The Shadow of Great Britain

Palmerston said with a half-smile, ”But if we don’t use force... will it work to use the soft approach? You and I both know what kind of person Dalhousie is. He resigned from the Minister of Seal position initially because he felt the entire Cabinet was stifling his political ideals.”

Russell raised his hand to signal Palmerston to stop there: ”It’s precisely because he’s holding back his anger that we can’t let him feel he’s being manipulated. If he’s provoked, the Radical Party might take it as us declaring war on them. Don’t even mention getting him back to Canada; it would take just a few days for them to cause trouble in the Lower House.”

Rice, eager to address the fiscal deficit, nodded in agreement: ”Yes. We need to win over the Radicals’ stance, rather than pushing them into the Conservative Party’s arms.”

Russell continued, ”I’ve already discussed with the Prime Minister; Dalhousie can be persuaded. But it must be someone he trusts personally to persuade him. I’m not saying we won’t resort to force at all, but at least in the first step, we must use the soft approach.”

Count Minto frowned: ”Privately? Who do you mean? Brougham? But didn’t Brougham have a bigger row with the Prime Minister than Earl Dalhousie over the title issue concerning the Duchess of Kent?”

Russell shook his head: ”No, of course not Brougham.”

Palmerston said carelessly, ”If not Brougham, are you suggesting we involve Her Majesty the Queen?”

”If that candidate doesn’t work, having Her Majesty the Queen summon Dalhousie is not out of consideration.” Russell spoke: ”The Prime Minister plans to have Sir Arthur Hastings take the lead.”

The air in the room momentarily froze.

Palmerston was the first to react, downing his sherry in one gulp and then slamming the glass upside down on the table: ”Indeed, I should have thought of that long ago. What he did in Russia and what Dalhousie did in Canada are essentially the same. One wants to help the Canadians establish a responsible government, the other wants to help the Chechens establish a responsible government. Both of Bentham’s students, indeed.”

Count Minto cleared his throat and pretended not to have heard what Palmerston said.

Russell had to immediately stop him: ”Henry, I understand your prejudices against him, but we don’t have time to reopen that matter now. Today we’re discussing not what Sir Arthur did in the past, but who can now knock on Dalhousie’s door.”

Palmerston looked at Russell and reluctantly shrugged: ”Indeed, there is no one else.”

Rice sighed: ”But why do we think he would agree? Hastings is no fool. He knows Canada is a pit of fire right now. Asking him to persuade Dalhousie to jump into the fire—would he agree?”

Palmerston replied: ”Indeed, not only is he not a fool, he’s excessively shrewd. Moreover, his relationship with Dalhousie... it’s fair to say he’s half a pupil. I don’t think he’s the type to harm his mentor without reason. Who can convince Hastings to do this dirty work for us?”

”On this point, the Prime Minister has already considered it.” Russell steadied himself by the edge of the table, stood up, and said, ”Anyone can see that Sir Arthur is also loyal to Her Majesty the Queen, and his loyalty is uncompromised by factional disputes and vested interests. If Her Majesty requests of him, I believe Sir Arthur would not refuse.”

Rice frowned: ”But... who should we have persuade Her Majesty the Queen to make this request of Sir Arthur?”

As soon as Rice finished speaking, almost everyone in the room turned to look at him.

”Uh...” A shiver ran through Rice as he suddenly remembered the gossip concerning Viscount Melbourne and the Queen: ”It seems... the Prime Minister is quite confident about this?”