Dangerous Sea Read Free Page B

flight.’
    ‘Our agent believes that it is on the ship they are most likely to attempt to . . . do their dirty business.’
    ‘But, Ferguson, you can surround him with your people on board.’
    ‘It is not that easy, Edward,’ Benyon said earnestly. ‘The difficulty is that I do not wish to draw attention to my mission. If it is to succeed, secrecy is of the essence. If the press were to get hold of the real reason for my trip, it would be a disaster. Our enemies would make hay with our obvious weakness and the American public would imagine they were about to be duped by “perfidious Albion”.’
    ‘One of my men will pose as Lord Benyon’s manservant,’ Ferguson said, ‘but what we really need is someone who can mingle easily with the other First Class passengers and keep an eye out for any potential threat.’
    ‘And you want me to be your
homme de confiance
?’
    ‘Don’t be offended,’ Benyon said hurriedly. ‘It would be a great pleasure for me to have you on the
Queen Mary
as my guest – or rather the government’s guest. I will have a great deal to worry about and to feel that you were there to . . . well, to keep an eye on me, would be a great relief.’
    ‘Are you taking anyone else with you?’
    ‘My secretary, Marcus Fern. I call him my secretary but really he is my assistant – a brilliant young man. I don’t know if you have met him?’ Edward shook his head. ‘He’s a very able young banker and one day he’ll be Governor of the Bank of England, I’m convinced of it. It’s very pleasing he has consented to accompany me on this trip. He’s at Samuel Montagu – David Keswick spotted him. Fern is one of the new breed of City men – self-made – his father was a schoolteacher. We need more of his kind, in my view, if London is to retain its position at the centre of the financial world.’
    ‘My dear Benyon, as I have said, I am very flattered to be asked and I don’t underestimate the importance of your mission but, to be honest with you, I am determined to find myself a real job – a permanent position where I can put my shoulder to the wheel. There’s a war coming and I want to be in a position to make a contribution . . .’
    ‘I appreciate your patriotism. I must tell you I am fully informed of what you have achieved in the past two years. I know it is a fault of yours to undervalue yourself. You are building something of a career as a “trouble-shooter”, as the expression is. You may think you are unknown in government circles but I assure you that this is not the case. I happen to know that only the other day Vansittart was speaking of you to the Foreign Secretary in the most complimentary terms.’
    ‘May I think over what you have told me?’ Edward said at last. He had a feeling he was being ungracious. Benyon was not a man to overstate the importance of his mission. ‘When exactly are you sailing?’
    ‘In five days.’
    ‘Good Lord! On Saturday? Oughtn’t you to have dealt with all this weeks ago?’
    ‘Although my lectures were planned some time ago, the extra element was only added a few days ago.’
    ‘And the warning from our agent,’ Ferguson added, ‘came through the day before yesterday.’
    ‘I see,’ Edward said doubtfully.
    ‘Twenty-four hours. We need an answer not later than Wednesday to permit us to make other arrangements if you decline to accompany Lord Benyon.’ Ferguson spoke stiffly as if he had expected Edward to have agreed immediately.
    ‘There’s one other thing, Edward,’ Benyon said, looking at him anxiously. ‘I thought it might be useful to take a young man with me to run errands and carry my briefcases, make sure I catch trains and so on, and I wondered if your nephew Frank would take the post. You said he was rather at a loose end. Of course, I would have to meet him and see if we would get on but he obviously has pluck and determination. I like the sound of him.’
    Edward smiled. How clever! Benyon had offered to solve a