Chapter 4: Krish

Colonel Slade read through my report and then laid the document on the desk in front of him. "This is a well written and informative report, Greenaway. You certainly display the necessary skills for this job, and your man Allen also shows great promise. Well done."

He gave a rare, if wintry, smile. "Lord Lane is known to us - he is an old lecher, but does not involve himself in politics. However others who attend the wedding may interest us. Fortunately we have an informer at Taplow Court who will furnish us a list of both those attending and those who go on to enjoy the post wedding revels, which Old Rowley will surely provide."

He then looked at me with a more serious mien. "I know all about the duel which you fought, and the outcome, and the fact that you think Krish Armityge has in some way duped you into killing his lover's husband."

My mouth dropped open in shock. Was there nothing hidden from this man - a spider in the middle of a web of informers and spies.

He spoke quietly and with a measured tone. "I've known Krish Armityge since my time in India, when I was with the Thirty Third Foot." Colonel Slade gave a thin smile. "Like you I was promoted from the ranks; had it not been for my timely intervention Sir Arthur Wellesley would have ended his career, and his life, on the battlefield of Assaye."

He continued, in a sterner tone of voice. "Krish is the most honest and decent fellow I have ever met, and you can put from your mind all thoughts of him doing anything underhand or duplicitous. He has now returned from Spain, where he had been on business for the Bureau, and he can tell you, face to face, that your thoughts are not only unfounded but unjustified. He is in Brigadier Stanhope's office. Go in there, and when you come out I want the two of you to be back on the same level of friendship that you had before the duel." He gave me a wave of dismissal, and I went into the other office.

Krish was alone in the room. He got up from behind the desk as I entered.

"Jack! You must believe that what I did was done to preserve your life. Braxton-Clark would have killed you, even using that dragoon pistol. He was an excellent marksman, and could hit anything he aimed at. There was no one more surprised than I when you shot him; you said you were a complete novice with a pistol."

"Caroline called you Krish. You and she are lovers - don't deny it!"

"Yes, we were, but she had no idea of what I was going to do. I handed her the ball on a whim, and I have no idea why she then showed it to you."

"How did you remove the ball without us seeing? We never took our eyes from you when you were loading the pistols."

Krish gave a slight smile. "The ball was never loaded into Braxton- Clark's pistol."

I shook my head. "I watched you the whole time; I never looked away until you had finished loading both weapons."

"When Billy Compton's Hindoo servant dropped the swords he was carrying all of you - momentarily - turned to look. I slipped the ball into my pocket then."

"That was extremely fortuitous; what would you have done if he hadn't dropped the swords..." Realisation suddenly struck me, " ... you had already arranged for him to drop them?"

He nodded. "Most tricksters have an accomplice - and that is something worth remembering."

Well, at least one mystery had been solved.

Krish leaned back in the chair behind the desk. "I have known Caroline Ashford, Vanner is her nom de plume, since I was ten and she was six. The Ashfords were neighbours of the Davenports, and I met her when I first visited Richard's family in Maidstone."

He lit a cheroot, and then told me the story of his relationship with Caroline.

The Ashford's and Davenports lived in the village of Bearsted near the town of Maidstone, in the county of Kent. John Ashford, Baron Medway as he was then - the younger son of the Earl of Hungerford - and William Davenport had met at Balliol College, Oxford, and had remained firm friends ever since. The Ashfords, although nobility, allowed their daughter much more freedom than was usual for their status, and young Caroline, Krish, and Richard Davenport, had played together. Krish never had any thoughts about Caroline, other than as a tomboy playmate until he was about fifteen when Caroline, then about eleven years of age, started to develop breasts. Krish began to feel strange stirrings within him when he saw her, but any further development of a relationship between them ended when he was recalled to India.

Krish was twenty two years old when he returned to England, and it was at the Davenports' home that he made his first port of call. Richard Davenport had purchased a commission in the army and was now a lieutenant in the local regiment, the Third Foot, also known as The Buffs. Caroline was eighteen, and if not 'pretty' in the fashion of the time she certainly was comely and captivating, and Krish fell immediately, and heavily, in love with her. Unfortunately she was now engaged to be married to Richard - it was something that both families had desired from way back, and the two young people had not raised any objection.

Krish was heartbroken. He loved Caroline, but he also loved Richard, in the way of a brother, naturally. Caroline was very attracted to Krish, an exotic, well-travelled man of the world, who brought the flavour of the mysterious Orient into the life of a small town country girl. She also loved Richard, however in the way of a sister towards a brother.

And what of Richard Davenport? Well, he loved both Krish and Caroline, but as a brother towards a brother, and as a brother towards a sister. He was, indeed, asexual, and it was probably the thought of him having to conduct a physical sexual union with Caroline that had so far kept the couple engaged rather than married.

Richard had found excuses to postpone any wedding date so far proposed. 'On manoeuvres with my regiment'... ' Wait until after the winter, and the better weather'... 'Not until I am a captain and can afford to keep Caroline in the manner she expects'. These were his responses to any date selected.

The last 'excuse' was a blatant fabrication; the Davenports were much richer than the Ashfords, and would, and indeed were ready to, support the young couple financially until Richard became a captain.

John Ashford's father, the Earl of Hungerford, had died three years previously and John's older brother Thomas, had succeeded to the title. John in turn had taken the title of Viscount Maidstone, his brother's former title. Thomas was a spendthrift and a wastrel, whom John had already bailed out of debt once. Fortunately for them both the old earl had shrewdly evaluated the relative merits of his sons, and despite his estates being entailed to his eldest son had been able to make gifts and purchases which provided John with substantial independent means. Unfortunately Thomas had not learned from his mistakes and went on over-spending money, until he became close to bankruptcy, and of losing the family estate.

Once again John Ashford had dipped into his capital and staved off the creditors, but it meant that his resources were sorely strained.

This state of affairs played into Richard Davenport's procrastination in fixing a wedding date - citing the poor finances of the bride's father. He thought it improper that the daughter of Viscount should marry without the expense of a full 'Society Wedding', and proposed postponement until the Ashfords' finances improved. Caroline would have made do with a less expensive ceremony; she was a warm and passionate female who had desires, yet unquenched, and was getting frustrated by the continuing delay of her wedding night. Caroline dealt with her sexual frustration by riding recklessly to hounds. Krish dealt with his sexual frustration by burying himself in his studies to be a surgeon. Richard had no sexual frustrations to deal with.

In 1809 both Richard and Krish were in Portugal, and Caroline was rapidly turning into an embittered frustrated female. Her attractiveness was beginning to wilt under her failure to indulge in physical love; the fulfilment of which she realised was a strong element in her character. She had been writing for the theatre, as Caroline Vanner, for several years but it was now that she became an actress, thus allowing her passionate nature some release. She chose 'Eleanor Rigsby' as her stage name, hoping to avoid for her family's sake the scandal attached to such a course of action, since society viewed actresses, with some justification, as pretentious courtesans.