attentive hands had already done it.
‘Which the coffee is getting cold,’ said Killick. ‘And the squids won’t be worth eating.’
‘Mr Smith wishes to tell you that the armourer has unspiked all the Truelove’s guns,’ said Pullings, coming across the deck and taking off his hat.
The information came down the chain of command to the armourer, who stepped forward, wheezing and chuckling, gave Jack a handkerchief full of spikes, all with an internal screw-thread tapped into the thick end and all glistening with sweet oil. ‘I learnt that ploy in the old Illustrious,’ he said, chuckling still.
‘And it was an illustrious deed, too,’ said Jack. ‘Well done, Rogers, upon my word. Good morning, Doctor. You could not have timed your arrival better: we have fried squids for breakfast.’
The squids dispatched, the proper enquiries after the sick-berth made, and a fresh pot of coffee begun, Jack said quietly, ‘It may seem flying in the face of Providence to talk about what to do after a battle before you have fought it; but some things, like preventer-stays, have to be laid on before-hand, although in the event they may not prove useful. So I will say this: the gunroom’s problems would be best resolved if I were to send Oakes in with the prize. But what would his wife think of it? I do not want to order that good modest young woman back if she don’t choose to go. What do you think? You know her so much better than I do.’
‘I cannot tell. But I shall be seeing her later in the morning and I will endeavour to find out.
When do you propose to land?’
‘Not until after dinner. I am letting the canoes come alongside and gossip, so that Queen Puolani will know everything about us and what is afoot. She will not be caught unprepared – it is a dreadful thing to have a whole carriageful of people draw up at your door and leap out grinning, the house all ahoo, carpets taken up, a great washing going on, the children bawling, yourself confined to the head, having taken physic, and your wife gone to Pompey in hopes of a new cook.’
The Queen was not to be caught unprepared; nor was the Surprise or her people. The quarterdeck carronades, so much lighter than long guns, and at short range so much more deadly, were made ready for carrying ashore, together with powder and shot, mostly case-shot, in canisters of twenty-four pounds apiece. The ship’s blackened sea-service muskets were blackened again, the seaman’s natural propensity to polish having made them shine more than they should, as Jack had noticed at Pabay; and now, considering the country before him and all that Tapia had to say about it, he had fair expectations of laying an ambush. Pikes, bayonets, boarding-axes, cutlasses, pistols and murdering-pieces were all laid neatly out on the one hand, only waiting the order to go ashore; and on the other bandages, splints, surgical needles and waxed thread, silk or hemp. The civil side was naturally of great importance too: presents – a large looking-glass, feathers, patterned cloth, cut-glass decanters – had been laid in a sandal-wood chest, while a crown piece, with King George’s head, ringed and hung from a sky-blue ribbon, lay in Jack’s pocket – and the officers, knowing the Polynesians’ great regard for rank, set out silver-buckled shoes, white silk stockings, breeches, fine coats and cocked hats, and the Captain’s bargemen put by their uniform dress of white trousers, light blue brass-buttoned jackets and neat little pumps with bows, agony to wear on feet long flattened by bare contact with the deck. Because of the heat, and for fear of dirtying them, however, none of these things were put on until the Surprise, followed by the Truelove and accompanied by many canoes, rounded-to opposite Eeahu, brought up in five fathom water, and flashed out a fine display of bunting.
During this long interval Clarissa came to see Stephen and for a while they talked of her health, each feeling shy of approaching yesterday’s conversation. He said ‘I am better pleased with you today than ever I have been before. I shall leave off the mercury, which will do away with the slight salivation you mention. It is, as you know, a specific for the malady you dreaded, but Dr Redfern was quite right in his diagnosis and I exhibited it only
to clear up the trouble for which you first consulted me. It has done its work; but I think we must continue the steel and bark for a little while, to consolidate the general improvement.’
‘I thank you, dear Doctor, for your very great care of me,’ she said, and sat with folded hands for a while before going on, ‘I have thought about returning to England, as you desired me to do; and if the possibility were to arise I should very much like to go back.’
‘My dear, I am heartily glad to hear you say so. The possibility has arisen. At breakfast this morning Captain Aubrey said that he had it in mind to give your husband the Truelove to take in, but he hesitated on your account, being unsure how you would like it. He asked me to sound you. I was so nearly certain that you would say yes that I have already prepared a letter for my friend: his name is Blaine, Sir Joseph Blaine, and he has a place under government. I must apologize for its being sealed, a necessary proof of its authenticity. In it I have told him nothing of your childhood and youth, only that you were employed to keep the accounts at Mother Abbott’s – he is as well acquainted with the place as I – and that you knew a great deal about what went on in the house.”
‘Did you tell him how I came to be sent to Botany Bay?’
‘I said that a member of Black’s – Sir Joseph too is a member – begged you off, and that is enough for him. He is discretion itself, the very heart of discretion, and you need fear no impertinent questions from him, no personal questions at all. If you will tell him all that you told me about Wray and Ledward and their friends he will be satisfied. And here’ – holding up a small parcel – ‘is a small parcel of beetles for him; he is passionately devoted to beetles, and nothing could be better to guarantee your good faith. You do not mind beetles, my dear.’
‘I do not mind them at all. Indeed, I have sometimes tried to help them climb a stone, but always in vain,’ said Clarissa.
‘Very good. I do hate women that cry out “Oh beetles! Oh serpents! Oh mice or centipedes!” and long to knock their silly affected heads together. But now, my dear, things are likely to move very fast and we may neither of us have time to talk at our leisure. So let me tell you one or two things of importance: you will certainly go by way of Batavia, where the prize will be condemned and sold, and you will both travel to England in an Indiaman from Canton. Here is a letter to my banker in Batavia, who will provide you with funds to travel in something resembling comfort. And since East Indiamen usually put their passengers down in or near the Thames, here is a draught on my infamous London bankers that will tide you over until Mr Oakes can come at his pay and prize-money.’
‘How very, very …”
‘A small loan between friends is no great thing, my dear. And here is a note for Mrs Broad, who keeps a comfortable inn in the Liberties of the Savoy: I have mentioned her before.
You would do well to stay there and send a note by ticket-porter to Sir Joseph Blaine, asking for an appointment in the evening and going there by hackney-coach. You need not be afraid of him: he is appreciative of tender young charms, but he is no satyr. You will not forget the beetles, Clarissa. And lastly here is a letter for my wife. If Mr Oakes passes for lieutenant and is appointed to a ship, which I think will be the case, I believe she will ask you to stay with her until we return from the seas … I hesitate to say anything about Mr Oakes’s discretion.’
‘You may rely upon it,’ said Clarissa, with a curious smile, ‘partly because he knows, really knows, nothing, and partly because -‘
The rest of her words were drowned in a violent roaring above their heads, a piping and the rush of feet. ‘Jesus, Mary and Joseph,’ cried Stephen. He whipped off his canvas shoes and trousers, drew on the fine breeches laid out; she tucked his shirt in behind and fastened the strap, folding and pinning his neckcloth, put his swordbelt over his shoulders, held out his best though still sadly shabby coat, straightened his wig and passed his hat.