Victorian Days & Nights by: Elsbeth Magic & Mayhem in Victorian England

Chapter 12

Sir Henry Lee last thoughts were of his wife and children as the cold settled into his bones. He could hear his old friend Samuel Jones calling out to him but it didn’t matter, the two of them were too far off the coast to swim. The freezing water simply took the fight out of him, making him lethargic, calling out to him, enticing him to sweet oblivion.

“Good you’re awake, the doctor will be in to see you in a moment.”

Turning his head in surprise, he watched as a white coated French nurse left the room. “Still cold.” Sir Henry mumbled closing his eyes once more.

“I sent the doctor away.”

The British diplomat opened his eyes once might, noticing that night had fallen, how long he had been asleep. Turning his head, he got a glimpse of the man standing at the foot of his bed. As his vision cleared a bit, he gave a half smile. “You’re Arthur’s boy, Michael?”

“Yes sir, I am and I have heard some interesting stories from my father about you and him in the Crimea.”

Sir Henry chuckled as the young man walked over and closed the window, the light of the moon giving him an unearthly visage. Then with the help of his old friend’s son, he sat up in bed.

“How long?”

“Only a couple of days. Luckily, you weren’t in the water very long. News was sent to your wife about your rescue.”

“I will need to send her a letter.” With his wits becoming clearer, he asked. “How is my friend, Samuel Jones? We…ended up in the water together.”

“Remarkable man, he was out of bed the next morning. From what I have been told, he left yesterday to attend to some business matters but he left you a letter.”

“I imagine his business has to do with the editors of his newspaper. I’m surprised you didn’t stop him.”

Lord Kinsley smiled. “Well, the two of us had a pleasant conversation yesterday concerning appropriate information to give out. He understood of course but I did promise him an interview once this matter has been dealt with.”

“He is a good man, he understands security.”

Sir Henry closed his eyes for a moment. He had so many questions, and if the rumors proved to be true, the young man in front of him would know most of them.

“If possible, Lord Kinsley, do you know what happened? We were obviously attacked. The whole delegation was on board as well. Sam and I stood on the deck when the attack occurred…”

“I’m sorry, only the two of you survived the sinking. Lord Helmsley and the others in your party did not make it.” Lord Kinsley said sadly.

Sir Henry nodded. “I will have to send a letter to his wife. What does her majesty’s government…”

The young man held up his hand before pulling up a chair. “Let me apologize first. According to our sources, we were expecting some sort of attack. Included in the additional personnel on board, we had several French ships and a pair of German Zeppelin in the air to keeping watch.”

“I wasn’t aware of that. Neither the French nor the Germans seemed interested in speaking to one another.”

Michael nodded. “As I mentioned before, we received reports of an attack and that a third party might be involved. Although there was some hesitancy on their part, direct intervention of her majesty and our ambassadors allowed us to at least start the negotiations. At that point we were able to get them to agree to cooperate in protecting the British delegation.”

“So, we were bait, as it were?” Sir Henry was hoping for a better explanation but wasn’t counting on it.

“In a sense, Lord Helmsley knew about it, of course, and approved. We were hoping with the security in place we would be able to catch those responsible. Most of us believed in some sort of surface attack, obviously we were wrong.”

“You didn’t expect an attack from below.”

“Let’s say it appeared to be highly unlikely.”

“I have read that the French have been conducting experiments with some sort of submersible.”

“Yes, the Gymnote. It has successfully completed its sea trials; however currently it is in dry-dock in Bordeaux.”

Sir Henry nodded. Even though the French government had been assisting the Crown, there was a chance that they were involved in the attack anyway.

“With what you are saying, I believe Mr. Jones and I were quite fortunate. With so many watching our ship there was little chance the sinking would have gone unnoticed.”

“True” Lord Kinsley nodded. If the ship had simply vanished, it would have caused political pressure among all three countries.

The two spoke for another half an hour before the head nurse came by to inform Lord Kinsley that he needed to leave.

“Sir Henry.” Reaching for his coat, he passed a large envelope to the diplomat. “I have included all the information we currently have on our investigation. Also, I have a letter from the Queen herself placing you in charge of the British delegation which will make you the liaison between both the German and French governments.”

“Indeed.” The startled diplomat took the folder hesitantly.

“Congratulations sir, also I will be adding a number of my own people to your secure detail if that is acceptable?”

“Of course, thank you, Lord Kinsley.”

With a smile, the young man left Sir Henry to look through the contents of the envelope.

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Authors Notes: A special thanks to djkauf for a little elvish editing. If you like the story please leave a Kudos, if you have the time I would love to hear from you. Thanks to all for reading! - Elsbeth