A Sea of Troubles (18 page)

Jahleel Tolland just shrugged.

‘That is good and I will bear it in mind. Now, when can you take possession of the ship I have purchased and when can we set sail?’

‘We?’

‘Yes. You cannot fill its holds without you spend money, my money, and it is a habit of mine when that happens for me to be present.’

‘This is not a game, Alderman, we deal with some right hard bargains and suspicious as hell with it.’

‘Then I shall look to you to protect me and our investment. I ask again, when can we begin?’

‘Got to gather a crew first. Can’t sail a ship without we have hands to man the barky.’

Carruthers frowned. ‘How long will that take?’

Jahleel laughed. ‘No time at all, Mr Carruthers, the coast is teeming with those willing to do the work, men who know how to hand, reef and steer and never be taken up by the press neither.’

‘A week at most,’ Franklin added.

‘Then I suggest today is a good day to begin looking.’

‘That I agree to, but it would be best we look over what you have purchased first.’

The scraping of chairs had Isaac Lavery scooting back to his high desk and by the time the door opened he was over his quill and scratching away. He had not heard everything, only those words made plain when voices had been slightly raised, which left him wondering about this John Pearce fellow, for that name when first used had been near to a shout and accompanied by a loud slapping sound – he assumed a hand on the table. The name resonated, for he had been sent weeks past to visit the Strand offices of Edward Druce, his employer’s brother-in-law, to find out where that very fellow was serving.

‘Lavery, you are to remain here, do you understand, until I return. No errands.’

‘Certainly, sir, and can I say to where you have gone if anyone enquires?’

That got him a glare. ‘No, you cannot.’

With that Carruthers followed the Tollands out of the door.

‘Fishing in dangerous waters seems a strange expression to use Mr Lavery, are you sure it is the right one?’

Looking into the corn-blue eyes of Catherine Carruthers the clerk saw innocence mixed with naivety and it was to him a charming combination. This woman, trapped too young in an unsuitable marriage, could not even begin to make a true assessment of her husband’s nature even if she had shared his bedchamber. She saw him in the domestic setting and if that was strained through past indiscretions on her part, it was, nevertheless, conducted in a polite way. In his business dealings Denby Carruthers was very far from that and, now it seemed, not satisfied with the coups he regularly achieved in legitimate trade, he was about to dabble outside the law.

‘He is mixing with some very strange people and of excessively low character.’

The nod, along with pursed lips, looked like sage acceptance; in truth, Catherine Carruthers could not care less what her husband got up to, outside his need to care for the upkeep of a style of living to which she had become accustomed, and if he got harmed in the process so be it. She listened to this grumbling regarding his activities only to ensnare Lavery to her true purpose, which was to find and reconnect with the man who filled her dreams, Cornelius Gherson, Lavery’s predecessor and
the person who had so strained that domestic harmony.

‘It is good of you to keep me informed, Isaac, for it would never do that my husband should overreach himself.’

‘I will seek to ensure he does not and certainly forewarn you of any risk …’

The sentence was plainly unfinished and there was a fear then that he might call her Catherine, but thankfully the moment passed, that being a favour which would have to wait. Her task was to play the old fool, and each step in allowing him familiarities had to be carefully graded so as to avoid anything that might force her to reject him, a game in which she was well practised. Catherine Carruthers had been a precocious beauty and learnt very young how to use her gifts to gain her ends; nothing blinded a man, even a clever one, as much as sexual desire. Lavery would be no different, and if she handled matters correctly he would do her bidding. Having softened him up she could now proceed to the real question to which she required an answer.

‘How goes our search?’

‘I confess, not well.’

‘Then it must be stepped up, surely – widened.’

‘I fear your husband has laid constricts upon my ability to act on your behalf. I must seek his permission to do so.’

‘He has no idea of the nature of …?’

‘None.’

‘Then how are we to proceed?’

It was a bold step to take her hand, and a nervous one that did so, though the charge of electricity that ran
through Isaac Lavery’s body was a thrill which he had never before experienced and he looked at Catherine Carruthers for a sign she had undergone the same, taking her frown as evidence that she had. Rationally explained to anyone with sense, his suit would have invoked hilarious laughter – he, of middling years, strained income and no great beauty, making love to a ravishing young woman, and a rich one? But in Lavery’s imaginings all things were possible and here, running up his arm, was proof positive. He had nothing to fear from Cornelius Gherson; if the fellow had held a place in her affections once it had been replaced now.

‘With caution, my dear lady, but proceed we must. I will find Gherson and deliver to him your concerns for his well-being.’

She had been tempted to withdraw her hand and show some displeasure, for which, she was sure he would react like a whipped dog. But in the end she let it rest in his fingers for, to find the man she loved meant everything, the man who would rescue her from her unhappy situation of being wife to a man far too old to understand her.

‘A voyage to the Mediterranean?’ Emily asked, turning away so he could not see her face; was she troubled or pleased?

‘And aboard HMS
Larcher
, the very same vessel that I recently commanded. The crew are in the main splendid fellows and since I must go—’

‘Why must you?’

‘Let us say a combination of duty and a debt.’ Turning to face him she looked unconvinced as he added, ‘And since I fear to leave you alone in London, I wish you to accompany me.’

‘What?’

‘I cannot just leave you, Emily, for at sea I cannot protect you. We have already established that your husband will stop at nothing. Well, that might include abduction and incarceration, from which no force of law would be able to release you. Justice is iniquitous in the subject of matrimony and all the rights rest with
the man. He could keep you chained in his cellar and nothing could be done short of violence to free you.’

‘I could go somewhere and wait.’

Not having mentioned Dundas’s threat – and he did not trust the man one inch – he felt the need to press. ‘Like Lymington, which is no different to any other town in the country and a damn sight better than most. A strange woman alone, you will be a subject of interest. What will you do for company, and will you be comfortable with the lies you have to tell, for people will probe?’

‘You are asking me to embark on a very bold step.’

‘I am asking for your companionship on voyage to and from the Mediterranean, to make life more bearable than separation, and you can depart in secrecy – no one will know you are aboard whom we do not wish to have that knowledge.’

She finally smiled; it was not acquiescence but a sign of a break in her resistance. ‘Run away to sea, as boys do in tales of adventure?’

‘Think of it in the nature of us getting to know each other.’ Pearce produced a wide grin then as he recalled how he had come to the thought originally; it had been none other than the notion of that little cabin and the propinquity its size would force on two occupants. ‘Which we will do even if disinclined, for the cabin we will occupy is so very tiny we will forever be in each other’s way, from which I for one will take great pleasure.’

That got a becoming blush. ‘Is it fitting, John?’

‘It’s a damn sight more discreet than taking a house in some out of the way place while I fret that you might be in danger.’

‘And when we get there you will have duties to perform.’

‘Only one, to deliver a private letter, and then it is a happy return.’ He could see the flaw and so could she – her presence would be known throughout the fleet as soon as he joined, so he came close and embraced her. ‘I will drop you in Leghorn, proceed on my mission, then sail back to collect you when it is complete.’

‘You have such freedom.’

‘I would like to see the fellow who could infringe on that.’

The knock at the door was this time anticipated and Pearce opened it to the hotel servant, who had come to grumble as well as respond to a summons.

‘That big Paddy of yours is in the stables a’sleeping on hay an’ snoring fit to wake Lucifer. There’s not a soul in the hotel willin’ to seek to rouse him, for he was threatenin’ to mince them when he barrelled in last night an’ he might have done them in if he had not passed out.’

‘Tell them that, when sober, he is a lamb.’

‘Never in life – wakin’ him is a task for you, sir.’

‘Very well, Didcot, I will see to it shortly. Now I wish someone to begin to pack my sea chest – Mrs Barclay’s trunks and valise too – to be ready for departure either tomorrow, or I think at the latest the day after.’

‘You is leaving, your honour?’

‘We are.’

‘An’ might I ask to where you is headed?’

‘I am off to sea gain, Didcot, but Mrs Barclay is going to King’s Lynn in Norfolk.’ The intimation that he had said too much was well performed as he dropped his
voice. ‘But I would be obliged if you would keep that bit of knowledge to yourself. I’m sure I can trust you.’

‘Lips is sealed, your honour,’ Didcot responded, mentally rubbing his hands while in fact touching his forelock. ‘I shall see to it that all is clean afore it is packed away, an’ all.’

‘Good man,’ Pearce said, slipping him a coin.

Door closed behind him Emily began to shake with laughter, Pearce with a finger to his lips to insist she should not do so out loud lest Didcot hear her.

‘You are so sure he will let on?’ she asked, still not fully in control.

‘Near certain,’ Pearce replied, again keeping the Dundas business to himself, ‘and maybe I would be the same if I had his life. It may mean nothing, yet it may also send your husband on a wild goose chase if he seeks to find you. Now I must go and rouse out Michael and tell him we are off to sea again.’

If, when he woke, Michael had a sore head, he also had Celtic powers of recovery, aided by the swift despatch of a tankard of ale, so that washed and shaved he looked to have no ill effects from his nocturnal debauch; his eyes were as bright and his grin as wide as ever. The day was spent in preparation, with the Irishman acting as escort and protector when Emily went shopping, carrying a small club, not so very different from a marling spike, inside his short blue coat. Pearce received from the Admiralty, by hand messenger, not only confirmation of the extension of his commission, but also the order and flag that would see him sail under their pennant, which
precluded any other officer from impeding his passage all the way up to admirals.

With his papers he went to the Victualling Board to enquire as to where he could draw supplies for HMS
Larcher
, very little of which would be available at Buckler’s Hard. He departed Somerset House with a sum of money for purchases plus the written authority he required to draw on any naval stores at any dockyard en route, including Gibraltar. His last call was at Downing Street to pick up the communication he must carry and another bout of traded invective with Dundas, who seemed afire to know what he was going to do with his lassie.

‘I have told you twice now, it is none of your damned business.’

The man could not help himself; he had to show off and there was a lopsided smirk to go with it. ‘A nice quiet place in the county would suit, I hazard. I hear Norfolk is bonny at this time of year.’ Seeing the look that got, he added, ‘Oh, your secret’s safe with me, Pearce, but it does mean there’ll be no backsliding or finding reasons not to complete your task.’

‘Don’t you repose trust in
anyone
?’

‘Not many and certainly no one bearing your name, so put that letter in a weighted sack and if anything should happen to make you think it might fall into the wrong hands chuck it in to the briny. Until then, guard it with your life.’

‘Perhaps I will sell it to the Whigs, the proper ones, of course. I am sure Charles James Fox would excel himself in the house with sight of it.’

That got him a look of thunder, which was pleasing,
for it indicated that he had hit home. Fox was a fearsome debater, but more than that he employed the kind of wit that tended to squash opponents across the floor of the house and Dundas, too often the butt, hated him with a passion.

‘Do that, Pearce, and you’ll spend the rest of your days in a prison hulk off the Medway Marshes! And stick to your duty, for I never met a naval officer yet that did not whore after a prize or two.’

Ralph Barclay was testing the use of a stick to support his wounded leg, this for his journey to London, a trip he had insisted to a reluctant Sir Roger Curtis was necessary for him to consult the very best physicians. He was stomping to and fro when Gherson brought him Davidson’s letter, the clerk exchanging a glare with his employer’s so-called servant Devenow, tall enough to have his head touching the deck beams and broad with it. He now had his arm in a sling as well as a still swollen ear given to him just before the 1st June battle, though it was not as bloody and as gory as it had been right after it was inflicted. The sling at least stopped the cack-handed buffoon from trying to do any of the tasks that fell to a servant, for it was an area in which he was worse than useless.

Gherson and Devenow loathed each other as much for their differing manner as for their competition for the captain’s attention. The clerk saw Barclay as a means to an end, while Devenow was slavish in his devotion, a man to follow Ralph Barclay from ship to ship and, it had to be said, into the cannon’s mouth; indeed he had turned up in Sheerness to join him aboard HMS
Brilliant
, though at
that time his presence had been seen as a mixed blessing. He had been welcomed but with reservations.

Not anymore; it was Devenow who had carried Ralph Barclay to Heinrich Lutyens’ hospital when the captain had taken the ball that shattered his left arm, subsequently amputated. If he had not changed from what he was – a lout, a drunk and a bully – then he had risen in Barclay’s estimation to become a very necessary aide, if not a confidant, and there was only a modicum of true regard. In truth, neither was Gherson a confidant, but he did handle things of a private nature, even down to arranging investments for the large sums of Barclay prize money already earned. The safe investments were in Captain Barclay’s name, the very risky ones, which might go bad and lead to writs for repayment, were in the name of Devenow; Ralph Barclay reckoned the ruffian could stand a debtor’s prison more easily than he.

The name on the letter Barclay recognised, for if he was represented by Ommanney & Druce, he yet knew the name and reputation of every person who traded as a prize agent for the officers of the Royal Navy, their various abilities a common subject of conversation as well as their failings when it came to settling cases; like most captains Barclay had one mired in the courts for a well-laden merchantman recaptured off Brittany in his first week at sea.

‘Surely he is not soliciting my custom?’ he said as he broke the seal and began to read, his head slowly beginning to shake. ‘I cannot believe that a man of his standing is worried about a couple of tars.’

‘Sir?’ Gherson enquired and Barclay passed the letter
over and after a short perusal he provided an explanation. ‘I think you will find that Davidson represents John Pearce, sir.’

‘Of course, damn it, I did not smoke the names.’

‘Do you recall sir, that absurd soubriquet, the Pelicans?’

That got a low growl from Devenow; it was Charlie Taverner who had split his ear and he had suffered at the hands of those Pelican sods before that, the worst being Michael O’Hagan.

‘Why would he offer four prime hands, it says here they are ex-smugglers, for two such creatures?’

‘They have a bond, sir, and I fear he thinks you might ill use them.’

‘Give me half a chance, Gherson, and I will do so. The slightest slip on their part and I’ll see them at the grating for a round dozen each.’

That had the clerk smirking at Devenow, who obviously had not told the captain the truth of his head wound – Barclay had assumed he had been drunk and fallen over. The look Gherson got back was full of bile. But soon Gherson’s attention was back on Barclay and he wondered if he should tell him that between decks Charlie Taverner and Rufus Dommet had a mess that would act to protect them. Indeed he half suspected that was the root cause of Devenow’s damaged ear.

‘Well I’ll be damned if I’ll oblige Pearce.’

The letter was handed back. ‘Four good hands in place of two, sir.’

Barclay waved the paper with some irritation. ‘You’re not suggesting I do?’

‘Wouldn’t be right, your honour,’ Devenow snarled.

That got him a rebuke. ‘This is none of your concern, man, please stay out of it.’

Gherson was strong on self-preservation and he could recall very clearly the scary tales he had been told when he too was a pressed seaman. If others eventually saw that the older hands were playing upon them, Gherson had taken to heart their tales of how easily a fellow aboard a ship at sea could come to harm – the most frightening, for a man who had been tossed by Denby Carruther’s thugs into the River Thames to die, was the notion that on a dark night any unpopular cove could so easily go over the side.

Vanity, and he had a great deal of that, did not prevent Gherson from the knowledge that he was not much loved by his fellow man – he despised most of them in return and made little secret of it, the only exception being his propensity to grovel when he needed their help. Having no idea how Devenow had got his split ear it was not too far-fetched to suppose it had come from either the Pelicans or the members of their mess, and if they would attack and wound a big sod like him, what would they do to anyone else against whom they had a grudge, he being the most likely?

‘I think it would be safer if they were off the ship, sir.’

‘Safer?’ Barclay demanded.

It’s all right for you, Gherson thought, secure here in your great cabin with a marine sentry at the door and every eye on you when you go anywhere, never mind that Devenow is ever by your side. What about me? I dare not go on deck after dark, and who is to say that daylight renders me safe?

‘Sir,’ he said, trying to sound sage, ‘they are troublemakers.’

‘Not on my ship.’

‘They are cut from the same cloth as John Pearce and he has caused you no end of nuisance in the past.’ That being reminded did not go down well was obvious by the expression on Barclay’s face – he looked like a mastiff who had swallowed a wasp. ‘I am merely suggesting that it is not prudent to allow these two individuals to remain aboard when you have an opportunity to remove them and stop them from fomenting disorder.’

‘It seems to me, Gherson, that you have some indication that they have been at that already.’

‘I took it upon myself, sir,’ Gherson lied, ‘to warn them against it, but can I be sure they heeded me?’

‘By damn, they’ll heed me.’

‘Ask Devenow how he got his ear.’

‘What?’ Barclay asked, turning to the man in question.

‘You thought he was drunk, sir, but I know he was not, so how did he come by such a wound?’