A Crooked Rib (31 page)

I now set down a most frightful turn of events which must be revealed to no other living soul.

Yesterday evening, after our card game, I bade Lucy goodnight and retired to my cabin. As usual, Sir George, Mr Speke and Mr Grant were engaged at whist in the saloon. I was woken by a tremendous commotion, a woman screaming and the thunder of what I recognised as Sir George in one of his rages. Another male voice appeared to be remonstrating. I rose and hastened towards the hubbub.

As I approached Lucy’s cabin, the clamour increased, Sir George’s voice dominating the din, ‘I tell you, I
will
have satisfaction, sir!’ He was standing outside the Admiral’s door, his face puce, saliva frothing at his mouth. With a shock, I saw that his arms were pinioned on either side by Captain Turnour and the ship’s surgeon. In his left hand he clutched a scrap of paper and, in his right, his army pistol. His struggles to free himself were so intense that, as I watched, the Captain and the surgeon were forced to grapple him to the floor.

Lucy stood pressed against the door of her cabin, staring in horror at her husband as Admiral Keppel attempted to remonstrate with him. ‘I assure you, Sir George, you’re entirely mistaken in what you surmise. There has been no hint of impropriety in your wife’s conduct. She has borne herself at all times as a lady should. I swear it on my honour.’

Sir George strained against his captors. ‘Release me at once or I’ll have you court-martialled!’ He turned his head to Keppel. ‘And you, you vile seducer — I’ll shoot you like the dog you are.’

Lucy moved a little towards him. ‘George, please. I beg you, listen. Things are not as you think.’

‘Get away from me, you Serpent, you … you
Part Sinister
.’

‘But George—’

‘Lady Grey,’ said the Captain, panting from his attempts to contain Sir George, ‘it would be better — and safer — for you to retire at once to your cabin.’

Lucy began to weep and I saw the Admiral make a slight movement towards her before he checked himself.

Drawn by the uproar, others were now congregating. Sir George commenced again to roar and rave. ‘Let me
go
! I
command
you to release me. I am Her Majesty’s representative. In laying hands on me, you desecrate the person of Her Royal Highness Herself. You are committing an act of high treason.’

‘If I were to release you, Sir George,’ puffed Captain Turnour, ‘I should be court-martialled for being even guiltier of an act of gross folly. I cannot condone murder aboard my ship.’

The surgeon looked about him and spied Mr Speke. ‘Mr Speke, I must ask for your assistance.’

Sir George gave a bellow of fury. ‘Don’t dare lay a hand on me, Speke.’

‘You know my cabin?’ said the surgeon to Mr Speke. ‘Go there at once. Open the sea-chest you will see in there and bring me the … the garment you’ll find within. But
hurry
, man.’

Sir George, writhing, began to drum his heels against the floor.

‘I need a chair from your suite, Sir Harry,’ said the surgeon. ‘A plain upright one, and make sure it’s stout.’

As the Admiral returned with a chair, Mr Speke ran back flourishing a white garment. Never for a moment releasing his grip on Sir George, Captain Turnour looked up at the small assembled crowd. ‘What the
devil
are you ratings doing here? Who ordered your presence? Get below to your quarters, at once, the lot of you, or I’ll have you all whipped. And you, sir’ — he inclined his head towards Mr Grant — ‘be good enough to assist us.’

‘I must ask you again, Sir George,’ said the surgeon, ‘to drop your pistol if you wish us to allow you your freedom.’

‘I shall
never
relinquish my weapon.’

‘It would be better for us all if you were to comply,’ said Captain Turnour.

‘Never!’

The surgeon looked towards the Captain, who gave a complicit nod.

‘Mr Speke, Mr Grant,’ said Captain Turnour, ‘as commander of this vessel, I order you, whether you wish or no, to assist the surgeon and me with the restraint of the Governor. Lives are at stake here and I must do my duty.’

The two men edged towards the prone figure of Sir George.

‘Give me that garment, Mr Speke, and hold his arm here, so.’

The four of them hauled Sir George to his feet, his arms still immobilised.

‘How
dare
you … what the devil …? Turnour, I order you again to release me!’

‘And now, onto the chair,’ directed the Captain. ‘Keep hold there, Mr Speke. He has the strength of ten men.’

As the surgeon and the Captain forced first one of Sir George’s arms, then the other, into the strange white garment, the pistol tumbled from his right hand, the paper from his left. With great speed, Mr Speke crossed one arm across Sir George’s body, while Mr Grant bent the other above it in the opposite direction. Then, Captain Turnour deftly wound the strings at the front of the garment around and across Sir George’s body, passing them to the surgeon to secure at his back.

Half-inside her cabin, Lucy passed a hand across her eyes.

Rocking on the chair which now held him secure, Sir George attempted vainly to free himself. His complexion was so apoplectic I feared he might have a fit and so, I suspect, did the surgeon, for he spoke to him soothingly.

‘I’ve brought brandy and laudanum for you, Sir George, and you’ll be kept in this condition only for as long as is necessary for your safety. When you’ve recovered your senses, you’ll see the wisdom of our actions. We wouldn’t wish you hanged for a precipitate murder.’

‘I am quite within my senses and I order this ship be turned about for Rio.’

‘I don’t understand what’s happening here,’ said Mr Speke. ‘Has Sir George suffered a brain fever?’

‘Thank you for your assistance, gentlemen,’ said the Captain. ‘I’d be grateful if you were now to return to your cabins.’

‘But you surely can’t be intending that Sir George should remain in this corridor, restrained in a
strait-jacket
?’

‘By no means. I shall order the mate to provide assistance to carry Sir George from this corridor to the surgeon’s rooms, where the surgeon and I will remain on watch until he’s convinced Sir George no longer poses a danger to himself or any other. Goodnight, gentlemen.’ His eye fell on me. ‘Miss Thompson, I’m so very sorry you’ve witnessed this. Would you attempt to provide some comfort to Lady Grey?’

‘Willingly.’

Sir George let out a roar. ‘I forbid you to enter Eliza’s room. You are as guilty as she. You’ve encouraged her in this folly.’

‘Come, Sir George,’ said the surgeon quietly, ‘you are not yourself. Go in to the lady, Miss Thompson. She’ll be in need of her friends. I’m sure the Governor doesn’t mean these harsh words against you.’

‘I mean every word I say. They are
Jezebels
, both!’

‘But what has happened?’ I cried, as soon as we were both safely in Lucy’s cabin. ‘What have you done?’

‘I’ve done nothing.’

‘It can’t be
nothing
to bring Sir George to this.’

‘I give you my solemn word that I’m innocent of any wrongdoing. You saw the paper my husband was grasping? It was the note … He came back from his game of whist … I didn’t expect him. You know it’s always far into the night before they finish their evenings together. And he’s never before come to my cabin at such an early hour.’

‘Lucy, you
must
tell me. What was in the note? Who wrote it?’

‘I did …
We
did. It’s been my habit to talk — that’s all we do, Fanny, I promise you upon my honour — to talk with the Admiral in the evenings. You know how I can’t sleep …’

I sank my head into my hands. ‘Have you been meeting in secret
with Sir Harry?’ Even as I said it, I had a vision of myself urging Tsarina on towards the Domain, to my own clandestine meetings with Te Toa. I felt again the surge of excitement, the reckless desperation of love, the heedless courting of danger …

‘Not in secret. In his stateroom.’

‘Lucy, are you mad? Are you telling me you’ve gone alone to a gentleman’s room, and in the evenings?’

‘We’ve done no wrong. Harry would never do anything to cause me harm.’

‘It’s entirely wrong for you to have been alone with him. If he cared for you, he would know that, and seek to protect your reputation.’

‘It wasn’t he who wanted our conversations. It was I,
I
who begged him to see me. Don’t look at me so, Fanny. Why shouldn’t I speak alone to a gentleman of things which interest me?’

‘But what did the note say? And where did Sir George find it?’

‘He must have been watching me for some time.’

‘I’ve warned you often that he’s a jealous man. But tell me the contents of the note and where he discovered it.’

She pointed towards the door which linked her cabin to the Admiral’s stateroom. ‘You see that little aperture there, in the middle of the door? On Harry’s side is a small box. If you insert your fingers, it’s just possible to pick up a paper deposited there.’

‘And you were in the habit of leaving notes in there for each other?’

‘Sometimes.’

‘And tonight?’

‘It was the greatest ill luck. As I was slipping in the note, my husband entered, gave a great bellow of rage, and seized the paper from my hand. I tried to snatch it back but he was too quick for me.’

‘And the note said?’

She did not look at me. ‘It was a reply to Harry. There were two messages on the one paper. He wrote … he wrote …’

‘Go on.’

‘I … I hope and expect to see my own darling. I am too deaf to hear.’

‘And you replied?’

She hung her head.
‘You must clear the door, dearest, and leave me to come when I think it safe. Lucy.’

My
darling. My dearest.
And she had signed it
Lucy
, not Eliza. What utter foolishness. ‘Have you been to Sir Harry’s room before?’

‘Twice … three times only. He has boxes stacked against his door but he puts them to one side to allow me freedom of entry.’

I could think of nothing to say, nothing to do, that might in the smallest degree alleviate the situation. ‘There is one piece of advice you must heed absolutely,’ I said. ‘After what has happened tonight, if you wish to protect yourself, and the Admiral, you must never again in any company but mine refer to him as Harry.’

‘I
must
see him, Fanny. I
have
to speak to him, whatever the cost. Since he’s going to command the Cape Station, he’ll be from time to time in Cape Town, and we’ve agreed we’ll ride together. He’s a keen horseman, you know.’

Great weariness engulfed me; I felt anger welling. ‘Don’t you
understand
what forces you’ve unleashed against yourself?’ I cried. ‘And the Admiral? And me?’

She stared at me. ‘Against
you
? How so?’

‘Sir George has just been confined against his will in a strait-jacket such as is generally employed for lunatics. In this mortifying condition he has been seen by the surgeon and the Captain, by his friends Mr Speke and Mr Grant, some of the ship’s crew, and by the man he now hates more than any other in the world — Sir Harry Keppel. And by me. As they carried him to the doctor’s cabin, he accused me of being complicit in your deception. He said I encouraged you and was the instrument of your downfall.’

‘But that’s wholly untrue. You knew nothing of it and I’ll tell him so.’

‘Do you think he will listen to you? I’m a witness to his utter humiliation. Don’t you see that he’ll detest me forever?’

Lucy began to move agitatedly about the stateroom. Though I wished more than anything to escape to my own cabin and sleep, I dared not leave her alone.

‘Why doesn’t Harry come?’

‘He can’t, you stupid goose.’

‘Then I’ll pass quietly into his room by this door. I
must
speak with him.’

As she placed her hand on the knob, I caught her arm and pulled
her away roughly, forcing her to sink onto her bunk.

‘No,’ I said. ‘You can’t. You mustn’t.’

She rolled onto her front and, sinking her face in the bedcovers, began to weep loudly. ‘You don’t understand, Fanny,’ she choked through her sobs. ‘I have no wish to be selfish. It’s Harry … the Admiral … he’s kind, you know. He speaks to me so gently. He tells me I have a fine intelligence …’

‘Which you are in no way employing at this moment.’

‘He saw … he couldn’t help but notice the manner in which my husband addresses me, his coldness to me … the … Ah, Fanny, just the smallest modicum of tenderness from Sir George would have sufficed, but it has never been forthcoming. I don’t know how it happened.’

‘
What
happened?’

‘No, no, not that. You’re mistaken. I found myself … Harry’s so sympathetic, you see. I told him of what had transpired in Cape Town between my husband and Makareta. Fanny, since I’ve been in the company of the Admiral, I haven’t once suffered one of my nervous attacks.’

There was a tapping at the door.

Lucy started up. ‘He’s come. I knew he would.’

But it was the surgeon who entered. ‘I’ve come to enquire after your state of health, Ma’am, and yours, Miss Thompson. I’ve brought something to help you both to sleep.’

I did not return to my cabin but lay down beside Lucy and endeavoured to rest. Some time later, I heard a scrabbling, and a man appeared in the connecting doorway. I was awake in an instant and, having ascertained it was not Sir George bent on vengeance but the Admiral, I made to arouse Lucy who had fallen into an exhausted sleep.

‘Leave her to rest, I beg you,’ said Sir Harry. ‘I was apprised of your being with her, Miss Thompson, and I ask to speak briefly with you about the events of tonight. First, I give you my word as a gentleman that nothing criminal has occurred between us.’

‘I understand how the situation between you came about but—’

‘The fault is entirely mine. You know of her sad situation so you’ll understand that I felt — I feel — the greatest pity for her. She’s treated by her husband as less than his horse. I don’t consider Sir George a gentleman. My greatest error has been that, in sympathising with the misery of a wronged wife, I’ve allowed myself to expose her to harm.’