The Shadow of the Eagle (38 page)

‘I am delighted to make your acquaintance, Mrs Drinkwater. I have long esteemed your husband.’

‘Thank you, sir. So have I.’

‘Mr Barrow,’ Drinkwater said hurriedly, ‘may I present Lieutenant Frey, a most able officer and an accomplished artist and surveyor, and Mrs Catriona Quilhampton, widow of the late Lieutenant James Quilhampton, a most deserving officer …’

‘Madam, my sympathies. I recall your husband died in the Vikkenfiord.’ Barrow displayed his prodigious memory with a courtly smile and turned to Frey. ‘I have just called on Murray the publisher, Mr Frey, perhaps you should offer some of your watercolours for engraving; I presume you do watercolours …’

‘Indeed, sir, yes, often at sea of conspicuous features, islands and the like.’ Frey was conscious of being put on the spot.

‘Well perhaps Mr Murray might consider them for publication; could you supply some text? The observations and jottings of a naval officer during the late war, perhaps? Now I should think the public might take a great liking to that, such is their thirst for glory at the moment.’

‘I, er, I am not certain, sir …’

‘Well,’ said Barrow briskly, ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained. I must get on and you have fallen far behind your party.’

They drew apart and then Barrow swung back. ‘Oh, Captain, I almost forgot, I have a letter for you from Bushey Park. Are you staying in Lord North Street?’

‘Indeed.’

‘Very well, I shall have it sent round; it will be there by the time you have concluded your present business…’ Barrow looked up the street at the retreating wedding party. ‘The Marlowe wedding I presume.’

‘Yes.’

‘Well, I wish them joy. Mesdames, gentlemen, good day’ And raising his hat again, Barrow was gone.

‘What an extraordinary man,’ observed Elizabeth.

‘Yes, he is, and a remarkable one as well. Frey, I hope you did not mind my mentioning your talent.’

‘You flattered me over much, sir.’

‘Not at all, Frey, not at all. Mr Barrow is an influential body and not one you can afford to ignore.’ Drinkwater nodded at the brass plate on the door from which Barrow had just emerged, adding, ‘And he is a man of diverse parts. He contributes to
The Quarterly Review
for Mr Murray, I understand. Now we must step out, or be lost to our hosts.’

‘What is the significance of a letter from Bushey Park, Nathaniel?’ Elizabeth asked as they hurried on.

‘It is the residence of Prince William Henry, my dear.’

‘The Duke of Clarence?’

‘The same. And admiral-of-the-fleet to boot.’

‘Lord, lord,’ remarked Elizabeth smiling mockingly, ‘I wonder what so august a prince has to say to my husband?’

‘I haven’t the remotest idea,’ Drinkwater replied, but the news cast a shadow over the proceedings, ending the period of carefree irresponsibility Drinkwater had enjoyed since leaving Angra and replacing it with a niggle of worry.

‘One would think’, he muttered to himself, ‘that a cracked arm would be sufficient to trouble a man.’

‘I did not quite catch you,’ Elizabeth said as they reached Lothian’s Hotel.

‘Nothing, m’dear, nothing at all.’

‘Congratulations, Frederic; she is a most beautiful young woman and you are a fortunate man.’ Drinkwater raised his glass.

‘I owe you a great deal, sir,’ said Marlowe, looking round at the glittering assembly.

‘Think nothing of it, my dear fellow.’

‘There was a time when the prospect of this day seemed as remote as meeting the Great Chan.’

‘Or Napoleon himself!’ Drinkwater jested.

‘Indeed, sir.’

‘It is a curious fact about the sea-officer’s life,’ Drinkwater expanded, warmed by the wine and the cordiality of the occasion, ‘that it is almost impossible to imagine yourself in a situation you knew yourself to have been in a sennight past.’

‘I know exactly what you mean, sir.’

‘The past is often meaningless; enjoy the present, it is all we have.’ Drinkwater ignored the insidious promptings of ghosts and smiled.

‘That is very true.’ Marlowe sipped at his wine.

‘How is Ashton?’ Drinkwater asked, looking at the young officer across the room where he was in polite conversation with an elderly couple.

‘As decent a fellow as can be imagined. Shall I forgive him the past too?’

‘If you have a mind to. It is sometimes best; though I should keep him at arm’s length and not be eager to confide over much in him.’

‘No, no, of course not.’ Marlowe paused and smiled at a passing guest.

‘I am keeping you from your duties.’

‘Not at all, sir. I should consider it an honour to meet your wife, sir.’

‘Oh, good heavens, forgive me …’

They walked over to where Elizabeth was in conversation with Lieutenant Hyde and a young woman whose name Drinkwater did not know but who seemed much attached to the handsome marine officer.

‘Excuse me,’ he interjected, ‘Elizabeth, may I present Frederic Marlowe …’

Marlowe bowed over Elizabeth’s hand. ‘I wished to meet you properly, ma’am. Receiving guests at the door is scarcely decent…’

‘I’m honoured, Mr Marlowe. You are to be congratulated upon your bride’s loveliness.’

‘Thank you ma’am. I should like to say …’ Marlowe shot an imploring glance at Drinkwater who tactfully turned to Hyde and his young belle.

‘You have the advantage of me, Mr Hyde …’

‘I have indeed, sir. May I present Miss Cassandra Wilcox …’

Drinkwater looked into a pair of fine blue eyes which were surrounded by long lashes and topped by an intricate pile of blonde hair. ‘I fear I am out of practice for such becoming company, Miss Wilcox, you will have to forgive an old man.’

‘Tush, Captain, you are not old …’

‘Oh, old enough for Mr Hyde and his fellows to refer to me as Our Father,’ said Drinkwater laughing and catching Hyde’s eye.

‘How the devil did you know, sir?’ queried Hyde, eyebrows raised in unaffected surprise.

‘Oh, the wisdom of the omnipotent, Mr Hyde. It was my business to know.’ Drinkwater smiled at Miss Wilcox. ‘Have you known Mr Hyde long, Miss Wilcox?’

‘No sir, we met at Sir Quentin’s two nights ago.’

‘We sang a duet, sir … at Marlowe’s father’s,’ Hyde added, seeing Drinkwater’s puzzlement.

‘Ah yes, of course, he is the gentleman in plum velvet.’

‘The rather
large
gentlemen in plum velvet,’ added Miss Wilcox mischievously, leaning forward confidentially and treating Drinkwater to a view of her ample bosom. She seemed an ideal companion for the flashy Hyde.

‘Would you oblige me by introducing me, Hyde?’

‘Of course, sir.’

‘Miss Wilcox, it has been a pleasure. I shall detain Hyde but a moment.’ Drinkwater bowed and Cassandra Wilcox curtseyed.

‘Is Frey about to strangle himself in the noose of matrimony, sir?’ Hyde asked as they crossed the carpet to where Sir Quentin, a large, florid man as unlike his heir as could be imagined, guffawed contentedly amid a trio of admiring ladies.

‘It very much looks like it, don’t it.’ Drinkwater looked askance at Hyde. ‘You do not approve?’

‘She is his senior, I’d say,’ Hyde said with a shrug, ‘by a margin.’

‘But a deserving soul and Frey is a man of great compassion. What about yourself and Miss Wilcox?’

‘A man must have a reason for staying in town, sir, or at this season for visiting in the country … Excuse me, ladies; Sir Quentin, may I introduce Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater?’

It was a pleasant stroll across St James’s Park towards the abbey. They walked in silence for a while and then Elizabeth, casting a quick look over her shoulder at Frey and Catriona Quilhampton who lingered behind them, remarked, ‘You seem to have made an impression on young Frederic Marlowe, my dear.’

Drinkwater grunted. ‘What did he have to say?’

‘Rather a lot. He said you saved him from a fate worse than death.’

‘I’d say that was rather overstating matters. He was simply in some distress, both personally and professionally. He was concerned at the unexpected delay in our return to London …’

‘Ah,’ observed Elizabeth perceptively, ‘then the lady
was
expecting.’

‘Good heavens, Bess, do you miss nothing!’

‘And professionally?’ Elizabeth prompted.

‘Oh he had had some experience that had not passed off well. He was unsure of himself

A bit like Humpty-Dumpty? Only in this case the king’s men did put him back together again?’

‘Yes,’ laughed Drinkwater, looking at his wife. ‘Damn it, Elizabeth, but you are a lovely woman.’

The letter from Bushey was waiting for them when they arrived at the house in Lord North Street. Williams handed it to Drinkwater on a salver and, after he had struggled for a moment one-handed, Elizabeth rescued him from his embarrassment just as Catriona and Frey entered the room.

‘Some tea, Williams, I think,’ Elizabeth ordered as the company sat.

‘How is the arm, sir?’ Frey asked.

‘Oh, pretty well, Not for the first time Kennedy saved me, though I suspect he rather wished I had got my just deserts.’

‘Nathaniel! That’s an ungrateful thing to say!’ Elizabeth was profoundly shocked.

‘Oh, you don’t know Kennedy, m’dear.’ Drinkwater flicked open the letter, read it while the company waited — all by now aware of the writer — expectantly watching Drinkwater’s face.

‘Well?’ Elizabeth asked, as, expressionless, Drinkwater laid the letter in his lap.

‘Well what?’

‘What news? What does His Royal Highness write to you about? Or is it more secrets?’

‘No, no.’ Drinkwater took a deep breath. ‘He has promised Birkbeck, who was my especial concern, a dockyard post.’

‘That is good news, sir,’ commented Frey approvingly.

‘Yes.’

And … ?’ Elizabeth prompted and then, when Drinkwater sat silently, fisted her hands and beat them into her lap. ‘Oh, Nathaniel, why do you have to be so tiresome? Either tell us, or say you cannot!’

Drinkwater looked up with a familiar, wry smile upon his face. ‘Well, my dear, His Royal Highness’, he said the words with sonorous and deferential dignity, ‘has been so impressed with the actions of
Andromeda
and, though modesty prevents me from laying undue emphasis upon the point, with my services …’

‘Oh, Nathaniel, please go on, you are submitting us to the most excruciating torture.’

‘Please do tell us,’ put in Frey.

‘Catriona, m’dear,’ Drinkwater appealed to his red-haired guest, ‘surely you don’t want to hear this nonsense?’

‘Oh, but I surely do,’ Catriona replied in her soft Scots burr.

‘Very well,’ Drinkwater sighed. ‘His Royal Highness has been graciously pleased to suggest I am made a knight-commander of the Bath…’

‘Why, sir,’ exclaimed Frey leaping up from his chair, ‘that is wonderful news!’

Drinkwater looked at his wife. She had gone quite pale and held both hands in front of her face while Catriona looked concernedly at her friend.

‘You had better hear me out,’ Drinkwater went on. ‘His Royal Highness also says that since hauling down his flag, he is not presently in a position to recommend me, but that he’, Drinkwater unscrewed the letter and read aloud, ‘ “will ever be completely sensible of the great service rendered to the nation by His Majesty’s frigate
Andromeda
in the late action off the Azores and, should His Royal Highness be in a future position to honour Captain Drinkwater, His Royal Highness will be the first to acknowledge that debt in the aforementioned manner …”’

Drinkwater crushed the letter with a rueful laugh amid a perfect silence.

‘I think it is time for bed. It has been a long and eventful day.’ Drinkwater stretched and Frey tossed off his glass of
oporto.

‘Sir, before we retire I should like to acquaint you of my, of our, decision.’

‘Of course, Frey. Pray go on.’

‘You will have guessed,’ Frey said, smiling, ‘my proposal has been accepted.’

Drinkwater stood and held out his hand. ‘Congratulations, my dear fellow.’ They shook hands and Drinkwater said, ‘I am glad you don’t share Hyde’s opinion of marriage.’

‘What was that?’

‘That it was a noose.’

‘Doubtless Hyde would find it so.’ Frey paused, adding, ‘I know the lady to be …’

‘Please say no more, my dear fellow. The lady has much to commend her and James would be pleased to know you care for Catriona, for her existence has not been easy. I am delighted; we shall be neighbours. Come, a last glass to drink to all our futures now that the war is at an end.’

‘If not to your knighthood.’

‘Ah, that…’ Drinkwater shrugged. ‘There is many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip.’

Both men smiled across their glasses, then Drinkwater said, ‘You know, in all the years I have been married, I have never been at home longer than a few months. Perhaps my permanent presence may not be an unalloyed joy to my wife.’

‘That does not constitute a noose.’

‘No, but I would not want it to be even a lanyard …’ Drinkwater paused reflectively and Frey waited, knowing the sign of a germinating idea from the sudden abstraction. ‘You will live at Woodbridge when you have spliced yourself with Catriona?’ he asked at last.

‘That is our intention, yes. I shall have only my half-pay and intend trying my hand at painting. Portraits perhaps.’

‘That is a capital idea; portraits will be all the vogue now the war is over, but I too have an idea which might prevent any talk of nooses or the like.’

‘I guessed you were hatching something.’

‘What I am hatching is a little cutter. It occurs to me that the coming of peace and the decision of Their Lordships to break up the
Andromeda
leaves us without a ship. We could have a little cutter built at Woodbridge and I daresay for fifty pounds one could get a tolerable yacht knocked up …’

’
We,
sir?’ Frey frowned.

‘I daresay you’d ship occasionally as first luff with me, wouldn’t you?’

‘Oh,’ said Frey grinning hugely, ‘I daresay I might.’

Drinkwater nodded with satisfaction. ‘Then the matter’s settled.’

Author’s Note