The Dark Secret of Josephine rb-5

by Dennis Wheatley

  While two hours passed like twenty minutes, Roger talked with his new-found kinswoman, telling her of his life, and of his hopes of bringing tranquillity to Martinique. She gladly promised to aid him in that, with the many friends she had made among the leading families of the island during her long residence on it Then as dusk fell he kissed her, promised soon to bring Amanda to see her, and walked down the drive to reclaim his mount from his patient groom. As he rode back to the capital he felt that sheer luck had given him the key to the most difficult of his problems.

  But he had yet to resolve that of Colonel George Gunston.

  The crisis between them arose two days later. On Roger's return from St Pierre, Fergusson had handed in his report It was a grim document. It stated that the hospitals were insanitary; that the food given to the sick was unsuitable and often unfit for human consumption; that the military surgeons were few and mostly drunken incompetents; that French civilian doctors refused to give their aid because they had been subjected to unbearable insults; that the nursing orderlies were callous, slothful and corrupt, and that medical supplies were almost non-existent.

  Roger sent for Gunston, made him read the report, then said: "I have decided that drastic measures must be taken. I intend to appoint Fergusson as Surgeon-in-chief. I shall give him absolute powers to take all measures he sees fit to cleanse these pest-houses and ensure proper nursing for the sick. More, I will have arrested and tried by court-martial any of the army surgeons who ignore his instructions or fail to keep the orderlies under them up to the mark and so lose a patient through neglect."

  Gunston gave a low whistle. "The devil you will! Then you will be bringing a hornet's nest about your ears. Were you an Army man you would realize that the medicos are a law unto themselves."

  "A fig for that!" Rogers gave a grim little laugh. "You have yet to learn that does the occasion warrant it I can be far more ruthless than yourself. It is true that I have never held an officer's commission; but I was sent as Representant en Mission to General Dumouriez during his first Flanders campaign. His army was then largely a rabble of murderous sons-culottes, and as it was necessary for me to win the General's confidence, several mornings each week I had a dozen or two of them shot behind the nearest barn, so that from fear of me the others might more readily obey the orders given them."

  A strange look came into Gunston's eyes, and he muttered: "I had no idea you were that sort of man, Brook. I'll say no more then. These croakers need a lesson and it seems you are the fellow to give it to them."

  Roger nodded, and went on: "That is but part of my plan. 'Tis my belief that fresh air and, particularly, sea breezes are what the garrison needs to restore it to health. In consequence it is my intention to commandeer all the merchant shipping lying both in the harbour here and in that of St Pierre. Such sick as can be moved are to be put aboard, together with two-thirds of the men still considered fit for duty; and the whole are to be taken for a fortnight's cruise."

  "God Almighty!" exclaimed Gunston. "You cannot mean this!" "I certainly do."

  "You can't! You must be crazy! Your scheme for setting the doctors by the ears is a mere bagatelle to this. It is utterly preposterous!" "Why so?"

  "Surely you have the sense to realize that death and sickness have already reduced our strength below the safety limit Did you send two-thirds of our remaining effectives to sea it would be as good as handing the island back to the French on a platter. They would rise and seize it overnight"

  "In that I think you wrong," Roger replied quietly. "I have good hopes that if due precautions are taken they will not rise at all. In the worse case they might, perhaps, capture the fortress; but . . ."

  "Capture the fortress!" Gunston's eyes seemed about to pop out of his head. "How can you sit there and contemplate such a disaster. It is nothing short of treachery. Yes, treachery!"

  "I was about to add that I intend to keep two of the outlying batteries fully manned. In the event of trouble their guns could be trained on the town, and, much as I would regret to do so, I should not hesitate to give the order for its bombardment as a means of bringing to reason any part of the population which had taken up arms against us."

  "No! No!" Violently Gunston shook his head. "No, no, no! The risk involved of losing the island altogether is too great Send the sick to sea if you will. Although, in their weak state, I'd have thought the tossing they must receive would have been more like to kill them than cure them. But not the men still fit for duty. That would be madness."

  "I do not agree. They may be counted fit on your duty roster, but that many are not so in fact was plain to me when I made my inspection. Few had the ruddy faces that one associates with vigorous health, and quite a number were lean-cheeked and too bright-eyed: a sure indication that the fever was already working in them. Two-thirds of them, that Fergusson shall pick out for me, must be sent for a sea voyage, Gunston; so make up your mind to that"

  The Colonel had already come to his feet. Now he thumped Roger's desk with his fist, and cried: "I'll be damned if I will! I am the Garrison Commander, and I'll not see our hold on the island jeopardized for some cranky notion about bettering the health of my men."

  "I am its Governor," retorted Roger"And, if God so wills, I would rather see it lost to the British Crown through the action that I propose to take, than stand by while His Majesty's troops are so reduced by death from fever that there are no longer enough of them to man its batteries."

  "You fool!" stormed Gunston. "Have you never heard of such a thing as reinforcements. I have already written home urging their despatch. It is true that Whitehall always leaves such requests in abeyance until the last moment. But our people there are not quite such numbskulls as to risk losing Martinique for the lack of another few companies. If you are determined upon this mad scheme of yours, you must wait to enter upon it until reinforcements have reached us."

  Roger too now stood up. His long lashes almost veiled the anger that was in his blue eyes, but his jaw stuck out, as he said harshly: "I'll not wait a day to start upon it You have heard the orders that I intend to give. Should you attempt to thwart them you shall face a court-martial."

  "I'll not be bullied into criminal complaisance!" bellowed Gunston. "Your infatuation with the lousy French has induced you to plan a means of selling us out to them. This is treason! Nothing less! Tis my duty to resist the measures you contemplate to the limit of my powers. Tomorrow I'll despatch an officer to General Williamson. I'll warn him of what's afoot, and urge him to use his powers as Commander-in-Chief to suspend you."

  Roger's eyes opened wide with a disconcerting suddenness. He had now got Gunston where he wanted him, and his voice held a new sinister silkiness, as he said: "Oh no, you won't. Instead you will leave tomorrow yourself, carrying a despatch from me to General Williamson setting forth the reasons for our difference of opinion. You see, I am fair enough to recognize that yours is an honest one, and by making you my messenger I give you a better opportunity than myself to convince him that you are right."

  Gunston's plump cheeks turned almost purple. "You swine!" he cried. "You're gambling on the General being too chicken-hearted to interfere with a political appointment, and mean to rob me of my command by refusing to have me back."

  Roger nodded. "That is so. For once you are proving quite intelligent."

  "Damn it, I won't go!" Gunston roared. "I refuse to walk into this dirty trap that you have laid for me."

  "Should you do so," Roger shrugged, "I shall be compelled to regard such flagrant disobedience in time of war as open mutiny. For that I can have you shot" His eyes seemed to become entirely soulless as he added: "A while back I deliberately took occasion to inform you that I have often watched firing squads carry out my orders; and, believe me, the sight of your dead body would not give me a single qualm."

  Gunston had no doubt that Roger meant what he said. He almost felt the icy hand of death closing round his heart. Slowly his mouth fell open in sheer horror; then, turning, his s
abre-tache no longer banging on a gallantly swung thigh, he walked from the room.

  Sitting down, Roger calmly began to write the despatch that his defeated enemy was to carry to General Williamson.

  With Gunston's departure Roger's affairs soon took a turn for the better. He appointed a sound-minded middle-aged Colonel of Artillery, named Thurgood, as the new Garrison Commander. Then, he wrote to Colonel Penruddock informing him of his plans to send the greater part of the troops in Fort Royal for a fortnight's cruise. He added that should the experiment prove successful he meant to do the same with those at St. Pierre; but that for the time being they were to be held in a state of readiness; so that should the French in the capital attempt a rising they could swiftly be marched upon it

  Two days later he took Amanda and Clarissa out to meet Madame de Kay. She welcomed Amanda with delight and, after exclaiming at Clarissa's beauty, declared that she would find a rich husband for her from among the nobility of Martinique.

  As they again sat over the tea-cups, she told Roger of a plan she had formed for bettering his relations with the colonists. She meant to give a garden party where he could meet all her influential friends, and the invitations to it had already gone out But they said nothing of his being the Governor, stating only that her young kinsman had recently arrived in the island and she wished to present him to them. It was decided that Amanda and Clarissa should not attend the party, as should they do so they would either have to prevaricate when asked about themselves or give away Roger's official position, and the intention was for him to avoid doing that for as long as possible.

  The party was held a week later and as none of the guests had previously seen Roger, apart from a few who had caught a distant sight of him while driving through the town, it was over an hour before a rumour began to run round that he was the new Governor. Up till then he had met all enquiries by a casual statement that he was in the Government service; but upon being openly challenged on his identity by an elderly Marquis, he laughed and admitted it.

  Meanwhile, by his frank smile, perfect French and polished manners, he had charmed half a hundred people. When they learned that he was the Governor a few of the most bitter Anglophobes showed some resentment at the trick that had been played upon them, and left soon afterwards. But the majority were people of sense, who realized that they owed the preservation of their lives and properties from the terrorists Victor Hugues had sent there to the intervention of the British. It was Gunston's insults and his needlessly repressive measures that had antagonized them, and now that they had met Roger they were quite prepared to give him a fair chance to redress matters.

  Among them were a number of deputies who congratulated him upon the skilful way in which he had passed off as a joke their non­appearance when summoned to the Assembly. From them he learned that he had been right in his surmise that Gunston knew what would happen. On the last occasion when they had met he had brought drummer boys into the chamber with him, and each time the deputies had begun a protest on any point he had had their voices drowned by ordering a roll of drums; so they had publicly announced their intention of ignoring any further summonses to attend. But now they said they would talk to their fellow deputies, and that Roger could be sure of a good attendance whenever he chose to summon them again.

  He did so a week later with most satisfactory results. Having delivered the King's message, and announced the repeal of numerous edicts which gave offence, he spoke to them of conditions in Guadalupe, which had been retaken from the British, before they had had time to fully establish themselves there, and how Victor Hugues had since butchered every priest and person of property in that island. ThejQ he told them of his own experiences m Saint-Domingue, and how that colony had been brought to utter ruin by the dissensions of its inhabitants. Finally he pointed out that in Martinique they had been spared from the fate which had overtaken the colonists in other French territories only because the British had arrived there before the Terror in France had reached its height. But, he added, the danger was not yet past. If the French inhabitants continued to bear ill-will to the British Authorities, evil men would take advantage of their differences and, perhaps, stir up a new and greater slave rebellion, which, owing to his. garrison having been so weakened by sickness, it might prove beyond his powers to put down. Therefore, the two nationalities must stand shoulder to shoulder, and the colonists must give loyal obedience' to such new decrees as he might issue in the name of His Majesty King George JH who had sent them this message of goodwill.

  He had hardly ceased speaking before he knew that he had succeeded beyond his most sanguine hopes. The difficulty they had had in putting down the first slave revolts was still fresh in their minds, and they lived in constant fear of fresh outbreaks. His frank confession about the weakness of his garrison, and his plea for unity among the white population, had gone straight to their hearts. For ten minutes on end they gave him a tremendous ovation.

  The following day, with full confidence that he need fear no trouble, as Fergusson's arrangements were already completed, Roger ordered to sea the ships on which, the sick and seedy had been embarked. Then, with Amanda's help, he entered on arrangements for a great reception, at which Madame de Kay—or Cousin Margaret as she now asked them to call her—was to present the ladies of the island. It was held on March the 4th, and proved another triumph. From then .onward Roger knew that he had both the official and social leaders of French opinion in the island solidly behind him.

  Had Georgina's father, the shrewd Colonel Thursby, been there to witness these events, he would have had good cause to smile. For it was he who had said on the night that Roger had received his appointment that, in making it, Mr. Pitt had shown not only generosity but sound good sense, as there were few men better fitted to rule a colony recently taken from the French than Roger Brook.

  By early March further news had come in from Europe. That extraordinarily astute diplomat, Catherine of Russia, had outwitted the Prussians by entering into a pact with the Emperor of Austria for the partitioning of Poland. It was true that Prussian troops were in occupation of a considerable part of Poland, but in the face of such an alliance the Prussians would now have no alternative but to accept the Empress's decisions on how the remnant of that unfor­tunate country was to be permanently split up among the three powers concerned.

  The transfer of a great part of the Prussian army to the east was now having disastrous effects upon the Allies in the West. The French Army of the Rhine, under General Jourdan, was carrying all before it on a front stretching from Geves to Coblenz, and another under Pichegru had penetrated to Amsterdam, where the French had been welcomed as liberators by the Dutch republicans. Still worse, from the British point of view, General Moreau had with great daring performed an amazing feat of war. In January, followed by a few squadrons of cavalry and a battery of horse artillery, he had galloped across the ice at the estuary of the Helder to the island of Texel, where the Dutch fleet was frozen in at its moorings, and captured the whole of it intact, so that its ships had now been added to those of the French.

  Bad as this news was, three days after giving his big reception Roger received news of a much more distressing nature from nearer at hand. A sloop arrived in the port with an express from the Attorney General of Grenada. It stated that without warning on the night of March the 2nd an insurrection had broken out there, the town of Grenville had been surrounded, and the whole of its British in­habitants—men, women and children—massacred. The Governor had chanced to be in another part of the island with a party of friends, and on hearing the news they had taken a sloop round to the small port of Gouyave, only to be immediately captured on landing by another band of insurgents. The revolt had been led by a coloured planter named Julien F6don, and it was now known that he had received his directions for the plot to seize Grenada from the in­defatigable Victor Hugues. After sacking Grenville, Fédon had established his headquarters on an almost inaccessible hill-top outside the town and from there w
as now doing his utmost to set the whole island ablaze. Any help that could be sent was most urgently needed.

  Grenada being the southernmost of the Windward Islands, its nearest neighbours were, to the south, Trinidad, but that was held by the Spaniards, and to the north, St. Vincent, St. Lucia and Martinique, in that order, with Barbados slightly nearer than the latter but farmer out into the Atlantic. Hugues had already started trouble in St. Lucia and engineered a rising of Black Caribs in St. Vincent; so, apart from anything the Governor of Barbados might be able to do, Roger felt that the responsibility for the prevention of further slaughter lay mainly with him.

  He was in no position to send a considerable force but was determined to do his best, and rode over to consult with Colonel Penruddock. The major part of the Fort Royal garrison was due back from its cruise in two days' time; so it was decided that as soon as it had landed three hundred and fifty men of the St. Pierre garrison should be despatched to Grenada under a promising young major named Marsden.

  When the commandeered ships returned to port it transpired that nineteen of the sick had died while at sea, but the remainder were convalescent, and that the health of the seedy men had greatly improved. As those who had succumbed would almost certainly have done so anyway, Roger was highly pleased, and thought with gratitude of his old friend Droopy Ned who had suggested to him this method of combating the scourge. He could hope now that the three hundred and fifty men of the 57th who were soon to leave for Grenada would not only turn the tide in favour of its small garrison, but return equally improved in health.

  Having seen the expedition off he now allowed himself a greater degree of relaxation. Since the reception, invitations had been pouring in from all the leading families in the island. To accept as many of them as possible was obviously good policy, so Amanda, Clarissa and himself were feted and dined and shown the beauties of the island in the pleasantest possible circumstances.