Rome

Rome is presented chiefly as a diplomatic address rather than a depicted setting: it is where Neville Chamberlain directs an urgent appeal to Lord Perth, asking him to enlist Benito Mussolini in an effort to influence Adolf Hitler. The episode makes the city a point in a fragile communications chain, and its unanswered status sharpens the uncertainty surrounding the crisis.

Rome as a Diplomatic Destination

The novel locates Rome in the route of a message from 10 Downing Street to the British ambassador. Chamberlain writes the appeal on Number 10 notepaper and tells Hugh Legat to take it to the Foreign Office cipher room so it can be telegraphed immediately to Lord Perth at the embassy in Rome. The instruction makes Rome the intended endpoint of a direct appeal, but the account stays with the dispatch and its handling in London rather than moving to the embassy.

The message is prompted by Chamberlain’s judgment that Adolf Hitler will not heed him, while Benito Mussolini might. The appeal therefore relies on an intermediary: Chamberlain turns to the Italian leader through the British representative in Rome, hoping that Mussolini’s influence can affect Hitler’s course. The evidence establishes that intention, not whether the attempt succeeded.

An Unauthorised Initiative

The following morning, after walking with Chamberlain and Mrs Chamberlain, Legat is asked to check whether a reply has arrived from Rome. In Osmund Somers Cleverly’s office, Legat explains that Chamberlain had written to Lord Perth late the previous night and that the ambassador was being asked to urge Mussolini to intervene with Hitler. Cleverly reacts with alarm because the instruction had not been authorised by the Cabinet; he also asks whether the Foreign Secretary knows, and Legat cannot say.

Cleverly has seen no telegram from the Rome embassy. A telegram from Berlin arrives shortly afterward, but it is a separate communication and does not supply the missing Roman response. The scene thus distinguishes the dispatch of Chamberlain’s appeal from any proof of receipt, action, or outcome. Rome remains present as an awaited source of news, while the political propriety of the initiative is already in question.

Narrative Function and Limits

Rome’s significance in these passages lies in the distance between decision and confirmation. Chamberlain acts quickly, sending Legat to the cipher room with a message intended for Lord Perth, yet the next morning brings only a check for a reply and Cleverly’s concern about Cabinet authority. The narrative uses the embassy connection to show diplomacy operating through personal judgment and formal channels at once: an urgent appeal can be initiated without settled ministerial approval.

The book does not show the city itself, Lord Perth receiving the telegram, or Mussolini’s response to the request in these scenes. Rome functions instead as a consequential but offstage location, defined by the communication expected from it and by the uncertainty that remains when no reply has yet been seen.