"Girls, convey my respects to any gentlemen that enquire, and I have retired for the night; I am tired. Now, give me a kiss each of you, and I will see you again soon."
Surprised by my abrupt exit, they acquiesced and I left.
Soon I was transformed into Jack again, my ribs aching terribly from the corset, and false bruises added by the doctor for safety. The doctor left, faithful man, after ordering me to admit no one. Good advice. I rubbed some muck into my curls and dampened them down, so they were nearly unrecognisable and lay down on my bed, absolutely ready to sleep. I drifted into the arms of Morpheus, too deeply sleeping to hear the feet that ran about the house.
The next morning, I did not wake until late, and the sun was more than half way risen by the time I had hobbled to the dresser and changed clothing. I was just in time, for as I was lacing up my boots (with, I confess, much swearing under my breath- living with sailors does increase one's vocabulary, even if one can't use any of it in polite society) there was a knock on the door, and in came Byrne and the Doctor.
"Jack! How are you, lad? You missed a treat last night; the ball was a complete success! And we have a mystery on our hands, too. You see, at the ball last night, there was a certain Lady Evelyn, who bewitched, I tell you, the majority of the men there- myself and the Captain included- she was a delightful creature, Jack, danced a rare old Penchate with the Cap'n, then vanished after coffee! Amazing! She only bid her friends goodbye, and told the Duchess not to let anyone worry- she knew what she was about, in the morning, and now not a breath of her!"
Byrne was obviously highly excited by the whole incident. The Doctor interrupted him, looking at me through his glasses, making me squirm slightly with the intensity of his stare.
"Are you sure you should be up, young man?"
He asked severely, and I could almost imagine him putting his hands on his hips in a mothering fashion. But I had been mothered enough, far too much actually, and I longed to go back to the ship- my little world in which I knew my friends, and understood the risks I took.
The ball had been a chance to see my friends, whom I had not realised how much I missed, and be myself for a while, which I had not needed. I now realised that I wanted to return to the charade for a while, I had not had enough adventure- my lust for excitement had only partially been satisfied, and my escapades had only increased my feeling that, if I continued as I was, and survived more hardships, I could feel myself worthy of all that I held and was, and return to my true station in life.
"Yes, Doctor. A man can't be lyin' abed all day- there's work to be done! Thank you for your assistance, though, sir. I am indebted to you. Now then, Byrne, my dear- what were you saying about this beautiful lady Evelyn? The Captain dancing the Penchate? Are you sure you did not drink too much wine?"
Laughing, Byrne and I left orders for my trunk to be replaced back on board the Dominion, and walked down to breakfast (which, Byrne confided to me, he and the Captain had been invited to last night). As we entered the breakfast room, we noticed the only occupants were Captain Wendon, Mrs Nicholson, A man I didn't know, The Duchess and Captain Aubrey. At the sight of Captain Aubrey, I felt my pulse race. He would know now, who he was to be searching for- me.
"Ah! Westenra, Byrne, and here you are. How do you feel, man?" Captain Wendon (not James, I had to think to myself, Not James!) was calling to us. He was obviously in good spirits, and Mrs Nicholson and Captain Aubrey, along with the unknown man, were relaxed and in good humour too, chattering of inconsequential matters.
"Thank you, sir, I feel very well, and I am much obliged to Mrs Nicholson for her hospitality, thank you, ma'am."
I replied, keeping my voice easy and warm. I was sat by the unknown man, Byrne by Mrs Nicholson, and breakfast began.
"I am Doctor Steven Maturin, sir, Captain Aubrey's surgeon."
I had enquired politely as to the identity of my new breakfast companion, and was shocked to find that I had heard of him before.
"Doctor Maturin? I have read your work upon the subject of the homo-sapient corpus, post- mortem, and found it excellent stuff, sir. I am most pleased to make your acquaintance!"
In the year before the practical way to join the navy occurred to me, I had developed an interest in Science and particularly the human body. Father had been shocked, at first, then dismissed it as another bad influence from one of my brothers, and left me to it. A week later, he had bought me a gift- Doctor Maturin's work upon the human body after death. I think he had hoped it might be gruesome enough to make my interest in the subject wane, but I had (after weeks of trying to understand the book) finally realised the genius of the author. I had intended to buy more of his works regarding similar subjects, but other pastimes had claimed my interest (one a viewing of a real post-mortem, another a lecture on the subject).
I was rewarded for my remark by a bright twinkle in the Doctor's brown eye, and a pleasant, if forgetful smile.
"Really? My thanks, Mr Westenra, I do suspect now, that, if I could, I might make some revisions- particularly in the discussion about the importance of the Pancreas..."
We began a learnéd debate about internal organs, which I thoroughly enjoyed, if, I must confess, I was completely out of my depth. When breakfast had finished, Maturin (we were on informal terms, now, in our debate we had dropped formal address) was verily, a different man! No longer unobtrusive, plain and quiet, his eyes shone with passionate intelligence, and he seemed to have an aura of authority and dignity about him which assisted him in his argument, so that I was forced, early on, to concede that I had no chance against this brilliant man, and resort to making provocative remarks that sent him into impassioned speeches, which demonstrated the true intelligence of the man.
We spoke, however, in lowered voices, after Byrne had sent me a warning glance at my exclamation of 'nay, sir, the blood would spurt violently, surely!' and the realisation that the other guests' conversation was becoming quieter.
"Well, sir, I do hope that we meet again soon. I long to continue this discussion, but I am at Captain Wendon's command, and I know not when we leave."
"Sir, it would be a pleasure to continue. I am, as Jack would tell you, sadly deprived of intelligent medical discourse on board, having himself only a passing interest in the matter. Let us hope we will meet at a rendezvous soon!"
"Indeed, my dear Maturin, that would be most pleasing. Adieu, then, not farewell!"
"Indeed, Westenra my dear, adieu- travel safely."
"And you, Maturin."
With that, we hurriedly followed our respective Captains from the breakfast room. Byrne and I walked a pace behind Captain Wendon, listening to his muttered instructions.
"...Our task is to collect information. Captain Aubrey is searching for a Lady Evelyn Montmorency, whom you know, Byrne, and will describe to Westenra later. We are searching for information relating to certain military plans of Bonaparte's, which are being transferred from France to Spain via the coastal waters. These plans are crucial and we shall only have two chances; one at a point two hundred miles from Calais, and another near Port Delaney, on the border. Any other chances after that will be pure luck. Now, I have a bet with Captain Aubrey that we shall discover the plans before he can find Lady Montmorency, and that we will be awaiting him in Portsmouth. It is a rather larger sum of money than I should like to loose. We sail on the morning tide, and, you may tell the men that if we win these battles, they shall have an extra ration of rum every second Sunday for the next two months! Dismiss!"
Byrne and I exchanged grins.
"Aye, aye sir!"
"See you at the ship, sir!"
We marched at triple time, almost falling over our feet, back to the ship, whereupon Byrne informed the first lieutenant of the plans and set about hailing drunken sailors. I returned to my cabin, and found my belongings were there- excellent time, I thought, considering we had taken only an hour to break our fast. Then, I sat down to finish off the Captain's last report. I was in the habit of taking down his words exactly, then copying them out into neater script, before returning them to be checked, sealed and sent. During my recovery I had been slightly behind, and I set to work to catch up. I barely heard the Captain come aboard, so intent was I on my writing. It had taken a long time to transform my obviously feminine script into a more masculine slant, but I was comfortable with it now, and none of those who had seen my writing had been looking for that of a woman.
Dear Sir, I wrote,
Having received and opened your instructions dated the fourteenth, I have proceeded to Port Rosado to convey the Duchess safely to Port. Took on wood, water and provisions, and, having received your orders relating to my next course of action, dated the nineteenth, am proceeding to the first rendezvous, at Conrad Bay, 200 miles from Calais. If the prize, Toulouse, is not captured, I will proceed to Delaney, and chase said prize with the aim of capture, sink or destroy.
Yours sincerely,
All it wanted now was Captain Wendon's signature; I had the Spanish copy ready for the Governor, also to be signed. He wanted to send them via the next mail packet back to England, I knew, so I went to his cabin and knocked.
Sorry for the lengthy abscence! Encourage me with reviews! Plus- part two will soon be here...Adventure at Conrad Bay! Es xx
