Meeting at Headquarters

Stephen frowned, with a sinking feeling in his stomach, but he nodded. "Please go on."

The General observed the frown with some trepidation, yet he persevered.

"I mentioned to you before my Surgeon-General, James McGrigor. He a man of substantial parts, trustworthy and with sound ideas on the improvement of field medicine. He is always eager to make new advancements, and it has occured to me that the appointment of such a distinguished physician as yourself - one who has made great improvements and discoveries regarding medicine within the senior service - to be McGrigor's colleague would not be looked upon with much undue suspicion. Thus you would, as a medical man, acquire an legitimate place within the army."

He paused once more to collect his thoughts.

"However, unofficially this position may give you certain advantages regarding your other work. I am not sure if you are aware, Dr. Maturin, but McGrigor also happens to be brother-in-law to Colquhoun Grant, one of our most prominant Exploring Officers, whom I am sure you will have heard of. Being a colleague of a member of his family, any interaction you have with Grant or his own colleagues in Intelligence will not be immediately under suspicion, and as a senior officer of the medical corps you will have a legitmate reason to come and go from Headquarters as you please."

He hoped this was making sense - it had given him enough headaches over the past two days.

Stephen turned the elements of the idea over in his mind. "Your idea as to being placed with the Surgeon-General is a sound one - I have heard good things about Doctor McGrigor, and I believe I have met him on one or two occasions, but I worry that having such a, as you put it, legitimate position within the army might result in being tied down to it; my presence would not arouse suspicion, but my absences, and they might be frequent, would." He paused. "I had not anticipated much interaction with other intelligence agents - I almost always work alone. I know of Mr. Grant's work, and admire it greatly, but our modi operandi differ greatly also."

He stopped. He also suspected that frequent meetings with a colleague's brother-in-law might arouse more suspicion that Wellesley thought - though why contact with Grant at all? 'Greater communication between intelligence agencies' to Stephen had meant that, as usual, he would go in alone, get the information, and deliver a copy of the information to Headquarters - the idea of working with an agent of the military, even one as famous, and rightly so, as Grant to gain the information in the first place was alien to him. He struggled to think of a way to frame his thoughts - he could feel Sir Arthur scrutinising him.

He looked to Hogan. "What are your thoughts, Major?"

Damn it, but he was not expressing himself very well. Fortunately he had talked it over with Hogan, and hoped he might be able to do better.

"As I see it, doctor," said Hogan, folding his hands across his stomach thoughtfully. "Sir Arthur is trying to suggest that although you would still be working largely independantly, you shall from time to time be required to associate with our other agents - hence the convenience of Grant relation to McGrigor. As to your absences... If it were established at the very beginning that you are 'on loan' from the navy, as you are, then long absences could be accounted for by your need to keep in contact with your naval colleagues. Shorter absences we could undoubtedly come up with some reason which will suit the time."

Stephen frowned again. "Please to clarify 'required'. If you mean by situation, then I admit that due to close quarters it may be unavoidable, in order to avoid clashes. If that is the case, then your plan appears sound indeed." It was still a little too inflexible for his taste, but no placement would be perfect, and this was a well-conceived compromise: carefully and intelligently thought out.

He nodded. "If you believe this to be the most appropriate approach, Sir Arthur, then I trust your judgement, and I thank you for accommodating me."

Relieved that the circumstances would prove acceptable, Sir Arthur gave Maturin one of his rare smiles.

"I am glad to hear it, doctor. I acknowledge that it is not an ideal situation, but it is the probably the best that can be arranged at the moment. You contact with other agents will be limited, but as you correctly surmised, the Peninsula is only so big and there must be co-ordination to avoid 'clashes'."

Stephen smiled back at Sir Arthur, instantly transforming his face into something much more human. "Who would be the primary agents I will need to communicate with, apart from Mr. Grant?" He paused momentarily, and then took the plunge. "I wish to prepare for a short trip to Óbidos - I would like to confirm that there would be no such clashes."

"Óbidos?" The General lifted his eyebrows slightly. "As far as I am aware that should be in order. As to agents, the only others you will come up against are Charles Somers Cocks, Andrew Leith-Hay and Jonathan Padstowe, and of course Major Hogan - Padstowe you will probably meet quite soon, as he is in Lisbon at the moment. There is one other contact you should know about, and that is a person called El Mirador. El Mirador is a vital collator of information from our networks, but any contact you have, if any, will be through written correspondance alone."

Stephen knew of the exploits of El Mirador, and had taken care to know no more. "I will seek out Mr. Padstowe then. I would suggest delivering any military information directly to yourself, with copies to the Admiralty - intelligence information to be sent to the department it primarily concerns foremost, then copies to other departments, and then a report to you. Anything that Major Hogan thinks will be useful to El Mirador I will encode and cause to be sent also, for I have some knowledge and enormous admiration for the man's work in Europe. Would this be satisfactory?"

Sir Arthur nodded thoughtfully, staring down at his clasped hands.

"That seems satisfactory - although if I might suggest a slight variation? Considering this is only a trial between our two forces I would request that any copies of military information you wish to pass onto the Admiralty will get my approval first." He lifted his blue eyes to Maturin. "Not to mention that I would ask you to pass on any Naval Intelligence that you may think useful. I leave much to yourdiscretion, but a fair exchange, would you not say?"

"Very well - a wise precaution." He looked closely at Wellesley. "And any Naval intelligence that I deem to be useful to your campaign to be relayed to you. In those cases, I will also ask the advice of Major Hogan." He nodded to the man at his right, who returned the gesture.

Hogan grinned, looking most satisfied. "Very good, very good. At this juncture, may I suggest celebrating the arrangement by ordering that breakfast you so kindly promised, Sir Arthur?"

The General arched an eyebrow in Hogan's direction.

"Ever the practical man, eh Hogan?"

"As ever, sir," said hogan, grinning. "I find my life a lot easier that way."

Sir Arthur gave a dismissive thought before turning to Dr. Maturin.

"If you would care for some breakfast, doctor? Seeming as that coffee never did turn up. I think we shall make a move towards the dining room."

Stephen had been inquisitively staring at Hogan, and his head jerked up when he was addressed, and a brief look of embarrassment flitted over his face. "Breakfast would be most welcome - I thank you." He had felt more comfortable when discussing their plans and the intelligence departments; a meal was almost always more of a social affair, and in those he did not perform so admirably.

Sir Arthur suppressed the temptation to smile at the doctor's evident embarrassment. Clearly his haphazard attitude to meals had no merely been restricted to the day of his arrival.

"Excellent." The General rose from his desk and headed over to the door, motioning the two men to follow. "I have been given to understand that there will be toast, along with fresh eggs and bacon..."

Hogan rose first, going to the door with an almost indecent haste; Stephen followed after a moment's hesitation, occasionally trotting along the corridor to keep up with Sir Arthur's long-legged strides. When they came to the dining room, the servants were retiring - he quietly thanked them in Portuguese. Hogan and Wellesley were already sitting down, and Stephen took the seat on Sir Arthur's other side at the hugely long table. Hogan was helping himself to a plateful of eggs and bacon; Stephen tucked one of his legs under him and reached out for a piece of toast.

The breakfast, slightly awkward, had finished hours ago - Stephen nibbling at his toast and getting the sleeves of his shirt greasy - and when Sir Arthur had left them to attend to his own business, Hogan had taken Stephen, amiably chatting with barely a pause while Stephen shyly kept silent, to one of Headquarters' many private rooms, one with maps and papers covering every available surface. Once he was back in a setting of intelligence work, Stephen became talkative again, and he and Hogan had gradually begun talking faster and faster and they excitedly planned this venture and that, Stephen whispering his plan for Obidos, Hogan puffed up with pride as he displayed his latest map, stopping only to order a lunch of bread and cheese and garlic. The room was in an even worse state now - Stephen was sitting cross-legged on the floor reading a report in Castilian when Hogan begged to be excused for a short while.

It was several hours later, well into the afternoon that Sharpe and Padstowe eventually turned up at Headquarters. The captain had just been about to make his way to his office when Hogan emerged into the hallway with Doctor Maturin and called out to him.

"Don't leave me yet," Padstowe murmured as Hogan came beetling towards him. "Best to see what he wants first."

Hogan poked his head around the door at Stephen. "Actually, Maturin, if you could join me for a moment? I have someone for you to meet." He didn't wait for an answer - by the time Stephen had stood up and gone to the door he was already hurrying down the corridor. It was dim now, early evening having come, and the faces of the two men Hogan was rushing to meet were obscured - squinting aided little, but they were both tall, well-built men, lean, moving easily together as Hogan began to talk to them.

Sharpe's eyes widened as Hogan came scuttling down the corridor, followed by a thin, ill-looking civilian in a rusty black coat.

"Whatever he wants probably has rather more to do with you than with me, Jon," he murmured, wondering what all this was about. "I'm just a plain, uncomplicated soldier in the strange position of having once been in the ranks. Nowt interesting about me."

"Oh come now," Padstowe said teasingly. "There's lots about you that is interesting."

"I wear green and carry a rifle? Aye right, that'd fill a book. A very short one." Sharpe grinned. "So there might be lots interesting about me, but that don't mean Hogan and his friend want to be saddled with me joinin' in the conversation."

Stephen trotted along to catch up with Hogan, and looked up at the men - both officers, to judge by their sashes and their swords, one in an ornate red jacket, his collar wet, the other in a faded green jacket. Green Jacket murmured something; Red Jacket replied, a slightly mocking smile on his face; Green Jacket answered, grinning. Stephen found himself frowning, ill at ease again after the productive and comfortable afternoon, self-conscious. He made his face as impassive as possible, and stared up at the strangers as he and Hogan came to a stop.

"Jonathan! Richard! Good to see you both!"

"Good day, sir," Padstowe said, affecting a grin and nodding politely to the major, then his companion - who seemed to be giving him a somewhat hostile stare. He dropped the smile. "I understand that you were looking for me earlier?"

"I was, Jonathan, I was - wanted you to meet Doctor Maturin."

Stephen started; his eyes darted from Padstowe, to Hogan, then back to Padstowe, before he remembered himself and bowed. "My name is Maturin."

"Good afternoon, sir," he said as Hogan and the stranger came up. The newcomer was introduced as a doctor, Maturin.

An Engineer Major, a Captain of the 50th and now this thin, untidy-looking civilian with... Could that be egg on his sleeve? This was getting stranger and stranger, and Sharpe felt slightly uncomfortable.