For half-an-hour they discussed the attractions and drawbacks of numerous countries, then Droopy suggested, ‘Why not make a voyage to India? I am told that society in Calcutta is now both civilised and gay. You could winter there in the sunshine and return here by next summer.’
At that, Roger brightened and, after a moment’s thought, said, ‘Strap me, Ned; I believe you’ve hit on it. I’ve always wanted to see the gorgeous East, and I’ll have no better opportunity. What of a passage, though? I’ve an idea that most of the sailings take place during the first half of the year, and that after June there is only one more in September.’
‘You are right in that, but I think with luck you might just catch the summer convoy. Only yesterday someone mentioned in my hearing that it had not yet completed mustering in the Downs. The rub is that all the best accommodation must already be bespoke.’
‘Oh, I’d share a cabin if need be; though, naturally, I’d rather have one to myself.’
‘You really mean, Roger, that you are set on making this voyage to the East?’
‘Indeed, yes. The prospect of seeing Rajahs weighed down with diamonds, and going tiger shooting on an elephant, holds such fascination for me that I am already near inclined to forgive Mr. Pitt his churlishness.’
‘Then, as I have some influence with the Company, I will do my best to get you a comfortable passage. This afternoon I have an appointment in Hatton Garden to view a ruby ring said to have been fished up from a Spanish galleon sunk at the time of the Armada. I’ll go on from there to the India House in Leadenhall Street.’
When they had finished their wine they left the Club and crossed the road to Arlington Street. In the big library they spent some time hunting out books on India that had illustrations of the country and its peoples. Later, Droopy suggested that Roger should accompany him down to the City, but he had other plans for the afternoon; so he declined and, as soon as Droopy had gone, went in search of Clarissa.
She knew London very little and had spent only one night in it since her return from the West Indies; so when Roger suggested taking her for a walk round the shops she was delighted. The most fashionable ones then lay south of Piccadilly; so they made a leisurely progress along Pall Mall, up through the Opera Arcade, down the Haymarket and round by way of Cockspur Street up to Leicester Square, where the house still stood in which King George had spent most of his boyhood.
Early in this little expedition, Clarissa admired a bonnet in a bow-fronted window; so he insisted on buying it for her and, in other shops, despite her protests, he bought her a longhandled parasol, scent, gloves, handkerchiefs, a lace scarf, a reticule, a fan and several pounds of sweets for her to take with her to Normanrood. Then, on their way back through Piccadilly, he took her into the Egyptian Hall to see Captain Tom Thumb and his performing fleas. When they parted in the hall at Amesbury House, Roger to seek Droopy and Clarissa to go up and change for dinner, they agreed that it had been a lovely afternoon and that they had enjoyed themselves immensely.
Droopy had good news. The refitting of one of the Company’s ships, the Minerva, Captain Finch, had been delayed; so that it had been feared that she would not be ready in time to sail with the convoy. In consequence, it was not until forty-eight hours earlier, when it had been found that great efforts could make her ready after all, that any passenger accommodation in her had been on offer. As few people had left their bookings so late, she was still half empty and Roger had been allotted a good large cabin. She had just completed taking on cargo at Gravesend, and was due to sail again the following day.
This last piece of information somewhat damped Roger’s gratification, and he said, ‘I am once more your debtor, Ned; and if I miss the Minerva at Gravesend, no doubt I can pick her up off Margate. I would, though, that I had had a day or two’s grace; for I am loath to leave the country without having made my farewells to Georgina.’
‘You can still do so,’ Droopy replied cheerfully. ‘Without Minerva it will be two days yet before the muster is completed; and even when a convoy is complete, almost invariably it has to wait several days for a favourable wind to set sail down Channel. Knowing that they will be cooped up in close quarters for so long a voyage, few persons of quality ever take ship from London, or even Margate. There are good inns at Deal from which an eye can be kept on the convoy riding in the Downs; so they spend the time of waiting in them, and go aboard only when the warning gun is fired to give notice that the ships are about to sail. Providing you are at Deal by Tuesday, you may be sure of not being left behind.’
Much relieved, Roger said, ‘I’ll go to Stillwaters again tomorrow then, and post cross-country to Deal on Monday. I pray you, though, say nothing of this yet to Clarissa, as I wish to break the news to her privately of my intended long absence.’
He took the opportunity to do so after dinner. The great mansion had a terrace behind it and a small garden that adjoined the Green Park. It was still twilight and after the long hot summer day a little oppressive, so he suggested that they should go out onto the terrace for a breath of air. She readily assented and they walked out of the candle-lit drawing-room side by side.
To their right lay Piccadilly with its long range of houses running down the slope, many of their windows brightly lit; to their left front, the dark silhouette of the upper part of Buckingham House stood out above the trees. For a moment they stood looking out across the Park in silence, then she said:
‘Roger, I have not thanked you half enough for this afternoon, and all those lovely things you bought me.’
‘You will, I fear, be less pleased when I tell you my reason for taking you upon our little outing,’ he replied quietly. ‘It was in the nature of a farewell. I have much to do tomorrow, so shall be up and gone early. After tonight we’ll not be seeing one another for many months, perhaps even years.’
Her eyes grew wide and she laid a hand quickly upon a big stone vase beside her. ‘But Roger! What of your determination to stay and fight it out with Malderini in the Courts? That was so typical of you and made me even more proud to be ... to be your friend.’
‘Mr. Pitt had refused me his protection if I submit to arrest; so it’s a choice of flight or prison, and I prefer to retain my liberty.’
‘Then I’d be the first to urge flight upon you. But where ... where do you intend to go?’
‘To India.’
‘India!’ she exclaimed. ‘Why, India might well have been the setting for my vision—the dream I had when Malderini put me into a hypnotic sleep.’
He took her hand. ‘Clarissa, I implore you to put that from your mind. It could not possibly become reality. Within a month or two Malderini will have left the country and you will be free to re-enter society. I, on the other hand, having broken with Mr. Pitt, may even decide to settle in the East. You must not waste the best years of your life hoping for my return, but throw yourself joyously into every party, ball or rout with the idea that at it you may meet the man who will become the real love of your life.’
‘Roger, you are that man! Kiss me at least before we go in.’
‘Very well, then.’ He swung her towards him. ‘But I’ll kiss you only to stress the fact that this is a parting of the ways between us; a final farewell.’
For a long moment they stood close embraced, their mouths warm, avid, greedy, moist, seeking to draw something beyond the physical out of one another. As they broke they both let out a gasp, then she gave a bitter laugh:
‘Roger, you are a fool to reject my love for you, and you must know it.’ But he already had her by the arm and was half pushing her back through the french window into the drawing-room.
That night he took his leave of Droopy’s father and the other members of the family staying in the house. Next morning he was at Hoare’s Bank in the Strand soon after it opened, making his financial arrangements. Going on to Leadenhall Street, he paid for his passage in the Minerva. On his return to Arlington Street, he found one of the Marquess’ coaches already loaded wi
th his luggage and Droopy waiting by it to say good-bye to him and wish him luck. By the late afternoon he was at Stillwaters.
Georgina and her father were distressed to learn that Roger’s plan for exposing Malderini at no cost to himself had gone awry; but the Colonel was not altogether surprised at the attitude Mr. Pitt had taken up. As all three of them were philosophical by nature, they did not allow themselves to be too depressed by the turn events had taken. Georgina and Roger had already loved and parted more than once before, and both were convinced that the intangible but indestructible bond between them would, sooner or later, draw them back into one another’s arms again.
On Monday morning Roger left Stillwaters. He slept the night at Maidstone, and by midday Tuesday reached Deal, The inns there were crowded with the better class of passengers a waiting the departure of the convoy, and it was only by heavy bribery that he secured an attic room.
During the next two days he made the acquaintance of a number of people who were voyaging to India, among them one couple who were to be his fellow passengers—a Sir Curtis and Lady Beaumont. Their reason for sailing in the Minerva was, he learned, because at short notice Sir Curtis had been appointed a judge of the Indian High Court.
On Friday at midday they were informed that, the wind having become favourable, the convoy would sail that night. During the afternoon a score of row-boats were taking off passengers and light baggage to the eight ships making up the convoy, that still lay gently rocking at anchor in the fairway.
Having dined on shore, at about five o’clock, Roger and the Beaumonts went aboard the Minerva. They were received most courteously by Captain Finch, a broad-shouldered, square-faced man of about forty. After expressing his pleasure that he would have them at his table, he ordered the Purser to show them to their cabins.
Roger was a far from good sailor, so he was pleased to find that he had been given one amidships, and on the lee side, for the long run down through the Atlantic. It had two berths and ample cupboard space; his heavy luggage, which he had sent aboard soon after reaching Deal, lay still corded on its deck.
Turning to the Purser he said: ‘I take it you will provide a steward to valet me, and he may as well make a start by unpacking my things.’
Looking somewhat surprised, the Purser replied:
‘But you have your own servant, Sir. He came aboard off Margate and handed me a letter from Lord Edward Fitz-Deverei, stating that his Lordship had engaged him to serve you on the voyage.’
Smiling, Roger thought how typical it was of his good friend Droopy to show such concern for his comfort; Then he asked the Purser, ‘Where is this man of mine?’
The Purser made a vague gesture. ‘I don’t rightly know, Sir. And being about to sail I’ve got my hands full at the moment; so you must forgive me if I don’t go hunting for him. But if I do see him I’ll send him to you.’
For the hour that followed Roger watched the scene of almost indescribable confusion on deck; last minute mails arriving, tearful farewells, sailors’ molls, who had been hidden below decks during the voyage from London, being bundled off into the boats, a dead-drunk soldier being hauled aboard by bowline, all amidst a din of shouted orders and counter orders.
At last, as twilight fell, the boats pulled away. With the ship’s fiddler sitting crosslegged on the capstan, and the crew singing a hearty sea-shanty, the anchor was weighed. To the rattle and scream of blocks, the vast acreage of canvas aloft was unfurled and set. In company with her seven sister ships and their escorting frigate, the Minerva began to plough her way down Channel under a fair breeze.
In those days, tropical diseases took a high toll of Europeans in the East, and the wastage by death in the Army was as high as one man in ten per annum; so even in peace-time large numbers of reinforcements had to be sent out by every convoy. The Minerva was carrying a dozen officers and over a hundred other ranks; but, owing to the uncertainty of her sailing, until near the date her civilian passengers were few.
When they assembled in the saloon, Roger found that, in addition to the Beaumonts, they were a portly Mrs. Armitage and her skinny daughter, an elderly lawyer named Musgrave and a plump, middle-aged merchant named Winters. Besides these there were a number of Servants of the Company, mostly young ‘writers’, as civil servants were then called; going out for the first time.
Captain Finch introduced them to one another, to the Army officers, to his own officers, and to the surgeon. He then solemnly read prayers for a fortunate voyage and confided the ship and her company into the hands of God, against the perils of the ocean. The brief service over, Madeira was produced and numerous toasts drunk. It was fully dark and close on ten o’clock when the company broke up and went down to their cabins.
To Roger’s annoyance he found his trunks still corded, which did not augur well for Droopy’s choice of a servant for him. But he had often looked after himself for many months at a stretch; so, without giving the matter another thought, he undid the valise that he had brought aboard with him, and got out his night things.
He was only half undressed when he heard the door rattle, then a knock upon it. As he had put the catch up, he walked over and threw it open. In the dim light of the gently swinging lantern hooked to a beam in the passageway, he saw a youngster with a woollen stocking cap pulled well down over his ears.
For a moment they faced one another in silence; then in a lilting voice, bubbling with suppressed laughter, the boy spoke:
‘May it please you, Sir. I am your servant.’
Only then, to his amazement and fury, did Roger realise that he was staring at Clarissa.
8
The Great Temptation
Grasping Clarissa by the arm, Roger pulled her through into, the cabin. With his free hand he slammed the door. With the other he gave her a violent shake, as he cried:
‘How dare you spring this upon me! What’s the meaning of this masquerade?’
‘Roger!’ she gasped. ‘Let go! Please! You’re hurting!’
As he released her, she stumbled back against a sea chest and sat down upon it with a bump.
‘To play such a prank you must be out of your wits,’ he stormed. ‘And Ned, too; for it seems he must have aided you in this.’
‘He did, bless his kind heart. I unbosomed myself to him, and he could not refuse my plea to help me in my plan for accompanying you to India.’
‘To India, eh?’ Roger gave a short harsh laugh. ‘The sooner you disabuse yourself of that idea, Miss, the better. By morning we should be abreast the Isle of Wight. I shall have you put off there; or, failing that, at Poole or Weymouth.’
‘Oh Roger!’ There were tears in her voice. ‘And I thought you would be pleased to see me.’
‘You mean you thought you’d trap me into this marriage that you desire. That, having compromised yourself so fully, I’d not have the strength of mind to refuse to make an honest woman of you. But in that you were mistaken. You must pay the price of your own folly.’
‘No! No, no!’ she cried in sharp protest. ‘You wrong me there! I intended nothing of the kind. In Martinique, after Amanda died, I offered to become your mistress. I know that it was mainly out of chivalry that you refused; but partly, too, because you were then so grief-stricken by your loss. Now you are over that; and I would liefer be your mistress than any man’s wife. It is as your mistress that I want you to take me to India with you.’
His expression softened, but he still frowned. ‘How can I, even if I would? The Company’s ships maintain a high standard of respectability. None of their Captains would tolerate on board a couple living openly in sin.’
‘Not openly, perhaps. But they wink the eye at men of position, like yourself, taking a young woman with them on a voyage. ‘Tis a common practice.’
‘I am amazed to hear it. What leads you to suppose so?’
‘Julia Carruthers told me of it in Martinique.’
‘D’you mean the wife of Captain Carruthers, who came out, just before I left, to tak
e over the naval dockyard?’
‘Yes. He was in the service of the Company before transferring to the Royal Navy. She told me that in India young coloured girls can be had at the lifting of a finger, but, their physical attractions apart, they have nothing to offer a man of quality; and good-looking white women are near as scarce as rubies. That being the case, wealthy bachelors often take their mistresses out with them; but, of course, they have to travel in men’s clothes, and in the guise of their lovers’ servants.’
‘So it was that which led you to this masquerade. Surely, though, the servants have their, own quarters, and for the greater part of the time are expected to occupy them?’
‘There is a noisome cubby-hole in which they eat by day and some sleep at night; but most of them prefer to doss down in the passageways outside their masters’ cabins, and I gather that single gentlemen often allow their servants to lay a mattress on the floor inside them. In our case it would be thought that you had shown this last consideration to me.’
‘I take it then that, since coming aboard from Margate, you have slept in here.’
‘Naturally. And I was much pleased to find that you had been given a two-berth cabin. I am sure you would not be happy for me to sleep upon the floor; yet, were there only one, I’d have no alternative during spells of rough weather, for at such times it’s certain you’ll be seasick.’
Clarissa was an exceptionally good sailor, whereas Roger was a bad one. Her reminder of the miserable state he was likely to be in for at least a part of the long voyage was far from welcome, but it was not on that account that he replied sharply: ‘You go too fast. I’ve not said I’d have you in my cabin, and I won’t.’
‘Oh, Roger,’ she pleaded, ‘be not hard upon yourself as well as on me. Strive as you may to conceal it, I know that you find me desirable; and, as I have already assured you, even should some people come to suspect that I am a woman, no trouble will be made for you because of it.’
The Rape of Venice Page 11
