Dennis Wheatley - The Rape Of Venice

Having dined on shore, at about five o'clock, Roger and the Beaumont’s 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-​Deverel, 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 cross-​legged 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 Beaumont’s, 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.

Chapter 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 take 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.'