Douglass put both hands over her mouth to suppress the cry she was afraid she might utter. The shot reverberated; the smoke curled from the long barrel on the pistol held so mercilessly in the big brown hand as Barney had fired. And Landais slipped slowly to the floor, his hand reaching for the table; he slipped and teetered and fell in a heap.
The door was flung violently open. The young officer stood in the doorway. He stared down at the figure of his captain.
Douglass couldn't see Landais because the table was between his body and her. All she could see was his legs. She heard the officer say:
"You killed him!"
Douglass cried out and then was silent. Barney asked, "Are you the first officer?"
Wordlessly the man nodded, taking his eyes from Landais' body and raising them to look at Barney.
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Barney said, "You may write it in the log that I shot him, after he had thrown his knife." Barney touched the gleaming knife with his boot. "And that I am taking this woman, Madam Harris, with me, to insure her safety. Were there any other female passengers?"
"No, sir," he muttered. With a last look at Barney he turned.
In amazement Douglass watched him go out the door.
Barney stepped over Landais' legs to reach Douglass. Back against the paneling she waited for him. It would take him only a few seconds to reach her; only four strides would bring him right to her. Without a word he swung her up in his arms.
For a moment he thought she was going to resist, but then he felt her go soft in his arms, her golden head back against his shoulder. He carried her out on deck.
When he saw his men waiting patiently, he wondered how long he had been in that damned cabin. He told himself it could not have been many minutes. He saw Esther.
"Help her aboard. Wolf," he ordered. He saw Absolom rush to the rail to help swing the slight figure of Esther onto the "Athena's" deck. He handed Douglass down to Macgregor; she stood beside Macgregor for just a second, as Barney jumped down beside her, and possessively, as though it were the last time he could, he lifted her in his arms again. Standing there on deck, with her in his arms, Scull and Macgregor stood on each side, peering at her face. Then Scull blurted:
"You killed Landais, sir!"
Wolf had tossed Douglass' boxes, heavy as they were, down onto the deck as though they were toys. Barney said:
"Tell Absolom to clear my things out of my cabin. And cast off, Mr. Scull!"
"Aye aye, sir," said Scull hastily.
Douglass kept her eyes tight shut. She heard the sound of Scull's voice; she heard the sounds of the ship as men hauled on sheets and braces, as the "Athena," freed, steadied and gathered way again. Barney carried her easily.
He set her down gently on something soft. For a second she felt the touch of his arms still around her, leaning her back. For the first time in six months they were together again.
She was regarding him as though he were remote and strange.
They watched each other silently. Douglass sat up straighter;
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Barney had laid her down in a reclining position and she, with a movement of her hips, sat up farther against the pillows.
She was in a cabin with a table big enough to seat about six people for dining. There were chairs, and the cushioned locker on which she sat. Three feet away from her Barney sat in his own chair. His face was grave; while she watched he ran his hand over his chin absently.
"This is the aftercabin," he said, breaking the silence. "I eat here."
She made no answer; she remembered his way of getting things straight. He would begin at the beginning and tell her where she was. Then she said, "I never expected—" She stopped.
But he knew what she meant. There was a certain amount of fatalism in both of them. "But I did, madam. Somehow." He smiled faintly. He thought that was as good a starting point as any. He continued with the line of thought. "Although you have Joshua to thank for this—this interruption of your voyage home to England. It was Joshua who stayed on Stasia, to relay information about the convoys."
She said slowly, remembering Hood's words on the balcony at Stasia, "So that was how you did it? We wondered. But Joshua—" She could hardly believe it.
"And Joshua and Lucie are married," Barney said.
Real astonishment showed in her face, and vast relief. "I couldn't find her! She had disappeared."
He nodded. "You were on the other side of the fence. But Joshua rescued her—that morning the British struck."
"And they are married?"
"That couldn't happen in England, could it? In your circle?"
He was emphasizing the difference between them once again, she knew. She too smiled. "Hardly," she admitted, but then, "Yet it might!" she said.
"Let it go," he said. "We retook Stasia, madam."
She leaned forward, eyes on him. She didn't speak for a moment. "But the heavy batteries?" she exclaimed. "How, then?"
"Jenkin's Bay," he said.
She knew well the sight of it. She remembered the foaming angry water hurling itself at the base of the cliffs. "That precipice? Lieutenant Mackenzie explained—he thought it didn't need batteries,"
"You knew him? He was killed."
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"Oh," she whispered. "I'm sorry." She lifted her head to look straight at him. "He was charming, clever, brave."
"He was shot trying to give the alarm, and raise the red flag, madam," Now he, too, was silent, and finally he said, "And how has it been with you? Since the night of February 2nd?"
"February second?" she repeated.
"The night I left you," Barney said evenly.
She made a little gesture with her white hands; she drew in her breath swiftly, and in her wide eyes was the old look, questioning. Then her lashes fell. "I?" she asked. The flicker of a smile crossed her face. "Perhaps you know more about what happened on Stasia than I do, sir, with the fine intelligence system you had. But speaking practically, the Navy fed us. Fed everyone. They doled it out, to all. Actually, some were given less than others. But Samuel saw that we had plenty."
"Samuel is Admiral Hood?" His dark eyes were veiled.
"Yes, sir. He is my godfather, you see."
He didn't answer. Douglass continued. "In any event, I should have been well treated, as an English refugee, on my way home, you understand, sir. Naturally they would look after me. The house was guarded."
"I didn't know about the guards," Barney said.
She looked up, frowning slightly, feathery brows drawing together. "You certainly did not worry about my being in English hands, sir." She said it as statement of fact.
"I did not worry, no," Barney said. He crossed booted legs in the white canvas trousers. For a moment each of them was conscious only of the other's immediate presence; that they were together. Then Barney said, "Now you go home, to England? What are your plans?"
She said, low, yet clearly, "I am going to be married."
His hands tightened on the chair arms, then relaxed. "To whom?"
"Captain Reynolds."
Barney said, "He meets you there, on your arrival?"
She looked puzzled. "Why, sir," she said, as though she were reminding him, "John could not assure me of that. I do not know when he will get back. It was he who sent the 'Sybil' to engage you. He could not use the 'Monarch'; he had orders to intercept the Dutch convoy."
"Oh, yes," Barney said. "He was successful, I know."
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"He gave the Dutch admiral full honors, when he was buried at sea," Douglass said.
"You do not need to defend Captain Reynolds to me, English."
She said, "I was not defending him."