When the cabriolet pulled up in the drive, there was no indication from the house that they had been noticed. Mullins pounded on the door, but it remained closed. Frowning, he went to the stable in the rear and found his hostler making himself comfortable in the horse’s hay. Before he could say a word, the hostler said, “Sir, there’s fever in the house, you must not go in!”
Mullins asked, “Who is sick?”
“Sir, it’s your wife. She has the pox!”
“What about my son, is he sick too?”
“Sir, when I went to the door yesterday, Madame said he was still well, but he is certain to take sick at any time. Madame wanted me to get her some things for the boy, but I am feared to open the door.”
With a snort of disgust, Mullins demanded, “Where are your keys, Waites?”
The hostler reached up on the wall for the ring of keys and handed them to Mullins. “Sir, you should not go inside. You will surely take sick yourself and spread the pox.”
This time, Mister Burns, standing beside Mullins, snorted himself. As Mullins stood at the front door, attempting to find a key that would fit, he turned to Burns and said, “The man has a point. If you go inside, you could be in danger. It is my responsibility to take care of my wife and son, not yours.”
Burns answered. “My dear Captain Mullins, I do not tell you how to back your helm or let fly the anchor. That is your business. Mine is caring for the sick. I do not know what type of pox your servant thinks your wife has, but I will remind you I have received Doctor Jenner’s vaccine for the smallpox malady while I was reading medicine at St. Andrews. Let us both go inside to learn how we must cope with this situation.”
One of the keys finally opened the door. The first thing noticed was the smell. A chamber pot had not been emptied recently. Then, they heard the muffled wailing of a small child. The sound led them to the parlor, where they saw young Alfred Mullins, swathed in blankets, lying on the floor by the settee. On the settee itself, was the unconscious form of Doris Mullins, Charles Mullin’s wife.
Mullins gasped when he pulled down the blanket obscuring her face. Her face was covered with a mass of blood-filled pustules that continued onto the other parts of her body that was visible. Burns pushed his captain aside and closely examined the woman.
Turning to Mullins, he said, “We have our answer now. She is afflicted with variola, what we may call the smallpox. Rather more than half of the afflicted patients survive and I believe she may well do so, with proper care.”
“What about my boy, does he have it?”
“If he does, it has not yet manifested itself. I think at this moment the boy is suffering from fear and the lack of nourishment. Now then Captain. I believe we need to have some assistance to improve the chances of your wife and son. I must step out for a bit to obtain some medicaments which I must have. Then too, we will need someone to help us care for your people. I am without funds myself. May I pledge your credit to obtain this help?”
“You may, Doctor. Please hire anyone you wish.”
Burns was gone for an hour, during which time Mullins did what he could for Doris and Alfred. The boy was conscious but wept constantly. He knew the lad was hungry but there seemed to be not a bite of food in the house. There was a chamber pot in the room, but it had overflowed and a stinking mess now fouled the room. Holding his breath, he gingerly carried the pot outside the house to the rear of the stable. There he emptied the utensil before taking it over to the pump that supplied water to the horses. Rinsing well, he took it back in the house before addressing the soiled floor. Bringing in a bucket of water, he used some clothing scattered on the floor to mop up what he could.
He sat on the floor with his sobbing son on his lap wondering what he must do now. He had no idea what he could do for Doris, or even how to avoid making her situation worse. Dark thoughts came into his mind. He wondered if Doctor Burns would return. The thought crossed his mind that Doris, Alfred and himself must die from this evil pestilence. Looking in the cabinet that had held whiskey, in better days, he found a bottle that was almost full of the best Scot’s whiskey. Tipping it to his lips, he swallowed a generous portion, then poured some on a cloth and began swabbing down his wife’s face and arms. The obscene pustules on her body sickened him but he continued until he heard the door open.
It was the doctor. He had a bag of equipment that he began to arrange. Burns remarked, “You have certainly improved the atmosphere in here, Captain. I have hired two women who will be here shortly. They will feed your boy and clean up a bit more. At this moment though, I wish to vaccinate you and your boy to prevent you from contracting this malady. Once the vaccine takes effect, it will protect you. I myself took the vaccine from the hands of Doctor Jenner some years ago. I have no fears myself of contracting this smallpox.”
“Can you not do the same for Doris, Doctor?”
“No, I am afraid not, Captain. Once the variola manifests itself, there is little that can be done except to give the patient the best care possible.”
Two women of mature years entered by the kitchen door. Mullins thought he remembered one of them as doing housework occasionally. Both women had smallpox scars covering their faces which Mullins realized gave them immunity to the disease.
Doctor Burns had removed some of his supplies from the bag and placed what he needed on the table. A silver apparatus he carefully removed from its cover and opened a little ceramic pot. The apparatus had several sharp points projecting from the tool and he dipped them into the pot.
He went to the little boy on Mullins lap and used the points to make some scratches on Alfred’s arm. The boy was so exhausted he made little protest and Burns then wiped the points clean on his trousers and dipped them again in the little jar. Taking Mullin’s arm, he scratched his skin with the tool.
“Captain, both you and the boy will likely develop a fever and we will see a blister raised at the site of the vaccination in a few days. Eventually, a scab will form and in a few weeks we will see it fall off. If we have treated the boy in time, he may well not get this disease. Of course, you will most likely not get the disease either, since we treated you soon after you were exposed.”
One of the women who entered the house came into the parlor. With his memory suddenly working, he now remembered her name. Mrs. Hendricks, who had formerly often assisted the housekeeper.
She was ready to warm some soup she had brought with her but needed some wood for the fire. Normally, there would have been numerous servants to handle such matters but today there was no one.
Mullins went to the door and shouted for the hostler, but there was no answer. Knowing the fool was terrified of the disease, Mullins went out himself and fetched in several armfuls of wood.
Mrs. Peabody was the other woman. Mullins had never met her before but she had gone right to work, cleaning up the house. Mullins was touched by their efforts to help. No mention of payment had been made. He had plenty of banknotes in his purse but somehow paper did not seem quite adequate payment for these women. Hard money, in the form of gold and silver, had become very rare in England since the rise of Napoleon, but Mullins had a stockpile of old guineas in a strongbox. He went to his room and recovered a few of the golden coins.
Back downstairs, he found both women in the kitchen, pouring the now-hot soup into bowls for the two invalids. He went to each woman in turn, thanking each individually, as well as handing each a guinea.
“Ladies”, he said. “Should either or both of you require permanent employment, I will be glad to oblige you.”
Neither of the flustered women said anything at the moment, but both accosted him later and said they would like a permanent position.
Alfred was able to take a few spoons of hot soup, and Mrs. Peabody was able to get a bit into Doris’ mouth.
Mullins thoughts and efforts remained focused upon his wife and son. Two week went by, and his wife was recovering nicely. She would have a peppering of smallpox scars on her body, but these were not
unsightly. Alfred had shown some reaction to the vaccination but was showing no sign of smallpox. The original servants from before the smallpox episode were gone now, frightened away. Doctor Burns had located others, survivors of the disease and thus immune, who needed jobs. Mullins took on a number of these people and the house was busy again.
Doctor Burns had reported the situation to Mister Drummond in a letter, who in turn notified the port admiral. Several queries arrived at the house but went unnoticed. It was Doris herself, now up and about, who discovered and read one. She immediately found her husband and wanted to know why he was ignoring his senior officers.
Mullins explained that he could care less of what the admiral wished, if they wished to take away his commission, so be it. Doris said she would like her husband around permanently, but she wanted him to make this decision himself calmly, with no sense of obligation. She suggested he could return to duty now that she was almost healthy again, with plenty of domestic staff that could care for her and their son. If and when he decided it was time to retire, then she would be satisfied.
Mullins took the occasion to have a long discussion with his wife.
“Doris, I cannot know just how much this disease has affected you. I do know that I love you very much and still find you very attractive. You and Alfred are the most important part of my life and I would abandon my career in a moment if it would make your life easier.”
“It happens that we are in a critical phase of this war. I doubt if we must now be concerned by the possibility of invasion, but Monsieur Bonaparte had shown before that he can be soundly thrashed and days later, jump back up and resume his military and political assaults on Britain. Personally, I would feel much better to see the man completely defeated before I myself leave the fray.”
Nearly a month after he had discovered his very sick wife, he boarded the coach to Portsmouth. His uniform no longer fit well, since he had not eaten regularly after finding his wife prostrate from smallpox.
He took a duty boat out to the flagship, where he was invited in to see the admiral almost immediately. Taking a look at his diminished frame, the admiral called for his servant and ordered him to find something filling for Captain Mullins.
Chapter Nine
HMS Hector sailed out of Portsmouth harbor with Captain Mullins on the quarterdeck. Doctor Burns stood beside him. Their relationship as captain and ship’s surgeon almost precluded friendship between them, but after the events at Mullin’s home, it now seemed as if they were very close acquaintances.
Nothing was ever mentioned between them of the events of the last month, but Mullins remained grateful for the assistance provided in his time of need by the doctor. Although Burns had never completed his medical education, being rated as a naval assistant surgeon on the basis of his warrant from the ‘Sick and Hurt Board’ and properly addressed as Mister, from that period on Mullins always addressed him as ‘Doctor’.
As was customary, while on deck, Captain Mullins always walked along the windward rail of the quarterdeck, while the other officers remained to leeward. Whenever Doctor Burns was on deck however, he was always privileged to walk with the captain.
Today, they walked quietly, with Mullins deep in thought. Both men paced forward and aft on the quarterdeck, neither saying a word, until Mullins broke his silence and called across for the midshipman of the watch.
Mister Midshipman Sawyer was a new addition to the crew, recently come aboard. He was an experienced seaman, having been rated able until called aft on a previous ship and rated midshipman. Captain Mullins had immediately decided to keep his eye on the man for further promotion in case of need.
“Mister Sawyer you will oblige me if you would notify the other officers as well as the sailing master that I wish to see them in my cabin in half an hour.”
Turning to his companion he said, “Doctor Burns, since this will concern you, you may join us if you wish.”
The captain’s servant set out bottles of claret and some Essex cheese for the refreshment of his officers. The young lieutenants gave each other a wry look as they saw the wine. Captain Mullins was noted in the Service for having an abysmal appreciation of wine. He was famous for purchasing horrible wines at inflated prices from criminal vendors.
There were not enough seats for everyone, but his servant pulled several boxes out into the cabin for those junior officers to sit on. When all were seated and had a glass of wine or a cigar in his hand, Mullins began.
“Gentlemen, I have previously been given orders to keep the purpose of our mission secret until after we sail. Since we are now well out at sea, I am free to enlighten you.”
“Last year, HM Government asked the government of Portugal for its assistance in taking the town of Cayenne and its defenses in French Guiana. Of course, the Portuguese court has evacuated Lisbon and now is located in its colony of Brazil, adjacent to French Guiana.”
“In January, British and Portuguese military and naval forces together took the French colony. Captain Yeo in the sixth-rate Confiance is in command of the British naval forces. It has been learned that Captain Yeo is in poor health.”
“Additionally, Confiance is armed primarily with eighteen-pounder carronades, thus unable to engage larger ships armed with long guns effectively at distance. HMS Hector is to proceed to Cayenne and determine the need for any assistance. We will remain there until our assistance is no longer required or we are ordered elsewhere.”
‘The plan calls for Portuguese forces to administer the colony so we are obliged to cooperate closely with any such forces there, acting always with the knowledge the colony is now Portuguese territory. It will be noted that our people will at all times treat the new administrators with the greatest courtesy and at no time will we offer any disrespect to anyone in the colony.”
The Hector frigate made her way south, down the African coast then following the Canary current west. The northeasterly winds took them across. Early on, while still in the Channel, several ships were sighted, which may well have been enemy merchants. Mullins ignored the sightings, he had been ordered to make the best of his way to Cayenne and the ship had a long voyage before it. Additionally, had he taken one or more prizes, any people used to man them would necessarily be lost to him, leaving the ship poorly manned at the very beginning of the voyage.
The ship made good time until she got close to the Line when she lost the Trades. Now, she had to wait for a wind to take her to Cayenne. It took a week for a variable light breeze to see them close the shore. A Portuguese brig hailed her well off-shore and escorted her into port.
The heat was stifling, and the crew, almost without exception slept on deck. When Mullins was called ashore to meet with the British Minister, his woolen coat, taken from storage and donned for this purpose became drenched immediately. The men discussed Captain Mullins’ orders which had sent him to the former French colony.
The official reminded Mullins that this conquest had nearly completed the destruction of the French colonial system in this part of the world. Portuguese Brazil, of course, held Cayenne and the territory surrounding it, but Britain had taken the rest of the former French colonies in the region. He assured Mullins there was little danger of any new incursion by France here, but rampant piracy was prevalent elsewhere in the region, especially around some of the former French colonies in the Windward and Leeward Islands.
After returning to the ship, Mullins called his first officer to the cabin and discussed the matter with him. “Mister Drummond, my brief from the Admiralty required us to come to Guiana to insure the French were not attempting to regain control of their former colony. Should we find the colony is secure, we may depart, at our own option, or render what assistance may be necessary to other British possessions.”
“After discussion ashore, it seems as if we are not required here. It is my wish to take on needed stores here, then we will sail toward Antigua, with a view of putting into English Harbor. Perhaps they may have some use for us.”
Passing the former French-controlled Leeward Islands, HMS Hector continued on to Antigua. It was mid-summer when she picked up her mooring in English Harbor. The harbor was mostly empty at the time of her visit. A visit with the dockyard commissioner revealed most of the warships normally here had been sent to European waters, those few warships here now were at sea searching for French privateers. The commissioner related to him how a few very troublesome privateers or pirates were causing great concern to the shipping interests in these islands.
Often aboard little more than open boats armed with a gun or two and manned by swarms of hungry men, these people would attempt to come up alongside an innocent merchant ship in a calm or at night and overpower the small crew. Some of these people had somehow obtained letters of marque, but most did not bother. The commissioner informed Mullins how one such party had used such tactics to take a British trading brig bound for Jamaica. The pirates had seen the becalmed Lord Sandwich standing offshore from their own lair in a small cove of a semi-deserted island. Unnoticed at first, the buccaneers eased up quietly in early morning hours in their open boat, before swarming aboard.
While the pirates were engaged in slaughtering the brig’s crew, its bosun and ship’s boy managed to slip over the side and avoid notice by hanging onto the ship’s rudder, out of sight from the pirates. They hid there until next morning when the wind picked up. Prior to sailing away the pirates dropped a six-pound ball into the bottom of their old boat to scuttle it, then left in the brig. The two survivors remained in the water beside the waterlogged open boat until the brig was out of sight, then they used clothing to plug the hole in the boat’s bottom and managed to rid the boat of most of the water.
HMS Hector: A Charles Mullins Novel (Sea Command Book 6) Page 6