Redemption - Leon Uris [157]
They sat in silence for a time. Caroline’s sense of outrage heightened. God, they’d even bring the empire down to save their filthy little province.
“Our reaction also was to throw them in jail, but nothing is quite that simple. Caroline, I have fought my entire political life to cut down on obscene military spending. Till now, the most difficult moment of my life was, as you know, when I became convinced there would be a war and I accepted the Admiralty post. But the War Office and the Admiralty have long memories and they loathe the Liberal Party for stopping the arms race and for trying to bring programs of social justice to the people to replace their imperial avarice.”
His voice now quivered low. “Fact is, m’lady, probably most of the top generals and admirals are quietly applauding Brodhead. Using our best and most reliable sources, including the Staines group, between one-fourth and one-third of our entire officer corps will likely resign in protest if we arrest the Bushy crowd. How’s that for blackmail on the eve of a war?”
Caroline laughed, compelled to see the humor in it. “What better time to blackmail you? What are our options?” she asked, casting her lot with his.
“If,” he began, “we turn a blind eye and allow the Militia to become a private army, and if we allow ourselves to yield to blackmail by our own officer corps, then we are no longer fit to rule the country.”
“That’s exactly what the Conservatives are playing for,” she said.
“It’s even more dangerous than that, Caroline. Once the military knows they can bully the Commons and get away with anything, including mutiny and treason, we will witness a ravenous new colonialism after the war that will endanger our democracy. Once the generals have the notion we can be owned, we’ll end up looking like a Latin American republic.”
“The bloody Conservatives would like that, I fear.”
“Let’s ‘if’ some more,” he said. “If we haul the mutineers in, take the deep cuts in our officer corps on the eve of war, we will lose the confidence of our allies. Those nations sitting on the fence, particularly the Italians, will surely go to the German side. When the German high command hears about this mutiny, they are going to go into an orgy of Valhallan ecstasy.”
Caroline tilted her head back, closed her eyes, and tried to absorb the enormity of what was unfolding. Freddie’s crowd had to be dancing on the clouds to be so heady, so brazen, so demonic.
“What do we do, Winston?”
“I have just met with the Conservatives. They are now considering our position, namely we will not be blown out of power by this trick, nor will we turn Britain over to a military junta. We Liberals intend, I advised them, that we shall remain in power and lead this nation when it goes to war.”
Winston grunted the smallest of laughs as he recalled the meeting. “It was with Bonar, Law, and Balfour. I made it completely clear that their wild plot would blow up right in their faces. The Liberal Party has been voted into power by a majority of good, solid Englishmen. What could the Conservatives do? Blame over half the country for the loss of their officer corps? Indeed, I was quite willing to let the people decide who the villains in this play were. In the end. I resolutely believe they would have to take the blame for debilitating our military.”
“That’s carrying brinkmanship to a fine art.”
“It can only be done if you believe in yourself. They chose to listen to a reasonable plan which will save their face and quiet the entire matter.”
“And now you need the agreement of Freddie and