Command a King`s Ship

Bolitho watched him and wondered. It was the same look he had given when he had brought the gig for him at Madras.

'Thank you.' He added coldly, 'And what is amusing you now?'

Allday shrugged. 'Hard to put a name to it, Captain. It's a sort of glow I get inside sometimes.' He massaged his stomach. 'Comforting.'

Bolitho strode past him towards the hatch. His morning had been badly interrupted.

As he stepped into the cool shadows between decks he imagined Viola Raymond just a mile abeam in the brig. Her husband would be watching her. Mister Pigsliver would be watching both of them.

It was still hard to know what she really thought about him, or if she saw his attraction as some sort of game. There had been several visitors staying at the residence, soldiers, Company officials, but she had been determined to keep him to herself. It had not been anything she had actually said. It had been more of an excitement, a sense of recklessness. A dare which he found impossible to ignore.

She had no longer stayed at arms' length, and several times had allowed her hand to linger on his, even when Raymond had had been close by.

When he had made to return to the ship she had followed him on to a shaded terrace below the inner wall, and had held out a small box.

'For you.'

She had made light of it, but he had seen the hot eagerness in her eyes, the thrust of her breasts beneath her gown as he had opened the box.

It was a gold watch.

While he had turned it over in his hands she had gripped his arm and had whispered, 'I will always remember your face that day…'But she had not laughed that time. 'Do not refuse my little gift, please.'

He had taken her hand and kissed it, his mind grappling with what he was doing, seeing all the dangers, and yet dismissing them.

'It is as well you are sailing in another ship, Captain!' She had laughed and then had pulled his hand below her breast. 'See how my heart beats now! A week, a day even, and who can say what might occur!'

Bolitho walked past the sentry and into the cabin, his mind still hanging on to that moment.

Conway was spreading thick treacle on a biscuit, his wispy hair ruffling in the breeze from the stern windows. 'What time is it, Bolitho?'

'Time, sir?'

Conway eyed him wryly before taking a mouthful.

'I observed that you had your, er, new watch in your hand

and assumed that time was of some importance?'

Bolitho stared at him, the midshipman in front of his

captain again.

Then he grinned. 'It was a memory, sir, that was all.' Conway sniffed. 'That I can well believe!P

'It makes a fine sight, Thomas.'

Bolitho lowered the telescope and wiped his forehead with the back of one hand. The noon sun was merciless, but like most of the men around him, or standing high in the shrouds, he was momentarily unaware of it. Fifteen days out of Madras, and in spite of the wind's perversity, Undine had done well. Bolitho had made many landfalls in his time, but the sight of any shore after the hazards and doubts of navigation never failed to move him.

And now, just visible through the glare of sea and sky, he could see a smudge of green across the larboard side, and felt a fresh excitement and satisfaction. The narrowest part of the Malacca Strait. To starboard, hidden even to the masthead lookout, was the great scimitar-shaped island of Sumatra, poised as if to squeeze the strait shut and leave them sailing in a wilderness forever.

Herrick said, 'It seems a mite too narrow for comfort, sir.'

Bolitho smiled at him. 'It is wider than the English Channel even here, Thomas. The master assures me it is the safest course to take.'

'Perhaps.' Herrick shaded his eyes again. 'So that is Malacca, eh? It is hard to believe we have reached this far.'

'And in five days or so, with God's good grace, we'll anchor in Pendang Bay.' He paused, seeing the doubt in Herrick's blue eyes. 'Well, come on, Thomas, let us see that smile again!V

'Yes, sir, I know it is a good and fast passage, and I am well satisfied, as you are.' He fidgeted with his belt buckle. 'But I am more concerned with something else.'

'I see.'

Bolitho waited, knowing what was coming. He had seen the worry mounting in Herrick's face over the past fifteen days. Having to spend much of his time with the admiral, Bolitho had had little chance of enjoying Herrick's company. A walk together before dusk, a pipe of tobacco and a glass of wine.

Herrick said bluntly, 'Everyone knows about it, sir. It's not my place to speak on your behaviour, but…'

'But that is exactly what you are about to do?' Bolitho smiled gravely. 'It is all right, Thomas, I am not going to snap your head off!'

Herrick would not relent. 'It is no joke, sir. The lady is the wife of an important government official. If this sort of tale ever reached England, you would be in real danger, and that's the truth.'

'Thank you for your concern.' He glanced ahead where far beyond the gently spiralling bowsprit he saw Rosalind leading the way through the shallows and sandspits as she had no doubt done many times before. 'But it is something I do not wish to discuss. Even with you, if you are to disagree with everything I say.'

'Yes, sir, I'm sorry.' But Herrick added stubbornly, 'I can't stand by and see you in irons because of others, sir, not without trying at least to help.'

Bolitho gripped his arm. 'Then we will say no more of the matter, Thomas. Agreed?'

'Aye, Sir.' Herrick regarded him unhappily. 'If it is the way you want it.'

A seaman left the galley and darted down an open hatch below the forecastle. He was carrying a bucket and swab. Herrick said wearily, 'The surgeon is sick again. That man must be going to clean out his quarters.'

Bolitho looked at him. 'Drunk, I suppose?'

'It would seem so. But there is little to occupy him, sir, and our people have been remarkably free of illness.'

'That is just as well.' Bolitho felt unreasonably angry. 'What in hell's name am I to do with him?' 'He has a lot on his mind, sir.'

'So have many others.'

Herrick kept his voice even. 'He saw his young brother hanged for a crime of which he was later proved innocent. Even if he had been guilty it would still have been a terrible thing to watch.'

Bolitho swung round from the rail. 'How did you discover this?'

'At Madras. He came aboard drunk. I was a mite harsh with him and he started to rave about it. It is destroying him.'

'Thank you for telling me, even if it is somewhat late.'

Herrick did not flinch. 'You have been rather buoi, sir. I did not wish to trouble you.'

Bolitho sighed. 'I take your point. But in future I would like to hear everything. Most ship's surgeons are no more than butchers. Whitmarsh has been something more, but as a drunken sot he is a menace to everyone aboard. I am sorry for his brother, I for one can appreciate his feelings.' He looked steadily at Herrick. 'We will have to see what we can do to put things right for him, whether he likes it or not.'

Herrick nodded gravely. 'I agree, sir. The one afflicted is not always the best judge of his own malady.' He tried not to grin. 'If you see what I mean, sir.'

Bolitho slapped his shoulder. 'By God, Thomas, you go too far! I am not surprised your father sentyou to sea!'

Then he walked up the tilting deck to the weather side and left Herrick to supervise his watch.

So they knew all about it, did they? He touched the bulge in his breeches pocket. What would Herrick say if he saw the inscription inside the watch-guard, he wondered?

'We will wear ship directly, Mr. Herrick.' Bolitho strode to the compass and peered over Mudge's untidy shoulder. 'Steer nor'nor'-east.'

Herrick touched his hat. 'Aye, aye, sir.' He was equally formal.

It was five days since they had discussed Viola Raymond and the doctor's personal problem, and in that time Bolitho had never felt better. The ship had settled down to a regular, unhurried routine, and even the drills had passed off without complaint. At gunnery Undine's company still had a lot to learn, but at least they moved as a team and not a stumbling, confused rabble.