‘Dancer lead the attack on the warehouse. He was mortally wounded by Dirck and, as he lay dying, I asked if George Tansy was his paymaster. Robert Petty had a theory that Tansy was behind the whole thing. Dancer confirmed Tansy was his brother but, by now, he was fading fast and it was difficult to understand all he said. His final utterance was a single word: ‘Judas’. But as he expired, his face broke into a dreadful smile.
‘From Dancer’s few words, I got the impression he and his brother shared a hatred of the Dutch and had reached some form of agreement to attack us. So when he said Judas I assumed George had somehow betrayed him in the end.
‘But I had no evidence of that, and I couldn’t rid myself of that single haunting image – Dancer’s death mask, a mocking grin. I was beginning to wonder if he was telling me something else, perhaps that the betrayal was mine, not his. And then I heard Elizabeth’s news.’
‘What news? Oh Tom, what are you saying?’ his mother cried. ‘Peter wouldn’t be involved with those dreadful people who tried to kidnap to kidnap Ellen., and killed poor Jan. Your brother couldn’t be responsible for his death.’
‘Peter was seething. ‘You base this accusation of me, your own brother, on a villain’s smile, as he died! What if this criminal was trying to place a doubt in your mind? Has it not occurred to you that an animal like him was intent on one final destructive act, to mislead you and turn you against your own brother – and you fell into his trap? I am mortified you could think me capable of such villainy.’
‘You said the gang leader was a criminal.’ Elizabeth’s steady voice cut through the emotion. ‘You said …an animal like him. Do you know him?’.
‘No, of course not.’
‘So why describe him as an animal?
‘Well he must have been, to lead such an attack. This is desperate stuff. Why have you both taken against me so?’
‘Because I saw you.’ Elizabeth again. Calm. Inexorable. ‘That was the news I gave to Tom.’
‘Saw me where? Who are you to be involved in my family affairs? What business is it of yours? It seems to me you are trying to insinuate yourself with my parents to gain their favour.’
‘Peter!’ Beatrix exclaimed. ‘If you spent more time with your family you would know that Elizabeth has become a firm friend to me, to us. If not for her, we could easily have lost Tom last year, when he almost drowned in the Thames.’
‘It is alright, Beatrix. Peter is right not to believe me with such a serious accusation. We do not know each other well. But Simon Atkins, would you believe him?
‘What? Well, yes, of course. Simon is an esteemed brother in the movement. But what has he got to do with this web of lies you are weaving?’
‘On John Pym’s orders, Simon Atkins led the troop that broke up the attack on your family warehouse. I know because I was with him, and we both saw you there, on the fringes. Go and ask him, Peter. Simon will confirm it.
‘Oh, this is absurd. You said the attack happened at night. It was dark!’
‘The people near you were holding firebrands. We saw you Peter. So how had you only heard rumours of what happened if you were there? Because you are lying to your family. Believe me, knowing how much this is hurting your mother, I would not say so if I was not absolutely sure.’
Beatrix searched Peter’s face. ‘Peter? Look at me! I need to know the truth. I demand the truth!’
Her eldest son stood and paced the room, stopping at the window. Outside, the clouds were heavy again with the threat of snow and one of the first flakes had stuck to a window pane. Peter placed one finger on the inside of the window, over the snowflake. He paused, thinking, then lifted his finger. The snowflake had disappeared. He turned and faced the room.
‘There is a mighty war coming. Any day now. Between the godly and our Papist loving King. Anyone who does not believe that is deluding themselves. ‘The country will split into two. We have God on our side but we are under no illusions that the King has a large number of misguided followers. So the numbers in both camps could be close.
‘Whosoever can find a singular advantage could gain control. Otherwise we must anticipate a long, bloody campaign, brother against brother, father against son’ and here he looked at Ralph and Tom. ‘It could take years. However, it could be different. I can lay my hands on such a singular advantage and end the struggle swiftly. I just need enough money.’
‘Do you mean more soldiers? Mercenaries? I wouldn’t put my trust in them,’ Ralph said. ‘Also I’m not sure either side will appreciate foreigners involved in a family quarrel.’
‘No, not mercenaries. Instead a battalion of honest godly Englishmen, committed to the cause.’
‘But everyone will have chosen which standard to fight under,’ Tom replied. ‘Where will you find additional recruits in England in sufficient numbers? ’
‘I won’t need to. They are waiting for me now, in America.’
Silence again.
‘We have planned this for the last six months. We have over 2,000 patriots, trained and ready to return, to be armed and fight for the cause, with more to come. We will charter a fleet to bring them back, once we have the money. Yes, the journey will take months, but this conflict will not be finished overnight.’
‘My God,’ Ralph whispered. ‘It could be done and they would make a difference. But how would you make it happen?’
‘I overheard a conversation between you and Uncle Jonas four or five years ago about a map you had acquired in the east. I was intrigued, so I did more eaves-dropping and discovered it was the source of much of our trading intelligence, ancient knowledge of the China seas that kept us ahead of our rivals, allowing us to navigate safely around reefs and other dangers to reach new trading centres which our rivals did not even know existed.
‘When I became desperate for a large sum, I remembered the map. If I took the chart, I could offer it to other merchants and name my price. I searched the house and the warehouse without success. Time was running out. With war becoming inevitable, I needed the money now. So I sought professional help. I spoke to various people. The same name kept cropping up: Jack Dancer, ruthless and determined, but also intelligent and resourceful, blessed with an education. I offered him a large fee to find the map on the condition that no one in the family would to be hurt. That’s why he planned the first raid on Bolton Hall when you were out.’
Tom held his hand up and Peter paused. ’So you’re telling me that, the very morning we met in the Bull Inn at Old Palace Yard and you promised to protect the family, at that precise moment you knew this gang was rampaging through our home?’
‘I’m sorry. That was one of the reasons I agreed to meet you then, to get you out of the house. As I said, I didn’t want any Tallant near Jack Dancer’s men when they got to work.’
‘Peter, whatever happens in the future, I’m afraid I can never trust you again, brother. Never.’
‘Well I regret that greatly. It is a burden I will have to bear, one of the many I have undertaken in the name of the Lord’s work.’
Tom said nothing; just glared at Peter, shaking his head.
‘You didn’t want the family to be hurt, but what about the deaths of two Jesuit priests?’ Elizabeth said. ’Presumably, they did not matter because they were Catholics.’
Peter turned on her. ‘What is this now? Another attempt to blacken my name. I have no idea what you are talking about!’
‘What is this, Elizabeth?’ Beatrix asked.
Tom interrupted. ‘Robert Petty had been investigating the murders of two Jesuit priests before the break-ins started. But what have these got to do with Peter?’
‘Ever since your father showed us the map, I have wondered how a European merchant - English, Dutch, Spanish, whoever - how could they use the chart, as all the descriptions are in Chinese - the name of towns, natural features, the navigational instructions. They would need someone who understood Chinese but could also speak the European language they used.
Where would you
find such a person? I thought about sailors and asked Isaac if he’d ever met a Chinese mariner in London, who’d maybe washed up in the city and never gone home. He said there had been one, many years ago, but the only English he knew was on-deck instructions and an impressive list of curses.
‘I had reached a dead-end but my mind wouldn’t let the matter drop. Then I realised the Jesuit murders had stopped when the break-ins started, which seemed more than a coincidence. Tom, you’d said the Jesuits had been executed expertly by a professional killer, and when I was told about Dancer’s brutal fight with Robert at the warehouse and heard about his reputation, I was convinced he was responsible for the death of the priests.
‘But why would he do that? Then it came to me last night in a conversation with my parents. My father was reading out a pamphlet, another warning about papist plots, telling Catholics to keep out of our country and go back to where they belonged, with the savages, working as missionaries . Missionaries…and it was there, staring me in the face.’
‘Elizabeth, I’m sorry but what are you talking about?’ Ralph interjected. ‘I think we are getting off the point…’
‘The villain! What a serpent…’ It was Peter, slamming his fist on the table.
“Yes, Peter. You said Dancer was intelligent, and he was too clever for you. When you described the map to him, he saw at once it would be more valuable and easier to sell if he could also provide a person who could translate all the precious navigational information which was written in Chinese.’
‘Jesuit missionaries!’ Tom cried out. ‘Barty told me they travelled all over the world spreading the faith. As far as North America…and China.’
‘My guess is Dancer was looking for a Jesuit priest who could speak and write enough Chinese to translate the map. I can only assume the first two he found suffered the misfortune of undertaking their missionary service elsewhere and, for that, they forfeited their lives. Once they knew Dancer, he couldn’t afford to let them live.’
‘So he murdered two priests because of information I gave him?’ Peter said.
‘Yes. I also don’t think he had any intention of handing the map over, once he’d secured it. He was intelligent enough to know its value, particularly if he also had someone to translate it.’
Peter held his head in his hands. Tom had never seen him so reduced, his usual confidence and energy had disappeared.
‘I knew nothing about this. I intended to let the buyer find a translator. I didn’t have time to look myself. After the first raid, Dancer took it upon himself to try another tactic to force father to cooperate - the kidnap attempt on Ellen. I was furious and said if he tried anything like that again I would cut our deal and tell the authorities. He didn’t like that and threatened me but I pointed out that I had my own army, so he agreed to continue. That would be when he stopped looking for Jesuits. He realised he needed to find the chart as soon as possible, and make a quick sale, before I had a change of heart and turned him in.
‘On the night of the final assault I repeated my order not to harm you, hence the sneak attacks,’ Peter continued. ‘But when I saw the fire spreading and your resistance holding, thanks to those damned rocket devices, I decided we were running out of time and needed to swamp you with bodies, so I called in the Boys. Then Dancer lost his senses when he saw Robert Petty and everything went wrong.
‘So now you have neither map nor money,’ Tom added.
‘Thanks to you, father. When the map was on fire, why didn’t extinguish the flames?’
‘As the fire in the warehouse spread, I ran up to the pepper store which by then was well alight. The pepper sacks were burning and I could hardly breathe. I battled my way to the chart’s hiding place only to find the map was already in flames. It all happened so quickly, there was nothing I could do. It’s a grievous loss to the company.’
The room fell silent, as all present absorbed the revelations.
Finally, Sir Ralph spoke again: ‘Peter, I find it hard to believe what I have just heard. You were prepared to steal from your own family, something you knew could bring financial ruin…’
‘Pah to financial ruin!’ Beatrix interrupted. ‘It’s cost the lives of two good men and left others injured.’
‘But I told Dancer not to harm you…’
‘So the lives of others do not matter?’ His mother was shouting now, red in the face. ‘And scaring your sister so much she has bad dreams and no longer wants to leave her room?’
‘My purpose was higher,’ Peter bridled. ‘I was doing God’s will. Raising an army to defend the godly and spread the truth.’
‘The truth!’ Beatrix exclaimed. ‘Do not insult my intelligence Peter by claiming to be an upholder of truth!’
Peter’s voice became detached and cold. ‘Don’t worry mother. I can see how you feel. As soon as my affairs are in order, I will leave England.’
‘Oh Peter, no,’ his mother gasped. ‘So this is my punishment for trying to save my son, showing him the error of his ways. This is too cruel.’
Peter softened. ‘It is not a punishment, mother. In truth, there are bigger matters at stake than the future of one family, even my own. There is much to do in America, recruiting and training more men to hopefully join the fight here in England. We will have to find other vessels, perhaps one or two at a time, but every shipload will help.
‘One thing I know, in my heart and soul, is that war is now with us, and it will be a long and bloody affair. But with the Lord’s will, the godly will triumph, and the King brought under our yoke.’
Chapter 34
On the River Thames
January 11th, 1642
Jonah Dibdin powered his wherry across the Thames with a serene smile on his face, at his feet a small basket containing a bottle of East Indian Arrack, with seal intact.
He caught Tom’s eye and nodded. He had never seen Jonah so content. ‘That’s taken very kindly, thank you,’ he said, effortlessly maintaining a rapid stroke. ‘I will share it with the boys who helped.’ Tom doubted this but, not wishing to spoil Dibdin’s rare good humour, did not voice his reservations.
‘It is a gift from the Tallant family, for your help defending our warehouse.’
‘As I said, I was defending the river and, for that, I receive it gladly.’ Elizabeth was smiling, nodding her head. ‘Well said, Jonah.’
He studied the weathered face of the boatman. Was that a faint blush appearing? He refused to believe it. Not Jonah.
Today the boatman was making a rare excursion west of London Bridge, visiting his elderly mother near Temple Bar. To do this he had passed under London Bridge at the exact time the swell was level. It suited Tom because he wanted to travel to Westminster.
A cold breeze gusted up the river and Elizabeth moved closer to him, linking arms. Jonah was now focused on the regular rhythm of his rowing, looking over their heads at the bubbling wake of his wherry. With each stroke the towering presence of St. Paul’s came closer on their right.
‘I know the weather is wintry Tom, but I needed a private place to talk. This will not be an easy conversation but you should know all that I have discovered.’
Tom was about to speak, but thought better of it.
‘The story of the map is a complicated one, and I need to complete it for you. You’ve just learned how your father acquired the chart and attempted to keep its existence secret. But there is one remaining chapter to this story.
‘Do you remember, when we first met, you told me that you fell into debt trading on the tulip market in Amsterdam?’ Tom nodded but said nothing. It was five years ago, but he was still paying the price of his disastrous tulip speculation and it remained a sensitive subject. He wasn’t sure he was ready for this at the moment.
‘Do you also remember telling me that your Uncle Jonas paid your debt at the time and then it was transferred to your father’s account. It was an enormous figure and you never knew how Ralph managed to secure the loan.
Tom looked up with a st
art. ‘You’re not saying it was…
‘Yes. He offered the map to the bank and, ever since, that chart has been acting as security for your family’s loan while it’s gradually being paid off. Your mother told me…yes, this is something Ralph has shared with Beatrix, because he needed her signature on various documents at the time. She’s never mentioned it to you because she didn’t want to add to the guilt you felt about your tulip misadventure.
‘So why was the map not stored in an Amsterdam bank vault? The lenders would have to sell it if your father ever defaulted on the debt payments, and so they required possession. Apparently, your father argued that the map was required to plan future trading expeditions, to make money to pay off the debt. The bank reluctantly agreed to this, but only if he insured it against loss. Luckily Amsterdam has some of the largest merchant insurance companies in the world and he was able to arrange cover. It increased the cost of the loan but he had no choice.
‘When the attacks started at Bolton Hall, Ralph guessed someone was after the map. If he lost it, his debt was covered by the insurance but the all the invaluable trading knowledge on the chart would transfer into a rival’s hands. Plus there was still much for Ralph to learn from the Chinese inscriptions. So keeping the map at that stage was imperative to him.
‘But I noticed he quickly changed tack following your mother’s row with him, and I was puzzled. He agreed quite readily to her demand that the map be removed, and then installed it in your warehouse, right in the centre of the City. It was more vulnerable there, but he didn’t seem to care. He could sense the warehouse would be attacked but instead of moving the map to another safe place, he built up the defences and said, in effect, come and try and get it.
‘Why would he do this? And then I remembered a conversation I had with him a week earlier. I was bringing him up to date on my research into longitude and I mentioned the documents about Joan Bleau that Beatrix had translated for me. Your father seemed very interested but didn’t mention them again. Days later Beatrix told me that he had asked to see the papers himself and had studied them for hours.’
The Wrecking Storm Page 18