Dennis Wheatley - The Rape Of Venice

Probably she had not realised the full horror of what the months ahead would hold for her; but she must to some extent have visualised what she was letting himself in for and that was the measure of her love for him.

That thought gave him pause again. Women, he knew, were by nature much more faithful than men. It was two years all but three months since they had sailed together for Martinique, and she had later told him that she had fallen in love with him from the beginning of the voyage. That he had been married, and that numerous handsome suitors had since done their utmost to win her, had failed to make her turn her thoughts elsewhere. Was it, then, really to be supposed that after living with him for six months she would become interested in some other man? No, the odds were that to take her would only add fuel to the fire. To abandon her in Calcutta was unthinkable, and to bring her home would mean for her disgrace.

Once more a prey to terrible indecision, Roger again began to pace the deck. The more he thought about it now the more convinced he became that to make Clarissa his mistress must prove her ultimate ruin and that, even if he were wrong in that and fate proved more kind to her than there was any reason to expect, he could not allow her to endure the hardships and brutalities which were certain to be her portion if she continued to pose as his servant.

By eight o'clock he had made up his mind on a course of action. Going down to the 'cuddy', he found that the portly merchant, and two of the older Army officers, were the only passengers to have so far made their appearance. He wished them a curt 'good morning', helped himself to a mug of tea from the samovar and drank it. Then he poured another, picked up a handful of biscuits and, without explanation, carried them out of the cabin.

Down in his own he found Clarissa lying in the lower bunk, but wide awake. She had scragged her pale gold hair back over her head, cut six inches off it and done the rest up in a tight seaman's pigtail; so, covered to her chin as she was, she looked very boyish. But directly they had exchanged greetings she sat up and, as she held out her hands for the tea and biscuits, he caught a momentary glimpse of one of her breasts. Small and firm though it was, it proclaimed more certainly than wearing a petticoat would have, that she was a woman. She had on one of his shirts, which were open at the neck, and he thought it highly probable that she had made the brief revelation on purpose; but it might have been through carelessness, and he shuddered to think what could happen to her if she gave her sex away while among the men servants. The thought strengthened him in his resolution.

As he sat down on the sea-​chest opposite to her, the light fell on the dark shadows beneath his eyes and his unshaven chin. With a contrite smile, she said, 'My poor Roger. Tis clear that you have passed a horrid night. And I'm to blame; so I fear you must be more than ever angry with me.'

He shook his head. 'Some wise man said “to understand is to forgive”. I've now had time to appreciate how strong the feeling must be that nerved you to face the grim commitments of the role you meant to play. My sole distress is that it should not have for its object a man who could return it fully, and be more worthy of it than myself.'

She started to protest, but he cut her short. That is the truth, and the sooner you recognise it the better. I am both too selfish to ask the Captain to marry us, and too selfish to accept the joys you offer me without that, because I rate too high the price that I would later have to pay.'

'That is not the whole truth, Roger. If you cared for me less you'd not let your conscience worry you. 'Tis that, at whatever cost to both of us, you are determined not to spoil my chances of a good marriage. Remember, you once told me that you would have no scruples were I a married woman.'

For a moment he was silent, then his blue eyes became merry and he smiled at her. 'Very well then. When we reach India you must get yourself a rich husband, and I'll become your lover.'

'What say you!' Her face flushed with delight. 'D'you really mean that you are taking me to India with you after all?'

'I have no option. The ship has a stiff breeze behind her, and two hours back the Commander told me that nothing would induce him to waste it by putting in to send ashore well, I called it a packet.'

She laughed. 'A packet of trouble, you should have said, for that's what I've become to you.' Suddenly her smile vanished, and she added, 'But if you'll not let me share this cabin with you… Oh Roger, I dread to think…'

'Be easy, m'dear. This cabin will be yours. I'm moving to another. But tell me; have you only boys' clothes, or did you also bring aboard some feminine garments?'

'I brought two trunks of my own things, but labelled with your name; and, not expecting to require them until our arrival in India, I had them put in the hold.'

'God be praised for that. Twill make matters far easier. As they were late stowed, there should be no difficulty in getting them up from the hold, and I'll say that you directed them to be stowed there only because you knew no better.'

Leaning forward, he went on earnestly: 'Now this is our story. In some respects it is thin; but since I did not pass the night here, and intend to report the matter to the Commander at the earliest opportunity, it stands a good chance of being given credence. That is, if you play your part convincingly.

'You must appear a nit-​wit of a girl whose head is full of romantic notions of the East. It was not any attachment to myself which led you to become the next thing to a stowaway, but a moon-​struck desire to see the marvels you had read about. We are by marriage cousins, and the position you filled in relation to Amanda while in Martinique might well have led you to look upon me as an honorary Uncle. So you will call me Uncle Roger. What happened was that, on learning that I was going to India, you begged me to take you with me. I refused. But being spoilt, irresponsible and strong-​willed, you hatched this plot to accompany me whether I would or no.

'You would, of course, have known that, had we come face to face before the ship was well out at sea, I should have had you put ashore. So you came aboard at Margate, slept in my cabin until I joined the ship, and did not intend to reveal yourself to me until the morning. But, when it came to a pinch, you could not stomach the thought of spending last night in the servants' quarters, so you came here, and I gave up my cabin to you. Had that been the true sequence of events, you would have known that, however angry your “dear Uncle Roger” might be, he would have had no alternative but to get you a cabin for yourself as soon as possible, have your boxes brought to it and, when you had resumed your frills and furbelows, present you to the Commander, officers and passengers as his niece. And that is our programme for the forenoon.'

'Oh, Roger, what a man you are!' she laughed. 'I believe you would pull the wool over the eyes of the devil himself.'

'We'll not succeed in this without your loyal help,' he warned her seriously. 'During the whole voyage you must not give away by a word or a look that your feelings for me are anything but those a young girl should have for a normally indulgent uncle. Have I your promise on that?'

'Yes,' she said a shade reluctantly.' Twill be hard to appear indifferent to you for so long, but I learnt to do so while Amanda was alive at least, I thought I had. To hold to such a resolution, though, I'll need some earnest of future happiness to buoy me up; so I must have a promise from you in return.'

'M'dear, your situation is hardly one which gives you the right to demand promises about the future.'

'Oh, but it is,' she smiled up at him. 'Do I not play this game as you would have me play it, what then? I could tell the Captain that having seduced me you would have abandoned me, had I not learnt your intention in time and succeeded in getting aboard without your knowledge. Thus I could swiftly deprive you of the vast satisfaction you expect to derive from having saved me from myself, and make you appear a heartless villain into the bargain.'