Read Online Admiral by Dudley Pope - Free Book Online

gaiety.
    So the decision was made for Diana and Thomas, but Ned was still wrestling with it, and he was wrestling alone because since they had all returned from the Perdrix , he and Aurelia had not been able to talk. Aurelia could have made an opportunity – and Diana and Thomas were sensitive people who would need only the gentlest of hints. Yet Aurelia had deliberately not made the opportunity; she wanted Ned to reach his decision alone.
    Barbados or the Brethren…
    Leclerc, she recalled, had said that if Ned chose to be their leader, they would be preparing almost at once for an expedition against the Spanish the like of which the Caribbean had never seen…
    At first, Aurelia had been surprised at Leclerc mentioning it (whatever it was) at this stage, when Ned was still undecided, but she realized, during the row back to the Griffin , that the Frenchman and his companions only wanted Ned as their leader if he knew he could lead: the attack on Santiago had been his first and perhaps, from the buccaneers’ point of view, there might have been an element of chance; he might have been carried along by events.
    Ned suddenly stopped his pacing and, glaring down at Thomas, exclaimed: “There’s not just one plantation at Barbados, you know! There are two, Aurelia’s and Kingsnorth.”
    “I know, I know,” said Thomas calmly, “and every day the land is getting more overgrown and the termites are eating up the houses. But tell me, all those Roundhead gentlemen who were after your blood and your land while Uncle Oliver was alive – have they miraculously turned Royalist now the King is back and decided to welcome you back with roisterous parties and offers of help?”
    “How do I know?” Ned snapped.
    “You can guess, Ned,” Diana said quietly, and Thomas said: “It doesn’t seem to have changed people here. Changed their official allegiances, yes; Heffer’s a good example of that. But Heffer and his ilk are still Puritans and Republicans at heart. Once a psalm-singing hypocrite, then always a psalm-singing hypocrite. Here in Jamaica,” he pointed out, slapping his knee for emphasis, “you and I have power because this island needs ships for its defence, and we’ve got ’em. Or at least Heffer thinks he needs ’em, which is the same thing, so what we say matters. But what sort of a mess is there in Barbados, which has a House of Assembly and political parties to complicate matters? It will take a year or two to settle down.
    “You can be sure that the Convertine ’s captain calling in and giving a hail that the King is restored to the throne has not yet made the island safe for Royalists. Why, if you go back within the next year – before more Royalists have come out from England, and that’s going to take time – I wouldn’t put down a bet that they won’t arrest you the moment you land on the island, Restoration or no.”
    “What the devil for?”
    “Come on , Ned,” Thomas growled. “You and Saxby fought your way out with the Griffin . Were no Roundhead soldiers killed? They could charge you with the murder of each and every one of them, wounding Aurelia’s late husband, treason…the charges are limited only by an attorney-general’s imagination… Don’t let’s fall into the trap of trusting politicians, whether Republican or Royalist.”
    Diana said quietly, “Remember, Ned, the Commonwealth still has the power among the islands. Yes, the Roundheads now know the King is back. They also know they have plenty of time to settle a few old scores before they have to give up power. If Heffer wasn’t frightened of a Spanish attack, you don’t think he would be so friendly, do you?”
    Aurelia said a silent prayer of thanks to Diana and Thomas. They had explained flatly and firmly what was frightening her; that for many months the Roundheads would still have the actual power, if not the legal authority, in Barbados: Ned could be charged, tried, sentenced to death, strung up on a gibbet and