Chapter 45
Ireland, 1788
A fall of snow the night before had given Dublin a
clean and fresh appearance, and thick white mantles clung to the
pitched roofs of the capital. Almost every house had a fire lit and
smoke billowed from thousands of chimneys into the brown haze that
covered the city. Arthur pulled up the collar of his greatcoat as
he made his way up Eustace Street to the castle. He had rented a
room from a bootmaker on Ormonde Quay, ten minutes’ walk from the
Cork Hill gate into the castle. It was still early enough that not
many people were abroad. The snow had not yet turned to slush and
crunched softly under his boots.
It was the middle of February and he had been in
Dublin for over ten days, spending the first few with old friends
of the family while he had found comfortable and affordable
accommodation of his own. He was wearing his best uniform and hat
to create what he hoped would be a pleasing impression. Arthur was
well aware that his tall figure, light brown curls and elegant
manner would complement the uniform perfectly.
As Arthur approached the Cork Hill gate a sentry
stepped into his path and saluted. ‘Good morning, sir. What is your
business here?’
‘I’m taking up a position as aide-de-camp at the
castle.’
‘Your name, sir?’
‘Lieutenant Arthur Wesley.’
‘Very well, sir. If you’d follow me . . .’ The
sentry turned away and marched through the gate leaving Arthur
hurrying to keep up.They passed into the Great Courtyard and turned
immediately towards the entrance to Bedford Tower.The sentry held
the door open for him and then marched back to the gate. A sergeant
rose from behind a desk.
‘Sir, can I help?’
‘I have an appointment to see Captain Wilmott at
half-past eight.’
‘Captain’s not here yet, sir. I’ll take you up to
his office.You can wait there, sir.’
Arthur followed the sergeant up some stairs and
through a door into a long corridor lit by a handful of
skylights.There were offices on either side and many bore signs
indicating that they belonged to other aides, but only a handful
were occupied.
‘I thought the court returned to the castle
yesterday afternoon.’
‘That’s right, sir,’ the sergeant nodded.‘But the
vicereine threw a party last night. Went on into the wee hours. I
expect many of the young gentlemen are sleeping it off.’
‘Including Captain Wilmott?’
The sergeant shrugged. ‘I imagine so, sir. The
captain likes his Tokay. Here we are, sir.’ The sergeant indicated
a row of chairs lining the end of the corridor. ‘You can sit here.
That’s the captain’s office directly opposite.’
Arthur nodded his thanks and the sergeant strode
back down the corridor towards the staircase. Arthur unbuttoned his
greatcoat and slipped it off his shoulders before he sat down,
placing the coat on the chair next to him.Through the open door in
the captain’s office he could see through the window inside the
fine views across the courtyard to the state apartments on the
opposite side. He sat patiently for the first ten minutes, then
crossed his legs and adjusted his seat and waited another
ten.
After half an hour had passed and there was still
no sign of Captain Wilmott, Arthur stood up, went back down the
corridor and found an occupied office.The room was large and had a
high ceiling. Long windows looked out over the roofs of Dublin
towards the Liffey. There were two desks in the room and an officer
in a red tunic sat behind one of them. Arthur tapped on the
doorframe.The officer looked up from his desk where a book lay
open.There was nothing else on the desk and, glancing round the
office, Arthur saw that, apart from the furniture, there was little
sign of paperwork or record books.
‘Can I help you?’ asked the officer, a lieutenant,
like Arthur.
‘Look, I’m supposed to have an appointment with
Captain Wilmott. Half an hour ago. Do you have any idea where he’s
got to?’
‘Who are you?’
‘Arthur Wesley, just been appointed
aide-de-camp.’
‘Ah, another recruit to the awkward squad.’
‘I beg your pardon.’
‘The awkward squad. That’s what the vicereine calls
us - the aides that is. Sorry, I’m being terribly rude. Comes from
being a bit hungover.’ He stood up and offered his hand to Arthur.
‘Buck Whaley’s the name.’
‘Buck?’
‘It’s what they call me here,’ he smiled.‘My real
name is simply too hideous to repeat. How do you do?’
‘Fine, thanks. Rather better than most of the
officers on the staff, I suspect.’
‘You heard about last night then?’ Whaley laughed
out loud, then winced and clapped a hand to his forehead.
‘Damn!’
‘Does this sort of thing go on all the time?’ asked
Arthur.
‘You can’t imagine. I tell you, Wesley, this place
is far more dangerous than being on active service. If the drink
doesn’t get you then the creditors will. We lost two aides last
year.’
‘Accidents?’ Arthur ventured.
‘No.They just drank themselves to death.We lost
four aides in accidents.’
‘Oh.’
The sound of shouting echoed down the corridor and
Whaley nodded his head in that direction. ‘There’s the captain now.
I imagine he’s got a bit of a head on him so watch your
step,Wesley.’
‘Right. I’ll see you later.’
Arthur hurried back to his chair and sat
down.
A man burst in through the door at the end of the
corridor, bellowing back over his shoulder, ‘I don’t care where
he’s got to, Sergeant! Just make sure that coffee is on my desk,
piping hot, in less than ten minutes. If it’s not I’ll have you
broken back to private and shovelling shit from the stables before
the day is out. D’you hear?’
Grumbling, he stamped down the corridor towards
Wesley. His jacket was hanging half open and with a curse he tried
to button it up as he stamped along. Not an easy task since Captain
Wilmott was exceedingly overweight and the waistband of his
breeches cut into the rolls of fat beneath, straining buttons above
and below what might once have been his waistline. He walked up to
his office, glanced at Wesley as the latter stood up and
saluted.Wilmott lurched inside. There was a short pause and a curse
and then his head appeared round the doorframe.
‘And who the hell are you?’
‘Lieutenant Wesley, sir.’
‘Not the new aide-de-camp?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘You’re bloody early, man. I’m not ready to see you
yet.’
Arthur composed himself. ‘Yes, sir. I like to be
prompt.’
‘Prompt? Prompt is just on time, Wesley. Not bloody
hours ahead of time.’
‘Hours, sir?’
‘Well, as good as. Still, you’re here. Might as
well see you now. Come on, Wesley. Come in. Don’t dawdle. I’m a
busy man. Have to see my tailor as soon as possible.’
He ducked back inside and Arthur picked up his coat
and entered his office. The captain waved towards a chair on the
near side of his desk. ‘Sit there.’
Arthur sat down and the captain continued
struggling with his buttons, all the while growing steadily more
frustrated and angry so that his blotchy face turned quite red. At
length he succeeded and sat heavily in his chair on the other side
of the desk. He thrust out his hand.
‘Your papers. Let’s have ’em.’
Arthur handed them over and sat back in his chair
as the captain glanced through the documents and then tossed them
to one side.
‘Well, they seem to be in order. I’ll have the
sergeant prepare an office for you. Have you found adequate
lodgings?’
‘Yes, sir. On Ormonde Quay.’
‘Good. That’s good. Well then, don’t let me keep
you.’
‘Sir?’
Captain Wilmott fixed him with the same stare that
a man might bestow on a village idiot, before he gestured towards
the door. ‘Go.’
‘Sir, I had made an appointment to see you so that
you might explain my duties as an aide-de-camp.’
‘Duties?’The captain laughed.‘There are no duties
here, sir. No real duties.You may be called upon to run the
occasional errand for the viceroy or the vicereine. Beyond that
your only duty is to make sure that you make up the numbers in the
ballroom during the winter season and the picnics when the summer
comes, if it ever does in this benighted little island. Have you
ever been to Ireland before, Wesley?’
‘Yes, sir.’ Arthur replied quietly. ‘I was born
here. My family have an estate in Meath.’
‘Oh, really?’The captain replied as if this was the
most boring piece of information he had heard in many years. ‘Well,
you’ll know what a damp, nasty pile of peat Ireland is then.’
Arthur shrugged. ‘If you say so, sir.’
‘I do and it is. Now where’s that bloody
coffee?’
As if on cue the sound of hurried footsteps echoed
down the corridor. A moment later the sergeant entered the room
with a tray on which a pot and a cup and saucer were
balanced.
‘About time!’ the captain grumbled.
The sergeant, chest heaving, glanced at the other
officer. ‘Would you like me to get another cup, sir?’
‘What? No, I wouldn’t. The lieutenant is just
leaving.’