Mary was hanging on to her brother’s arm and giggling. ‘The man’s absurd,’ she said when they had settled into the carriage. ‘He told me that although my leg is quite healed and as strong as it ever was, there may still be poison inside it.’
‘Did he want to remove it?’ asked Charles.
‘He thinks the poison will appear and that when it does, the leg should come off. I could hardly stop myself from laughing out loud.’
‘Well, Thomas,’ said Adam, ‘I shall redouble my efforts. We must find you a safe ship without delay. I for one have had enough of the brothers Gibbes.’
Chapter 22
TOBIAS RUSH HAD chosen his house for its discreet location and modest size. It stood at the western end of Cheapside, not far from St Paul’s, and had no distinctive features. Like its neighbours, it was narrow-fronted, half-timbered and shuttered. A man might walk past it every day for ten years and not give it a second glance. That was just as Rush liked it. He maintained a small staff and seldom entertained visitors. Visitors had a habit of asking questions and he did not like questions. He preferred his own company.
But for the two gentlemen he had invited to dine he had made an exception. James Drax and Reynold Alleyne, both recently expelled from Barbados for refusing to swear an oath of loyalty to the king, were two of the island’s largest landowners. Drax was almost certainly the largest of all. For them he would not only make an exception, he would offer them the very finest food and wine to be found in London.
They arrived punctually at six o’clock and were shown into the living room by Rush’s steward. Rush greeted them warmly. ‘Gentlemen, it is an honour to welcome you here. I thank you for coming.’ He had met neither of them before. His letters of invitation had been delivered by messenger and had hinted at a matter of mutual benefit. He knew how to interest men of business.
‘Good evening, Master Rush,’ replied Drax. ‘We were intrigued by your invitation.’
‘Indeed we were,’ agreed Alleyne. Unlike the tall, elegant Drax, Alleyne was a small, plump man, with shrewd eyes and a small mouth.
Rush led them to the dining room where they sat around his modest oval dining table. When his steward filled their glasses Rush proposed a toast. ‘To our prosperity,’ he said, raising his glass, ‘and to your swift return to your estates.’ It was well calculated. James Drax and Reynold Alleyne had suffered the outrage of being deprived of their estates and their livelihoods and they wanted them back.
While they were served seven courses, starting with an onion soup and ending with dishes of dried fruit marinated in Barbados rum, the three men talked of Cromwell’s victories at Drogheda and Wexford in Ireland, and his likely assault on the Royalists in Scotland. They spoke also of Barbados and the damage done to the island by the Walrond brothers. Drax described them as ‘a thieving pair of cutpurses’ whose aim had always been to appropriate for themselves the estates of the landowners exiled. Alleyne ridiculed the notion of an oath of loyalty, pointing out that the island had been deprived of some of its most honourable and successful landowners and been left with the most unscrupulous. Naturally, their host agreed.
When the meal was over, Rush ordered his steward to leave them. ‘Now, gentlemen,’ he began, ‘to business. I have a proposition for you. I too have interests in Barbados and am aware of the need for efficient labour.’
‘Efficient and cheap,’ interrupted Alleyne.
Rush bit his tongue. He did not care to be interrupted. ‘Quite so, sir. And that is exactly why I have invited you here. I have established a source of good, young labour, which I will transport to Barbados and will sell you at a price I am sure you will find agreeable.’
‘African slaves we can buy,’ said Drax testily. ‘What are you offering?’
‘Healthy boys of eight years or more.’
‘Where will you find them?’
‘The streets of London are awash with them. It is the same in Norwich and Bristol. War orphans, most of them.’
His guests had no reservations about the proposal. It was too good a solution to a problem for them to allow scruples to get in the way. It did not take long for them to reach agreement. The only question was when they would be back at their estates and ready to do business. ‘As to that,’ said Drax, ‘Reynold and I have been busy petitioning Cromwell and his council to send a fleet to take the island. Naturally, he can see the sense of it. Willoughby trades freely with the Dutch. Cromwell wants our sugar to be shipped to London, not Amsterdam.’
‘And when do you suppose such a fleet might sail?’ asked Rush.
‘We are pressing for it to sail this year. Once Sir George Ayscue has taken the Scilly Islands, we believe he will be sent to Barbados with his fleet.’
‘As long as Charles Stuart does not cause trouble,’ added Alleyne. ‘There is always the chance of the young fool trying to invade from France. Cromwell would want all his ships at his disposal if that happened.’
Before they left, Rush had a request. ‘The widowed sister of an old friend has asked me to escort her and her two daughters to Barbados to join her brother there. I would not wish to put them at risk without the protection of a fleet and hoped we might travel with you.’
Drax and Alleyne exchanged a glance. ‘That should present no problem.’
Chapter 23
CHARLES CARRINGTON WAS right about Lord Willoughby. Within six weeks he had so impressed Assembly members with his intellect and charm that they had voted to appoint him governor without further ado.
Walrond had no alternative but to accept their wishes. There had been no serious threat of trouble from anti-Royalists and since Willoughby had issued a cogent rebuttal of a law recently passed by the English Parliament prohibiting trade between Barbados and the Dutch, the island had been peaceful and industrious.
Much had been done to strengthen its defences – heavy cannon had been acquired and set to face the approaches to the two principal harbours at Bridgetown and Oistins, new fortifications had been constructed around both harbours and the governor’s militia had been reinforced by the recruitment and training of five hundred regulars. Many of these had faced Parliamentarian forces before at Marston Moor or Naseby, where they had been captured and despatched to the Caribbean. Willoughby had brought some of them over from Antigua and Montserrat. Garrisons had been posted at Holetown and Speightstown as well as at Bridgetown and Oistins. If a Parliamentary fleet did come it would find the island well prepared to defend itself.
Meanwhile, prices for Barbados sugar continued to rise, more and more land had been put to growing cane and improved techniques for planting, harvesting, milling, boiling and curing were being developed. The attacks by runaways had all but stopped and the Lytes’ estate had returned to normal. Adam had brought regular reports of Willoughby’s skill in handling the Assembly members, even Walrond’s supporters, and had developed a respect for the man almost as great as Charles’s.
Better still, Adam had at last found a ship whose captain he trusted to take Thomas home. It would arrive in Barbados at the end of October and depart for the return journey two weeks later. As he had warned, finding a safe passage had not been easy. Most of the trading ships were Dutch, heading for Amsterdam, and the English captains were villains who would think nothing of selling an unaccompanied passenger to an agent on another island or feeding him to the sharks. Adam had been reassured that an old friend would also be a passenger on the ship.