Caribee

by Christopher Nicole

  'From being a governor you'll have become a god,' Tony Hilton remarked softly.

  Tom Warner's head came up, but Judge hastily broke in, 'And an even greater advantage, Edward, is that they are born and bred in a climate very similar to this. So the heat will affect them not a whit'

  'You'll explain that remark, Tony,' Tom said. 'By God, sir, I have not forgotten that you were an able assistant to my son in the revolt here.'

  'Nor will you have forgotten that I bear the King's Commission as deputy governor of the island of Nevis,' Hilton pointed out 'Secured by your own good officers.'

  'And under my ultimate jurisdiction, by God,' Tom shouted.

  ' 'Tis best we not quarrel on our first night in this charming place,' Anne Warner said.

  ' 'Tis best we not quarrel at all.' Tony said. ‘I'll speak my mind, Tom. It is something I have considered for a good while, and now, since I have had the chance to discuss the matter with Sue here, and discovered her to be of a like opinion, why ... that ship over there is mine, secured by my own backers, and paid for by the gold I took out of that Frencman in mid-channel. You'll not deny that'

  ‘I'll not deny the truth at any time.'

  Then I’ll take her and bid you farewell. Do not worry, I shall abscond with none of your colonists. I've my crew, recruited by myself. I've my wife. And I’ll soon have a son. And I've too many memories both of this place and Nevis.'

  'You'll sail away? By God, you've a mind to become a pirate.'

  "There is a war on, Tom. I've no need to look for ships to take other than Spanish or French.'

  ‘You cannot do this,' Edward said. 'Susan?’

  But the expression on Susan's face confirmed Tony's words, that it had been at least partly her decision, and perhaps even her suggestion,

  'But you have....' he gazed at her belly, and thought better of bringing their relationship into the open. 'At least offer me a berth with you.'

  Hilton smiled. ‘Your father has just mapped out your future, Ned. Maybe for the next century. He’ll need you, boy. And this is your land. But it is not mine.'

  'But....' he chewed his lip. He did not love the girl any more. He could never love her again, after knowing what she and Tony had done to him. But for the child he would wave goodbye to them with a lifting heart. But the child was lost to him in any event.

  'And when there is peace?" Tom asked.

  "Why, then, maybe I’ll settle down. But while there is a war on, I'll be serving King and country.' Again that magnificent grin. 'And my own pockets, Tom Warner. Come, Susan, we'll see to our goods. You can bid us farewell in the morning.'

  He helped his wife to her feet. She hesitated for a moment, staring at Edward, and then hurried behind her husband.

  'By God,' Tom said.

  ‘I do not doubt that it is all to the good,' Anne Warner said. 'He is nothing more than a pirate. He will do well, until they catch him and hang him. And the red-headed whore. And I for one have no doubt at all we shall do better without him. But we must not leave Nevis deserted. His Majesty was adamant about that. Edward, what say you to a deputy governorship, of Nevis?"

  He gaped at her. 'Madam? I am still under trial.'

  'Oh, fie upon you,' she smiled. ‘I am sure the Governor has it far more in his mind to honour you for preserving our colony than for attempting to oust an obvious incompetent like Hal Ashton.' She spoke without the slightest suggestion, certainly in her mind, that Tom Warner would disagree with her. And without, indeed, any of the respect Edward bad been used to hearing in Mama's tone. He glanced at his father.

  'Oh, indeed,' Tom said. ‘I have been considering that very point while we sat here. You showed great courage, Edward, And more than that. You showed ability and responsibility. I only wish you had done so sooner. What say you to Nevis?'

  Nevis? Where every tree, every stone on the beach, would remind him of Susan? ‘I thank you for your trust, sir. But Nevis is not for me. If you would forgive me.'

  'Why, of course we shall,' Anne Warner smiled. ‘I am sure we shall find a willing governor from amongst our people here. And now I think we have sat talking long enough, and to be sure these mosquitoes have found me out.' She looked up the beach. ‘I observe that our people have pitched tents and made an encampment. We shall retire, and resume our deliberations in the morning.'

  She rose, and the men followed her example.

  There is but one more matter of great importance, Father,' Edward said.

  'Can it not wait?"

  'No, sir. It affects a lady's honour. Mademoiselle Galante.'

  "The French girl?' Tom Warner peered into the gloom, where Aline had remained standing throughout the conference. 'By God. I assume she is a prisoner of war. And will be treated as such.'

  'On the contrary, sir.' Edward sucked air into his lungs and wondered what devil made him take up these indefensible positions. 'She is my betrothed wife.'

  'What?" Tom demanded.

  'Marry a Frenchwoman?' Anne Warner asked. 'And a papist? Surely you are letting your notions of honour run away with you. So no doubt you have had your pleasure with her....'

  'Madam?"

  'Mother, Edward. Mother. Or, as I would prefer it, Anne, as we are so much of an age. Your father told me that we indulge in no false words, no false sentiments, upon Warner's land, and that is a point of view I greatly welcome. Now, if this girl has found it necessary to share her bed to survive, that is oft the lot of prisoners of war, or indeed of women in war generally. Yet should you always remember that she belongs to a nation which foully betrayed a sacred treaty between your father and themselves.'

  'As her name is Galante....' Tom growled.

  ‘Indeed you are quite correct, sir,' Edward said. 'Her father is Joachim Galante. Yet does this alter my resolution not a whit. We are betrothed, and seek to make our marriage legal as soon as possible.'

  'By God,' Tom said.

  ‘You love this girl?' Anne Warner demanded. 'A papist?’

  Edward hesitated. ‘I wish to make her my wife,' he said.

  Anne Warner stared at him for a moment, and then turned away. 'We shall discuss it further in the morning.'

  'And Yarico?' Yarico asked in a low voice.

  Anne Warner checked, and looked over her shoulder. 'Why, Princess Yarico, you may be sure that you will be treated now and always, with the deference your rank deserves. As will the French girl. I will arrange a tent for you to share.'

  Aline remained standing by the fire. ‘I am surprised and delighted by your generosity, Edward.'

  'Did you ever doubt that it was my intention?'

  Her turn to hesitate. 'No,' she said at last. ‘I did not doubt that, in my heart, at the least. Yet I observe you found it difficult to express your love for me. If you are driven entirely by your notions of honour, I would not have it so.'

  'Now, there is a change of attitude,' he remarked.

  ‘Perhaps I am coming to understand the differences which exist, which must exist, between your life here and the life I knew in France.'

  'None the less, you will marry me, now,' Edward said. 'Because I wish a wife, and there is none better than you. None more suited, either, as you know the worst of life in these islands, as well as the best, and there can be little promise of the one in the future without very probably the other as well.'

  She tossed her head. 'And you still will not say the word that matters.'

  'No, mademoiselle, I will not say the word that matters. You yourself told me it was unimportant, once the event was arranged. Thus you may regard this event as being arranged, in either heaven or hell, as you choose. It is now inevitable.'

  She gazed at him for several seconds, before walking up the beach. Why, he wondered. Why treat her so? Do you not love her? Do you know the meaning of the word? Have you been bewitched? Is she to suffer because of what you have suffered, from Susan? But did not Susan suffer because of you in the first place? And Yarico . . . did she not give you her love, entirely and without reservati
on, and did you not accept that love, until something more compelling came along?

  She stood at his elbow. 'Ed-ward, stu-pid,' she remarked, 'A-line happy for love Ed-ward.' ‘I know that.'

  Yarico smiled. 'Anne happy for love Ed-ward, too.'

  He glanced at her, sharply. "You'd do well to keep your evil thoughts to yourself.'

  Yarico shrugged. 'What happen with Yarico, now? Yarico ain't got no man. Yarico ain't got no people. Yarico best go to forest, Ed-ward.' She pointed to the north end of the island,

  'No,' he said. 'You'll not do that. You'll ... I will arrange it for you, Yarico.' 'What?’

  ‘I’ll... I'll speak to my father. Something will be arranged, I promise you.'

  She smiled. 'Yarico, Ed-ward. Ed-ward, A-line.' She gave a shriek of delightful laughter, and went to find her son.

  Edward watched his father standing in front of the tent, talking with Judge. New people, once again. And father was the newest of all. Sir Thomas Warner, by God. When would the lordship follow? He had found favour at court, as he had always found favour at court; but once he had been too forthright, too honest, ever to capitalize on that hypocritical advancement. Now that too had changed. And Merwar's Hope? Why, that no longer existed. Merwar's Hope was to become nothing but a copy of all the Spanish colonies in the Americas, breeding grounds for hate and fear and cruelty. He had fought the Dons with a savagery he had not supposed he had possessed, to preserve a dream which had already been ended. His only achievement was to free the Irishmen. But in that cause even Paddy O'Reilly had died. There was a sorry history.

  He walked up the beach. And now, to preserve himself and his friends, he must also play the courtier. Thank God his friends were so few.

  'Edward,' Tom said. ‘I had hoped you'd stop by. You'll excuse us, Harry.'

  'Of course, Sir Thomas. A good evening to you, Master Warner.' Judge bowed and withdrew into the darkness.

  'Sit down, boy. Sit down. You'll take a pipe?'

  ‘I'd not keep you, sir.'

  Tom Warner smiled. ' 'Tis best I wait a while. She is a ravishing creature, is she not?" 'Oh, indeed, sir.'

  'But young. And passionate. This day I am all but exhausted. But then, so is she, I imagine. Give her an hour and she will be fast asleep. And we have much to discuss, you and I.' He lowered himself to the sand with a sigh, began filling his pipe. ‘I am not a man who finds words easy. You'll know the number of times we have quarrelled, and indeed come close to blows. But I have always borne in mind the lad who came with me from Plymouth those long years ago. A boy of singular courage and ability. I never doubted that in time that boy would return, and by God he has done so. I am proud of you, Edward. I would have you know that. By God, I have ever been quick enough to speak my mind when displeased.'

  ‘I have no doubt that I deserved every word of condemnation, sir. Perhaps your original judgment was no more than right, and I was too young to embark upon such an adventure. I thought myself a man while still some years away from that state.'

  'Ah, but without such precocity would you yet have achieved such a state of manhood where you would defend an island like this against a fleet of Spain? I doubt that.' Tom held out his hand. There'll be no more differences between us. You have my word and here is my hand.'

  Edward grasped the hand, and sucked on his pipe. ‘I did not have the chance to congratulate you, properly, on the honour done you.'

  'My knighthood? If you'd know the truth, it is nothing but a farce. Our noble King has made it a law that every man in the kingdom possessing forty pound a year must present himself for this honour, as you call it. A means of raising income, you'll understand, as it cost me a pretty penny, I can assure you.'

  ‘You no longer favour the King?’

  ‘I’ll hear no talk against him, if that is what you mean. There is enough of that already in England But he arrogates for himself rights and authorities not even claimed by her late majesty, God bless her. We'll not talk of Charles Stuart, Edward. We will but thank God we are so far removed from Whitehall.'

  'And my lord of Carlisle's tax collectors?'

  'Will be back, and will be paid. I but secured us a stay on the grounds of changing from tobacco to cane. Capital expansion, you'll understand, which will hardly involve a profit for a year or two.'

  'But it will involve a profit?'

  'Oh, indeed, if all the figures of which I am possessed are in the least accurate. A profit many times that of tobacco. There is too much waste, and too much replanting, required in tobacco. But in cane now, the only problem is labour. Why, the very fires which evaporate the liquid into crystals are fed by the discarded crushed stalks. It is a self supporting industry.'

  'And you have solved the labour problem.'

  ‘You have an Englishman's dislike of the word slavery.’

  ‘I’ll not deny that, Father.'

  'But these people are not like us.' 'They are human beings, surely.'

  ‘Indeed they are. But they have no knowledge of civilization, or Christianity; they live their lives in superstition and bloodshed. We will be doing them a service. I do assure you. And providing they work with a will, they will come to no harm. Would that same precept not apply to an English servant? And if you suppose that Painton intends to invade Africa with gun and chain, you are mistaken. The slaves come from the interior of that dark continent, and are secured by the coastal tribes of their own people. This trade has been going on since time began. In days gone by the buyers were usually Arab merchants, and the fate of the slaves was to die in the desert. Or be gelded as playthings for the women of the harems. We offer them an altogether more noble future. But if we did not, be sure that they would still be sold, to other, less Christian masters.'

  'You have an answer for everything, Father, and I have no doubt at all I shall become accustomed to the idea, as indeed I must. I’ll not quarrel with it, believe me. Now, sir, if I can mention the matter on which I came here to talk with you.'

  ‘I'd not supposed it was an entirely social call. You have ever been a forthright young man. Why change your style now?’

  ‘I am concerned for Yarico.'

  Tom knocked out his pipe, and commenced filling it. 'She will be treated with all the respect due to her rank. As will her son. He will take his place behind you and Philip.'

  'Yet....'

  ‘Yet is she distressed at this moment. That is a perfectly normal female reaction to her situation. She will outgrow it.'

  'She conceives herself quite alone in the world, her people disappeared, her lover, whom I have no doubt she thought of as a husband, now allied to another woman....'

  'Hardly the way to talk of your new mother, Edward. I perceive a certain dislike here. Indeed, I thought I saw as much over dinner, and concluded that I must be mistaken. Come now, speak frankly.'

  Edward sighed. 'Perhaps I remember Mama too well.'

  'As do I. I also remember my first wife, whom you never knew. But to some men, marriage is an important part of life. I am one of those men. I need the constant comfort of a woman's arms, the unending encouragement of her spirit at my back.'

  'She is less than half your age, Father.' 'Which means what, exactly?"

  ‘I... I merely meant that she cannot have seen enough of life to give you the comfort and encouragement you require.'

  'She will learn what I require, and that is more than half of the delights to be obtained from her. But there is more. She is well. connected, Edward. So was Sarah, and hence my feet were planted on an upward road.'

  'And Mama?"

  Tom's turn to sigh. "Less so. Her father was a merchant. Oh, a very respectable man, and with some solid wealth behind him. But no influence at court. Indeed, I doubt he had ever been there. Anne now, she grew up in Whitehall, to all hi tents and purposes. Her mother was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne, God bless her memory, hence my charmer's name. She will not only be good for me, Edward, she will be good for all of us. You will but wait and see. I make this request of you.'r />
  Edward nodded. 'And Yarico?"

  'For the third time, boy, she has naught to fear. She will have a house of her own, and will be treated as a princess of the Caribs. And believe me, Anne will also attend to that.'

  1 hope so, Father. Well, I will leave you to your charmer.'

  'And seek yours?'

  'No, sir. I will wait until, like you, I am wed.' 'To a French woman? By God, boy, I had hoped for better. That scoundrel Belain....' 'She is his niece.'

  'By God, but you amaze me, Edward, truly you do. Your spirit is the most wayward I have ever encountered. By God, sir..' he checked himself and laughed. 'But I'll not quarrel with you. You're a man now, by God. Even in the eyes of the law. Take whoever you wish to wife, by God. I’ll have Sweeting see to the banns in the morning.'

  The morning. The dawn of a new day on St Kitts, of a new era, of prosperity and progress. Somehow, this time he did not doubt that, Edward realized. His instincts told him that this new brood of colonists, bearing none of the guilt of Blood River, and lacking even the disturbing turbulence of Tony Hilton, as well as the constant problem of the Irish, would be set upon far firmer foundations than the previous ones. Because here was nothing but purpose. Merwar's Hope had been too much of an accident. There was nothing accidental about any of these people being here. Even Father had changed, was no longer the same man who had landed here with dreams and hopes. Now he knew what had to be done, what had to be avoided. Over the past fortnight a new town had already commenced to spring from the ruins of the old, and Brimstone Hill was once again armed. And now Tom even had a new wife.

  So, out of all the past, only three remained. Yarico, reminder of the horrors which had gone before; Aline, an accidental intruder upon the scene; and Edward. Philip had already found himself quite at home with the newcomers. Only three, to stick out like sore thumbs for the rest of their days. No doubt these new settlers would respect him. They all knew how he had defended the island, their island, against several thousand Spaniards. They might respect him, and they might even fear him, the white savage, Caribee. But they would not know, and no doubt they would not wish to know, how to become his friend. He would be alone in the future, as he had been alone in the past, as he was alone this night. He had no need for a tent as he had seldom slept in one in the past. He preferred to stay away from the encampment, away from Yarico, and Aline, who waited for her approaching wedding, with what emotions, he wondered? The banns had been twice read, and in that time they had hardly exchanged a word. He was unsure of his feelings himself, beyond a certainty that this must be done. But he was also away from Father, and Mother.