"All people of sensibility are now agreed that the slave trade is abhorrent; so perhaps a solution could be reached by first abolishing that, then entering into an understanding with the negroes here to the effect that all children born to them in future, instead of automatically also becoming slaves, should be free. Such a measure would protect the interests of present slave owners, yet lead in time to the complete abolition of slavery; so it is possible that if and when the negroes are defeated they might accept such terms."
"No, no!" Ducas stubbornly shook his head. "That would never do. In a generation or two there would be no slaves left. Without them we colonists would become terribly impoverished. The piccaninnies are our slave labour of tomorrow. To give them freedom at their birth would be to rob our own children of their just inheritance."
There the conversation ended, as a messenger was announced from Colonel Seaton, who sent to say that a sloop of war would be sailing for Kingston next morning; so Roger finished his wine, excused himself and went upstairs to tell the others.
At eleven o'clock next day the Colonel escorted them on board. The accommodation in the little ship was very limited, but everything possible had been done for the comfort of the ladies, and after their recent experiences they were happily conscious of the safety on which they could count in sailing under the White Ensign. As soon as they had taken leave of the Colonel the ship cast off, made two short tacks, then with a good breeze behind her set course for Jamaica.
Early two mornings later they sighted. Morant Point and a few hours afterwards came opposite Port Royal. They gazed at the now semi-derelict port with fascinated interest as it had once been the most infamous town of the whole Spanish Main. In the days when Sir Henry Morgan had been Governor of Jamaica, and carried out his exploits against the Spaniards, freebooters of every nation had made it their favourite haunt after successful piracies. Thousands of pigs of silver and ingots of gold had changed hands there, jewelled crucifixes, necklaces of pearls and girdles flashing with inset diamonds, emeralds and rubies, had been bartered for a night's lechery, and millions of pieces-of-eight. doubloons and moidores been squandered in its scores of gaming-hells and brothels. But, like another judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah, in 1692, when at the peak of its riotous prosperity, it had been almost totally destroyed by a terrible earthquake.
Tacking again, the sloop nosed her way past the palisades up to Kingston harbour, and as soon as she docked the Lieutenant who commanded her sent a runner off to the Governor, Major-General Williamson, to inform him about the passengers on board. Three-quarters of an hour later a young A.D.C. arrived with the General's compliments and a request that they would accompany him to Government House.
There, the Governor and his wife received them most kindly, insisting that they must stay at the Residence until they had settled their plans. Wilson alone courteously declined, as he had old friends in Kingston with whom he wished to stay. Monsieur Pirouet, Dan, Tom and the two sailors who had survived from the Circe were placed in charge of the steward with instructions that they were to have their every need supplied; then the others were taken by their host and hostess up to comfortable rooms gay with flowered muslins, leading on to a wide veranda. It was thus, after the hazards and discomforts of an eight-week ocean voyage, followed by six weeks of acute fears, sickness and distress, that they were once more able to savour to the full the pleasures of gracious living.
For some days they gave themselves up to it entirely while recuperating; lazing away the days in the richly furnished salons of the Residence or under the shade of palm trees on the lawns of its lovely garden. On two nights the Williamsons had already arranged dinner parties; on the others Roger and his host sat long over their port, as they had taken a great liking to one another.
General Williamson was a man of imagination and vigour, and it was he who, unasked, had sent the first help to the colonists in Saint-Domingue. He had also, the preceding summer, inspired the brilliant dash by British troops on Port-au-Prince, the splendid capital which, with its fine squares and beautiful buildings rivalled any provincial city in France, and so had saved it from a similar fate to that which at the hands of the rum-maddened negroes had overtaken Cap Francais. From these long conversations with him, Roger eagerly absorbed much invaluable counsel as to how best to conduct affairs when he too took up his duties as the Governor of a West Indian island.
By January the 8th, Roger's twenty-seventh birthday, the girls were well on the way to getting back their looks and, except for Georgina, who still grieved for Charles, had recovered their spirits. Meanwhile. General Williamson had arranged credit facilities for Roger, which enabled them all to order new wardrobes, and by the end or the week, when the clothes began to arrive, they felt the time had come to settle plans for the future.
It was Fergusson who first actually raised the matter by saying that he could no longer afford to remain idle, and must set about trying to find a ship requiring a doctor, that would take him back to England. The capability, good sense and courage that he had displayed throughout had greatly impressed Roger; so he told the young doctor that, if he wished, he would find for him a much more remunerative post in Martinique, and Fergusson gladly accepted.
Georgina then said that Jake and Kilick deserved better for the loyalty they had shown than to be allowed to return to their hard life at sea, and that she would willingly find them some congenial employment with cottages to live in on her estate at Stillwaters, her lovely home in Surrey. But both men proved overjoyed at the prospect of future security from hardship and want in her service.
Later that day she told her friends that as she and Charles had talked so much of the happy time they hoped to have with his relations on the golden shores of St Ann's Bay, now that she had been robbed of him she could no longer support the thought of going there, so she intended to return to England as soon as possible.
Amanda and Roger pressed her to spend the rest of the winter with them in Martinique, but she said that blue seas, palm trees and tropical sunshine were a constant reminder of her loss; so it was better that she should bury herself for a while among the friendly woods and green fields of England. When she consulted General Williamson about sailings he would not hear of her making the voyage in a trader, but said that a ship-of-the-line would be leaving within the next ten days, and that he would arrange with her captain to carry home her ladyship and her servants.
Roger had not forgotten Clarissa's outburst on the night she had lost herself in the forest on Tortuga; so next morning he took an opportunity to have a word with her alone. He told her that, having thought matters over, he had decided that it would be better for all concerned if she did not accompany Amanda and himself to Martinique, and that Georgina's decision to return to England now offered an excellent opportunity for having her pleasantly chaperoned; so he wished her to make some suitable excuse to Amanda for going home.
For a few minutes Clarissa panicked, pleading wildly to be allowed to stay with them, and urging that it would be cruel in the extreme for him to send her back to a regime of prayers and near poverty with her Aunt Jane. Then, as she saw his jaw set stubbornly, she calmed down and said in a deceptively meek voice:
"Knowing the circumstances from which she rescued me, I think Amanda will be much surprised. What excuse do you suggest that I should make for leaving her?"
"You could say that all that you have suffered in the Indies has given you a nausea of them; and that, like Georgina, you'll know no tranquillity of mind until you can get away from the sight of negroes and sun-scorched beaches."
Suddenly she laughed. "I could, Roger but I won't. If you are determined to get rid of me, you must think of some way yourself to make Amanda send me home."
For a moment he was silent then his eyes began to twinkle. He knew that she had got him, and by just the sort of subtle trick that he admired. "You wicked baggage," he admonished her with a grin. "You know as well as I do that I would never disclose to Amanda my re
al reason for wishing you to leave us; and there is no other I can give her. So be it then. Let's hope that I can find you a promising young soldier in Martinique, to give your mind a new occupation.''
In consequence Clarissa, after all, accompanied Roger, Amanda, Dan and Fergusson when they too left Jamaica in a warship. General Williamson had insisted that the least he could do for a fellow Governor was to send him on his way in a frigate, and as there was nothing to delay their departure, they sailed five days earlier than Georgina. After fond farewells, and most heartfelt thanks to the Williamsons for all their kindness, they were waved away from Kingston's quay on January the 18 th, and after a fair passage docked at Fort Royal, Martinique, early on the morning of the 24th.
While the passengers were dressing the Captain sent ashore to inform the acting Governor of the new Governor's arrival, so that an official welcome could be prepared for him. Soon the harbour front became crowded with coloured folk who had heard the news and were eager to witness the proceedings. Next a regiment of British red-coats and a squadron of Hanoverian cavalry appeared to form a guard of honour. By then the Captain of the frigate had dressed ship, and had all his tars and marines on parade. Two A.D.C.'s came aboard, saluted Roger, and were duly presented to the smiling ladies. A minute gun began to fire a salute from the fortress. The band struck up "The British Grenadiers'. The senior A.D.C. murmured to Roger that the time had come for 'His Excellency' to land.
Dressed in his best new suit, and fully conscious both that this was a great moment in his life and that he cut a fine figure, Roger walked with a firm step down the gangway. A warm smile lit his handsome face as he glanced from side to side at the people to whom by his Sovereign's will his word would henceforth be law.
Suddenly the smile was wiped from his lips. A stalwart, square-shouldered, red-faced man dressed in a colonel's uniform was advancing to meet him. Obviously this must be the acting Governor. It was also the man who as a boy had bullied Roger fiendishly at their public school; a pig-headed brute whom he hated and despised, named George Gunston. There was no one in the world whom he would not rather have had to collaborate with in his new duties.
CHAPTER XVI
HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR
With every eye upon them there was no escape from shaking hands. As they did so Gunston gave a slightly derisive smile and murmured: "At your service, Mr. Brook. You will find a pretty kettle of fish here; but as your talents are evidently considered superior to my own I wish you joy in handling it"
Gunston had once wooed Amanda so, although Roger had won her, she still regarded the freckled, red-headed soldier as an old friend, and when the ladies came down the gangway she exclaimed:
"Why George! How lovely to find you here."
"The pleasure is all mine, M'am, he replied with a grin, "This is the most God-forsaken station I've ever been on so the society of some English ladies will prove a rare blessing."
As he spoke his eyes switched to Clarissa, taking in her young loveliness with evident appreciation, and Amanda presented him to her.
Roger next inspected the guard of honour, then the party moved off to a row of open carriages that had been drawn up behind the troops. According to protocol Roger and Gunston got into the first, while Amanda and Clarissa were escorted to the second by the two A.D.C.'s. The band struck up again and they drove off.
At an order the troops raised their shakoes and gave three cheers. Some of the coloured folk joined in the cheering, but most of the whites and mulattoes in the crowd remained silent
"Sullen lot, these lousy Frogs," remarked Gunston. "But I stand no nonsense, and have been keeping them well under my thumb."
"Would it not have been a better policy to endeavour to win them over by conciliation?" replied Roger quietly.
The young Colonel gave a sneering laugh. "There speaks 'Bookworm Brook', the little toady that I used to lick at Sherborne. You can't have changed much to advocate a policy of toadying to the French. But I suppose it was toadying to Mr. Pitt that got you your governorship."
"Listen, Gunston," Roger said with an edge on his voice. "I could call you out for that But we have already fought one duel with pistols, and rather than expose you to the possibility of being cashiered for fighting another, I gave you satisfaction a second time before an audience of both sexes with buttons on the foils. In that I proved by far the better swordsman, and I could kill you tomorrow morning if the choice of weapons lay with me."
"I'm in better practice now," Gunston retorted, "and Fm game to take you on with the buttons off any time you like."
"I have never doubted your courage, but you have not heard me out I have no intention of either giving or accepting a challenge in your case. I have been sent here for a purpose which I mean to do my best to fulfil. You, too, are in the King's service. Having been thrown together in this way is most unfortunate, seeing that we have a natural antipathy for one another. But as your superior I shall expect from you a prompt obedience to my orders, and a reasonable politeness. Should you fail in either, I warn you here and now I shall have you placed under arrest for insubordination." Gunston shrugged. "You need have no fears about my doing my duty; and you are right in that for the sake of the Service it would be a bad thing for us to be at cross purposes. But there is still much antagonism to the British here; so this is a soldier's job, and you will be well advised to be guided by me in all measures for keeping the population under."
"I shall certainly consult you, but form my own judgment in due course," replied Roger quietly. And that closed the conversation. Meanwhile the carriage had carried them through streets which had some fine examples of Louis XIV and Louis XV architecture and up a steep winding road to the Governor's Residence. It was a large chateau and still contained many handsome pieces of furniture, carpets, tapestries, and pictures which had been collected there by a long line of noble governors during the ancien regime. Its tropical garden was gay with flowers and from its situation high up on the Hill there was a lovely view over the five-mile wide bay to a famous beauty spot called Trois Ilets on the opposite shore.
As they got out at its entrance and the A.D.C.'s handed the ladies down from their carriage, Gunston looked towards them and remarked: "That's a fine little filly that Amanda's brought with her. I must put her through her paces."
"You will treat Miss Marsham with every respect!" snapped Roger. "Or find yourself accountable to me."
"Indeed!" A mocking smile appeared on Gunston's ruddy countenance. "Does your Excellency's authority then extend to prohibiting your staff from polite attentions to young ladies?"
With an angry frown Roger turned away. Gunston had him there, and as he was a fine dashing figure of a man many women found him attractive. After a time Clarissa might well yield to his experienced wooing, and while Roger had persuaded himself that he would be glad for her to have an affaire with someone like one of the young A.D.C.'s, the thought of her in Gunston's arms made him seethe with impotent rage.
Having acknowledged the greetings of a staff of some thirty coloured servants who had been assembled to welcome their new master and mistress, Roger said to Gunston: "Please take me to the room in which you transact your business."
"Damn!" the Colonel muttered in a low voice. "After getting us all up at an ungodly hour by your early arrival this morning, surely you do not mean to start work now the hottest part of the day is approaching? You won't last long here if you play those sort of games."
"I am anxious to have the latest news out of Europe," Roger replied coldly; so with just the suggestion of a merry wink at Clarissa, Gunston led him away to a pleasant room at the back of the house overlooking the bay. There, Gunston rang a handbell, which brought a negro footman hurrying in with the ingredients for a 'planter's punch', and while mixing the drink the Colonel began to comply with Roger's request.
"Tis said that my Lady Southwell gave birth to a child covered with hair, and that it matched in colour the beard of the Netherlands Envoy, who has lon
g pursued her. So the wits have made a rhyme on it that runs:
The Dutchman, bearded like a goat, Has at last had his Southwell. But it cost him a fur coat"
Had anyone else told Roger this silly story he would have laughed. Instead he said impatiently: "I am not interested in scandal. I want the latest particulars you have of our war against the French.” Yet even as he said it he felt that he was being horribly pompous, and acting like a man twenty years older than Gunston rather than one two years his junior; although as far as their mentalities were concerned the former was the case.
"Ah well!" The Colonel shrugged his broad shoulders. "You shall have it, then, though there's little enough to tell. Some three months ago the French sent an expedition to recapture Corsica, but it was driven off. In all other theatres they are still getting the best of it. General Jourdan has had several successes on the Rhine and Pichegru has invaded the Low Countries."
"I learned that from General Williamson whilst in Jamaica, Is there no later news?"
"Not of the war; but from the news-sheet carried by a packet that arrived here three days ago I gather that in Paris more members of the old Terrorist gang are meeting with their just deserts at the hands of the Reactionaries. You may have heard of a brute named Carrier, who drowned hundreds of poor wretches at Nantes. An honest fellow named Fouché brought tears to the eyes of his fellow deputies when describing this monster's vile crimes, and so secured his death."
Suddenly Roger laughed. "Honest fellow! My God, Gunston; if you only knew! Fouché was responsible for the murder of near as many people in Lyons as Carrier was in Nantes. Yet such an act is typical of him. His capacity for hypocrisy is bottomless; although! would have scarce thought, considering all those other rogues know of him, that he could have succeeded in staging such a volte-face. Still, it only goes to show that power remains in the hands of the extremists, and they are still at their old game of cutting one another's throats.'1
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