefully towards the door to the parlour. Inside, his mother and oldest brother turned to look at him.

'Now that is something to see!' Richard grinned. 'Quite the man.'

Anne raised her hands and beckoned to him. 'Arthur, I had no idea that you could look so . . . so gallant! You'll have to use that sword of yours to fight the young ladies off.'

'In that case, you have my word that the blade shall never see the light of day,' Arthur laughed. 'But I doubt I shall be able to afford much entertainment on an ensign's pay. Eight shillings a day! It's a wonder that the army can attract any new officers. I had no idea that offering to fight for one's country was charity work.'

Richard punched him lightly on the shoulder. 'I agree with you. Eight shillings a day is hardly a fortune. So you must earn quick promotion, bed and wed a wealthy woman, or we must find you as many powerful patrons as possible. The present Duke of Rutland will not be with us much longer. But there are others who owe me favours.'

'Good,' Arthur replied. 'Because, in the absence of war I'll need all the help I can get.'

At nine o'clock the next morning Ensign Arthur Wesley presented himself at the barrack gates with his official letter of introduction. A corporal conducted him to the officers' mess and he was immediately taken through to the office of the 73rd's adjutant. Captain Braithwaite was a middle-aged, middle-weight man with a sour expression and a face blotchy with burst blood vessels from too much drinking. As Arthur entered his office the captain was walking up and down the room in great strides. He glanced up at the new arrival as he turned and strode back across the room.

'New boots,' he explained. 'The shoemaker claims to have a technique for enhancing the comfort, but I can't feel a b.l.o.o.d.y thing.' He stopped close to Arthur and scowled angrily. 'Man's a confounded liar!'