Dennis Wheatley - The wanton princess

During their four months on the island they had fared none too badly on roast pig, shell fish and fruit but, as the boat approached, they were naturally overjoyed at the thought that they might now hope to be back in England within two months. In that they had been disappointed, as the ship had proved to be a Yankee trader on her homeward run, and it took the best part of that time before she landed them in Boston. There they had had to wait a fortnight before they could get a passage across the Atlantic; so Jenny had not reached home until mid-November.

She had brought the stalwart and devoted Mr. Small to

Stillwaters with her, and blushingly revealed to Colonel Thursby that she had a mind to marry him; yet could not abide the thought that, his profession being the sea, she would be no more than a grass widow during the best years of her life, and always fearing that tempest or some other hazard would rob her of him for good.

On learning that the bos'n was willing to give up the sea Colonel Thursby had gladly solved their problem by promis­ing him employment on the estate and, as a wedding present to Jenny, the free life-tenancy of a comfortable cottage as their home.

Reading the letter through again Roger absorbed every detail of it. He was delighted that dear Jenny had found a good man as a husband and determined at the first oppor­tunity to reward her faithful service by making over to her a handsome sum as a wedding portion; but he swiftly dismissed her from his thoughts to speculate excitedly upon what had become of Georgina.

Jenny's statement confirmed in every particular the vision he had had nearly ten months before, and when it had faded Georgina, although still some distance from the shore, had been swimming strongly towards the island. Now there was real hope that she had reached it. If so it was probable that Rockhurst, perhaps the Skiffingtons and a few members of the crew had also done so. But what then?

If the island was similar to that upon which Mr. Small's party had landed, Georgina and her companions should have had no difficulty in surviving. Even if it had no pigs or fruit trees on it, provided there was a freshwater spring, they could have made do on shell fish. But, awful thought, if there had been no spring they must all have died there.

Had they still been alive, surely from an island only a day's sail from the exit to the Windward Passage they must have been picked up within six months; and the odds against their having been rescued by another American vessel that had carried them to a port as far distant as Boston were considerable. Even had they remained marooned for six months and then been taken off by a local schooner they should have got back to England before Jenny.

Weighing the pros and cons Roger was once more plunged into gloom. Then a few moments later a new idea struck him. In those lawless seas it was quite possible that they had not been picked up by an honest trader, or a warship, but by a Sea Rover. In fact it was highly likely that the buccaneer who had attacked 'Enterprise' had sent a party ashore and cap­tured them within an hour of their landing.

Against that it was customary for pirates to take captives who were well off to a hideout on some desert islet where they careened their ships, and hold them there until they were ransomed. Yet if that was what had happened some crooked agent who acted for the pirates would have sent a demand for ransom that should have reached London months ago.

There remained still another possibility. Rockhurst and Skiffington, if they had reached the shore, might later have been killed in a fight with the pirates. At the sight of Geor­gia's beauty the pirate Captain might then have decided that rather than demand a ransom for her he would force her to become his mistress. It was therefore not to be ruled out that she was still alive but suffering a hideous captivity aboard the ship as a 'pirate's moll'. Still worse, having taken his plea­sure with her, he might have decided that for such a lovely woman he could get nearly as big a sum by selling her into a brothel as by asking a ransom, and save both time in getting his money and the agent's heavy commission.

The more Roger thought of this last appalling possibility the more harrowed his mind became. Within the hour, he had decided that he must go out to the West Indies and, somehow, discover what had really happened to the love of his life.

That night he considered by what means he could most swiftly reach the Caribbean. From England he would have no difficulty, through Mr. Pitt's good offices, in getting a pas­sage in the first frigate sailing for those waters. But now that it was next to impossible for smugglers to cross the eastern end of the Channel, he would have to go via Bordeaux and be landed somewhere in Devonshire or Cornwall. That would mean a long ride through France, probably several days before he could find a smuggler about to run a cargo, another long journey by coach to London to see Mr. Pitt, still another down to Portsmouth or Bristol and, even then, he might have to wait for some time before the frigate sailed; so it could be a month or more before he was actually on his way to the Indies.

On the other hand wind and weather, particularly during the winter months, together with the necessity for ships to be detached in rotation to take in water, made the British squadrons' blockade of the French ports far from constant. In consequence French ships in considerable numbers had fairly frequent opportunities of slipping out, and, once in the vast open ocean, stood a very good chance of reaching the Indies without meeting opposition. If, therefore, he could get on a French ship the odds were that he would reach his des­tination the sooner by several weeks.

Next morning he remained in bed and sent a note to Duroc excusing himself from duty on the grounds that his weak lung was again giving him trouble. Two days later he got up, went to the Tuileries and asked for a private interview with his master. An hour or so later Napoleon received him. As he made his bow he gave vent to a fit of coughing, then said:

'Your Majesty, now that winter is upon us I must, with great regret, ask for leave to quit Paris, otherwise I fear I may be stricken with a pleurisy.'

Napoleon nodded, 'Your old trouble, eh? 'Tis wretched for you that you should be so afflicted every winter. However, I'll have no special use for you until early summer. Now that the Spanish Fleet is as good as in my pocket, together with our own and those of Northern Italy and Holland, we'll drive the accursed English from the seas. But not yet. The Spanish Fleet is in ill repair and several months must elapse before it can be made battleworthy. 'Twould be folly to strike before we can muster our maximum strength. Meantime by all means go to that place of yours near St. Maxime and enjoy the sunshinc.'

'I thank you, Sire,' Roger replied. 'But it irks me to have to spend long spells there idling my time away: and it has occurred to me that since my health prevents me from serving you in Paris I might do so elsewhere.' 'What have you in mind?'

'That you might send me in some capacity to the Indies. Not permanently, but perhaps to make a confidential report to you on the situation there. My mission could be covered by your appointing me as an Army liaison officer to your Admiral commanding on that station; and such a cruise would certainly benefit my health.'

'You have an idea there. My Army leaves nothing to be desired; but I am far from satisfied with our Navy. You are a shrewd observer, Breuc, and might well provide me with information which would enable me to weld it into better shape before I launch it in full force against the English. I'll think on it. Come to me tomorrow night at St. Cloud at ten o'clock.'

The following evening Roger rode out to the Palace and was duly shown into the Orangery. Napoleon was seated at his desk and for some minutes continued writing in his fast, sprawling hand. Then he stood up, took a big map from a drawer, threw it on the floor, lay down, spread out the map and signed to Roger to join him.