In turn she told him that she had lost her husband during a hurricane that had swept the island in '91; but that William was still alive and well, although he now lived for long periods in England. He had continued to be in love with Josephine, and she with him; but after she had sacrificed her feelings for her duty to her parents, and married according to their wish, he had been persuaded to secure the family fortunes by marrying Lord Lovell's niece. Josephine's aunt had fulfilled her promise to the de Taschers by finding a rich parti for her; and in '79 she had been wed to the Vicomte Alexandre de Beauharnais.
"Surely that would have been the General who was sent to the guillotine by the Terrorists in '94?" Roger put in.
Madame de Kay nodded. "Yes; and poor Josephine also came within an ace of losing her head. I still frequently see her parents, and when they learned that she had been thrown into prison they were greatly worried for her. Mercifully, like many other innocent people* she was saved by the fall of Robespierre, and through the good offices of a Monsieur Tallien restored to her distracted children."
With a boyish grin, Roger took the last scone from a plate that Madame de Kay had been offering him, and said:
"I pray you forgive my greed; but it is years since I have tasted scones the equal of those my dear mother used to make."
"She must, then," his hostess smiled, "like myself, have been born north of the Tweed."
"Yes; she was a MacElfic."
Madame de Kay nearly dropped the plate. "Mercy be! But I was born a MacElfic too. And did you not say your name was Brook? It was an English Naval officer of that name that pretty Marie ran away with. You must be their son."
"I am indeed. My mother, alas, died three years ago; but my father is still alive and is now Admiral Sir Christopher Brook. It seems, then, that you knew my mother?"
"Knew her, dear boy!" There were tears in Madame de Kay's eyes, and she laid her hand gently on Roger's. "Why, we were cousins, and in girlhood the closest friends."
For a moment Roger was thunderstruck; then he said: "I recall hearing my mother speak of a cousin named Margaret whom she would fain have seen again. But after her elopement with my father he severely wounded her brother in a duel; so from a double cause the two families remained permanently at daggers drawn."
Madame de Kay nodded. "There was also the original cause for ill-will, in that we had a passionate devotion to the Stuarts, while your father was hot in favour of the Hanoverian line. But it is over-time that old quarrels on that score should be forgotten."
While two hours passed like twenty minutes, Roger talked with his new-found kinswoman, telling her of his life, and of his hopes of bringing tranquillity to Martinique. She gladly promised to aid him in that, with the many friends she had made among the leading families of the island during her long residence on it Then as dusk fell he kissed her, promised soon to bring Amanda to see her, and walked down the drive to reclaim his mount from his patient groom. As he rode back to the capital he felt that sheer luck had given him the key to the most difficult of his problems.
But he had yet to resolve that of Colonel George Gunston.
The crisis between them arose two days later. On Roger's return from St Pierre, Fergusson had handed in his report It was a grim document. It stated that the hospitals were insanitary; that the food given to the sick was unsuitable and often unfit for human consumption; that the military surgeons were few and mostly drunken incompetents; that French civilian doctors refused to give their aid because they had been subjected to unbearable insults; that the nursing orderlies were callous, slothful and corrupt, and that medical supplies were almost non-existent.
Roger sent for Gunston, made him read the report, then said: "I have decided that drastic measures must be taken. I intend to appoint Fergusson as Surgeon-in-chief. I shall give him absolute powers to take all measures he sees fit to cleanse these pest-houses and ensure proper nursing for the sick. More, I will have arrested and tried by court-martial any of the army surgeons who ignore his instructions or fail to keep the orderlies under them up to the mark and so lose a patient through neglect."
Gunston gave a low whistle. "The devil you will! Then you will be bringing a hornet's nest about your ears. Were you an Army man you would realize that the medicos are a law unto themselves."
"A fig for that!" Rogers gave a grim little laugh. "You have yet to learn that does the occasion warrant it I can be far more ruthless than yourself. It is true that I have never held an officer's commission; but I was sent as Representant en Mission to General Dumouriez during his first Flanders campaign. His army was then largely a rabble of murderous sons-culottes, and as it was necessary for me to win the General's confidence, several mornings each week I had a dozen or two of them shot behind the nearest barn, so that from fear of me the others might more readily obey the orders given them."
A strange look came into Gunston's eyes, and he muttered: "I had no idea you were that sort of man, Brook. I'll say no more then. These croakers need a lesson and it seems you are the fellow to give it to them."
Roger nodded, and went on: "That is but part of my plan. 'Tis my belief that fresh air and, particularly, sea breezes are what the garrison needs to restore it to health. In consequence it is my intention to commandeer all the merchant shipping lying both in the harbour here and in that of St Pierre. Such sick as can be moved are to be put aboard, together with two-thirds of the men still considered fit for duty; and the whole are to be taken for a fortnight's cruise."
"God Almighty!" exclaimed Gunston. "You cannot mean this!" "I certainly do."
"You can't! You must be crazy! Your scheme for setting the doctors by the ears is a mere bagatelle to this. It is utterly preposterous!" "Why so?"
"Surely you have the sense to realize that death and sickness have already reduced our strength below the safety limit Did you send two-thirds of our remaining effectives to sea it would be as good as handing the island back to the French on a platter. They would rise and seize it overnight"
"In that I think you wrong," Roger replied quietly. "I have good hopes that if due precautions are taken they will not rise at all. In the worse case they might, perhaps, capture the fortress; but . . ."
"Capture the fortress!" Gunston's eyes seemed about to pop out of his head. "How can you sit there and contemplate such a disaster. It is nothing short of treachery. Yes, treachery!"
"I was about to add that I intend to keep two of the outlying batteries fully manned. In the event of trouble their guns could be trained on the town, and, much as I would regret to do so, I should not hesitate to give the order for its bombardment as a means of bringing to reason any part of the population which had taken up arms against us."
"No! No!" Violently Gunston shook his head. "No, no, no! The risk involved of losing the island altogether is too great Send the sick to sea if you will. Although, in their weak state, I'd have thought the tossing they must receive would have been more like to kill them than cure them. But not the men still fit for duty. That would be madness."
"I do not agree. They may be counted fit on your duty roster, but that many are not so in fact was plain to me when I made my inspection. Few had the ruddy faces that one associates with vigorous health, and quite a number were lean-cheeked and too bright-eyed: a sure indication that the fever was already working in them. Two-thirds of them, that Fergusson shall pick out for me, must be sent for a sea voyage, Gunston; so make up your mind to that"
The Colonel had already come to his feet. Now he thumped Roger's desk with his fist, and cried: "I'll be damned if I will! I am the Garrison Commander, and I'll not see our hold on the island jeopardized for some cranky notion about bettering the health of my men."