Death And Damnation: Book 2 Of Poacher's ProgressChapter 2: The Knowledge Gathering Bureau free porn video
You must be heartily sickened by my constant admission of being astonished, amazed, shocked etc, -but how else am I to describe the feelings I had experienced over the past week? Let me enumerate the surprising and incredible events that had befallen me.
My opponent in a duel, a noted marksman, had fired and missed me, whereas I, a complete novice with a pistol, had fired and killed him. I then discover that Caroline Vanner, who I had fallen in love with at our first meeting the previous evening, was wife to the man whom I had just shot. She showed me a pistol ball, which, if it were the ball that should have been loaded into her husband's weapon, could only have been removed by my friend Krish Armityge.
The revelation that Krish and Caroline were acquainted, and were possibly lovers, added fuel to my growing stupefaction.
I am then summoned before the Commander in Chief of the British Army: but instead of being censured I am promoted. And now, sitting in front of me, wearing the rank insignia of a Lieutenant Colonel is my former company commander during the Peninsula Campaign, who I had thought to have died of his wounds. I think I have good cause to express my amazement at the events I've experienced since surviving the duel.
Gurney Slade smiled as he saw the look of utter bewilderment on my face.
"Welcome to the Bureau, Greenaway. No doubt you are surprised to see me alive? I left Bordeaux wondering if I would live out the month, yet here I am hale and relatively hearty. Not fit enough for field work but I can fight a desk well enough." He held out his hand and I shook it warmly. Although he was a cold and taciturn individual I admired him greatly, and I think by the time he left Bordeaux to receive medical attention in England, he had a higher regard for me than that he held when I first joined his company.
The official name of the department I had joined was the Military Intelligence Bureau, known by its initials as the MIB, but all of its members simply referred to it as 'the Bureau'.
"The Bureau is under the overall command of Brigadier Stanhope, I will introduce you to him presently. My department, of which you are now a part, is responsible for the gathering, or intelligence, which includes interrogating prisoners. Others then sift through what we have garnered and make predictions as to what plots, if any, are in play. We then have the task of frustrating, or rather killing off, those plots. You will be one of my killers."
He gave me a wolfish grin, and then I realised that Gurney Slade was still the cold-blooded killer he had been in Spain, and that he thought I was of the same ilk. Given my history, with axe, bayonet and pistol he could well be correct.
Colonel Slade quickly explained the nature of the work that 'the Bureau' was engaged in.
"We had an intelligence e gathering service out in Spain." He informed me. "You may not have been aware but there were explorer officers, out observing, and gaining information of, the French; their numbers, quality and quantity of troops, their dispositions etc. In fact Brigadier Stanhope was one of our most experienced explorer officers, only second to Colquhoun Grant in bravery, courage, and cunning." Even I had heard of Colquhoun Grant, a man who managed to send information, about the French army's dispositions in Spain, to Wellington although being held captive by the French. However I had no idea that there had been a band of intrepid spies, working right under the nose of the French, and that our cryptographers had broken the French secret codes and were deciphering the messages sent from Paris to the various army commanders in Spain.
"Here in England we have been keeping a close watch on suspected French spies, and also on home grown republicans and anarchists. You came across the latter on the Kennet and Avon canal, and it is due to the swift and effective action you took that you were recommended to the Bureau. Your rather brisk, and brusque, treatment of the prisoner you captured also gained my admiration."
I was puzzled by his words. "What treatment would that have been Colonel? I do not recall anything out of the ordinary occurring when we took those prisoners."
Colonel Slade glanced down at a paper before him. "One Jack Straw, the man you captured at Wooten Bottom lock, accused you of brutal and unlawful treatment. In that you broke his nose with the hilt of your sword, kicked him in his testicles, and then, as he lay writhing in agony, kicked him in the ribs and head."
"That rascal damn near killed me with a pistol shot, and then threw his pistol in my face. Certainly I kicked him; he was lucky I did not sever his head from his body."
"I told him much the same. I then showed him what brutality really was, so you will have no more accusations from him. Besides which he was hanged a few days after I interrogated him." Colonel Slade stood up. "Come, I will introduce you to Brigadier Stanhope, and he will give you a complete description of our work, and what you are expected to do."
He led me to a door leading into a larger office. A tall, thin, man unfolded himself from the chair behind a desk, and held out his hand.
"Welcome to the Bureau, Major Greenaway. Colonel Slade has often spoken of you, and it is a pleasure to finally meet you."
Brigadier Stanhope did not look like a cunning, courageous, spy. He had the high domed forehead of an intellectual, and I later learned he was a Classicist who had gained the highest academic honours from Oxford University. His voice was soft and gentle, and I could not imagine him bellowing out orders on some blood soaked battlefield. In fact he looked, and sounded, as if he would be more at home as a don at an ancient seat of learning, or in a monastery, rather than being the Spymaster of the British army. Colonel Slade went back into his office and the brigadier sat down at his desk, waving me into another chair to the side of the desk.
"The object of Colonel Slade's department is to gather information. This may just consist of straws in the wind-who is talking to whom-who is sleeping with whom. Who is in debt, who is spending more than they usually have. We have some informers, but our best work is done by Bureau men frequenting the houses of the gentry, the rich and famous, and the aristocracy-and just listening to them chatter. In all the dross there will be some valid information. I have some extremely intelligent people, who sift through all the information gathered by Colonel Slade's men, which leads us to foreign spies, anarchists, republicans, and people of that nature." Brigadier Stanhope reached into a drawer and pulled out a box of cheroots. I stared in surprise when I recognised them as the same brand that Krish Armityge smoked. Stanhope offered me one from the box, but I shook my head. He took and lit one, then puffed contentedly for a moment or two.
"Sebastian Armityge introduced me to these when we were both in Lisbon, and I am now an addict. I understand that Doctor Armityge is a friend of yours. He is on business for the Bureau in the Peninsula, but he should be back in the New Year."
At least I now knew that Krish hadn't run away with Caroline, and that in time he would be able to explain the circumstances concerning the duel. The brigadier settled himself in his chair and then began to talk about Republicanism. It was evidently a subject on which he held strong views, and as he progressed with his 'lecture' I realised that he saw it as an ever present threat, even though the French had now returned to Monarchism, as had most of Europe.
"Republicanism is the greatest threat to the kingdom. The insidious disease was formulated here in England, but was carried to, and then nurtured by, those damned colonists in the Americas. It spread to Europe, and has plunged us into twenty years of bloodshed. For reasons I cannot understand, although it has been shown to be an inefficient and illogical way to govern a country, it still appeals to those so-called liberal thinkers. They continue to champion the cause of 'democracy' as if it will cure all the ills of the world. They would give all men the privilege to vote in elections - all men, even those who do not own land, all men, regardless of their social standing or education. The idea is preposterous ... complete and utter nonsense. What does the common man know, or care, of governance? He tends his fields and beasts, and so long as he has a full belly he is content. Giving him the vote will just confuse him, and he will be prey to those scheming Whig politicians, seeking to gain the votes of the simple rustics. God has ordained the structure of society, and Man risks ruin if he tries to change the natural order of things."
Geraldine
- 10.12.2021
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