said, 'in that the more you receive from turn the less you'll need from me! But George - George owes something to your mother - and your father - and it is elementary justice that he should discharge it.'
'To ease his conscience?'
'I have no idea what will ease or disarray his conscience. To take this allowance from him would seem, as I say, a form of elementary justice in the widest sense. If it eases his conscience I am happy for his conscience. But it is much more a matter of an equitable arrangement arrived at for all our sakes. Certainly it would have pleased your mother.'
'Well, if you feel that way, Uncle Ross, I suppose I'd better fall in.'
So in that bitter February - bitter in all senses - of 1800. In time, of course, Geoffrey Charles had recovered his high spirits. He had taken to his new life with a will - even during the year of temporary peace - and George's allowance, which came to him fully in 1805, had not prevented him from running into debt, so that Ross had twice had to bail him out of dangerous situations - the last time to the amount of £1000. However, it had not impaired their relationship.
Geoffrey Charl es yawned and took out his watch, peered at it by the light of the stars.
'Just on four, I think. In a few minutes Jenkins should be round with another hot drink. We should break our fast before dawn because I suspect they will be at us in the first light. Before that I want to introduce you to a few of my friends.'
'I cut no pretty sight in this civilian suit.'
'I've talked often about you to my closest friends, Anderson and Davies. In your own quiet way you have become quite a figure, y'know.'
'Nonsense.'
'Well, judging from letters I sometimes get from England. Your name crops up now and then.' 'Letters from whom?'
'Never mind. Incidentally, you have scarce told me anything of Cornwall.' 'You haven't asked.'
'No . .. Not from lack of interest .. . But sometimes, when one is bent on the business of killing, a whiff or so of nostalgia is not a good thing.'
'Tell me about Wellington.'
'What d'you want to know that you don't already know? He's a cold fish, but a great leader and, I believe, a brilliant soldier.'
'It's not the general opinion in England.'
'Nor always among his own men. Even here there are Whigs enough who see no hope of defeating Napoleon and greet each withdrawal we make with a nod as if to say, "I told you so.'"
"The English,' Ross said, 'are weary of the long war. The distress in the North and the Midlands is acute. The government seems to spend as much thought to putting down revolution at home as to defeating the French.'
'The English,' said Geoffrey Charles, 'frequently make my bile rise. When we got home after Corunna we were treated as if we had let our country down and run away . They spoke of John Moore with contempt, as if he ha d been a bungler and a weakling! I dare say if he had not died they would have had him up for a court martial!'
'Many are arguing different now,' said Ross. 'Defeat is never popular, and it takes time to judge all the circumstances.' . 'They sit on their fat bottoms,' said his nephew, 'your fellow MPs do, swilling their pints of port and staggering with the aid of a chair from one fashionable function to another; they issue impossible instructions to their greatest general; and then when he dies in attempting to carry them out they rise - they just have strength to rise - in the House and condemn him for his inefficiency, at the same time complimenting the French on their superior fighting skill!'
'It's said that Soult has put up a monument to him in Corunna.'
'Well, of course, one military commander appreciates another! That is an act of courtesy that the English cannot pay to their own - if he should happen to die in defeat instead of - like Nelson - in victory.'
Ross was silent. This son of his old friend and cousin, Francis, a rake and a failure, whom he had sincerely loved (by a woman he had also loved) had grown and changed
'To ease his conscience?'
'I have no idea what will ease or disarray his conscience. To take this allowance from him would seem, as I say, a form of elementary justice in the widest sense. If it eases his conscience I am happy for his conscience. But it is much more a matter of an equitable arrangement arrived at for all our sakes. Certainly it would have pleased your mother.'
'Well, if you feel that way, Uncle Ross, I suppose I'd better fall in.'
So in that bitter February - bitter in all senses - of 1800. In time, of course, Geoffrey Charles had recovered his high spirits. He had taken to his new life with a will - even during the year of temporary peace - and George's allowance, which came to him fully in 1805, had not prevented him from running into debt, so that Ross had twice had to bail him out of dangerous situations - the last time to the amount of £1000. However, it had not impaired their relationship.
Geoffrey Charl es yawned and took out his watch, peered at it by the light of the stars.
'Just on four, I think. In a few minutes Jenkins should be round with another hot drink. We should break our fast before dawn because I suspect they will be at us in the first light. Before that I want to introduce you to a few of my friends.'
'I cut no pretty sight in this civilian suit.'
'I've talked often about you to my closest friends, Anderson and Davies. In your own quiet way you have become quite a figure, y'know.'
'Nonsense.'
'Well, judging from letters I sometimes get from England. Your name crops up now and then.' 'Letters from whom?'
'Never mind. Incidentally, you have scarce told me anything of Cornwall.' 'You haven't asked.'
'No . .. Not from lack of interest .. . But sometimes, when one is bent on the business of killing, a whiff or so of nostalgia is not a good thing.'
'Tell me about Wellington.'
'What d'you want to know that you don't already know? He's a cold fish, but a great leader and, I believe, a brilliant soldier.'
'It's not the general opinion in England.'
'Nor always among his own men. Even here there are Whigs enough who see no hope of defeating Napoleon and greet each withdrawal we make with a nod as if to say, "I told you so.'"
"The English,' Ross said, 'are weary of the long war. The distress in the North and the Midlands is acute. The government seems to spend as much thought to putting down revolution at home as to defeating the French.'
'The English,' said Geoffrey Charles, 'frequently make my bile rise. When we got home after Corunna we were treated as if we had let our country down and run away . They spoke of John Moore with contempt, as if he ha d been a bungler and a weakling! I dare say if he had not died they would have had him up for a court martial!'
'Many are arguing different now,' said Ross. 'Defeat is never popular, and it takes time to judge all the circumstances.' . 'They sit on their fat bottoms,' said his nephew, 'your fellow MPs do, swilling their pints of port and staggering with the aid of a chair from one fashionable function to another; they issue impossible instructions to their greatest general; and then when he dies in attempting to carry them out they rise - they just have strength to rise - in the House and condemn him for his inefficiency, at the same time complimenting the French on their superior fighting skill!'
'It's said that Soult has put up a monument to him in Corunna.'
'Well, of course, one military commander appreciates another! That is an act of courtesy that the English cannot pay to their own - if he should happen to die in defeat instead of - like Nelson - in victory.'
Ross was silent. This son of his old friend and cousin, Francis, a rake and a failure, whom he had sincerely loved (by a woman he had also loved) had grown and changed
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