Guns to the Far East Read Online Free

… She leaned forward in her seat. “Do you, by any chance, know what happened to the Archduchess, Lord George?”
    Lord George Melgund smiled. “Oddly enough, I do, Lady Hazard. She married, soon after reaching Odessa. She had been betrothed in childhood to the Prince Andrei Narishkin but he was killed at Balaclava, I understand, and died in the British camp leaving Sophia Mihailovna tragically widowed. As possibly you are aware, I returned to St Petersburg with the Peace Mission last year and I saw her there. Only once and that almost by chance. The Princess told me that she had a son, born after her husband’s death and she asked me, quite seriously, if—as a favour to her—I could arrange for the boy to enter the Royal Navy when he was old enough for a cadetship. Her voyage out in the Trojan must have impressed her very favourably, I can only suppose.”
    â€œBest training in the world for any boy,” the Admiral said, with conviction. “Whoever he is … I trust you acceded to the lady’s request, Melgund?”
    â€œI told her I was sure that it could be arranged. There’s time yet—the boy’s only about two years old.”
    â€œIt was a strange request,” Lady Hazard said thoughtfully. “Strange for a niece of the Tsar to make. Russia has her own Navy and, after so bitter a war, one would hardly imagine …” Catching her husband’s eye, she broke off and Lord George put in smoothly, “We are at peace with Russia under her new Tsar now, Lady Hazard, and pray God it will be a lasting peace. Not that we’ll be allowed to enjoy it for very long, alas! Undeterred by Admiral Seymour’s attack on Canton last November, Commissioner Yeh grows in insolence and appears to be spoiling for a fight with us.”
    â€œPah!” The Admiral snorted his contempt. “Junks and gingalls will be no match for our gunboats. They weren’t in ’42, as I know from firsthand experience. Once Lord Elgin gets to Hong Kong and starts things moving, Yeh will be kowtowing for all he’s worth, mark my words.”
    â€œTrue, Admiral … but the news from India is becoming increasingly grave, you know. The Governor-General, Lord Canning, is recalling troops from Burma and Persia and now he’s requested that those on their way to China should be diverted to his aid in India.”
    â€œWill he get them, d’you suppose?” the Admiral asked.
    Melgund shrugged. “He will if Disraeli gets his way, certainly … and the House listens to him. He takes a graver view of the Indian crisis than the Government does and his last speech stirred up a good deal of feeling. John Russell really couldn’t answer him. My own view is that Canning is yielding to panic. He’s only just gone to India and …” He embarked on a lengthy dissertation on the possible consequences if troops were diverted from China, to which the Admiral offered well-informed comment and the assurance that, with or without additional troops, the Royal Navy could deal with Commissioner Yeh.
    Their conversation involved strategic technicalities which had little meaning for Lady Hazard so, as the carriage turned into Kensington High Street and gathered speed, she leaned back against the well-padded upholstery, still giving the appearance of an attentive listener, but in fact, busy with her own thoughts. Her anxiety had been in no way allayed by Lord George Melgund’s earlier observations. The situation in India must be very bad indeed, she reflected unhappily, for Lord Canning to request the diversion of troops intended for China. He, after all, was the man on the spot and as Governor-General, the one on whom the responsibility rested, and if the astute and far-seeing Benjamin Disraeli supported his request—even from the Opposition benches—the Prime Minister and his Colonial Secretary, Lord John Russell, would have to give it serious