To Kingdom Come Read Online Free PDF Page B

would attack Trafalgar Square and Scotland Yard,” I said, “but why the Junior Carlton Club, sir?”
    “You must study English politics a little more thoroughly, lad,” Barker replied. “The main opposition to Home Rule will be the old dogs sitting around the fire at the Carlton making decisions, but it will be the young pups at the Junior that will dictate policy over the next twenty years. The Irish are sending them a very clear message.”
    There is a right way to do things and a wrong way, and then there is the Barker way, which is a third choice no one had thought of yet, because they were not clever enough. Had we gone in the front entrance of Claridge’s, we would have been stopped at the desk, but the Guv walked in the service entrance as bold as you please. We worked our way through the kitchens and the dining room, facing nothing more challenging than a few questioning stares. In the hallway, he went so far as to buttonhole a steward.
    “Tell me, my man, in what room is Mr. Parnell staying? We are from the Home Office.”
    I was debating whether we could accurately be described as “from the Home Office,” but it was not precisely a lie. It is one of Barker’s axioms that one must make use of whatever leverage one can muster.
    “Room three eleven, sir,” the man responded.
    “Have the reporters all gone?”
    “They have already left, sir. Mr. Parnell had them in for a statement.”
    “Thank you.” I saw him discreetly press some silver into thesteward’s hand. The two of us climbed the servants’ staircase and soon found ourselves in sole possession of an elegant corridor. Barker knocked on the door marked 311. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he thumped. With that ham-sized fist of his, it was just short of beating down the door.
    A moment later the door opened, and a man looked out at us in minor annoyance. I was more accustomed to seeing his face in engravings in The Illustrated London News. He was a tall, well-built man in a frock coat of light gray, with a long but well-groomed beard.
    “Yes?” he demanded. “What do you want?”
    “Mr. Parnell, my name is Mr. Cyrus Barker. This is my assistant, Mr. Thomas Llewelyn. I believe I am in possession of information you shall find useful.” He offered his card. Barker has a way of snapping the pasteboard in his thick fingers as he presents it that has so far eluded me, no matter how often I try.
    “I doubt that sincerely,” Parnell replied drily, looking at the card. “Barker. I’ve heard of you, but I assure you I don’t need to hire an enquiry agent.”
    Barker would not be put off so easily. “I have a matter of great importance to discuss with you, sir, but I would not care to do so in this hall.”
    Parnell shrugged and stepped back, opening the door wide. “Very well, come in. Half of London has been in here today already. I don’t recall your name being mentioned by Scotland Yard this morning.”
    “You won’t,” Barker said, as we stepped into the room. “We are working sub rosa for one of Her Majesty’s agencies. I am taking you into our confidence, because I am convinced you had nothing to do with the atrocities that occurred last night. I am going to risk revealing what I have learned because I believe you can be trusted, even if Her Majesty’s government does not.”
    “It’s nice to know someone trusts me. I spent most of thenight being questioned by Scotland Yard. The newspapers today are wild over this new outrage. I won’t be surprised if I’m burned in effigy at a rally tonight. Everyone seems to think I can wave my wand like Merlin and every faction will fall into line like so many ducks. I wish it were that easy.”
    “I’m afraid the situation is worse than you’ve been led to believe. According to my sources, if a bill for Home Rule is not rushed through Parliament within the month, there will be a second series of outrages much larger than the first.”
    “Good lord,” Parnell said,