For some days they gave themselves up to it entirely while recuperating; lazing away the days in the richly furnished salons of the Residence or under the shade of palm trees on the lawns of its lovely garden. On two nights the Williamsons had already arranged dinner parties; on the others Roger and his host sat long over their port, as they had taken a great liking to one another.
General Williamson was a man of imagination and vigour, and it was he who, unasked, had sent the first help to the colonists in Saint-Domingue. He had also, the preceding summer, inspired the brilliant dash by British troops on Port-au-Prince, the splendid capital which, with its fine squares and beautiful buildings rivalled any provincial city in France, and so had saved it from a similar fate to that which at the hands of the rum-maddened negroes had overtaken Cap Francais. From these long conversations with him, Roger eagerly absorbed much invaluable counsel as to how best to conduct affairs when he too took up his duties as the Governor of a West Indian island.
By January the 8th, Roger's twenty-seventh birthday, the girls were well on the way to getting back their looks and, except for Georgina, who still grieved for Charles, had recovered their spirits. Meanwhile. General Williamson had arranged credit facilities for Roger, which enabled them all to order new wardrobes, and by the end or the week, when the clothes began to arrive, they felt the time had come to settle plans for the future.
It was Fergusson who first actually raised the matter by saying that he could no longer afford to remain idle, and must set about trying to find a ship requiring a doctor, that would take him back to England. The capability, good sense and courage that he had displayed throughout had greatly impressed Roger; so he told the young doctor that, if he wished, he would find for him a much more remunerative post in Martinique, and Fergusson gladly accepted.
Georgina then said that Jake and Kilick deserved better for the loyalty they had shown than to be allowed to return to their hard life at sea, and that she would willingly find them some congenial employment with cottages to live in on her estate at Stillwaters, her lovely home in Surrey. But both men proved overjoyed at the prospect of future security from hardship and want in her service.
Later that day she told her friends that as she and Charles had talked so much of the happy time they hoped to have with his relations on the golden shores of St Ann's Bay, now that she had been robbed of him she could no longer support the thought of going there, so she intended to return to England as soon as possible.
Amanda and Roger pressed her to spend the rest of the winter with them in Martinique, but she said that blue seas, palm trees and tropical sunshine were a constant reminder of her loss; so it was better that she should bury herself for a while among the friendly woods and green fields of England. When she consulted General Williamson about sailings he would not hear of her making the voyage in a trader, but said that a ship-of-the-line would be leaving within the next ten days, and that he would arrange with her captain to carry home her ladyship and her servants.
Roger had not forgotten Clarissa's outburst on the night she had lost herself in the forest on Tortuga; so next morning he took an opportunity to have a word with her alone. He told her that, having thought matters over, he had decided that it would be better for all concerned if she did not accompany Amanda and himself to Martinique, and that Georgina's decision to return to England now offered an excellent opportunity for having her pleasantly chaperoned; so he wished her to make some suitable excuse to Amanda for going home.
For a few minutes Clarissa panicked, pleading wildly to be allowed to stay with them, and urging that it would be cruel in the extreme for him to send her back to a regime of prayers and near poverty with her Aunt Jane. Then, as she saw his jaw set stubbornly, she calmed down and said in a deceptively meek voice:
"Knowing the circumstances from which she rescued me, I think Amanda will be much surprised. What excuse do you suggest that I should make for leaving her?"
"You could say that all that you have suffered in the Indies has given you a nausea of them; and that, like Georgina, you'll know no tranquillity of mind until you can get away from the sight of negroes and sun-scorched beaches."
Suddenly she laughed. "I could, Roger \ but I won't. If you are determined to get rid of me, you must think of some way yourself to make Amanda send me home."
For a moment he was silent then his eyes began to twinkle. He knew that she had got him, and by just the sort of subtle trick that he admired. "You wicked baggage," he admonished her with a grin. "You know as well as I do that I would never disclose to Amanda my real reason for wishing you to leave us; and there is no other I can give her. So be it then. Let's hope that I can find you a promising young soldier in Martinique, to give your mind a new occupation.''
In consequence Clarissa, after all, accompanied Roger, Amanda, Dan and Fergusson when they too left Jamaica in a warship. General Williamson had insisted that the least he could do for a fellow Governor was to send him on his way in a frigate, and as there was nothing to delay their departure, they sailed five days earlier than Georgina. After fond farewells, and most heartfelt thanks to the Williamsons for all their kindness, they were waved away from Kingston's quay on January the 18 th, and after a fair passage docked at Fort Royal, Martinique, early on the morning of the 24th.
While the passengers were dressing the Captain sent ashore to inform the acting Governor of the new Governor's arrival, so that an official welcome could be prepared for him. Soon the harbour front became crowded with coloured folk who had heard the news and were eager to witness the proceedings. Next a regiment of British red-coats and a squadron of Hanoverian cavalry appeared to form a guard of honour. By then the Captain of the frigate had dressed ship, and had all his tars and marines on parade. Two A.D.C.'s came aboard, saluted Roger, and were duly presented to the smiling ladies. A minute gun began to fire a salute from the fortress. The band struck up "The British Grenadiers'. The senior A.D.C. murmured to Roger that the time had come for 'His Excellency' to land.
Dressed in his best new suit, and fully conscious both that this was a great moment in his life and that he cut a fine figure, Roger walked with a firm step down the gangway. A warm smile lit his handsome face as he glanced from side to side at the people to whom by his Sovereign's will his word would henceforth be law.
Suddenly the smile was wiped from his lips. A stalwart, square-shouldered, red-faced man dressed in a colonel's uniform was advancing to meet him. Obviously this must be the acting Governor. It was also the man who as a boy had bullied Roger fiendishly at their public school; a pig-headed brute whom he hated and despised, named George Gunston. There was no one in the world whom he would not rather have had to collaborate with in his new duties.
CHAPTER XVI
HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR
With every eye upon them there was no escape from shaking hands. As they did so Gunston gave a slightly derisive smile and murmured: "At your service, Mr. Brook. You will find a pretty kettle of fish here; but as your talents are evidently considered superior to my own I wish you joy in handling it"
Gunston had once wooed Amanda so, although Roger had won her, she still regarded the freckled, red-headed soldier as an old friend, and when the ladies came down the gangway she exclaimed: