Abigail's Cousin (43 page)

"D'Artagnan, a
votre service, mon ami."

"Prior, Mathew
Prior!" came the feeble response adding, "You came monsieur in the
nick of time, but how is my friend, monsieur Mesnager."

In answer came
Mesnager's voice: " I am alright, monsieur. Grace a Dieu!" The
smoke now was dissipating fast in the breeze and prior saw with
shock bodies lying around, asking weakly:

"How many were
there?"

He got no
response except a very tall musketeer called out: "I see someone
making signals out to sea."

Mesnager
cried: "Ah! I have no lamp to signal."

"Pas
s'inquietez, monsieur!" It was D'Artagnan who shouted, adding: "I
have a reflecting glass. Tell me the signals."

He stood on
the hub of a carriage and on being told, he caught the evening sun
at the correct angle and flashed and Prior climbing upon the other
wheel, saw the yacht and someone climb down into a dinghy, calling
to Mesnager:

"We must find
our carriage, All our baggage is in there."

But again the
senior musketeer shouted: "Do not worry, monsieur. There is your
carriage!" He pointed to an object hidden by trees about a hundred
paces away.

"Where is
Maurice?" demanded Mesnager.

"Helas,
monsieur." replied D'Artagnan and he smiled sadly as did the other
three musketeers who Prior noticed had shouldered their muskets but
continued to smile sadly, taking their cue from D'Artagnan.

"Monsieur!"
The shouted name came from the beach and once again Prior stood on
the hub of the carriage to get a better view and seeing, Robert,
waved frantically. Robert ran up the beach crossing the final few
yards on wooden planks set into the dunes that Prior had not
noticed before. Robert was then in front of him and Prior jumped
down to greet him whereafter Robert shouted in English:

"Where is your
baggage?"

Immediately
D'Artagnan jumped down on the sand whereupon he drew his sword
shouting: "Un Anglais!" This caused Mesnager in a panic to shout at
the musketeer: "Monsieur, il est ici par licence du roi. Do not
harm him. Sheath your swords. I beg you! How do we get to England
without him?"

"Mon Dieu!"
exclaimed D'Artagnan, "Did you ever hear the like.
Porthos, mon ami. An Englishman upon the sacred soil of
France."

"I beg you,
monsieur D'Artagnan, do not harm him. He is a friend of France."
Prior placed himself in front of Robert which action touched the
musketeer who declared:

"Mais mon ami.
Of course, we would not harm him. D'Artagnan must have his little
joke, n'est-ce pas!"

Robert, all
this time rooted to the spot, now smiled, even chuckled after
seeing the colourful French officer also smile. He had not
understood a word but relieved to see him put away his sword drew a
sleeve across his forehead and commented dryly to Prior:

"For a minute
I thought I was a chicken on his spit. Now Mr Prior show me your
luggage else the skipper might still spit me, if I don't soon show
up."

Yet as Prior
led the way over the sand-covered grassy heath avoiding the odd
bush to get to their carriage and had nearly reached it, another
distraction occurred and both men stopped and looked at each other
as towards the party scattered in the clearing came a chaise being
driven at speed. The two watched as did everyone as the chaise
wheeled into the clearing and further amazed to see the Abbe
Gaultier greet D'Artagnan like a long lost friend. Le chevalier
strode to the chaise greeting the Abbe:

"Mon cher ami,
monsieur l'Abbe. Tu aussi!"

The Abbe
wrapping the reins around the splashback gave him both hands and
called out:

"My dear
D'Artagnan, when was the last time we were together. Help me down,
dear friend!"

The two men
exchanged kisses in triplicate both crying out in unison:

"What the
devil brings you here?"

Prior turned
to show Robert where his and Mesnager's luggage was before calling
belatedly to Mesnager:

"That you are
unscathed is a miracle. I hardly dared to hope."

Mesnager was
shaken and bruised by his tumble earlier and his only concern now
was how Robert was going to manage the three of them, and Prior
translated his words to him but he, carrying the two valises,
simply said:

"Do not
concern yourself, sir, on my account." He spoke almost in a whisper
looking furtively around, but D'Artangan was still conversing with
the Abbe while his three companions had returned to their coach and
having located their cache of refreshments were drinking toasts to
each other and talking so loudly that nothing Robert had said could
possibly be overheard, nonetheless he did not raise his voice to
say:

"The skipper told me about a third person.
Could you point him out
?"

Seeing Robert
take the baggage to the boat, Gaultier removed his own valise from
the chaise and made his farewells while the others made their way
to the dinghy, D'Artagnan calling to the departing back of the
Abbe:

Remember me to
monsieur Churchill, s'il vous plait. Au revoir mes amis." He called
over to his chums:

"Porthos,
Athos, Aramis! Say au revoir to our friends."

As one they chorused au revoir raising
their glasses to D'Artagnan
indicating what he was missing. Prior was now intent on
finding out from the Abbe about his chaise which apparently
belonged to the marquis. He said to anyone that would
listen:

"Do you know,
between Paris and Wissant, I made just two stops, to change horses,
but I'm glad I made it. Fancy seeing monsieur D'Artagnan after all
those years."

Prior said to
Mesnager: "And our carriage, monsieur, with Maurice dead what
happens to that?"

After
reassuring his friend that he had left it in good hands, Mesnager
with a look of concern, said: "But monsieur L'Abbe you have not
eaten!" The Abbe laughed at Mesnager's concern, saying
cheerily:

"A priest is
quite accustomed to the rigours of the fast, my dear sir. After all
I had water" He gave a little giggle and added: "mixed with a
little 'eau de vie'."

Prior
whispered to the oarsman: "I nearly forgot Robert. I managed to
procure some 'eau de vie' for you and the skipper." Robert waited
until he had pulled a full stroke and in the forward stroke,
murmured:

"A little
brandy will help recover our spirit in no time." The little riposte
went down well and just before they had reached the yacht, Prior
turned around at the disappearing figures on the beach and gave a
farewell wave.

PART 4: PEER

The Duke of
Marlborough was not only a matchless battle commander but showed
intuitive judgement in his choice of men for the tasks he asked
them - not commanded them - to do. An example was Henry St John who
helped to recconoitre the terrain of Blenheim the day before the
battle. Now as a politician the skills honed for war proved vital
for Robert Harley's cause as he was forced to retire to Hereford to
recover from the grevious wound inflicted by Anthonie de
Guiscard.

After a terrain reconnoitre such as he had
carried out for his captain-general, St John had settled for a
strip of coastline opposite France where inland communications were
satisfactory. Tracks and roads in the area came together at Deal
and had been developed until then to serve the local fishing
community although the advantages of the area were also spotted by
another group of entrepreneurs for the purpose of smuggling.
However the war between England and France forced the temporary
curtailment of this activity because of the activities of French
privateers operating out of Dunquerque. For the reason of escaping
any pursuit, St John, acting for the government, bought a fast
yacht which could outrun a privateer and saw that it was stowed in
an inlet under constant observation
.

The one-time
Minister of War had also surveyed a vantage point and saw that the
ideal observation point was one of a trio of castles constructed
under orders of Henry VIII when he feared invasion from an army of
the Pope. Since that time, 1539, Sandown Castle had slipped into
the sea so it fell to a choice between Deal Castle and Walmer
Castle. He settled on Walmer owing to its relative remoteness. On
the evening of August 10th, 1711, it was manned by soldiers and
when an approaching boat was sighted, moving quickly towards their
strip of shingle, not everything went according to the well-laid
plans of Henry St. John, who had already observed in the field that
the best laid plans need adaptation to circumstances.

The stone
castle was constructed on the quatre-foil principle comprising a
central core surrounded by four circular lobes for the deployment
of cannon each field of view being overlapped by an adjacent lobe
though, apart from test firing of shot, none of the cannon had been
fired in anger. The castles were used by the military for their
excellent vantage points and on this particular evening the
north-east lobe was being patrolled by soldiers. The two troopers
marched atop the battlements one facing the town and his opposite
number looking out to sea and turning round to march in the
opposite direction crossing each other in the middle. At the end of
his march one of the soldiers took action as laid down in their
standing orders for patrol duties. With the familiarity of friends
and contrary to regulations, he shouts to his companion:

"Josiah! Come
and take a look."

"What is it
this time, John?"

"There! See,
where I am pointing. Oh, it's gone"

"You are
seeing things. Anyway it's time we were going off watch. It must be
time surely. Lord, am I chilled. Who is relieving us?"

"There 'tis
again. Shade your eyes against the sun, trooper. Put down your
musket man!"

"All I see is
sea. The sun is well nigh dazzling me. There's a boat. Is that what
you were on about."

"Do you see
that winking light?"

"Aye, I do.
Down to the guardroom trooper and notify serjeant Gay."

"No need,
Josiah. Can you not hear our relief climbing the steps?"

Both listen to
the approaching footfalls, Josiah gesturing to his companion to
pick up his musket and resume marching and upon the sight of a
soldier's head appearing atop the steps, marches forward in smart
order calling:

"Serjeant Gay!
I have something to report."

The man
addressed waits while the men with him reach the top, yelling:
"Halt! Stand to!" Then he addresses the watchman:

"Now fusilier,
what have you to report?"

"A yacht,
serjeant. Over there." He jerked his head out to see and the
serjeant barks: "Show me!"

The serjeant
walks over to the battlement and peers against the evening sun,
calling: "In which direction, soldier?"

Then he barks
an order: "Fusilier Smith, down to the guardroom, at the double.
Present my compliments to Captain Richards and inform him that
serjeant Gay requests his presence urgently. Off with you!"

He addressed
the relief guardsmen:

"Fusilier
Watson, train your eyes on the town. Look for any flashing lights."
Then to the other two soldiers: "Keep your eyes peeled!"

"Permission
to speak, sejeant?"

"Granted,
Brown!"

"Could the
boat be trying to signal the castle, serjeant?"

He had no
chance to answer as hurrying footsteps were heard and the captain
appeared a little breathless. He said:

"What is it,
serjeant?" As he spoke he removed a folding telescope from a pocket
and the serjeant in answer beckoned out to sea where now all could
observe a sleek looking boat with red sails fast approaching the
shore. A lantern could be made out even with the naked eye which
someone was holding aloft in the cabin. The light went out and
reappeared as though someone was trying to effect a series of
flashes. The captain asked:

"How soon do
you estimate it will hit the beach, serjeant?

Gay answered:
"In half-an-hour, sir."

"How quickly
could you be there to meet it?

"Long before
it hit the beach, sir."

"I want you to
time your appearance so that he crew have no chance to manoeuvre
back out to sea. We must be prepared for any eventuality."

"I shall need
four men, sir, besides myself."

"Very well,
serjeant. Anything else?"

"What are your
orders for the crew, sir?"

"Inform the
master, whoever it may be and any crew, that you are detaining them
at the queen's pleasure. You are at liberty to make your deployment
as you see fit, serjeant."

The serjeant
told the relief to take up their guard duties and for the other
soldiers to accompany him to the guardroom and they disappeared
down the steps. Captain Richards ordered the relief pair to carry
out their guard duty then follows the serjeant down the steps. He
reaches the bottom of the first flight, walks along a corridor,
stops at a stout wooden door and knocks and being invited to enter
walks inside a room where a man is sitting at a table. He is not in
soldier's uniform. The captain addresses him:

"Mr Macky, I
have just now dispatched a troop under serjeant Gay to apprehend a
yacht approaching the shore."

Macky looked
up from the table to say: "A bit of excitement eh. I thought there
was some unusual activity. Soldiers don't normally move so fast
other than at the end of their shift. Have you formed an idea
captain as to the boat and its occupants?"

"I believe it
is ours, Mr Macky, and all above board, but it is as well to be
sure. Hence my orders to serjeant Gay."

Macky asked:
"When do you estimate they will be back, captain?"