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Authors: Pamela Christie
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turned to Arabella. “Miss Beaumont, would you think me presumptuous if I gave you my card? It might be amusing to meet in London and compare notes after our respective adventures are concluded. I must confess to a great curiosity about you, and I should very much like to hear how your journey turns out.”
“That is a delightful suggestion, Mr. Elliot! I have not brought any of my own cards with me, but I shall be delighted to write to you.”
He handed her a piece of pasteboard, which read:
C ECIL E LLIOT, DDD
W HITE’S C LUB
S T. J AMES S TREET
L ONDON
“What does the triple D signify?” she asked.
“Duty, diplomacy, and discretion. It’s a sort of joke, really, but an apt one. Those are the tenets by which I endeavor to live and conduct myself. Adieu, Miss Beaumont,” he said, kissing her hand. “Adieu et bonne chance.”
Whilst they had thus been making their farewells in Elliot’s cabin, Belinda had remained on deck with Mr. Kendrick. Sympathetic girl that she was, she had divined his unquiet feelings, and endeavored to distract him with whatever the marine vista should have on offer. Just now, it was the Sea Lion, which would shortly be bearing away the source of the reverend’s discomfort, and she pointed at the red, rakishly slanted sails.
“Look, Mr. Kendrick,” she cried. “Did you ever see anything so dashing?”
“Splendid, isn’t she?” said the captain, who happened to be passing by. “Our navy captured that one off the Barbary Coast, and re-christened her.” He chuckled in an avuncular manner, which grated on Belinda’s nerves. “Her original crew were as fierce a bunch of Corsair cutthroats as ever slaughtered gallant Christian seamen!”
“Do you mean she was a pirate ship?” Belinda asked.
“Aye, ma’m. Fastest thing afloat in her day. Would have got clean away from our lads, but she was badly outnumbered, and by the time her captain decided to make a run for it, we had her surrounded.”
“What . . . happened to the crew?” asked the girl, fearing the answer.
“Hanged! In chains, too, bedad! No need to worry your pretty head about them sea robbers, miss! They’re all in hell by now, turning round and round on the devil’s own roasting spits!”
The captain, who had shewn a marked partiality toward the younger Beaumont sister since the first day out, could not have known that she would take this information in anything other than a positive light. He had even entertained some vague hopes of winning her admiration of his narrative technique to the point of convincing her to come back to his cabin with him. But Belinda was, in fact, horror-stricken. Moreover, as the man himself presented a most reassuring and un-piratical appearance, she was not having any of that, thank you. Even so, she lingered a while in his company after Mr. Kendrick had gone below for his coat, because, despite the wind and the gathering storm, the captain had begun to tell her a story. It was a most curious tale, too, and Belinda lost no time afterward in relating it to her sister.
“Rubbish,” said Arabella flatly.
“But there was no reason for the captain to lie, Bell. He did not even realize that he was relating anything of which I was not already cognizant.”
“That Elliot requested the transfer himself? But why should he do that?”
“I don’t know. Do you suppose he could have got wind of an insurrection or an epidemic on shore, and wished to avoid it?”
“Before you told me this, I should have said that Mr. Elliot would never think of saving himself from danger and leaving the rest of us to face it, unprepared. But I should also have said that he would not lie to me about his actions. The fact that he has clearly done the one thing does not necessarily mean he has also done the other, but sadly, I cannot rule it out, either.”
Accordingly, she removed his card from her glove, tore it to fragments, and dropped them into the wastebasket next to her bunk. “Come,
“That is a delightful suggestion, Mr. Elliot! I have not brought any of my own cards with me, but I shall be delighted to write to you.”
He handed her a piece of pasteboard, which read:
C ECIL E LLIOT, DDD
W HITE’S C LUB
S T. J AMES S TREET
L ONDON
“What does the triple D signify?” she asked.
“Duty, diplomacy, and discretion. It’s a sort of joke, really, but an apt one. Those are the tenets by which I endeavor to live and conduct myself. Adieu, Miss Beaumont,” he said, kissing her hand. “Adieu et bonne chance.”
Whilst they had thus been making their farewells in Elliot’s cabin, Belinda had remained on deck with Mr. Kendrick. Sympathetic girl that she was, she had divined his unquiet feelings, and endeavored to distract him with whatever the marine vista should have on offer. Just now, it was the Sea Lion, which would shortly be bearing away the source of the reverend’s discomfort, and she pointed at the red, rakishly slanted sails.
“Look, Mr. Kendrick,” she cried. “Did you ever see anything so dashing?”
“Splendid, isn’t she?” said the captain, who happened to be passing by. “Our navy captured that one off the Barbary Coast, and re-christened her.” He chuckled in an avuncular manner, which grated on Belinda’s nerves. “Her original crew were as fierce a bunch of Corsair cutthroats as ever slaughtered gallant Christian seamen!”
“Do you mean she was a pirate ship?” Belinda asked.
“Aye, ma’m. Fastest thing afloat in her day. Would have got clean away from our lads, but she was badly outnumbered, and by the time her captain decided to make a run for it, we had her surrounded.”
“What . . . happened to the crew?” asked the girl, fearing the answer.
“Hanged! In chains, too, bedad! No need to worry your pretty head about them sea robbers, miss! They’re all in hell by now, turning round and round on the devil’s own roasting spits!”
The captain, who had shewn a marked partiality toward the younger Beaumont sister since the first day out, could not have known that she would take this information in anything other than a positive light. He had even entertained some vague hopes of winning her admiration of his narrative technique to the point of convincing her to come back to his cabin with him. But Belinda was, in fact, horror-stricken. Moreover, as the man himself presented a most reassuring and un-piratical appearance, she was not having any of that, thank you. Even so, she lingered a while in his company after Mr. Kendrick had gone below for his coat, because, despite the wind and the gathering storm, the captain had begun to tell her a story. It was a most curious tale, too, and Belinda lost no time afterward in relating it to her sister.
“Rubbish,” said Arabella flatly.
“But there was no reason for the captain to lie, Bell. He did not even realize that he was relating anything of which I was not already cognizant.”
“That Elliot requested the transfer himself? But why should he do that?”
“I don’t know. Do you suppose he could have got wind of an insurrection or an epidemic on shore, and wished to avoid it?”
“Before you told me this, I should have said that Mr. Elliot would never think of saving himself from danger and leaving the rest of us to face it, unprepared. But I should also have said that he would not lie to me about his actions. The fact that he has clearly done the one thing does not necessarily mean he has also done the other, but sadly, I cannot rule it out, either.”
Accordingly, she removed his card from her glove, tore it to fragments, and dropped them into the wastebasket next to her bunk. “Come,
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