Eleanor helps Rogers prepare his address and discovers Spain is a threat to the whole endeavor if Rogers cannot return the Urca gold. When the fleet approaches Nassau, it becomes clear the pirates have acquired an unexpected ally. Eleanor comes up with a plan.

Chapter 7 - The Messenger

The next day, Eleanor was relieved when she woke to find them sailing again. Looking forward to a normal day in the governor's office, Eleanor chose the new pastel green dress. But when Mrs. Hudson appeared with a tray of breakfast, Eleanor opened her mouth to ask her why she was having breakfast here. Before she could ask, Mrs. Hudson explained, "Lord Governor Rogers is in a meeting at present with Captain Hornigold. I believe he will be busy most of the day. And he requests you to remain below deck for the time being." Mrs. Hudson sat down, picked her sowing kit and set to work to retouch the red dress.

Chagrined, Eleanor picked at her fresh baked muffin. "I'm not that hungry," she pouted.

Mrs. Hudson lifted her eyes from the dress and stared coldly at Eleanor. "Did you believe that the governor would forget his station and situation as well as yours, only because you both like to read?"

"No," she said, but in truth, yes, somehow she had come to believe it.

"He is a generous master, more than most," said Mrs. Hudson while pulling the thread through, not looking up. "But he is also a rational and practical man. If anything, the past week should have reminded you of that." Eleanor wanted to make a face, knowing that Mrs. Hudson was more right than wrong. "But he seems to favor you." Mrs. Hudson's eyes stared pointedly at the gifted book on her table. "Perhaps, you may advance far. Though he knows you but what, six weeks, he does not treat you as the stranger you are."

Eleanor frowned at the last remark. She was not exactly sure about Mrs. Hudson's meaning. The woman tended to speak in riddles. "Do you fear for my sake that he is inconstant in his favors?"

"No, quite the contrary. He is very constant, a faithful man."

This time, Eleanor understood Mrs. Hudson's words well enough - don't get any ideas, girl, he's still in love with his wife. Eleanor shook her head, grabbed the play and started to read, finishing her muffin in concentration, and mumbled loud enough for Mrs. Hudson to hear her. "Yes, a constant man, put to sea, never to return if his voyage is a success."

It was passed noon when she was called upon to present herself in Rogers' office in the company of Mrs. Hudson. "Come in." Rogers rummaged through his papers spread across his desk. Used glasses and cups still stood about, needing to be cleared. There was no clerk, so this was not about any questions he had regarding her story when she ruled over Nassau. To Mrs. Hudson he said, "Would you be so kind to call for someone to clear the mess and then you can wait outside." Rogers returned to the desk, delved into another pile of papers and then lifted one from underneath as if it was some treasure and mumbled, "There it is." Eleanor approached the table, laying her arm on the back of a chair and watched him with some wonder. The servant entered, but distracted Rogers shooed him away again. "Oh, yes, well, not now, come back later." When the door closed, Rogers finally stood straight. "I just concluded a meeting with Commodore Chamberlain and his staff. A date has been set for our arrival in Nassau, roughly two weeks from today. And when that happens, decisions are going to be made in a matter of hours that will determine the future of the island for decades to come. And almost all of it is going to depend on that." He held out the paper to her.

Eleanor took it and read it. "What is this?"

"The address I intend to make to the inhabitants of Nassau in which I invite them all to accept the King's Pardon and to join my efforts to restore law, order and commerce to New Providence island."

Eleanor read the drawn up address more closely as she walked towards the grand window of the stern. She had known of his intentions to pardon the pirates, but she always believed he would do so after the battle to conquer the bay of Nassau. The address was neither an overture of war, nor taxation of homage, but an olive branch. "So, you're just going to sail into the harbor, throw yourself onto the beach and read this?"

"Captain Hornigold believes that without Captain Flint there is no one left on that island capable of mounting an organized defense at the bay." He lowered his voice. "Do you disagree?"

She turned around. "An organized defense," Eleanor said with a smile. "Captain Flint was the only true strategist among them." She leaned against the stern's window. "But that doesn't mean the others will organize a disorganized one."

"Oh, I'm not concerned about the odd skirmish," Rogers defended himself. He walked to his bar where he kept his wine and brandy. "All that matters is whether that works." He gestured to the address in her hands and then poured himself a cup of wine. "Commodore Chamberlain is resolved that either the pirates take the pardon immediately or Nassau will be considered hostile territory." With the tin cup in his hands, he returned to the desk around the side. "We then mount of a full scale invasion of the beach, costing me any chance I might have of a peaceful transition."

Eleanor sought one of the meeting chairs and sat down. "And you need my help to ensure that this address is drawn to win the most converts?"

"Precisely."

She reached for a plume, dipped it in ink and perused its content. "How sure are you that it would be a bad thing?"

"What's that?"

"If the navy took over, stormed the beach and cleared it, why would that be such a bad thing?" Before she listened for an answer she frowned at an expression in his address. "I wouldn't say law and order here. Either is fine. The phrase they find upsetting."

Rogers sighed and sat down, setting the tin cup before him on the table. "If the Navy takes the beach, there is no way I will recapture the trust of the men who would otherwise have surrendered."

Eleanor chuckled. "You wouldn't need their trust if they were either dead or terrified of you. Seems the Navy is offering to see to one or the other." Eleanor was actually surprised that she was making these rational arguments and that Commodore Chamberlain was not present to ask them along with her.

"It could take months to pacify the island by force. It would be preferable to me to spend those months building commerce instead of putting out fires." Rogers lifted his cup and drank.

"Yes, but if the Navy were to remove anybody who was setting those fires, again, would that not be preferable?"

"How exactly did you become the one asking questions here?" Rogers demanded, irritated at her being fortified against any denial. Frowning, she looked up startled. Clearly she hit a nerve there. He looked cross. "And anyone who thinks it's so easy to win a war by force has never actually been responsible for fighting one."

Eleanor pondered the mystery why he so desperately wanted to do this address before anything else. He had no issue to send her back to London on the Gloucestershire to her death just a month ago. He had pretty much shrugged at the news of Flint's death. He had fought and captured Spanish galleons. Even if Rogers believed that man could better themselves if given the chance, and it was preferable to killing them, surely he had another motive than commerce or pretending to be the hero. Mrs. Hudson is right that most of all he is a practical and rational man who does what he believes necessary. "You're not saying that you can't win. You're saying it would take too long to win it." She pondered the puzzle, shaking her head. "With all these resources, you could outlast them. Clearly you could outlast them!" she said more to herself than to him. Eleanor settled her gaze on him. "So why are you so concerned about the time?"

He stared at her for a moment, his features serious, deliberating. It seemed he had made a decision when he looked down, shy like a boy who was caught at stealing cookies from the jar. Rogers rolled his head, stretched his jaw and raised his eyebrows expressively. "There were a number of parties," he sighed. "to whom I had to make promises in exchange for their support of this operation, schedules that had to be met. And with many of these parties, Whitehall, my equity investors, my creditors, the lapse of a deadline or two might be bargained away. But there is one particular party whose patience I do not wish to test, a party whose history with the pirates of Nassau suggests an extreme reaction would likely follow."

When it was pointed out, Eleanor understood immediately. "Spain," she said softly. The governor lowered his eyes in acknowledgement and pressed his lips together regretfully. Anxious and alarmed, she asked, "What did you have to promise them?"

"That I would seize Fort Nassau, secure the remains of the Urca de Lima's gold stored within it, and return it to Havana. Promptly. Failure to do so would confirm for them that I am simply a pirate by another name, not to be trusted, and would result in a launch of a fleet of ten ships and soldiers numbering 1,500 to raze Nassau to the ground."

Her father had warned her from the very beginning that acquiring the Urca Gold was incompatible with saving Nassau. And yet, she had funded Flint in hunting it. And I told him. No wonder, he is reluctant to reveal it to me. "How long did they give you?"

"Eight weeks."

"Eight? Jesus!" The memory of the Rosario Raid flashed before her eyes. The women and men screaming. The fire. The corpse of her mother, her blonde hair matted with blood.

"As long as the fort is taken quickly and in its entirety, everything should be fine," Rogers insisted, though it sounded as if he was trying to convince himself of it, rather than her.

Eleanor certainly was not convinced. She shook her head and breathed out in exasperation. So much could go wrong in her own experience. It was an island full of pirates after all, men and women who rather deprived another of having something when they could not have it either. Oh, why did I not listen to father or Mr. Scott from the start? Her actions and choices had put Rogers and Nassau in this mess. The first unwittingly, the latter knowing full well that the Spanish might retaliate. And here she had been arguing against his plan as if he were some good-hearted fool or worse a coward. The very least she could do is make it the best address that might actually work.

She set to work in earnest, rephrasing where necessary. "Perhaps you should simply scrap law and order altogether. Instead you can reverse it by mentioning disorder and chaos as the reason why Charles Vane is the sole pirate who does not get pardoned." She struck out the paragraph in question and rewrote her suggestion above it.

"How do you mean?" Rogers got up and came to stand behind her, looking over her shoulder.

"Like this. You see?" She lifted the paper up for him.

Rogers murmured as he read, "No matter what you've done, no matter how irredeemable you believe it to be, your king and your governor wish to offer you a clean slate, a new beginning here in Nassau. All of you, that is, but one. One so committed to disorder and chaos that his presence is incompatible with civilized society." He pursed his lips. "Yes, that could work." He took another swallow from his wine. "Not bad."

"And then you can simply state the rules, before it, without actually calling it law and order." Eleanor bent over the address, scratched another line and wrote her suggestion instead. Aloud, she read, "Be it proclaimed that any man on this island who will renounce violence against the crown, who will renounce piracy, that man will be offered a full, complete, and unqualified pardon."

Still looking over her shoulder, his head to the side, Rogers pointed his finger at the passage she had altered. "Add 'who accepts that embrace' right before the renouncing – that any man on this island who accepts that embrace, comma, who will renounce – and so on, and so on." He downed his drink. "Now write it out on a new paper."

When she was done, he extended his hand to read the well penned version of it and walked away. Aloud he said, "The time has come for the parent empire to reclaim its lost child that must long for the embrace of civilization once again -"

Eleanor shook her head. "No, that sounds all wrong." In consternation, Rogers raised his eyebrows, while she furrowed her brow and repeated the line in her head several times. "You ought to paint yourself as a savior and Nassau as the naughty child." She rose, walked over to him, snatched the paper out of his hands, bent across the desk, reached for the plume, scratched out the line and wrote another suggestion instead. Then she read aloud, "The time has come to bring a wayward child back into the fold, an island that rejected its parent empire, but that must long for the embrace of civilization once again."

Rogers burst out in laughter. He rarely ever laughed freely. Most often it was more of a chuckle. She was both surprised as well as taken aback by it. With her confusion written all over her face, he kept his laughter in check. "It's good! Very good!" he reassured her, waving his hand. "You're really shrewd with words, especially when you give it all your effort. Perhaps I should let you write all of my speeches."

"Thank you, you're too kind."

"Not really no." Then he walked to her left side once more. "Let me see." She handed him the paper. And when he inadvertently brushed the sleeve of his light olive justaucorps against her arm, Eleanor felt a short jolt course through her body. "Well, it looks like the only thing left from the original write-up is the final proclamation of a bounty for the capture of Vane, dead or alive." He stepped away, and so did she.

Eleanor turned and stared through the window, catching her breadth. She adjusted her petticoat and stomacher, attempting to regain her composure from the accidental brush. She knew he was quite innocent of any inappropriate behavior towards her, and most likely even completely unaware of the effect he had on her.

"I think I have been indoors for too long," he said as he laid the address carefully down on his desk. "Shall we go on deck? It will give my servant some time to tidy up my quarter."

"Yes," she said eagerly. Eleanor turned, her eyes lowered as she dared not to look at him in that moment.

What had begun as a mere attraction and pleasurable fascination in the many weeks before that innocent brush was sparked into a slow burning flame of desire and yearning as if Cupid himself had nicked her with his arrow. In the days after, she made sure to hide her admiration behind a demure exterior. Meanwhile her belief that he seemed oblivious to it, gave her this false security that she could attend to him more than before without any danger to him or even herself. When he spoke, she listened. When he smiled, she brightened. It did not matter whether those words were spoken to the Commodore, or that he smiled at a smart comment of one of the officers. It was most unconsciously done though. When she went on deck, she told herself it was because she wanted to feel the sun on her face, marvel at the azure hue of the Caribbean and look out across the horizon for that first glimpse of Nassau. But gradually, day by day, he shone more brightly than the sun. It was his light she basked in. It were his sparkling, blue eyes she wanted to swim in. Each day added a new word to her vocabulary on how to describe him: virtuous, of noble character, stainless youth, liberal, educated, valiant, gracious in form and appearances, and soft and well spoken with a timbre that made her heart tremble.

Rogers certainly noted she had become very compliant and helpful. Sometimes, he only found himself thinking, I should check this with her, when Chamberlain or Hornigold tried to convince him of something about Nassau, its bay or the fort, and he would find her right by his side that very instant. At least he was grateful that she made his job easier. Chamberlain posed challenge enough at times. And it was a relief that she required no explanation anymore when he wanted her to remain below, or that she stopped pouting like a child when he had little time for her as she had done in Bermuda. What might have affected this change in her, he could only guess. Perhaps she had truly comprehended his meaning at Bermuda when he berated her. Maybe it was the weather, the subtropical air and the nearness of her home. Or conceivably she competed with Hornigold who was most eager to prove he was a true Englishman.

So, when Eleanor stood on the quarterdeck with Mrs. Hudson, looking to the horizon with apprehension to catch the island's first glimpse, just cresting on the horizon, and the lookout in the crow's nest shouted, "Sails on the horizon!", it was hardly surprising that Eleanor left Mrs. Hudson's side instinctively and strolled towards the Commodore and Rogers at the rail of the starboard side of the quarterdeck without being invited to. Chamberlain watched through his spyglass with Rogers looking gravely at the horizon. Meanwhile, Eleanor was completely oblivious to Mrs. Hudson's bewildered look and attempt to tell her to wait for Rogers to call for her.

"It would appear, sir, that your information is less than complete," said Chamberlain, gesturing his head at her in contempt. "Perhaps you should ask this one who it is."

Rogers flicked his eyes for a moment at Chamberlain's last comment. "There are masts at the mouth of the harbor." Eleanor took the spyglass and peered through it. "Appear to be in a firing line," said Rogers. Eleanor adjusted the spyglass to see better. "Do you recognize any of their banners?," he asked. She lowered the glass slowly with dread. "Who is it?"

How is it possible? She dropped her gaze and felt her stomach sink into a pit. "It's Edward Teach, sir."

"Teach! Are you sure?"

"Skeleton holding a cup and piercing a heart. It's Teach's banner."

Rogers shrugged his shoulders and flexed his jaw. And before long, the name and his moniker was whispered amongst officers, soldiers and sailors. Dejected, Eleanor surrendered the spyglass to Chamberlain. It might be all over, even before it actually began.

Rogers straightened his back and set his jaw decisively. "How soon will we be upon them, Commodore?"

"Three hours, give or take."

Rogers took the spyglass from Chamberlain. Eleanor knew what he saw - a Man O War, four square riggers, two sloops, ... "Eight, maybe nine ships," he said, "including the Man O War." She took a step back, as if in some nightmare. "Get every captain, officer, quartermaster, anyone with a brain on this ship," Rogers ordered to the commodore, never taking his eyes from her. "That includes Captain Hornigold, Commodore. He sailed with Teach once."

Meanwhile, Eleanor's mind raced over the possibilities. Why the fuck did Teach return to Nassau after eight fucking years? Teach preferred to lord over a strong crew, without any interference of merchants or the street. There were too many rivals in Nassau, even with Flint dead. The street had gained too much power, even without her, to let themselves be pushed aside by a man like Teach. And even if Teach had not known it when he arrived in Nassau, he would have realized it by now. Eleanor was sure that Teach would rather command a pirate fleet exclusively bound to him anywhere else but Nassau. Why does he defend a place he despises, crews he considers weak? Why had Teach not simply seized the Man O War, get the strongest crew and sail off with it?

Rogers gestured Eleanor to walk with him. "Teach has not been sighted near the Bahamas even these past months. You seem surprised he is here at all."

"I am," she said instantly. "He doesn't care about Nassau at all. He never did. Not the town, not the people, not even most of the pirates. He knows no commitment, other than what others owe him."

"So, why do you think he is here then?"

Eleanor shook her head in consternation. "I can't comprehend it. There is no way he would risk his life or his precious pirate freedom for Nassau over hanging around some remote beach." She leaned on the rail and stared at the glimpse of Nassau. "The sole reason I can think of is that he is a fanatic about piracy and hates the English. Maybe he just sees this as an opportunity to smash an English fleet."

"Well, whatever his reasons were, he is here now," Rogers smiled at her in his way where he pressed his lips together. "And seems to have mounted a defense. As we get closer and gain more intelligence, it will become clear what needs to be done."

Three hours later, they lay out of gunshot range near the bay of Nassau. Rogers' quarter was crowded by Naval officers, majors and generals of the Regulars, Hornigold and his quartermaster, as well as Eleanor and Mrs. Hudson. The officers, the commodore and Rogers surveyed the map of the bay of Nassau with mock-up ships in the line of battle formation.

"That formation ensures that any approach in the harbor mouth will result in significant damage to our fleet," said Chamberlain more to everybody else in the room than Rogers. "Apparently, Captain Teach is every bit the tactician they say he is."

Rogers leaned against the post of his window, his back to Chamberlain. "What are you suggesting? That we withdraw?"

"I'm suggesting that I see no obvious means by which we can reclaim Nassau town, not without risking the loss of significant assets of his majesty's Navy."

Rogers nodded, but his jaw was set in determination. He circled round and faced Chamberlain. "Then I'll go to the beach myself."

Eleanor held her breath. Chamberlain's jaw dropped. "Beg pardon?"

"I will have a launch ferry me to the sand alone, and I will make the pardon address."

Reckless and heroic, but foolish nonetheless, she thought. Isn't there anyone here who will stop him?

Chamberlain positioned himself opposite of Rogers. "It is out of the question." In that moment, Eleanor felt like kissing Chamberlain. They both wanted Rogers to be safe.

"Why?" Rogers challenged the Commodore.

"Because my charge is to ensure this endeavor's safety and yours and I'll not answer to a plan that reckless."

As both men argued in direct opposition of each other, a far deeper rift between them became clear to her. The commodore challenged Rogers' authority, and had done so before in little things. Eleanor did not like that. An idea came to her. "It shouldn't be you," she piped up from behind the officers that had formed a wall of royal navy coats between her and Rogers. Be clamorous, and leap all civil bounds, she reminded herself. Eleanor stepped forward, past the men. "If you send someone else to read the pardon address, someone known to the men on that beach, it might work."

Chamberlain rolled his eyes and turned away from her. "Someone have her removed. I don't have time for this -"

"Hold! Hold on," Rogers interrupted Chamberlain. He turned to her. "What are you suggesting? That you go to read the address?"

And in the way he said it, Eleanor realized that if she said yes, he would actually contemplate the notion. "No, it can't be me either," she answered, lowering her eyes. "I have too many enemies between here and that beach."

"Then who?"

"Him," she indicated Hornigold, who narrowed his eyes at her. "Half the men in that bay have sailed under him at one point or another. They respect him as much if not more than any other man that's sailed under the black. They'd grant him passage under a flag of truce, and they'd listen to what he had to say." She lifted her chin towards the stiff Chamberlain and said saucily, "And you don't give a shit if he dies in the process."

Rogers glanced at Hornigold and then at her in contemplation. He touted his lips, sighed, stood erect and turned towards Hornigold. "What do you say, Captain Hornigold?"

Eleanor supposed that there was a slight difference between being named as the man who might save the day and actually being such a person. Hornigold looked less proud after the praise she piled on him, and almost sickly green instead at the thought of risking his life to paddle through the formation line of Teach's fleet. After all, Hornigold had turned on his own ward, Teach, for control of the fort. Half of the men on that beach might have fought under Hornigold's black flag one time or another, but the other half had not. It required only one fool amongst the latter to take a shot at him. But even if such a fool killed Hornigold, the pirates on the beach would slaughter each other and thereby make it far easier for the Navy to mop up the rest of them.

Captain Hornigold seemed to realize the same thing – if he went, he would win the beach and Nassau town for Rogers, whether by sacrificing his life or making the address. Hornigold licked his lips, sighed and nodded. In a room full of officers and advisors who all had heard Eleanor's suggestion, he could do little else, unless he wished to be branded a coward who forced the Navy in sacrificing their lives to storm a beach.

"Good," said Rogers. "Have the launch made ready." He handed the address to the baffled Hornigold. And as everybody else filed out of his quarter, including Eleanor, she noticed Rogers still watching her with contemplation when she glanced behind her.

Hornigold fell in step beside her. "I do not know what your intent actually is – whether you hope to give me my day in the books of Nassau's history or wish to see me die in the process. Whichever is the case, I will see it done."

"You taught me a lesson once, Captain - how personal sacrifices need to be made for the greater good. I learned it. And for Lord Governor Rogers to take Nassau and put an end to piracy I think it is fair to say that we all shall have to make personal sacrifices." Hornigold squinted at her and then shook his head in disgust. He stepped resolutely towards the launch. "I wish you every success in wooing the pirates, Captain Hornigold," Eleanor whispered.

(Twelfth Night

references: The conversation between Mrs. Hudson and Eleanor adapts a conversation between Viola, in male disguise, and Orsino's servant on how quickly she gained the duke's favor and whether he is fickle or constant in feeling. Here, Mrs. Hudson warns Eleanor that Rogers is married and has never strayed. Later in the play the fool remarks to melancholic Orsino that changeable men should be put to sea, where everything is their business and everywhere their intent, so that their voyage is always successful. Eleanor quotes it to Mrs. Hudson to question Rogers' constancy if he plans to govern Nassau while leaving his wife and children behind. Eleanor describes Roers to herself as Olivia describes Orsino to Viola. The description of the nature of the address is how Viola describes the nature of her speech for Olivia as Orsino's messenger (no war, no taxes, but an olive). Eleanor quotes Orsino in thought as a directive when she swears to Chamberlain - "Be clamorous, and leap all civil bounds".

parallels: Eleanor falls in love with Rogers, while serving him, like Viola falls in love in Duke Orsino's service. She gets to know him better, and he discloses his heart 'like a book' to her. Viola is a lady who dresses as a man to disguise her identity. Eleanor in the English corset cannot fully be herself either (a reverse parallel). Eleanor succeeds only in helping Rogers when she steps out of her expected female gender role - she speaks up at a military council and gives military advice, and swears like a man.

the 'address' connection: Duke Orsino has Cessario (Viola) do his speeches to woo Olivia for him. Viola is actually the author of the address to Olivia. Orsino expresses himself about Olivia in flattering terms, but Viola ends up chasticing Olivia. While Orsino considers Viola the "best man" for the wooing job, Viola thinks she's the least equipped candidate for it. Like Viola, Eleanor constructs and alters Rogers' address to woo Nassau so much that she is the author and turns it into a chasticement. Rogers expresses the thought she should write all of his speeches. He also almost wants to send her to the beach, but she forces Hornigold into the position. In the end, another man speaks for Rogers and has the island surrender to him.)