A Catch of Consequence. Diana Norman
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Название: A Catch of Consequence
Автор: Diana Norman
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Историческая литература
isbn: 9780007404551
isbn:
But it was still absorbing shock. Almost the whole of the Cut was involved with the Gideon in one way or another; the men’s loss was not only personal grief but rents that now couldn’t be met, unpaid debts, little businesses that had been planned and wouldn’t transpire.
Mary Bell from Number 25 shifted her baby more firmly onto her hip. She came up so that she stood on one side of the little bridge that led to the tavern, Makepeace, with her back to the door, faced her on the other. They were friends. Mary’s young husband was second mate on Gideon and had sailed before his child was born. ‘What’s she sayin’, Makepeace?’ Her face crumpled. ‘Where’s my Matthew?’
Wordless, Makepeace stared at her. Useless, useless to say she’d saved a man from drowning not knowing who he was; her actions had no relevance to this woman.
Had Gideon gone down with all hands, Mary could have grieved and recovered. She came of a coastal people; the sea gave, the sea took away, she understood it, her church had prayers to rejoice or mourn the caprice of its profit and loss. But there was no formula for putting to rest the victim that disappeared into the jaws of His Majesty’s authorized monster. Though he didn’t come back, he remained the man who might or might not be dead, the husband of a wife who couldn’t remarry; he was a disembodied scream that went on and on.
These things had to be comprehended; Makepeace knew it because she too had to come to terms with an altered future.
But once they were – and Makepeace saw this too – somebody would have to pay for them, pain must be subsumed in revenge, a shriek of protest go up against the distant, arrogant, little island that inflicted such suffering.
And this time, there was a scapegoat to hand, trailing blood. Not a governor, not a stamp master – hirelings who took their orders from three thousand miles away – but a real, live Englishman who, on his own admission, had connections with the Admiralty, the same Admiralty that commanded the stealing of men. And he was here on their doorstep.
Helplessly, Makepeace went into the Roaring Meg, shut the door, bolted it and began preparations for a siege.
Nothing much to do,’ she said casually to Betty. ‘Why don’t you take Josh and go visit Hannah?’ Hannah was Betty’s close friend and lived along the waterfront.
‘You expectin’ trouble?’
‘No.’
‘Always could tell when you was lyin’.’
‘It’s just …’ It was difficult to clarify even to herself why she felt dread but she knew it wasn’t baseless. The nights of riot had created a palimpsest on which further havoc could be written, a ground for old and new scores to be settled in a way that Boston’s conformity had previously kept in check. Violence was in the air and she could smell it waiting outside her door. ‘… just if there’s trouble, if there’s trouble …’
‘Me and Josh family or not?’
‘You know you are, you old besom.’
‘’N’ so do every other soul ’round here. Want me ’n’ Josh caught strollin’ back from Hannah’s an’ chucked in the harbour? Thank you kindly, we’s stayin’ indoors an’ don’t nobody else ought to go visitin’ neither.’
‘It’s me they’re mad with.’
‘When people’s mad they ain’t picky.’
As an ex-slave Betty knew what she was talking about, but Makepeace was aware that she was just finding a good excuse to stay. How good an excuse was it, though? Would Aaron be safe going to Castle William?
Yes, she decided, he would, as long as he set out immediately. She was tempted to send the Englishman with him and then rejected the idea; there were people milling about the Cut who’d see them go; a crisis would be precipitated. Better for them all if the man made his escape under cover of darkness and with a force to protect him.
When Aaron came down from upstairs she apprised him of the situation. ‘You tell them soldiers to lie out from the jetty an’ keep quiet,’ she said. ‘We’ll row him to their boat.’
She accompanied her brother to the jetty. Aaron, too, had been enchanted by Dapifer who had offered to introduce him to the playhouses should he ever come to London. ‘Now there’s a true English gentleman.’
‘Ain’t he though,’ she said flatly, but her brother’s enthusiasm reminded her of how young he was and she became nervous for him. A few of the crowd from the Cut had ambled onto the spillway and were watching them. ‘Hold up,’ she said. ‘You can take Tantaquidgeon with you.’
He refused indignantly, affronted that she thought he couldn’t manage on his own. ‘Anyway, if there’s trouble, you’ll need him here.’
Quarrelling would have attracted more attention so she let him go. She called Tantaquidgeon and put him on guard at the jetty, then went upstairs to take out her anger and discomfort on a true English gentleman.
He was sitting by the window, looking tireder and gloomier than ever; a day with the Goodies could do that.
‘Well,’ she said, storming in, ‘you cost me my marriage. You gone and got Captain Busgutt pressed. Ain’t I lucky?’
He turned his head, blinking. ‘He’s been ironed?’
‘Pressed, pressed. Taken for the navy.’
‘I did that?’
‘Thy government, then.’ She was waving her fist. She’d give him press gang.
He had the sense to listen, giving a nod from time to time. When she finally ran out of breath, he said, ‘I can get him out, you know.’
The sheer omnipotence of the statement made her angrier. ‘And what about Matthew Bell and the rest of the crew?’
‘I’ll get them out as well.’
‘Oh.’ She paused. ‘Do it then.’ She still didn’t want to be placated. ‘But how long’ll that take? They could be aboard an East Indiaman by now. Or sailed to China. I’ll be in my grave before I’m a bride.’
‘Believe me, my dear Procrustes, marriage isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.’ Then he said: ‘Does Mrs Busgutt know?’
Makepeace sighed. ‘She knows.’
‘Ah. Yes. Poor soul. I thought I heard the voice of Mrs Saltonstall. She was using the words “English lord” in tones that suggested a blight on our former intimacy. She’s blaming me.’ He looked at her. ‘And you.’
He’s quick, Makepeace thought. She hadn’t meant him to know how much trouble she was in; that was her business. She said, more gently: ‘They got to blame somebody. СКАЧАТЬ