The Road Between Us by Nigel Farndale

Author:Nigel Farndale
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781448167586
Publisher: Transworld Digital
Published: 2013-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

IV

Three days later

AS CUSTOM DICTATES, THE PERMANENT UNDERSECRETARY WAITS to greet the new Foreign Secretary under one of three arched and pedimented porches off King Charles Street. Although this entrance is on a side road, a conceit the architects borrowed from Somerset House, it nevertheless affords the most impressive view of the building. Two Union flags are stirring gently on the poles above his head, their cords clanking.

They’re giving her the full treatment, Niall thinks. But where is she? He checks his watch and rocks back on his heel. The new Foreign Secretary is late. Is this a deliberate tactic to show Niall who is boss? How tiresome, if so.

Standing a few feet behind Niall are three senior mandarins representing different departments within the Foreign Office. To his right, talking to a knot of press photographers, is the Principal Private Secretary, Linda Coleman. To his immediate left is Sir Simon Bradley, the British ambassador to the UN, a Wykehamist who always wears one red sock and one yellow sock with his bespoke suits because, he says, they help him keep things in perspective. As might be expected, he is highly skilled in the arts of negotiation, compromise and concession – no one in the diplomatic service used the word appeasement any more – but he is also a legend of ironic urbanity. ‘Tonal balance,’ he likes to call it. ‘Cultivated vulgarity,’ his colleagues teasingly prefer.

Bradley has delayed his return to New York by three days so that he can brief the incoming Foreign Secretary in person. Show willing. ‘So do we hold our new boss in high regard?’ he asks without turning to face Niall. His lips barely move as he talks, as if afraid of letting something slip.

‘We must regard her as the oyster regards the grain of sand,’ Niall says. ‘An irritant that may, nevertheless, be capable of producing a pearl.’

‘I’ve heard her special area of interest is Lithuanian prostitutes.’ Bradley raises an eyebrow. ‘The trafficking of.’

Niall smiles. ‘I’m sure the new Secretary of State will be interested in all aspects of immigration.’

‘Smart?’

‘Brain so big it crosses time zones.’

‘And a liberal, right?’

‘Liberal as a leotard.’

‘First priority?’

‘Hers? A phone call from Washington, I should think. She’ll want to feel loved. They all do.’

‘And ours?’

‘Iran going nuclear. Afghanistan. Timetable for withdrawal. Should we or should we not be negotiating with the Taliban.’

And mine? Niall thinks. My priorities are more opaque. Mine will be to deflect attention away from recent history, concentrate on the present, move on …

‘So?’

Niall glances at Bradley. ‘Sorry, what?’

‘So should we or should we not be negotiating with the Taliban?’

Niall shakes his head as if to clear it. ‘Not sure. What do you think we should tell her?’

‘That we should. We have to show Downing Street that the FCO still matters; that it would be madness to even consider cutting our budgets at this delicate time; that when it comes to diplomacy, English has become the lingua franca.’

‘Well, that will annoy the Francas.’

Bradley chuckles. ‘Exactly. We must send them a communiqué about it.

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