Sheridan had thrown out of his seat—sharing the young man's drunken renditions of sailors' ditties and handing out sage advice on how to seduce women in foreign ports. He got down from the gig at the steps of Hatherleigh Hall and shook the other man's hand. When the gig had rattled cheerfully off into the twilight, he turned and looked up at the black, somber bulk of his father's house, where no light shone in welcome and no hand threw open the entry to receive him.
The front door shut behind him with a wail like a lost soul. He groped his way into the little study near the entryway and built up the fire.
Mustafa wasn't in evidence, probably curled up already in the only harmless bed upstairs, appropriating all the blankets. By the coal grate's feeble red glow, Sheridan checked the potted fuchsia on the windowsill for the stubborn signs of renewed life. They were still there, two bright green sprouts amid the withered blooms. He warmed the kettle for a while, tested the temperature and then carefully added a measure of water to the plant.
He thought of lying down on the divan to sleep. But he might have one of his dreams; one of the really bad ones. He sometimes did when he got rattled and moody. Staying awake all night was preferable to that particular curse.
He lit a candle and sat down at the desk. After rummaging in the drawers for paper and ink, he rested his chin on his fist and thought a few moments.
His mouth curved in a twisted smile. Taking up the pen, he sharpened the goose quill and began to write.
Five
----
To The Right Honorable Viscount Palmerston, Secretary at War
My Lord Secretary,
I scribble this in haste, praying it will reach you. In a few moments Her Highness and I embark from King's Lynn. The plan you suggested was rejected by the princess, and it is by God's grace alone that I intercepted her wild attempt to slip away and make a solitary journey to Rome to plead her cause with the pope. She is remarkably intrepid. (In point of fact, I suspect she'd give a reasonable account of herself in the 11th Light Dragoons.) However, I would certainly have returned her instantly to the care of her guardians, but others were apparently aware of her plans. An attempt was made on her person. Whether it was meant to be an abduction or worse, I am not certain, but I managed to bear her to temporary safety.
I devoutly hope you will approve my actions. I deem it imperative to remove her instantly from this area to a place of greater security, though I dare not communicate the location in this vulnerable dispatch. Given the unavoidable circumstances of our situation in traveling together, I shall of course insist upon implementing your original plan. Be assured that her person and her honor will be guarded with my life. I await anxiously the moment you can remove the danger which threatens her. Until then, I will contact you as I can.
Yr servant,
Sheridan Drake
Princess,
Since leaving you, I have come to realize that you were entirely correct. The plan Palmerston offered is insufficient to your purposes and could only delay the day of reckoning in Oriens. Therefore I propose that we proceed forthwith in our original design.
Tomorrow morning take your walk as early as will seem reasonable to your household. Go directly to your usual meeting place. Stovall will know where to convey you from there.
Bring no baggage, except as we agreed, nothing to arouse early suspicion. It is imperative that we gain a full day's start. The only thing you must do is compose a letter to be sent ahead of us to the pope. In it, describe everything you have told me. It is crucial that you be as complete and persuasive as possible—we may be delayed somehow, and your letter must reach Rome before a decision is made on the matter of your marriage. Do not post the letter yourself . I will take it in hand the instant I meet you and dispatch it through appropriate means.
If we wish to win through, you must follow my directions to the
The front door shut behind him with a wail like a lost soul. He groped his way into the little study near the entryway and built up the fire.
Mustafa wasn't in evidence, probably curled up already in the only harmless bed upstairs, appropriating all the blankets. By the coal grate's feeble red glow, Sheridan checked the potted fuchsia on the windowsill for the stubborn signs of renewed life. They were still there, two bright green sprouts amid the withered blooms. He warmed the kettle for a while, tested the temperature and then carefully added a measure of water to the plant.
He thought of lying down on the divan to sleep. But he might have one of his dreams; one of the really bad ones. He sometimes did when he got rattled and moody. Staying awake all night was preferable to that particular curse.
He lit a candle and sat down at the desk. After rummaging in the drawers for paper and ink, he rested his chin on his fist and thought a few moments.
His mouth curved in a twisted smile. Taking up the pen, he sharpened the goose quill and began to write.
Five
----
To The Right Honorable Viscount Palmerston, Secretary at War
My Lord Secretary,
I scribble this in haste, praying it will reach you. In a few moments Her Highness and I embark from King's Lynn. The plan you suggested was rejected by the princess, and it is by God's grace alone that I intercepted her wild attempt to slip away and make a solitary journey to Rome to plead her cause with the pope. She is remarkably intrepid. (In point of fact, I suspect she'd give a reasonable account of herself in the 11th Light Dragoons.) However, I would certainly have returned her instantly to the care of her guardians, but others were apparently aware of her plans. An attempt was made on her person. Whether it was meant to be an abduction or worse, I am not certain, but I managed to bear her to temporary safety.
I devoutly hope you will approve my actions. I deem it imperative to remove her instantly from this area to a place of greater security, though I dare not communicate the location in this vulnerable dispatch. Given the unavoidable circumstances of our situation in traveling together, I shall of course insist upon implementing your original plan. Be assured that her person and her honor will be guarded with my life. I await anxiously the moment you can remove the danger which threatens her. Until then, I will contact you as I can.
Yr servant,
Sheridan Drake
Princess,
Since leaving you, I have come to realize that you were entirely correct. The plan Palmerston offered is insufficient to your purposes and could only delay the day of reckoning in Oriens. Therefore I propose that we proceed forthwith in our original design.
Tomorrow morning take your walk as early as will seem reasonable to your household. Go directly to your usual meeting place. Stovall will know where to convey you from there.
Bring no baggage, except as we agreed, nothing to arouse early suspicion. It is imperative that we gain a full day's start. The only thing you must do is compose a letter to be sent ahead of us to the pope. In it, describe everything you have told me. It is crucial that you be as complete and persuasive as possible—we may be delayed somehow, and your letter must reach Rome before a decision is made on the matter of your marriage. Do not post the letter yourself . I will take it in hand the instant I meet you and dispatch it through appropriate means.
If we wish to win through, you must follow my directions to the
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