Barney looked around the rapidly filling beach. He waved his hands.
"They were starving, sir," Lucie whispered to Barney. "Vraiment! Before they surrender!"
More boats had pulled into the beach. Scull and Macgregor and Connor came running up, and the boat crews emptied out of the boats and ran up to the groups of excited men on the beach.
"They call your name, sir," Lucie said. "But not quite like in the theatre! They do not dare make noise!"
Barney smiled down at her. "You remember the theatre?"
"I never forget," Lucie said. "I had your note; Joshua came next day to the Governor's, and we escaped through the plantation,
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through the sugar cane. François had a boat here, but when we arrived, it was gone."
Suddenly all that had gone before was recalled; once more they stood together as though the fates had spun, and the tangled webs of their lives enmeshed. And around them the men gathered.
Barney called, "We take the sick first!" Then he said, "Mr. Scull. Carry on. Get these men aboard." He turned to Joshua and de Bouille. "I'll be back soon, sirs."
Chapter 33
THE HOUSE WAS WELL LIGHTED. BARNEY CLIMBED RAPIDLY UPWARD toward it. He knew the climb well, for he had often used this way of coming down to the surf to swim. Nevertheless, it might be difficult for Douglass, so he had taken the precaution of bringing a length of rope which was coiled and hanging from his waist. He drew himself up over the last big rock. There he paused, listening, his dark eyes seeing the lighted windows. For the first time it occurred to him she might not be alone.
Above his head the stone balustrade of the small balcony afforded a good handhold. He pulled himself up, as he always did, set his foot in the edge of the stone, and vaulted lightly over onto the stone floor. He edged carefully to the wall alongside the open door, just past the oblong of light that was thrown out here from the bedroom within. He pressed back against the wall; he could see into the room sideways.
The balcony looked just as usual; just as it had the last night he had been here. Way below, from the beach, the surf broke with a constant thunder; Saba rose black from the sea in the distance. Over that distant thunder he now heard the murmur of men's voices from the open windows of the next room; his ears and senses told him sharply of the danger. He stood unmoving, his breath coming swiftly and shadowly; there were at least six men in the big room.
He could see Douglass. She was sitting in front of her table, and Esther stood behind her, repinning the curls on the top of her head. The vision of her he had carried now was replaced by the reality; for a second he forgot that she was not alone and almost stepped for-
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ward into the doorway when he was brought up by the sound of laughter coming from the long windows to his right.
Sharply the scene presented itself. It was etched on his mind as though it were a play, and he quite outside of it. For the man at her side must be Admiral Hood.
There was no conversation to overhear, for the moment. A number of things went through Barney's mind, as he pressed back against the stone walls. His hands had dropped to his loaded pistols, resting on the butts. He thought that Hood must have come over to Stasia for brief instructions, and perhaps because some of his ships were more disabled than the French thought. Barney knew that the gold braid on the magnificent uniform was real; he thought with cynicism that the British Navy had reclaimed its own.
Hood was completely at ease; Esther's fingers still pinned and repinned the shining piled curls while Hood took a turn around the room. Then he came back into Barney's sight again. Douglass' eyes met his in the mirror. It was hard for Barney to realize only seconds had passed and that the scene had conveyed so much without a word being spoken. Douglass smiled at Hood; she too was at ease, her cool voice sounded now.
"Sir George said that he thought it would be best for me to wait, since I am safe now."
Sir George was Rodney, Barney knew. Hood was saying, "The house is remarkably comfortable—I must say it surprises me that the Yankee has such good taste. His antecedents are completely unknown, you know."
"I know," said Douglass softly.
"He is the friend of your brother-in-law?" Hood questioned.
"Yes," she replied.
"Your experiment of living in the colonies didn't work, Douglass. You might have known." He eyed her sharply in the mirror.
"Yes," she said again. She rose, sweeping her skirts to one side with one white hand.
Hood took her other hand and put it in the crook of his arm. She walked to the door with him. Barney saw her go away from him, and then the door opened; he heard for a moment the more distinct sound of voices and then that door closed too, shutting out the voices and the last sight of her.
Barney let his whole body relax slowly; he let his hands drop down to his sides, and he stepped to the balustrade.
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As he did so, Esther sensed him. She stood in the center of the room, her head on one side, listening. Barney froze against the wall again. His big chest rose and fell fast as he waited for Esther to leave the room, too.
It seemed a long time; actually it was a scant two minutes. But as he waited there alone, in such a situation that even the sharp cry of a surprised woman might mean disaster or death, the folly that he had committed in coming here was made plain.
It flashed across his mind that it was similar to the madness of the anger which had caused him to hurl a burning heavy matchstick at his captain; and this time it was worse, it was premeditated. Let him deceive himself not at all; he had all along thought of climbing here, and taking away with him the woman he wanted. Surely it was as mad an action as the fit of anger which he had allowed himself and which might have ruined his career; it served to emphasize also to him, in these brief ticking seconds, while Esther listened, uneasy, and he waited—it emphasized his own reckless seizing. He told himself grimly he was twenty-seven years old, and should know better, and that if he didn't soon, he wouldn't live much longer, anyway.
Esther had gone. He, thinking now of time, realized with guilt that he had left Scull in command of a dangerous operation—dangerous not because of the operation itself, but because of the discovery which might ensue. With quick, steady hands he hitched the rope over the stone balustrade and swung down it as fast as he could, feet just touching the rocks once in a while as he slid. He landed on the beach sooner than he thought; he stood for a moment, then he turned and walked rapidly in the direction of the "Athena" and Tumbledown Dick. The rope dangled. Then guilt once more assailed him and he began to run. Scull was efficient, so was Mac-gregor, but they were unimaginative.
It took him thus only seven minutes to reach the outskirts of Tumbledown Dick, and he slid down the steep wall of rocky cliff, again reaching the bottom before he expected. He landed on all fours, and picked himself up, brushing the loose sand and dirt from his legs. He was back; the ship was safe; there was a handful of men—around fifty—left on the curving white beach. He stood, to catch his breath; they had not perceived him yet, even though he was but a hundred feet away.
The ship was safe; the men were safe. The other events could be summed up quickly. He had behaved like a damned fool, and he
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had lost to the British Navy the woman for whom he had committed this rash act. For a moment he could not believe it, any more than he had believed it when he saw it with his own eyes. It was too easy to remember her voice, whispering, "I love you, Barney." The danger he had been in had not prevented the anger and jealousy, but muted it beneath enforced caution. Now he thought cynically that it had been his own fault for leaving her where the British might reclaim their own; he'd taken a chance on that, he'd known it at the time. Now too she was lost to him. He frowned, and thrust away the image of her, and walked toward the beach in even long strides. There was no use thinking about her now; he would admit only that she intrigued him more than most women did; the adventure was ended and over. He saw Macgregor, and smiled a bit to himself when he realized he had never been quite so glad to see that square face before.