stood and the host led him up the stairs, backing ahead of him and bowing at every third step. Swiftly Hal approved the accommodation.
His own chamber had a salon and private dining room.
The boys were in the room opposite, and Walsh, their tutor, in the room beside them. They would use this as their schoolroom, for Hal was determined that they miss not a day of their studies.
“Can we go out and see the town, please, Father?” Tom begged.
Hal glanced at Walsh.
“Have they finished the lessons you set for them on the journey?”
“Master Guy has indeed. But the others…”
Walsh said primly.
“You complete the task that Master Walsh has given you,” Hal scowled at his sons, “to his complete satisfaction, before you set a foot outside the front door.” As he turned away Tom made a ferocious face at Walsh’s back.
The messenger from Nicholas Childs arrived before Aboli and Daniel had finished bringing up the heavy leather trunks that had been strapped on the roof of the carriage. The liveried footman bowed and handed Hal the sealed sheet of parchment. Hal gave him a coin and split the wax seal of the East India Company with his thumbnail. The letter had been penned by a secretary: “Lord Childs requests the pleasure of your company to supper at eight of the clock this evening at Bombay House.” Below this was a note in Childs’s own ornate hand:
“Oswald Hyde will be the only other guest. N.C.” Hal whistled softly:
a private supper with the old man and the Chancellor of His Majesty King William III .
“Something interesting afoot. “He smiled and felt the tingle of excitement run through his veins.
between them Aboli and Daniel had scrubbed the mud of the road off the carriage and curried the horses until once again their coats shone like polished metal. Hal had plenty of time to bath and have his clothes sponged by the chambermaid before it was time to set out to keep his appointment with Childs.
Bombay House stood behind high walls and was set in substantial gardens within a stone’s throw of the Inns of Court, an easy stroll from the headquarters of the East India Company on Leadenhall Street.
There were guards at the high wrought-iron gates, but they swung open the gates as soon as Aboli announced his master. Three footmen were waiting at the double doors of the house to usher Hal in and take his cloak and hat. Then the majordomo led him on a march through a succession of grand rooms, hung with mirrors and huge oil paintings of ships, battles and exotic landscapes, and lit by forests of wax candles in crystal chandeliers and gilt oil lamps held aloft by statues of nymphs and blackamoors.
As they went further the grand public rooms gave way to meaner surroundings, and Hal realized that they had entered the private areas of the great house, closer to the kitchens and the servants” quarters.
At last they paused before a door so small and insignificant that he might easily have passed it by, but the head steward knocked once with his staff.
“EnterV boomed a familiar voice from the far side, and Hal, stooping through the opening, found himself in a small but richly decorated cabinet. The panelled walls were hung with tapestries from Arabia and the Indies, and the space was only just sufficient to accommodate the large table piled high with silver chafing dishes and gilt tureens, which emitted succulent aromas and enticing wisps of steam.
r I
“Punctual as usual,” Lord Childs complimented him.
He was sitting at the head of the table, overflowing the large padded chair.
“Forgive me for not rising to greet you properly, Courtney. Damned gout again.” He indicated his foot, swathed in bandages, resting on a stool.
“You have met Oswald, of course.”
“I
have had that honour.” Hal bowed to the Chancellor.
“Good evening, my lord. We met at Mr. Samuel Pepys’s house last August.”
“Good evening, Sir Henry. I well recall our meeting.” Lord Hyde smiled and gave him a
His own chamber had a salon and private dining room.
The boys were in the room opposite, and Walsh, their tutor, in the room beside them. They would use this as their schoolroom, for Hal was determined that they miss not a day of their studies.
“Can we go out and see the town, please, Father?” Tom begged.
Hal glanced at Walsh.
“Have they finished the lessons you set for them on the journey?”
“Master Guy has indeed. But the others…”
Walsh said primly.
“You complete the task that Master Walsh has given you,” Hal scowled at his sons, “to his complete satisfaction, before you set a foot outside the front door.” As he turned away Tom made a ferocious face at Walsh’s back.
The messenger from Nicholas Childs arrived before Aboli and Daniel had finished bringing up the heavy leather trunks that had been strapped on the roof of the carriage. The liveried footman bowed and handed Hal the sealed sheet of parchment. Hal gave him a coin and split the wax seal of the East India Company with his thumbnail. The letter had been penned by a secretary: “Lord Childs requests the pleasure of your company to supper at eight of the clock this evening at Bombay House.” Below this was a note in Childs’s own ornate hand:
“Oswald Hyde will be the only other guest. N.C.” Hal whistled softly:
a private supper with the old man and the Chancellor of His Majesty King William III .
“Something interesting afoot. “He smiled and felt the tingle of excitement run through his veins.
between them Aboli and Daniel had scrubbed the mud of the road off the carriage and curried the horses until once again their coats shone like polished metal. Hal had plenty of time to bath and have his clothes sponged by the chambermaid before it was time to set out to keep his appointment with Childs.
Bombay House stood behind high walls and was set in substantial gardens within a stone’s throw of the Inns of Court, an easy stroll from the headquarters of the East India Company on Leadenhall Street.
There were guards at the high wrought-iron gates, but they swung open the gates as soon as Aboli announced his master. Three footmen were waiting at the double doors of the house to usher Hal in and take his cloak and hat. Then the majordomo led him on a march through a succession of grand rooms, hung with mirrors and huge oil paintings of ships, battles and exotic landscapes, and lit by forests of wax candles in crystal chandeliers and gilt oil lamps held aloft by statues of nymphs and blackamoors.
As they went further the grand public rooms gave way to meaner surroundings, and Hal realized that they had entered the private areas of the great house, closer to the kitchens and the servants” quarters.
At last they paused before a door so small and insignificant that he might easily have passed it by, but the head steward knocked once with his staff.
“EnterV boomed a familiar voice from the far side, and Hal, stooping through the opening, found himself in a small but richly decorated cabinet. The panelled walls were hung with tapestries from Arabia and the Indies, and the space was only just sufficient to accommodate the large table piled high with silver chafing dishes and gilt tureens, which emitted succulent aromas and enticing wisps of steam.
r I
“Punctual as usual,” Lord Childs complimented him.
He was sitting at the head of the table, overflowing the large padded chair.
“Forgive me for not rising to greet you properly, Courtney. Damned gout again.” He indicated his foot, swathed in bandages, resting on a stool.
“You have met Oswald, of course.”
“I
have had that honour.” Hal bowed to the Chancellor.
“Good evening, my lord. We met at Mr. Samuel Pepys’s house last August.”
“Good evening, Sir Henry. I well recall our meeting.” Lord Hyde smiled and gave him a
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