Daphne made sure that the dinner went smoothly despite the difficulty that in neither group did anyone talk the other’s language except for herself. She spent some time translating and in some cases summarizing. She could see from Giles’s expression that he was understanding more and more of what was being said in French, though he was not attempting to express himself in that language. The diners did not linger at the table after the meal was finished, but nevertheless Daphne felt that she could count the social gathering as a success.
That was confirmed later by Giles, who was delighted both with Daphne’s ability to handle what could have been an awkward situation, and with the fact that he had gleaned some important understanding of the conversations largely because of her efforts. He regretted even more deeply than before that he could not take her to St. Petersburg, not only as a companion but also as an invaluable aid.
Admiral Gardner’s fleet came over the horizon later in the day, just where Giles had expected them to be. Giles and Daphne went aboard the flagship immediately. Daphne was getting quite accustomed to the ceremony involved in a post captain’s coming aboard a ship and was becoming adept at retaining her dignity while being hauled by a crude contraption onto the deck of a ship.
Much to Giles’s surprise, Admiral Gardner came on deck to greet them. “Welcome aboard, Lady Ashton, I have heard a good deal about you, but the reports do not do you justice.”
Daphne was surprised by this greeting, for she was not at all used to her new title. She always thought of herself as Lady Giles, if she thought of her formal name at all. However, with no show of surprise, she curtseyed to the Admiral while extending her hand so that he could kiss it. “I am surprised that you have heard much about me. It is unlike Captain Giles to talk much about his personal affairs or activities.”
“Oh, I have other sources of information. You are quite right about Captain Giles. I believe that he contented himself with saying he had found the perfect wife for himself, though he did make occasional references that indicated that you were managing his estate. No, I heard about you from Captain Bush, whose ship is under my command, and from Mr. Edwards, who is my prize agent as well as your husband’s. They are both convinced that you are a wonder in your endeavors as well as in pulchritude. My condolences on the loss of your brothers, Ashton.”
“Thank you, sir, though we were not close. Incidentally, I intend to use my naval rank in the service, not my title.”
“Very wise, I believe. I must confess that I am very happy to know that you will inherit the earldom, rather than your brother. We can use all the men of ability and integrity that we can get in the Lords, and your brother promised to make your father look like he had been an asset when the time to transfer the title came.
“Now come below and tell me why you are here and what that prize you brought with you is all about. I did not expect you, but had heard you were on some sort of undertaking for the Admiralty. I have to tell you, Lady Giles, that one of the joys of commanding your husband is that he tends to have good tales to tell when we meet.”
The Admiral had rearranged his furniture so that this time his guests were not lined up on one side of his desk while he sat on the other with the light behind him. Instead, he had had his servant make a circle of chairs. He fussed about making sure that coffee and biscuits were served to his guests before signaling that he was ready to listen. Giles told the tale of his battle in Pavensey Bay and gave his superior the documents that had been found in the bag. He also mentioned his certainty that the captured French officers were convinced that the documents were all at the bottom of the sea. Admiral Gardner examined the recovered papers carefully and then looked up.
“You were quite right to bring this discovery to me, Captain Giles, though you have now posed a pretty problem for me. We don’t want it known generally what you have discovered, or even where and when you captured the French frigate. I can help with that by keeping your prize and the prisoners with me for a while. In fact, I’ll arrange it now.”
The Admiral broke off to summon his flag lieutenant and issued a string of orders to send a prize crew to Le Jour de Triomphe and then to take Giles’s prize crew to Glaucus. That task completed, he resumed his comments on the situation.
“As I was saying, we want to keep the capture unknown ashore for a while. On the other hand, the news has to be given to the proper authorities as soon as possible so that they can deal with the espionage danger and arrange to make sure to capture any vessel the French send to replace Le Jour de Triomphe. Admiral Smithers, the port admiral at Chatham and the Nore*, is the obvious man, but he is a time-server who was very annoyed not to get a lucrative posting at sea and does everything he can to try to magnify the importance of his role. He is certain to spread the word incautiously that he is involved in catching spies. The Admiralty has to be informed at once as well.
“The easiest thing would be for you to go to London immediately, but you are not under my orders and you have to go into Chatham to pick up Sir Walcott Lainey. If you left him in Chatham while you went up to London, he would raucously broadcast your irresponsible insult to him far and wide. Almost anything else that I could do to get the news to the proper authorities might let the cat* out of the bag* since we do not know where idle conversations might be overheard by agents of our enemy.”
“The answer to this part of your problem is simple, Admiral Gardiner,” Daphne broke in. “I have to return to Dipton. Indeed, I expect that my coach will be waiting for me in Chatham when we get there. I can easily go through London on my way and deliver the material and your comments to the Admiralty. If it causes any gossip in the Admiralty, it will be about Sir David’s wandering eye and his charming the ladies and not about any special messages.”
“I am not sure that I like that. How do you know about his roving eye?” huffed Giles.
“A woman has to be in his presence for only a couple of minutes to recognize it. I’ll make sure on leaving that it is quite clear to all that I am on my way to Dipton, if you are worried about that. No, the gossip, if any, in the Admiralty will be how I was trying to play to his weaknesses to advance your career.”
“You are quite right, Lady Ashton,” said Admiral Gardner. “You have married a really amazing woman, Captain Giles. She is correct about how her visit would be interpreted. In fact, the attempts of ladies to use their wiles on Sir David to advance the careers of their husbands is almost a standing joke in the Admiralty. Their endeavors are not always unsuccessful, either, I might add.”
Giles still did not seem to be happy with the arrangement, but he could see that it really was a good solution to the Admiral’s dilemma. It was also clear that Daphne was eager to undertake the task. If he objected, she might believe him to be a meddling, huffy husband, such as one might find on the stage, rather than the sagacious and open-minded man who he was sure he was.
“I don’t want to seem rude,” Admiral Gardiner continued, somewhat to Giles’s amusement for it was a phrase he had never heard his superior use before, “but time and tide wait for no man – or woman. More precisely, a few minutes wasted at the start of a voyage can turn into hours by the end when one relies on winds and currents. If you leave now, you can be in Chatham in time to leave for London first thing in the morning, Lady Ashton.”
The Admiral escorted Daphne and Giles to the entry port with no further waste of time, and after the usual ceremony and the swaying of Daphne into the barge, they were off again to Glaucus. On boarding, Giles issued a string of orders that would see them under way just as soon as the men from Le Jour de Triomphe were aboard and the flagship’s boat had taken charge of the three prisoners.
Well before eight bells of the forenoon watch*, they were underway, for an unremarkable trip on a decreasing wind that had just enough strength to get them into the Nore as the sun was setting. Admiral Gardner had probably been right; they might have had trouble getting into the Nore and finding an anchorage if they had delayed their departure by much.
Chapter X
Daphne and Giles boarded his barge early in the morning for the trip to Chatham from the Nore. The wind and tide were such that it made no sense for Glaucus to work her way up the Medway to Chatham just to turn around and come back down. As their boat moved through the other ships at anchor, Giles noted a large number of telescopes pointed at them from the various quarterdecks. It did not surprise him. He knew that he was the subject of gossip and speculation throughout the fleet. Talk of his marriage to someone about whom none of them had ever heard had spread widely, both by members of his own crew and also by those who did know her such as Mr. Edwards and Captain Bush, his longtime friend and fellow resident of Dipton. Typical of Daphne, the hood of her boat cloak was thrown back as she sat in the sternsheets* so that she could get a good look at all the vessels, thus providing the gawkers a fine view of her lovely, intelligent face. Giles himself was almost overcome reveling yet again in his good luck in winning her hand.
There was, in fact very little wind, and the glowering skies did little to enhance the drab view of mudflats and salt marshes as they proceeded up the Medway River from its mouth. The barge skimmed swiftly through the water and Daphne could study the Chatham Dockyard when it came into view with the town of Gillingham spread over the hill behind it. It took no time at all before they tied up at a dock near the coaching inn where Daphne’s carriage should be waiting.
The vehicle was, indeed, at the inn. While the horses were being harnessed and the luggage loaded aboard, Daphne and Giles had a farewell cup of coffee in the inn’s private parlor. Much as Daphne would have liked to stay until Sir Walcott Lainey appeared, the need to get to London took precedence. Carstairs helped Betsy into the coach, while teasing her that she had certainly turned Carpenter’s Mate Richards’s head. With a last embrace from Giles, Daphne followed her maid into the carriage and they were on their way.
As the coach set off, Giles saw that Viscount Ashton’s coat of arms had been painted on the door. He hadn’t ordered it, so he wondered if it was there at Daphne’s order or at Steves’s. Both were likely suspects. Steves was always ready to glorify his employer, especially as, in terms of prestige, service to Captain the Honorable Sir Richard Giles was a comedown from serving the Earl of Camshire, even though his present position was a much more agreeable one. On the other hand, Daphne had been conscious of snubs delivered by the most elevated of the ladies in the Ameschester area and of attempts to put her in her proper place. She would not be above rubbing their noses in the fact that she now took precedence over all of them, since the highest title among them was Baroness and others were at most the wives of Baronets.
Had Giles been able to ask Daphne about the crest on the carriage door, he would have discovered that she hadn’t even thought about the coat of arms that came with Giles’s courtesy title. She also would not have confessed that, if she had thought about it, she certainly would have had it emblazoned on her coach’s door to annoy a few particular ladies, though that is certainly what she would have done. Her thoughts as the coach pulled onto the turnpike going to Landon were on how to spend her time in London once she had completed her mission to the Admiralty. She had unfinished business there concerning that wretched lease on the house in Arlington Street.
It was well past noon before Daphne’s carriage came through the arch in the Adams Screen to enter the Admiralty courtyard from Whitehall. Possibly the crest on the door served its purpose, for she was ushered without delay into the First Lord’s presence.
“Lady Ashton,” Sir David greeted her once she was properly seated, “to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?”
Daphne summarized concisely the fight with the French frigate, and the discovery of the contents of the bag that had been thrown overboard. Sir David was struck with what an orderly and complete presentation she made. He expected that on naval matters ladies would be scatter-brained and incoherent.
“My lady, I am very grateful for your bringing me this material. I must say that it is a pity that you are not accompanying Captain Giles to St. Petersburg. I am sure that you would be much better able to discover the real attitudes to joining us or about Bonaparte in St. Petersburg than will Sir Walcott. Now, let me see these documents, please.”
Sir David rapidly skimmed the materials that Daphne had brought. “You and Captain Giles are quite right. These are matters requiring immediate attention and discretion. I am not sure the officials in Chatham would have provided either. However, you have certainly disrupted my day. I must deal with this at once, even though I had a very busy afternoon already scheduled. I hate to rush you away, Lady Ashton, but these problems are very pressing.”
“I quite understand, Sir David,” said Daphne, who had no desire for chitchat with the First Lord now that her task was completed. She quickly found herself in the courtyard of the Admiralty, where her carriage was waiting to take her to Mr. Edwards’s offices. The coat of arms was certainly proving its worth since otherwise her carriage would not have been allowed to stay in the small courtyard. They proceeded up Whitehall and down the Strand, but their way was completely blocked at Fetter Street. Daphne resolved to take a sedan chair the rest of the way when she noticed one depositing its occupant near where her carriage was halted.
Two burly chairmen picked the conveyance up and took off at a good pace. They maneuvered around the blockages in Fleet Street and over the ditch into the City. Daphne had trouble deciding which side to look out on as they passed worthy sight after worthy sight. They surged through the pedestrian and horse-drawn traffic in a way that would have been impossible with a carriage. She suspected from the looks of some people whom they passed that the leading chairmen was not above using one of the long poles at the front of the chair to forcefully clear the way ahead. She was deposited in front of Mr. Edwards’s offices after an amazingly quick trip.
Daphne was shown immediately into Mr. Edwards’s own room, even though she had no appointment and he was busy with another man. “Lady Ashton,” he greeted her. “Mr. Longshank and I were just discussing the documents Captain Giles sent us about the lease in Arlington Street. Mr. Longshank is a solicitor specializing in leases and contracts on real-estate properties. He is also a neighbor of yours, at least his parents are, or so he tells me.”
“Oh, of course, you must be Andrew, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Longshank of Cobbdale House. Your mother talks about you when we visit each other. Weren’t you at the Hunt Ball last spring?”
“Yes, I was. In fact, I was introduced to you then, but I don’t expect that you remember me. You were very busy that evening.”
“I was, but now that you mention it, I do recall you. Weren’t you talking with my niece Catherine when we were introduced?”
“Yes, I was.” To Daphne’s surprise, Mr. Longshank blushed at the mention of Catherine.
“Enough of this,” broke in Mr. Edwards. “I am sure that Lady Ashton did not come here today to renew connections with people from Ameschester. I imagine that she is here about that wretched lease and that is why you are here too, Mr. Longshank. What have you found out about it?”
“Quite a lot. At first sight, just looking at the lease itself, it seems very straightforward. It is a lease on a house owned by Lord Knockingdon. The lease is for a period of several years terminating in about 30 months. The rent on the property is in arrears, which doesn’t help matters, especially as Viscount Ashton is probably less experienced in avoiding debtor’s prison than was the late Viscount Ashton. It is confusing that they both have the same name.”
“You are right. My husband hates debt. Incidentally, you might as well refer to him as Captain Giles,” said Daphne. “That is how he is known in the Navy and I expect that Mr. Edwards thinks of him by that name. It will make this discussion simpler.”
“Very good, my lady. This would, at first sight, appear to be straightforward. You could get rid of the lease by paying two extra quarters’ rent in advance, or by selling the lease with Lord Knockington’s app
roval. Since the rent is so high, the first option would be better. However, the other documents pretty well render moot the provisions for ending the lease.”
“Why is that, Mr. Longshank?” asked Daphne in a very puzzled voice.
“They are an interlocking web of provisions. For instance, this contract between Viscount Ashton and Lord Knockingdon and Mrs. Marsdon guarantees Lord Knockingdon two free lessons with Mrs. Marsdon a month. The guarantee runs up to the time the lease runs its full course, not to any earlier date at which it might be terminated.”
“Lessons? What sort of lessons could she give?”
“It says that the lessons are in deportment, dancing and theatrical presentation.”
“Oh. It seems strange to me that Lord Knockingdon would desire such lessons. Or that Mrs. Marsdon could supply them.”
“It does. I am afraid that these are euphemisms for more dubious … more dubious … carnal endeavors. Not the usual sort of lessons. The terms are used, possibly, in order to allow misinterpretation by third parties such as ourselves, or by some magistrate whose attention was called to them.”
“I see.”
“Special ‘lessons’ are mentioned in other documents. For instance, in one of them, Mrs. O’Brien is allowed to book some particular rooms for her employees to give lessons. In another, there is a schedule of how the fees are to be split if the lessons are arranged by Lord Ashton.”
“What? Why would he do that? Is this also referring to carnal activities? Doesn’t that make him a …a…what is the word?”
“Pimp, my lady? Yes, I suppose that it does.”
“Is that what all these documents are about – running a … a…?”
“No. There are arrangements for Viscount Ashton to pay the interest on Mrs. Marsdon’s debts to Mrs. O’Brien, and provisions for Mrs. Marsdon to accompany him as desired to routs* or banquets or similar functions, though only to a limited extent. Then there is one arranging for Mrs. O’Brien to provide cleaning services by maids at specified rates.”
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