Bolitho 19 - Beyond the Reef Read Free Page A

against him. It will be our one chance. A place to land an army where it will find friendship, and be treated as a liberation force.”
    Godschale had looked distant. “Perhaps, perhaps.”
    Another secret. Jenour knew; so did Yovell and Allday. Bolitho had refused to take passage in a frigate and had seen Godschale’s heavy features go almost purple as he had exclaimed, “Do you mean to say that you are going to take Lady Catherine Somervell with you on passage to Cape Town?”
    Bolitho had been adamant. “A ship of war is no place for a lady, my lord. Although I am sure Lady Catherine would accept without hesitation.”
    Godschale had mopped his face. “I will arrange it. A fast packet under Admiralty warrant. You are a damned difficult fellow to deal with, Sir Richard. What people will say when they discover—”
    “We shall simply have to ensure they do not, my lord.”
    When he had told Catherine she had been surprisingly excited about it.
    “To be there with you, dearest of men, instead of reading of your exploits in the Gazette, to be part of it all … I ask for nothing more.”
    The door opened and the servant peered in at them. “I beg your pardon, Sir Richard, but it is reported that your barge has just left Black Prince.”
    Bolitho nodded and remarked to Jenour, “I’ll wager Captain Keen will be surprised to find that I am not staying aboard.”
    Jenour followed him from the snug shelter of the senior officers’ waiting room.
    He knew that Keen cared for Bolitho as much as he did himself. Would he leave Black Prince in exchange for some obscure position in Cape Town as captain in command of all local patrols? It would mean a broad-pendant, and the real possibility of promotion to rear-admiral after that, if everything went well. But it would also mean leaving his bride behind so soon after their marriage, as well as severing his close links with the man who was even now standing at the top of the dripping stairs, peering across the tossing array of whitecaps.
    I am fortunate that the choice is not mine. Not yet, in any case …
    Bolitho pulled his boat-cloak around his body and watched the green-painted barge pulling lustily across the choppy water, the oars rising and falling as one, the bargemen very smart in their checkered shirts and tarred hats. Keen’s coxswain would be in charge today, and Bolitho was suddenly uneasy, knowing that Allday would not be there.
    He thought of Catherine’s happiness at the prospect of their journey, when before, when he had told her about Cape Town, there had been only anger and despair. “Is there nobody else they can send, Richard? Must it always be you?”
    When Godschale’s acceptance of his request that she accompany him had been delivered to Falmouth, she had thrown her arms about him like a child. Together. The word which had become a symbol to both of them.
    Ever since Keen’s wedding they seemed to have spent days on the terrible winter roads: London, Falmouth and London again.
    He thought of their last night at a small secluded inn Allday had recommended; as, seated in the waiting room before Jenour had arrived, he had stared into the fire, remembering it. The need of one for the other, until they had lain by the fire in the inn’s private room, unwilling to waste the night in sleep.
    The bargemen tossed their oars and sat stiffly facing aft while the bows were made fast to the stairs. The first lieutenant stepped lightly on to the wet stairs and raised his hat, his eyes everywhere, puzzled as he realised there was no chest or luggage to be stowed aboard.
    “Good day, Mr Sedgemore.” Bolitho gave a brief smile. “As you see, mine is a short visit this time.”
    He and Jenour settled themselves in the sternsheets and the barge cast off, shipping water over the stem as they quit the shelter of the wall.
    “Repairs going well, Mr Sedgemore?”
    The lieutenant swallowed hard. He was unused to casual conversation with a vice-admiral.
    “Aye, Sir