‘Today?’ Hal was amazed at the speed of the consul’s response. ‘Then we’d better get a move on. Aboli, if you could take care of General Nazet and her new non-slave, I will go with Mr Pett to see the consul. Who knows, we may not need our lodgings after all. With a bit of luck we’ll be able to head back to the Delft this very evening and then catch the early morning tide.’
rom the moment that he discovered that Courtney was on Zanzibar, Grey moved with surprising speed for one so comfortably built. His domestic staff had been drastically reduced by his months of misfortune and relative poverty. But he still had a cook and there were one or two fine pieces of art on his walls and Persian rugs on his walls that could be taken down to the pawn shop, though he persuaded his broker – a man who had become increasingly accustomed to the portly Englishman’s visits – that he would be back to collect them within a matter of days. ‘My fortunes are about to take a turn, sir, mark well my words.’
With cash in his purse, Grey was able to rehire, at least temporarily, a few of the staff he had been forced to dismiss, and persuade them in their turn to recruit enough family members and friends to give the impression appropriate to the household of a wealthy man. His cook was packed off to the market with instructions to buy the finest available ingredients as well as the choice of dishes prepared by the city’s stalls and street vendors. As a result, when Hal Courtney and his companion Mr Pett arrived for their luncheon they were treated to a veritable feast. There was a pilaf of calf meat cooked with potatoes, onions, spices, coconut milk and rice; shark steaks grilled over an open fire with pepper and other spices; a dish called Pweza wa nazi, which was octopus boiled in coconut milk, curry, cinnamon, cardamom, garlic and lime juice; and, to finish, hazelnut bread made with eggs and vanilla.
Grey wolfed the food down, though Hal noted with interest that Pett was far more restrained, even frugal in his consumption. This contrast in appetites was suggestive of their temperaments. Grey was relaxed and self-confident, to a fault. When he assured Hal that he bore him no ill-will for his trespasses in the north, Courtney accepted that unlikely assurance without a tremor.
By the time Hal left, Grey had ascertained that he was staying above an apothecary’s shop on the waterfront. The exact address was not mentioned, but there were unlikely to be very many establishments answering to that description. Grey also learned that Hal had not entered the harbour aboard the Golden Bough and that he intended to depart with the tide, shortly before dawn the following morning.
Courtney left with warmly expressed good wishes between himself and Grey and a rather less fond, but perfectly polite farewell to Pett, whom he left in Grey’s company along with the correspondence intended for London.
No sooner had the gates of his house closed behind the departing captain than Grey gave the letters to one of his servants with whispered instructions to set them aside for his later perusal. Beneath his urbane exterior, the consul was seething at Courtney’s arrogance and presumption. To come strolling into Zanzibar, without a by your leave, and blithely assume that he could presume upon the offices of a man to whom he had caused very considerable difficulties by an act of base deception beggared belief. That Grey should now be burdened by the tedious concerns of this Pett fellow, as dull and humourless a figure as he had ever had the misfortune to encounter, struck Grey as adding insult to injury.
Still, he had a role to play and, as yet, the curtain had not fallen upon his performance. So he gritted his teeth for one last time, forced his features into a smile of feigned geniality and, having clapped his hands and ordered more coffee to be brought for his distinguished guest, said, ‘Please let me assure you, Mr Pett, that it will give me great pleasure to break from my everyday concerns here in Zanzibar and take up the reins once again as His Majesty’s Consul. So, pray sir, tell me: how may I be of assistance to you? From what Captain Courtney suggested, your story is one worth hearing.’
Pett ignored the coffee, pausing before he answered Grey’s question to collect his thoughts. ‘It is true that I have arrived here by a route that I could scarce have imagined when I set sail from Bombay, a passenger on the Earl of Cumberland.’
‘Ah yes, the Earl of C. has docked in Zanzibar on more than one occasion, en route to or from the Indies,’ Grey remarked. He stretched a chubby hand towards a silver plate of Turkish sweetmeats that lay on the table next to the coffee and picked up a small silver fork, with which he speared two of the glutinous pink blobs at once and stuffed them into his mouth.
‘Please remind me, what’s the name of her captain?’ Grey asked, his mouth still filled with greyish pink goo. ‘Giddings … Gadding … Something of that ilk, as I recall.’
‘Goddings.’
‘Ah yes, of course! Jovial fellow, though rather inclined to be too pleased with himself. Very like young Courtney in that regard. How is he?’
‘Dead, and his ship with him. The Earl of Cumberland caught fire some weeks out of Bombay. She was carrying a cargo of saltpetre. The combination proved fatal and the ship sank with all hands. I alone escaped.’
‘My word, how appalling for all those men. And how fortunate for you.’
‘I threw myself from the burning vessel into the ocean and counted upon my god to rescue me.’
‘Allah is indeed both all-powerful and all-merciful,’ Grey murmured.
‘That was not the god to which I referred,’ Pett said, with a cold, steely calmness that, for the first time, made Grey question his assumptions about his guest’s true nature.
‘In any event, I was saved,’ Pett continued. ‘A Dutch vessel rescued me, although this act of charity was immediately followed by one of cruelty, for the vessel’s captain, Tromp, then confined me in a filthy and verminous cell.’
‘What possible cause did he have to do that?’
‘He claimed it was for my own safety. His crew were on the brink of starvation. He said that he feared that I, being a stranger and lacking all ties to his men, might tempt them into an act of cannibalism.’
‘It appears, however, that you did not appeal to their palates,’ Grey remarked with a little chuckle that Pett conspicuously failed to dignify with even the slightest flicker of a smile.
‘I was rescued from this confinement by Captain Courtney who was also gracious enough to allow me to restore my honour by means of a duel with Tromp.’
‘Evidently you emerged unscathed from that, too,’ Grey remarked. ‘You seem to have quite a gift for survival, Mr Pett.’
‘I prefer to think that I am well protected. In any case, I now require a passage back to England. For reasons which I hope are obvious, I am without funds at the moment. I have no more than the clothes I stand up in. But on arrival in London I will immediately collect the sum of five hundred guineas, owed to me in recompense of a service I provided for a distinguished gentleman.’
‘Five hundred guineas? Come, sir, am I really to believe that you could possibly be owed a sum of such magnitude? What service did you provide to earn so much?’
Pett looked directly at Grey with flat, emotionless eyes and said, ‘I killed Captain Goddings.’
Grey leaped to his feet with surprising agility for so bulky a man. ‘Get out!’ he snarled, pointing at the door. ‘I can see that Courtney has foisted you upon me, with your incredible, cock-and-bull tale of explosions, cannibals and murders. Well, sir, I am not amused. Pray leave my house at once before I have you forcibly ejected.’
Pett did not move, nor did a flicker of emotion cross his face. Instead he waited until Grey had finished his tirade and then, very calmly, said, ‘I assure you, Consul Grey, that every word I have spoken has been nothing but the truth. I could prove it, but that would require me to kill you with that little fork you so recently utilized, or the silver tray on which your servant placed the coffee and sweetmeats, or even my bare hands, all of which I could very easily do.’
Grey felt the blood drain from his face. There was something scarily calm and undemonstrative about the way Pett
spoke. He simply stated his ability to kill as a matter of fact and was entirely convincing precisely because he made no great attempt to convince.
‘I could have you seized by Prince Jahan and tried for murder,’ Grey blustered, knowing as the words left his mouth how feeble they sounded.
‘No, Mr Grey, you could not,’ said Pett. ‘I have not committed any crime in Zanzibar, nor any land under the dominion of Prince Jahan or his brother the Great Mogul. No body has been produced, nor any weapon. If you were to claim that I had made a confession I would merely laugh and say that I spoke in jest – just as you yourself said, it was naught but a cock-and-bull tale – and who could ever prove otherwise?
‘So let us not waste time with empty threats. Instead let me say that there was a reason for my frankness. I believe that I can earn enough money to fund my passage home and that you or your associates will gladly provide sufficient funds, and a great deal more besides. So tell me, Consul, what do you really think of Captain Sir Henry Courtney, and how much would you like to be rid of him?’
Well that was easy enough, Pett thought, as he watched Grey subside back onto his divan. He said nothing, knowing that the consul already had all the information he needed. Now it was just a question of letting Grey talk himself into the proposition that Pett had been working towards from the moment the conversation began.
Once more Grey reached a chubby hand towards the silver plate of Turkish sweetmeats. Still Pett remained silent as Grey ate the sweets, licked a stray dusting of sugar from his plump lips and then began, ‘Since you have told me your story, let me say a little about myself …’
Pett gave a little wave of the hand, as if to say, ‘By all means.’
‘I come from humble stock, and I’m proud of it. I was born and raised in Hebden Bridge in the West Riding of Yorkshire. I know I may not look it, or sound it now, but I’m a Yorkshireman and proud of it. My parents ran an inn, catering to travellers on the packhorse route from Halifax to Burnley. Sometimes we’d get travellers from the south, even London, and I got it into my daft young head that I wanted to seek my fortune. So I left home, with nothing but a couple of pennies in my pocket – oh, aye, I can still talk Yorkshire if I please! Less than two years later I was a clerk at the East India Company itself. Now to my parents, to think that their son was a clerk, with every hope of advancement, was more than they had ever dreamed possible. But to me it was just the beginning.
‘You see, Mr Pett, I pride myself on my ability to associate with every class of man, from the highest to the lowest. I enjoy the personal acquaintance, I might even dare to say friendship, of sultans and maharajahs. I have entertained lords and ladies, dined with Portuguese merchants whose wealth would astound you. I have even met the King of England himself on one memorable occasion.’
I doubt His Majesty found it quite so memorable, thought Pett, as Grey went on, ‘Equally, one cannot survive, let alone prosper on an island like Zanzibar without being able to treat with the meaner sorts too: bawdies, cut-purses, brigands and traders in human flesh. A man of the world may find himself in some dark alley in Stone Town doing business with the kinds of men who would sooner sell their daughters than do an honest day’s work, as easily as in the counting house of a respectable man of business …’
‘The distinction is not always obvious,’ Pett observed.
‘Indeed not, sir, well said!’ Grey exclaimed. ‘My point, however, is that one must always be able to conduct oneself in the manner that the circumstances demand. And I would not have reached the position I have today, sir, were I too timid, or gullible or in the slightest respect incompetent.’
‘And yet, sir, if you will not mind me saying so, I cannot help but note that your position appears to be less enviable now than it might once have been. I could not help but note, as we were escorted to this particular salon, that there were blank spaces on some of the walls, indicating the sale of the pictures that once hung there. Though your courtyard is very agreeable, the flowerbeds around the fountain have not been properly tended and I could not help but mark that several of the servants, though they were obedient enough, seemed uncertain of their roles and treated you very differently to the manner in which a servant of longstanding tends to the needs of his master. It struck me, therefore, that you might have brought them in for this meal, where once they might have been part of your regular establishment.’
‘You are very observant, Mr Pett,’ said Grey tartly.
‘It is a requirement of my trade.’
‘Then you are clearly a craftsman of some skill, for you are right. Like you, sir, I know what it is to suffer unjust and grievous mistreatment. I took Sir Henry Courtney at his word. I believed him to be the gentleman he purports to be.’
‘I gather that he obtained information from you by subterfuge.’
‘That is correct. He came here claiming to be my friend, yet he took his ship to fight against the One True God, and the very men he had sworn to support.’
Pett steeled himself to let the blasphemy go unpunished – for now at any rate. There were voices in his head crying out for retribution against this vile apostate who had renounced God and Christ in favour of a heathen deity. But Pett had work to do and it required Grey’s co-operation, thus he was forced to keep his silence and his mask of self-possession, no matter that he could barely hear Grey’s voice for the Saint screaming in his skull.
‘I presume that there were those who, quite unfairly, blamed you for the damage Courtney did to their cause,’ Pett said.
‘Exactly so. Doors have been closed to me, Pett, doors that once welcomed me into the very highest and finest reaches of society. My fortunes have, as you so perceptively appreciated, suffered considerably. I am at as low an ebb as I have ever been. And now, Courtney has the damned effrontery to show his face around here after the way he played me false. If he had come to me in a spirit of sincere apology, wishing to build bridges between us, to make amends after the disdain with which he treated me when last we met, well, I am a very reasonable man, I might have given him a second chance. But to show only the slightest remorse, and make the most trifling apology … by God, sir, it is unconscionable!’
‘I put it down to youth. Courtney simply did not understand the gravity of the wrong he had done you. He still acts sometimes as if he is playing a game in which his charm and good nature will get him through any scrape. I could clearly see that he was putting his head in a noose, but I kept my counsel.’
‘Only because you wanted to be the hangman.’
‘I’m quite sure that you understand the need to make one’s living, Mr Grey.’
‘Indeed I do. It is made all the greater by the fact that there happen to be, present here in Zanzibar, other men who feel just as aggrieved by him, if not more than I do. They would be very pleased indeed if I could rid them of Henry Courtney and will be very generous to anyone who assists me in that task.’
‘Then I shall be delighted to be of assistance. And there is one other element to this endeavour that is worthy of consideration. Courtney is not alone in Zanzibar. His woman is with him, and she is with child.’
Grey’s eyes widened, as if they’d alighted on an especially appetizing plate of food. ‘Is she now? Tell me, are the rumours one hears true? Has Courtney really walked off with General Nazet, the illustrious warrior who beat the mighty Omani general El Grang and put that little shit Iyasu on the throne?’ He twirled ringed fingers through the air. ‘Or should I say, His Most Christian Majesty, King of Kings, Ruler of Galla and Amhara, Defender of the Faith of Christ and so on, and so forth. Now there’s a fine trinket for Courtney to bring home from Ethiopia – a lustrous black pearl who will cause a stir from the most elegant salons of Westminster to the rowdiest of Southwark taverns.’
‘She is indeed General Judith Nazet and I know where she can be found. Now, sir, perhaps we can discuss how best to proceed. I will, of course, require a substantial purse and I have various other requirements. Thanks to the sinking of the
Earl of Cumberland I am not in possession of the usual tools of my trade. I would also suggest that it will be much easier to deal with both Courtney and Nazet if they are separated. This will require a degree of subterfuge. I welcome your advice in that particular matter, too.’
Grey smiled, ‘Oh, I know the one thing that can prise an opening between our two treacherous lovebirds. It’s something that both of them care about, over which they have both sworn solemn oaths and for which they have both fought. Are you sure you won’t join me in drinking a cup or two of bhang thandai? It is a cooling infusion, consumed by the Indians. The taste is pleasantly sweet, but cut with a hint of pepper and spice and the bhang – a mixture of the leaf and bud of what Levantines call hashish – is delightfully relaxing. We have a great deal of thinking to do, and I find it of great assistance.’
Mr Pett declined Grey’s offer, but the consul ordered a jug of thandai and the effects appeared to be exactly as he had predicted, for within a couple of hours of conversation, he and Pett had formulated a plan of action and agreed on what would be required to implement it. Zanzibar’s position, close to the equator, meant that the sun always set between the hours of six and seven in the evening so that when Pett left the building he stepped into a hazy dusk in which the sun-baked heat of the day had softened into a more mellow warmth.
For his part, Grey dozed a while, awoke feeling clear-headed and greatly refreshed and made his way at once to Prince Jahan’s palace. When he explained to the guards at the gate that he had information regarding the whereabouts of Captain Courtney and General Nazet he was admitted much more quickly and received a far warmer welcome than had been the case for some considerable time. Jahan received him alone at first, but then sent for the creature – Grey could no longer think of him as a man – who had once been Angus Cochran. Further arrangements were made. A messenger was despatched to a particular coffee-shop with instructions for the owner from the prince himself and a purse filled with gold coins to show how much the service would be valued. The shop’s owner, overwhelmed by the favour shown him by one of such magnificence, was effusive in his assurances that all would be done exactly as His Highness required. Further preparations were made within the palace itself.