"On that His Excellency is still uncertain, Your Majesty. He was paid by agents in the south."
"But who does the Viceroy believe paid the money?"
"The coins were assayed and traced to the mint at Surat, Your Majesty. They were part of a special minting that took place just before the English, Hawksworth, left the city. The assay also revealed they were a debased alloy, slightly lower in silver content than is normal, although not enough to be readily detectable. Similar coins have begun to be used throughout the Deccan. Reportedly they were given out recently by Prince Jadar as back pay to the troops of certain mansabdars.'"
"Who were the coins minted for?"
"The Shahbandar at Surat, Mirza Nuruddin, claims to have misplaced the records for this particular minting. However, he maintains the lower silver content was probably due to a minter's oversight. The former governor of Surat, Mukarrab Khan, is returning to the city to investigate. The minting run appears to have been approximately fifty lakhs of rupees. But the actual silver content was only forty-nine lakhs of rupees." He paused for breath. "The Shahbandar says he has no idea what could have happened to the other lakh's worth of silver bullion authorized to be used in the minting."
"That's not so difficult to explain, knowing Mirza Nuruddin." Arangbar seemed to be talking to himself. Then he glanced again at Sarmento. "Of course, the discrepancy would probably never have been detected if the coins given to the traitor had not been melted down and assayed. The question remains who ordered him paid?" Arangbar turned to Hawksworth, who stood with his mind churning, refusing to accept the consequences of what he was hearing. It meant the end of everything. "Perhaps the Inglish ambassador can help explain it."
"I have no idea why there was a false report, Majesty. I believed it too."
"Did you, Inglish?" Arangbar glared down drunkenly from his throne. "Or did you plot this with Prince Jadar when you met with him in Burhanpur? Did you and he conspire together to deceive me, exchanging bribes in the pocket of the prince with some of this debased silver coin for his help in a ruse you thought would produce a firman when brought to my ears?"
"I gave nothing to the prince, Majesty. And I asked nothing from him. That is the truth."
"The truth from you is not always easy to obtain, Inglish. Your deceptions have distressed me very much. And, curiously enough. Her Majesty even more. There is no fleet, Inglish. Instead there are lies, by you and, I'm beginning to suspect now, by my own son. I no longer have any idea what he is doing in the south. But I fear his arrogance has brought ruin to his army. I am recalling him to Agra, immediately, for an inquiry, and I am hereby ordering you to leave India."