The Gathering Storm

by Peter Smalley

  'In course, he is her bodyguard,' said James to himself as he stood and made a leg to the lady.

  'Lieutenant Hayter, I am so very pleased to meet you at last.'

  'And I you, madame.'

  'We will sit.' She indicated that James should again seat himself on the narrow bed, and without her having to signal to him the bodyguard brought her the single chair. James waited until she was seated, and then perched himself on the edge of the bed. A small smile said that she had noted his good manners.

  'By God, she is a beauty.' James, not aloud, but struck by her astonishing skin, her wonderful dark eyes, her honey-dark hair, her full, expressive lips. 'Be careful, you damn' fool.' Silently.

  'Monsieur Félix has told me that you do not yet understand the whole of this affair, Lieutenant.'

  'Indeed, madame, I do not understand any of it, to say the truth.'

  'Your people in London did not give you even the smallest hint?'

  'They did not. Madame, you know my real name, and so I am puzzled as to why the subterfuge of a false one was required. False name, false appearance, false profession, false everything. Forgive my forthright language, but perhaps if you are acquainted with French sea officers you will know that as a race of men we are plain-spoke, and will like others that we find in the world to be plain-spoke also, when we are dealing with them. We are not very fond of disguise.'

  Another faint smile.

  'You do not find M. Félix plain-speaking?'

  'But I am not dealing with M. Félix, madame – am I? I think that I am dealing with you – am I not?'

  'Dealing, Lieutenant?'

  'Forgive me, madame, I meant no disrespect to you. But I must converse with someone, I must bargain, or transact, or come to terms – with someone. Else why am I brought here? Why have I been obliged to come? You see?'

  'Yes, I do see. And very soon you shall have what you desire.' She rose, and James was disturbingly aware of the curve of her bosom, of her figure altogether, in its fine sewn silk, and her ribbon-tied hair. A waft of her scent came to him.

  'Can she be seducing me deliberate?' In his head, as he stood up and bowed again.

  The day following they had met again, downstairs in a small oval room with a high ceiling and tall windows, simply but pleasantly furnished. The fabric of the room was old and faded, but had been very fine. The view was of a wide, tree-lined garden beyond an intervening stone wall. In this room Madame Maigre had served James coffee and cakes. His clothes had been returned for this second occasion – his coat, shoes, &c. – and he felt himself less a prisoner and more the social equal of this enchanting creature, who leaned forward to fill his cup from the tall silver pot. She seemed slightly ill-at-ease, he thought, which gave her a charming vulnerability.

  She began by telling him very briefly the history of the house and estate, and the family.

  'Your family, madame?'

  'No, not mine.' A nervous smile. 'I am here at the kind invitation of – sympathetic people. Supporters.'

  'Supporters of ... ?'

  'Those who are in urgent need of your support also, Lieutenant. Your assistance.'

  'My assistance – as a silk trader? They wish me to export bolts of cloth?' Half-facetious.

  'No.' And this time her smile was absent, her beautiful face very serious, her gaze direct. 'No, only themselves.'

  'Do you mean, madame – that you wish me to take these people out of France?'

  'Yes.'

  'When the ship that brought me here returns? That is your proposal? That I take them out in a British ship of war?'

  'Exact.' Her chin lifted a little.

  'I see.' He did not see, but continued: 'Who are they? Will not you tell me, madame?'

  'They are in great danger.'

  'Well, I do not doubt that many people feel themselves in danger, and wish to flee. Are they aristocrats? Members of a great trading family? Silk merchants, perhaps? I have every sympathy, but why could not they hire their own vessel, or even buy one?'

  'Because they are watched.'

  'Hm. Surely they cannot be watched so very close. I have begun to hear of many such people in England now, that have fled France—'

  'You do not understand, Lieutenant.' A quick breath, that swelled her bosom, and a sigh.

  'I confess I do not.' Unable to prevent himself from glancing at her breasts.

  'These people are at the very heart of life in France. They are the heart.' The direct dark gaze.

  And now James knew what she meant. At last understood, and felt the hairs prickle at the back of his neck. He was afloat on a dark and dangerous sea.

  'I see.' Softly, a nod. 'Yes, I see.' Looking out at the quiet garden a moment, the shading, quiet trees beyond the lichen-speckled wall. This tranquil view contrasted with the whirl of thoughts and anxieties in his head. Turning to meet her gaze:

  'I wonder, madame, if the king and queen wished to escape, why they would not go to Austria, to Her Majesty's brother ... ?'

  'That has been a rumour widely circulated in Paris. The royal family will attempt to flee to Austria. That is why they are held at the Tuileries – so they may be watched.'

  'Then if they are watched so close, how will they escape at all?'

  'It is to be managed at night. They will travel west through the countryside under escort, as part of a military convoy. No one will even dream that the king would come to Brittany, and go out of France by sea. Therefore, no one will suspect the convoy, which will carry forged warrants from Paris, should it be stopped en route by the National Guard. It will simply be a movement of troops and supplies to help secure the region. You can have no notion of the upheaval and ferment we have faced in France, Lieutenant.'

  'Only what I have heard and read, madame, since the revolution.'

  'Everything has become even more unpredictable and dangerous in these last weeks. All sympathisers and supporters are now at risk.'

  'I have no reason to doubt that, but I must say to you that there will be grave difficulties with this plan, very grave risks.'

  'Everything is grave, for the royal family. It would be a grave and terrible risk for the king to remain, and wait for his head to be cut off.'

  'The place where I was advised to come ashore is very rugged, the boat was nearly upset, and we lost a man drowned. Again I must say to you that no sea officer can guarantee the safety of passengers going into a boat at that place and proceeding to the ship – which will be obliged to remain well outside the barrier of islets and rocks that line the coast.'

  'It is a risk that must be borne, Lieutenant. The place was chosen because it is so barren and remote, and so unlikely. His Majesty—'

  'Why does not Count Mirabeau intervene, to persuade the more moderate—'

  'Count Mirabeau is dead.'

  'Dead? When?'

  'In the spring. Robespierre is now in the ascendant, and there could not be a more dangerous and vengeful man, a man more inimical to the king.'

  'I had not heard of it. I had not heard of it.' Shaking his head. 'I was – preoccupied at that time, madame, and knew little of the world outside.' Glancing at her. She seemed scarcely to have heard his comment, and continued earnestly:

  'All hope of moderation and conciliation died with Mirabeau, and all of us knew it. From that moment it became imperative that the king should escape, and plans were prepared. It has been arranged for the end of the third week of June – a few days from now. The party will come by convoy from Paris. Will your ship be ready? It is arranged for the ship to wait in place?'

  'She will be ready, madame. She will stand in on the twentieth of June, and wait for four and twenty hours. Or as near that date as she is able, depending on the weather.'

  'Depending on the weather? Are you saying ... are you saying there is a possibility your ship will not return?' In alarm.

  'Oh, she will return, I am in no doubt. But I wish we could have had this conversation just as soon as I came ashore, days since. Because at sea such a
n arrangement will always be contingent upon the weather, and cannot always be exact, you understand ... however momentous the plan behind it.'

  'We will manage it. It must be managed.' Resolute.

  James stood up and stared out of the window a few moments, then:

  'I am obliged to ask you again, madame – for the love of God, why was I confined? Why was I led blindfold about the countryside for days together, and then imprisoned here? If you wished me to undertake so important a task – I can only assume that is why my elaborate disguise was arranged – why did not you meet me and tell me all this at once?'

  'I am very sorry for all of it, Lieutenant. I do not act alone in this, of course. There are others involved who did not trust you.'

  'Félix?'

  'M. Félix – and others. They thought – some of them still think – that the British part of the plan could never be anything but a trick. Why should the English help the king of France to escape? England is our traditional enemy.'

  'I have simply followed my orders, madame. I knew nothing of the scheme until a few minutes ago, when it came from your own lips. I can only assume—'

  'They say that the English intend to deceive us, that they have decided to treat with the new regime in Paris, and that as soon as the king has gone into your ship he will be arrested and returned. Your role in this, your disguise as a silk merchant, established in London, was very typical of British duplicity – an elaborate hoax.'

  'I am not a political man, madame, I am a sea officer. But what you have just described is unthinkable. I cannot believe that the British government would ever concoct or be party to so monstrous a betrayal.'

  'I did not say that I believed it. I do not.' The dark, serious gaze. 'And cannot.'

  'Then, surely—'

  Over him: 'I have had to argue very strongly to save your life, Lieutenant. Félix and the others wished to execute you as a spy. You are lucky to be alive, and here talking to me.'

  'Then, good heaven, it is madness, the whole thing is madness. If I was not to be trusted, if England was not, then why arrange for the king to come to this part of France at all?'

  'Because in the end it was the only plan that had any hope of success, and all doubts had to be thrust aside. We had to trust you, or see the king perish. Those of us who believed this have prevailed. And so the convoy will come.'

  And now she stood and came to his side, took his hand, and held it in both of hers.

  'I hope with all my heart that you will not betray us – betray me, and my trust in you, Lieutenant.' She looked searchingly into his eyes, and he was aware of her with an intensity that made him nearly breathless. Her look, her scent, her touch, her physical closeness. He felt his heart beating in his breast as he said:

  'I – I will never like to do anything to hurt you, madame.'

  'You will be true?'

  'I will be true.'

  Her lips parted a little, she closed her eyes, and squeezed his hand.

  *

  Captain Rennie stood on the deck of Expedient, with dozens of dockyard artificers, his own standing officers, and a great mass of yards, parrals, blocks, cable-laid and shroud-laid rope, tar, and tools. The ship had been refloated, and lay outside the great basin, the prised-up sheets of copper on her larboard bow not replaced, and the leak there only patched and caulked.

  Rennie and his standing officers faced a frantic twenty-four hours ahead. Her rigging must be rove up, her guns and stores got into her, and her people berthed, everything managed at breakneck speed – reckless speed – if he was to weigh and return to France in time. Even if he managed to depart tomorrow he would almost certainly be late at the rendezvous, but the party that waited on him in France, that depended on him, would surely remain at or near the Pointe de Malaise a day or two, would not they? Given the very grave importance of the enterprise?

  'Well well, I will do all I can.' To himself, staring aloft at his half-naked masts. 'I will do all that is in my power. The rest is in God's hands.' A sniff, and aloud:

  'Mr Tangible.'

  'Sir?' The boatswain, coming from the larboard rail.

  'Say to your rigging crews that they are to work alongside the dockyard riggers as if they was their own brothers, you mark me?'

  'I have already spoke to them, sir.'

  'Make it clear in the plainest language that if any man finds himself in dispute with a dockyard man, he will answer to me. We have no time for that tradition of hostility, nor dispute of any kind. Harmony, Mr Tangible, harmony and hard work will make them speedy.'

  'Aye, sir.'

  'Mr Loftus.'

  'I am here, sir.'

  'We have not time to get all her stores in, and she must be trimmed accordingly. The most important items are her guns, powder and shot. Mr Storey will work with you, you are to keep him at your side. Brook no excuse, listen to no plea for delay, nor more time, nor patience. Patience ain't a virtue, say to him. Our guns and gunners' stores are to be got into her today. We will warp to the gun wharf after the noon gun. The riggers will continue to work throughout.'

  'Good God, even while the guns are being hoisted in?' Dismayed at the tangling confusion this could provoke.

  'Even then, Mr Loftus. There is not one single moment to be lost, and I will flay the skin off the back of any man that does not know it. We will work all day, and all night, until we are ready for sea.'

  'Very good, sir.' Obediently, stifling his doubts.

  'Mr Adgett!' Raising his voice to a quarterdeck bawl, calling forrard.

  His carpenter came aft along the gangway, shaking his hat free of sawdust, and thrusting a pencil behind his ear.

  'Sir?' Stepping on to the quarterdeck.

  'What do the dockyard men say, as to the patched repair?'

  Grimacing, shaking his head: 'They do not like it, sir. Their work was not near complete when the shores was knocked down and we swam her out. And I confess I do not like it myself, as I say. She has no copper at the patched place, at the wales over the cant frames. That will impair her working going about, and our making headway, I should think.'

  'Yes yes, it cannot be helped. What I require to know is – will the patched repair suffice for a week at sea? The caulking will hold?'

  'It may do, sir – it might do. If we do not strike no more bad weather. I cannot answer for the safety of the ship in a storm of wind.'

  'Very well, thank you, Mr Adgett. D'y'need more men for your own crew?'

  'No, sir, thankee. I am reasonable content as I am, as to number of men. But I am not content as to the rest, sir, as I say. Any more than was the master shipwright, earlier today, when—'

  'You may leave the handling and working of the ship to me, Mr Adgett.' Over him. 'You will not drown while I am in command.'

  Rennie went below to the great cabin, the cracking of mallets and the shouts of artificers echoing behind him. He called for his clerk:

  'Mr Tait! Mr Tait, I want you!'

  Nehemiah Tait appeared, carrying notebooks, books, paper and ink. He was flustered.

  'Are ye ready, Mr Tait?' Rennie threw off his hat and coat, and pulled a chair to him.

  'I – I am doing my best, sir. I fear there was an upset in the boat, coming from the hulk, and I have lost my bundle of quill pens, that fell into—'

  'Lost? You have no pens about you?'

  'I – I fear not, sir. They fell into—'

  'Christ Jesu, is there no end to ruthless impediment and vexation in the ship?' Going to his desk, pulling open drawers and finding a bundle of quills tied with twine. He threw the bundle to Mr Tait, who caught it awkwardly, and dropped several items.

  'Penknife?'

  'I have my own penknife, thank you, sir.' Stooping, gathering.

  'Then put it to use, Mr Tait, right quick, if y'please. I must write a letter to Their Lordships.'

  'Very good, sir.' Spilling notebooks, papers and pens in a rush on the table. Rennie sighed, blew out his cheeks, and:

  'Boy!' Finding no re
sponse: 'Colley Cutton!'

  'I am just boiling in the spirit kettle, sir.' Emerging from the quarter gallery, the cat Dulcie twining at his ankles.

  'Never mind that. Find Mr Makepeace, and ask him with my compliments to come to me at once in the great cabin. Y'will likely find him below, in the hold. Then find Mr Leigh, and Mr Souter. I wish to see them all. I have something of great importance to tell them. Jump, man, jump.'

  Colley Cutton touched his forehead, and sidled rapidly out.

  'I am ready, sir.' Nehemiah Tait.

  'Thank God there is someone in the ship that is, Mr Tait.' A small, grim nod.

  A little more than twenty-four hours after, HMS Expedient, frigate, loosed her foretopsail, slipped her mooring on the tide, found the breeze off the point, and made sail for France.

  TEN

  Since being apprised of the nature of their business at Château de Châtaigne, James had been if anything kept under even closer scrutiny than before. However, he was allowed to descend to the small oval room to take his meals, and to converse there with Madame Maigre. He was also permitted to walk and talk with her in the leafy garden, where the air smelled headily of flowers, and the sharp fragrances of herbs, and the sounds were all peaceful – birdsong, and the chirring of insects. On the second afternoon of this greater freedom for James, Madame Maigre turned to him, pausing so sudden that she was almost in his arms as she turned, and:

  'Listen to that beautiful birdsong ...' Closing her eyes as she leaned back her head to listen, revealing the curve of her neck, and the tops of her breasts, and her slightly open mouth. James had to hold himself away with so great an effort of will that he felt his head begin to swim.

  She opened her eyes after a moment, and: 'You hear it, don't you, Lieutenant?'

  'I hear only the beating of my heart, madame.' Before he could stop himself.

  'Oh!' A smile. 'Are you so inward-looking that you have no time for the beautiful creatures of nature?' She turned her head again, drew in a breath and closed her eyes as the melodious notes of the bird – a wren – floated over the lichened wall and through the shading branches, giving a poignancy and sweetness to the whole stretching length of the quiet garden, and in that moment he was lost. When she opened her eyes, deep and dark, he took her in his arms and kissed her.