Whereupon the three plotters departed for their lodgings, to be ready for the game at Brooks’ that night. Selwyn, the diplomat of the trio, set the plans to working. He interviewed Mr. Prince, the Governor of the Bank of England, who consented to influence the King. CHAPTER V “Your Majesty, I am informed that the French monarch has decided to recognize the independence of the Americans and put all the resources of France against Great Britain.” “Whence comes your information, Mr. Prince?” asked George III, as he sat in his private study of St. James’s, October, 1777. “Your Majesty, the secret service of the Bank of England has kept Roderick Barclugh in the French Court. He is on terms of intimacy with Louis XVI. He associates with Benjamin Franklin and the Colonial party; he keeps us informed as to every phase of their affairs.” George III rubbed his hands in each other and looked impatient but gracious, yet his eyes had an anxious gleam as he nervously asked: “Is the recognition of the independence of the Colonies possible and has it come at last? What shall we do about it then, Mr. Prince?” “There is but one way to reconcile the Americans, since Burgoyne’s surrender, your Majesty,” replied the Bank Governor. “We must convince the leaders of the army and the men of substance in the Colonies, that a long-drawn-out war will ruin the country--that the return of peace will establish commerce and prosperity; and that allegiance to your Majesty’s person and crown will give the protection that a young commonwealth needs.” “Very well, very well, sir, but what means are you going to use to convince these rebels?” queried the monarch, impatiently, as he began to comprehend the undertaking that began to develop. “Not by warlike means, your Majesty, which has cost your exchequer twenty thousand pounds sterling for each and every rebel so far killed, but by the most subtle subjection--that of diplomacy and finance,” replied Mr. Prince (who knew that the King had used this policy to carry his desires through Parliament). “Ah, that is good,” exclaimed the King. “But whom can we trust with such a delicate mission? I have learned to depend upon the wisdom of your money, but not upon persons. Can you lay a plan that will accomplish the result? I have so few men of the genius that you display, Mr. Prince.” Mr. Prince now had the ear of the monarch, and as George III showed his abject helplessness, the holder of England’s purse-strings took advantage of the situation to carry out the plot planned in the “Old Cock” Tavern: