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.He struggled with his fatigue to put his report to them concisely and clearly, for it was not often that a captain had the opportunity of impressing the arbiters of fate.When he had finished, there was a brief silence, before Parker said, 'You have served for some time on the West India station, I believe, Captain?'‘Yes, sir.Three years now in the Ariadne, and before that in the old Hydra.'‘Hm.And your father, of course, was Admiral Morland, who knew the West Indies well?'‘Yes, sir.'‘Sir Peter is to take over next year as commander-in-chief of the West India station, Captain,' Sir Maurice explained kindly, and Thomas found that Parker was actually smiling at him.‘We shall need all the experienced captains we can get,' he said, 'and I look forward to having you under my command.'‘Thank you, sir,' Thomas said.‘But not yet, I fear,' the First Lord went on.Thomas raised an inquiring eyebrow.‘What is the condition of your ship at present? Is she ready for sea?'‘Once we have revictualled, yes, sir,' Thomas said -there was no other possible answer - but he felt constrained to add, 'The crew are pretty tired, though, sir.We have been at sea continuously since April '75.'‘Hm.Yes,' the First Lord said, frowning a little at the unrequested information.'Well, Captain, you will not be returning to the West Indies at present.Your services will be needed with the Channel fleet.I see no reason not to tell you that we expect France to enter the war against us very soon.'‘That will at least clarify the situation,' Parker commented.The First Lord went on, 'Your men are tired, you say?'‘Yes, sir.' No need to add anything more.The First Lord was an experienced sailor, well able to judge the effects of more than two years at sea without a break.‘Very well.I think we can grant you a little leave.I'll make out your orders to that effect.You can have until 6 January, unless anything urgent crops up.'‘Thank you, sir,' Thomas said.It was late the following day, a cold, wet, dark December day, that Thomas, with William beside him, had himself rowed up the river to Whitehall Steps.There had been too much to do on board to leave any earlier, but though he wanted mostly to get back to Morland Place and see Flora and the child, he felt he could not leave London without paying his respects to Lord and Lady Chelmsford, who had been so kind and hospitable to his wife.‘With a bit of luck, William, we'll be asked to stay the night.I shouldn't mind a hot bath, and a night's sleep in a real bed, before we take the coach.'‘Christmas at Morland Place,' William mused, remembering the great roaring fires and the smell of spiced wine and roast goose and his mother playing the heroine in the Twelfth Night masque.Oh, and there would be a new little brother in the nursery now, little Harry, born in August.William was not sure how he would like that idea.He had been too young to remember the birth of James, previously the youngest.When they arrived, Chelmsford House was ablaze with light and there were a number of carriages in front of it, and Thomas realized belatedly that he ought to have sent word that he was coming.‘Oh well, too late now to worry,' he said.'If it's not convenient, we can go away again.’The impassive butler who opened the door did not seem at all put out by the appearance of two rather bedraggled naval officers, though there was a sound of laughter and talk from within, and a piano tinkling, and two elegantly dressed people were just mounting the stairs, as though recently arrived.‘Captain Morland, and Mr Midshipman Morland, to see his lordship,' Thomas said.‘Yes, sir, of course.If you gentlemen would like to wait in the library, I will inform his lordship that you are here.'‘Pray give my apologies if it is inconvenient,' Thomas said.'We seem to have arrived in the middle of a party.' The butler bowed, but in silence, and left them.Thomas sat down gratefully in the nearest chair, and William wandered across to the bookshelves to examine the books.They were silent for a few minutes, until interrupted by the violent opening of the door to admit a young woman, closely followed by a young man, both of them evidently dressed for the party that was going on above.The young woman was in the middle of speech, her head turned back to her companion.‘I'll prove it to you, and then you shall eat your words, if only I can find the—’The expression on the face of Charles Morland, Lord Meldon, warned her that something was amiss, and she turned her head and broke off abruptly in mid-sentence, to stare with no less dismay than astonishment at the uniformed naval captain who had risen to his feet a few yards from her.She flushed with confusion, and then grew pale, and her hand fluttered up to her low décolletage in a gesture of defence.‘Flora,' Thomas said, stunned by more different emotions than he could well separate at the moment.'Flora -I wouldn't have recognized you.’It was more true than that expression usually was.It was a woman of fashion before him rather than the pretty little cousin he had married four years ago.Her hair was built up into a tower on top of her head, the front a smooth slope, the back a structure of elaborate plaits and curls, the whole powdered white and topped with feathers and ribbons.Beneath it, a little painted face, a long neck, a deep square décolletage, a tight bodice of primrose yellow satin, a much-hooped skirt with wide embroidered robings over a frilled petticoat, and drooping lace and ribbons at the sleeve ends.He told himself that this was his wife, and the mother of his child, but his mind rejected the information.He felt he had never met this woman before.‘Nor I you,' she said at last with an effort.'You are so—' she waved a small hand vaguely - 'so very weather-beaten.And you have arrived so unexpectedly.'‘I did not know you were in London.I would have thought you would have come down to the ship, or at least sent word.’She looked indignant.'How could I know your ship was there?’Thomas paused before replying.He had always assumed that Flora, like any naval wife, would keep abreast of the news, that she would have been informed the very moment Ariadne was sighted in the Channel, and yet, put to him like that, he could see that she might not, indeed, know where to go for intelligence of ships.And yet, 'Surely Lord Chelmsford would have—'‘My father is from home,' Lord Meldon said quickly, with a small bow.'Otherwise I am sure he would have brought the news.' There was a silence, which Meldon broke by making a graceful escape.'I am sure my father would wish me to beg you to regard this house as your own for as long as you wish.And now I will leave you alone, as I am sure you must be desiring to be.Pray ring if there is anything you require.Your servant, sir - ma'am [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]