Maria half turned to Ramage and collapsed at his feet In the second before she fainted Ramage saw in her eyes such agony of mind that he found it hard to forgive himself for not having stopped the conversation many minutes earlier. He was the first to kneel beside the girl and half - turn her so she faced upwards. Her father did not move, and when Ramage glanced up to see if he was going to give any instructions he saw that the Governor's face was rigid and that he had held up a hand to stop his wife going to the girl.
'She has fainted,' he said, 'which seems a fitting end to insulting every one of my guests. I can only apologize and say that I do not agree with a word she said and hope you'll forgive her - she is a young girl who has led a sheltered life.'
His wife nodded in agreement. Apart from an occasional glance down at her daughter - a glance combining irritation, exasperation, disdain and concern in equal proportions, each competing for a leading position but none winning - she seemed to consider that the kneeling Ramage was all the attention the girl needed, and none of the other officers moved.
She recovered slowly and finally her eyes opened and focused on Ramage and as she recognized him he found he could not fathom her thoughts. Hate, contempt, distaste, horror? One of them, surely, but the blue, eyes closed again before he could be sure.
He felt a tap on the shoulder and looked up to find her father standing beside him. 'Well put her on the settee. It will soon pass.'
By the time she was sitting down and obeying Ramage's instructions to breathe deeply, the colour was coming back to her face and her hands were exploring her hair, in case some strands had escaped. Aitken had walked the three lieutenants to a large painting on the wall which showed a group of people skating on a frozen lake, and now the four lieutenants, perspiring from both the tropical heat and the situation, examined the ice and the surrounding snow with great concentration.
Van Someren pointed to a door Ramage had not previously noticed. To the balcony,' he said. 'Perhaps you would be kind enough to take Maria outside, for some fresh air.'
Outside it was cool; darkness had fallen but there was still a gentle breeze from the south - east A few hundred yards away the sea slapped lazily on the beach and over Waterfort the stars of Orion's Belt waited for the Southern Cross to appear.
As Ramage shut the door she walked over to the elaborate tracery of the balcony rail and standing with her back to it faced Ramage as he came towards her. She was silhouetted against the millions of stars that can only be seen from the Tropics, and as Ramage approached, she held out her hands. He walked into her arms and as he held her closely he was pleased that she followed the French fashion: the thin cloth of her dress hid her body from the eye but did nothing to conceal it from the touch.
'I am sorry,' she whispered. 'I did not understand. Your officers - they seem so young . . .'
They are,' Ramage said wryly. 'Aitken is almost my age.'
'But to me - ' she took his right hand. This afternoon, only a few hours ago, this hand killed a man.'
'If it had not, that man would have blown me in half - here,' he said roughly, pressing her hand against his stomach. That's where the muzzle of his gun was.'
She shuddered and traced the shape of his hand with her fingers. 'All this killing - it never ends.'
There's been very little of it out here,' Ramage said. His voice was low but harsh; he remembered only too well the guillotine he had seen in every town square during one brief foray into France; he knew only too well what The Terror' had done to anyone disagreeing with the Revolution. The islands have escaped up to now. You have no idea of the battles being fought in Europe.'
'Jules tells me,' she said.
'Jules?'
'My - last year my father announced my engagement to the first lieutenant of the Delft frigate. He is due here. My father hoped his men would dispose of the rebels.' 'Why has he been delayed?' 'I don't know. No explanation has come from the Netherlands.' Ramage could not see her features clearly in the darkness, but she did not sound like an infatuated young woman grieving over her future husband's absence, and 'my father announced my engagement' was a curious phrase. She kissed him again and then traced his features with her fingers, as though trying to learn his face by touch. 'Lord Ramage,' she murmured. 'And you are not yet married? So handsome, so brave - and, if you are a lord, no doubt so rich,' she added in a gently bantering voice which asked questions which Ramage had no intention of answering. The Navy leaves me no time to do anything but go to sea.' 'Ah - but you are in port now.' 'And you see what happens 1'
They moved apart as they heard the door handle rasping, and then the Governor bustled out, followed by the lieutenants. 'How are you now, my dear?' he asked the girl, and when she assured him she was recovered he said: 'I think your mother would like to see you: some trouble with the kitchen staff I think.'
As soon as she left he said to Ramage: 'Perhaps we should discuss plans before dinner, then we can enjoy our food without distraction.'
When Ramage agreed the Governor said: 'Should we talk here? We run no risk of servants hearing too much, and I imagine you want your officers present'
For the next fifteen minutes van Someren told them all he knew of the rebels' activities, how far they had advanced, and how long - unless something was done quickly - before the rebels reached Amsterdam. At the end of the recital he asked Ramage: 'So what do you propose doing?' Thinking about it at dinner, Your Excellency.' 'But you must have some idea, surely?' Ramage shrugged his shoulders, and then realized that van Someren could not see him in the darkness. There are many things we could try to do. But the fact is I have about one hundred and fifty seamen and forty Marines to deal with perhaps five hundred men who know the island well.'
This I know, but surely . . .'
'I'm sorry, Your Excellency."
'But - well, I must insist I am the Governor of the island and I have surrendered it to you. I insist that you defend Amsterdam, and I insist on knowing - knowing now - how you propose to do it.'
Ramage did not feel particularly angry; in fact he more than understood the Governor's concern. But like his daughter earlier, van Someren was talking without considering the facts.
'I think, Your Excellency, that we ought to go down to dinner.'
'Captain Ramage,' van Someren said sharply, 'I insist on knowing.' Clearly he was not going to move from the balcony, and the mosquitoes were beginning to trouble Ramage.
'Your Excellency,' Ramage said quietly, 'yesterday you surrendered this island to me. We signed all the necessary documents. Since then I have continued to address you as "Your Excellency"; you have been treated as though you were the Governor . . .'
Would he need to say more? Van Someren was quick to answer: 'But I am the Governor!'
'Forgive me,' Ramage said almost dreamily, 'how can you, a Dutch subject, a citizen of the Batavian Republic, be the Governor of an island which, since yesterday afternoon, belonged to Britain?'
Van Someren was silent for several seconds and Ramage heard two or three of the lieutenants shuffle their feet as they realized the significance of what their captain had said but were far from sure what van Someren was going to do.
'Again, I must apologize,' the Dutchman said. 'You are of course quite correct. You are, I suppose, the new governor - and naval and military commander.'
'More important for the moment,' Ramage said dryly, 'I am your guest for dinner, and I'm sure we all have a good appetite.'