In the Commodore's Hands

‘Yes, they trod the boards together.’

‘Did he ever meet my grandfather?’

‘Once, I believe. I recall he had little sympathy for him.’

‘He is my father, after all,’ his mother put in. ‘And I think he should be helped to come home. I am sure no one thinks he is a threat to the monarchy now.’

‘Then your visit is to ask me to go to France.’

‘Would you?’ Amy’s voice was a plea which was hard to resist. ‘The children can come and stay with us while you are gone.’

‘You can take the Lady Amy,’ James added. ‘It will save having to take the Dover packet and you can sail directly to Honfleur.’

Lord Drymore had never quite abandoned his love of the sea and had bought the yacht to sail up and down the coast and make an occasional trip to France before the troubles began. Jay and his siblings had also used her to take their children on pleasure trips, so the vessel was always kept seaworthy and the crew on call. She was moored at King’s Lynn, only a day’s ride away.

While servants came in with the refreshments and his mother took over the serving of them, Jay considered the proposal. It might very well furnish the antidote to his ennui and he had a curiosity to meet the grandfather after whom he was named and who had been exiled in disgrace the year he had been born. ‘What do you know of this Comte Giradet?’

‘Nothing but what Sir John tells us in his letter,’ his father answered. ‘He is a third-generation seigneur who has always treated his people well. His estate is at Villarive, not far from Honfleur. He is a widower whose home is managed by his unmarried daughter. There is a son, too, who is in the service of King Louis.’

‘Can he not help?’

‘Apparently not. The King himself is virtually under house arrest.’

‘The people of France are becoming more lawless every day,’ Amy said. ‘We cannot leave Papa to their mercies.’ She was naturally thinking more of her father than the unfortunate Comte and his daughter. ‘He is an old man and should be enjoying his declining years in the bosom of his family. I am sure that old misdemeanour is long forgotten.’

‘Of course I will go.’ He did not need to think twice about it. His parents had always stood by him, even when he had gone against their advice and made himself the subject of gossip; he would do anything for them. ‘Shall you take the children back with you now?’

‘Yes, if it is convenient. Where are they?’

‘I left them grooming their ponies.’ He rang a bell on a table at his side and a footman appeared almost at once. ‘Fetch the children here, if you please,’ he said. ‘Then tell Cook there will be two extra for luncheon and after that, send Thomas to me.’

‘Will you take Thomas with you?’ his mother asked.

Jay laughed. ‘I think not. He will be forever worrying me about the cut of my coat and tweaking my neckcloth. I can valet myself. I would rather take Sam Roker if you can spare him.’

‘Of course, if he agrees,’ James said. ‘He will be an ideal choice.’

Having made his decision, the preparations went ahead at lightning speed. Jay, when in the navy, had always been used to packing up at a moment’s notice, and it was as if he were back in the service as he issued his orders and explained to the children that he was going away, but they were to stay at Blackfen Manor in his absence. They took this news without a qualm. To them, being spoilt by Lord and Lady Drymore and playing with the cousins who also frequently visited the Manor was a great treat, and they happily set off with Miss Corton, their governess, in their grandparents’ coach in the early afternoon.

Jay had finished his preparations and was instructing Mrs Armistead and his steward about carrying on in his absence, an instruction they did not need, having done it countless times before, when Sam Roker arrived, sent by James.

‘Did my father explain why I need you?’ Jay asked after they had greeted each other.

‘Yes, sir. We’re to fetch Sir John Challon and his friends out of the hands of those froggies. Not that I—’ He stopped suddenly.

Jay smiled, realising the old retainer was about to commit an indiscretion and say what he really thought of Sir John. ‘Will you come?’

‘Try keeping me away.’ Sam had been in the navy with Lord Drymore when he was a sea captain and had served him ever since, both in an unspecified domestic capacity and as an associate member of the Society for the Discovery and Apprehending of Criminals, popularly known as the Piccadilly Gentlemen’s Club. He had known Jay all his life and was allowed a familiarity others would not have dared.

‘And Susan doesn’t mind?’

‘Susan does as she’s told,’ Sam said firmly. ‘’Sides, she’d do anything to please her ladyship, as you well know, so we go with her blessing.’

‘Good,’ Jay said. ‘We sail on the Lady Amy on tomorrow’s tide. Can you be ready?

‘I am ready now, Commodore.’

‘You can forget the formality of address, Sam. I do not think an English naval officer will be welcome in France at this time. I shall go as a private citizen on a visit to my grandfather and you will simply be my servant, Sam Dogsbody.’

‘Yes, sir.’ He laughed suddenly. ‘It is an age since I went on an adventure for the Gentlemen and longer still since I set foot in France.’

‘This isn’t being done at the behest of the Gentlemen,’ Jay said. ‘It is a personal errand.’

‘I know, sir, I know. Let us hope we are in time.’

‘Amen to that,’ Jay said fervently.

Sir John lived in a small villa on the outskirts of Honfleur, a picturesque port on the south bank of the Seine estuary. It had once been a transit point for trade from Rouen to England, but the blockade imposed by Britain had put a stop to that. Perhaps that was why Sir John had chosen to live there; in the early days of his exile it had offered a tenuous link with home. He was an old man and English to boot, but because the locals were unsure what the attitude of the new government was with regard to aliens, he had so far been left unmolested.

Lisette had known him all her life and now felt as if he were her only friend and ally, and though he had not promised he could help free her father, he had written to his daughter and son-in-law on her behalf. ‘I think it is about time I went home myself,’ he had told her. ‘France is a cauldron about to boil over.’

She had called on him almost every day to ask if he had had a reply and each time she had received the same answer. ‘Not yet. It takes time, my dear. The wind and tide might not be favourable for the mail packet and my son-in-law might be from home. You must be patient.’

‘How can I be patient with Papa locked up? They would not let me see him when I took fresh clothes for him. They inspected them minutely in case I had hidden something in them.’

‘And had you?’

‘Only a note to say I was trying my best to have him released. It caused some hilarity when the guards found it. If only I could rely on the servants, we might storm the prison and set him free, but they have been drifting away one by one. Of the men, only two of the seven indoor servants are still with me and only the housekeeper and Hortense of the sixteen women. Georges, our coachman, is still with me and still loyal, but as for the rest…’ She shrugged. ‘They are afraid…’ Her voice faded.

‘And what would you do if you could set your father free?’ he asked her now. ‘You could not take him home, they would come for him again and you too.’

‘I don’t know.’

‘There you are, then, we must await help.’

‘How do you know there will be help?’ She was beginning to give up hope and his complacent attitude was making her tetchy.

Before he could respond, a servant knocked and entered. ‘There is a man at the door who says he is from England,’ he said. ‘Shall I admit him?’

‘Anyone from England is welcome,’ Sir John told him. ‘Did he give you his name?’

‘He said it was John Drymore, Sir John.’

Sir John suddenly became animated. ‘Then don’t stand there, man, go and show him in at once.’

The man who entered the withdrawing room was exceedingly tall and well built, dressed in a cut-back dark-blue coat, white breeches and stockings and a lighter blue waistcoat. His sun-bleached hair was tied back with a ribbon and he carried a chapeau-bras beneath his arm.

‘John!’ Sir John rose to greet him, a huge smile of pleasure on his face. ‘We meet at last.’

The newcomer was about to sweep him a bow, but found himself being embraced instead. He disentangled himself with a smile. ‘It is good to meet you, too, Grandfather, but I am known in the family as Jay.’

‘I never thought your father would send you to our aid.’ Sir John paused in his exuberance. ‘You have come to our aid?’

‘I am at your service, sir.’

Sir John suddenly remembered Lisette, who had been silently watching them, studying the man who had entered. He certainly had an imposing figure and was handsome in a rugged kind of way. He reminded her of Sir John before his hair had turned snow-white. ‘Lisette, my dear, this is my grandson, Commodore John Drymore. John, this is Mademoiselle Lisette Giradet.’

Jay gave Lisette a sweeping bow. ‘A votre service, mademoiselle.’

She noticed he had deep blue eyes which raked her from head to foot, as if sizing up the trouble she might cause him. That intense, cool gaze unnerved her a little and she would have been her haughtiest self in any other circumstances, but as she did not intend to be any trouble if he were prepared to help her father, she afforded him a deep curtsy. ‘Commodore.’

‘Let us not be formal,’ Jay said, offering his hand to help her to rise. ‘I left the navy three years ago and British naval officers are not exactly welcome in France at the moment. Plain monsieur will do.’

Sir John ordered a meal to be prepared and invited Lisette to join them. ‘For we have much to discuss,’ he said.

Lisette could still feel the pressure of a warm, dry hand on hers, though it had lasted no more than a second or two, but pulled herself together to accept.

‘We will be informal,’ Sir John said as they ate. ‘You two must deal well together if we are to achieve our aim.’ He looked from one to the other, smiling. ‘Lisette has been like a grandchild to me, Jay, and has, in part, made up for the fact that I could not be with my own grandchildren.’

‘God willing you will soon make their acquaintance,’ Jay said.

‘Remind me, Jay, how many are there?’

‘Four,’ Jay said. ‘But I am sure Mama has written to tell you of them. I have two sisters, Amelia and Charlotte, both married, and a younger brother, Harry, who is a first lieutenant in the navy. And you have six great-grandchildren, but we must not bore Mademoiselle Giradet with family matters and I need to hear from her the details of her father’s arrest and imprisonment.’

Lisette had been taught English by her mother. It was one of the reasons she and Sir John dealt so well together; she afforded him some light conversation in his own language and made him feel a little less homesick. The account she gave of the circumstances in which her father had been hauled off in the tumbril to the gaol in Honfleur was spoken in faultless English. ‘I have been frequently to the prison to take delicacies and clothing for my father,’ she said. ‘They would not let me see him and I am not at all sure the things were given to him. I have tried reasoning with the Public Prosecutor and appealed to our local deputy on the National Assembly, but they will do nothing. Michel, my brother, who is in the service of King Louis, says he cannot help either. Since His Majesty’s abortive attempt to flee the country last year, he is a virtual prisoner himself and being watched all the time. Michel is determined to remain at his side.’

Jay had heard of the King’s attempt to leave the country, but it was not his main concern at the moment. ‘What is the charge against the Comte?’

‘So far there has been no formal charge, but nowadays they don’t seem to need one. It only takes someone to denounce him as an enemy of the Revolution and he is condemned.’

‘Has someone denounced him?’

‘I believe Henri Canard has done so. He is a lawyer and the leader of the local peasantry.’

‘What has he against your father?’

‘Apart from the fact that Papa is an aristo, you mean? Nothing that I know of, but he is an ambitious man and all too ready to use the grievances of the poor for his own ends.’

‘It sounds as if you do not think your father will be released as a result of a lawful trial.’

‘We are sure of it,’ Sir John broke in.

‘Then what you are asking is that we break him out of prison and spirit him away.’

‘Do you think you can?’ Lisette asked. It was a great deal to ask and she was not sure she should ask it, but there was no one else to help them.

‘I cannot tell until I have investigated further. If it can be done, I will endeavour to do it, but we will need a careful plan.’

‘You are welcome to stay here, that goes without saying,’ Sir John said. ‘How have you arrived?’

‘I used my father’s yacht, the Lady Amy. It is moored just off the coast. When the Comte is free we can all go aboard and sail for England.’

‘You make it sound easy,’ Lisette said.

‘That part of it is. It is the getting of him out of gaol which might try our ingenuity.’

Lisette, who was well aware of that, gave a deep sigh and pushed her plate away from her, half the food untouched, though Sir John’s cook was a good one. ‘What do you propose to do?’

‘Knowing the layout of the prison would be a good start,’ Jay said. ‘And the number and routine of the guards. I think tomorrow I will pay it a visit.’

‘Under what pretext?’ his grandfather asked.

Jay was thoughtful for a moment. ‘I am a wine merchant and have bought cider and Calvados to take to England and have some to spare, that is if you can provide me with a few bottles, mademoiselle,’ he added.

‘Of course,’ she said. ‘A few bottles of Calvados is a small price to pay for my father’s liberty, but I have to tell you I have tried that already. The guards take what I bring, but do nothing for Papa. I think I am become a great jest to them.’

‘Then they have a strange sense of humour,’ he said gallantly, raising his glass to her.

He had all the hallmarks of a chivalrous gentleman, his manners were irreproachable, he smiled a great deal, but it was a smile that did not reach his eyes. Underneath his cheerful demeanour, she sensed a wariness, a kind of distrust she had done nothing to bring about that she knew of. Had he been coerced into what to him was an unwanted errand because his grandfather wished to leave France and his mother was anxious to have him back in the bosom of his family? Was the fact that her dear father was part of the deal abhorrent to him? Or had he simply taken an aversion to her? Well, she did not care! So long as he helped them, she would be polite but distant.

‘I will have a case of Calvados ready tomorrow morning,’ she said. ‘And a carriage to convey us to the prison in Honfleur.’

‘You wish to accompany me?’ Jay asked in surprise.

‘Naturally I do. If you think of a way of freeing my father, I want to be the first to hear of it and do my part to bring it about.’

‘You would be wiser to stay at home and wait.’

‘I am quite hopeless when it comes to waiting,’ she said, laughing. ‘Sir John will tell you that. Patience was left out when the angels decided on my virtues.’

‘Which I do not doubt are many,’ Jay said with that same gallantry he had displayed before. She wondered how he could say all the right things, yet his cold eyes told another story. ‘If you insist on coming, then so be it, I only ask that you stay in the carriage some distance away while I reconnoitre. It is not a good idea for the prison authorities to know we are acquainted with one another.’

She did not think they were acquainted at all; it would take more than a conversation over supper to get to know him, to tear down the barrier of ice he seemed to have built around himself. She surprised herself by wondering what he would be like if he were to let a little warmth into his soul. ‘I will do as you suggest,’ she said meekly.

There was a pause in the conversation while the cloth was removed and several dishes of fruit and sweet tartlets brought in to conclude the meal. When it was resumed, Jay seemed to set aside the business of freeing the Comte and enquired about the latest news from Paris.

‘It was in turmoil when I was there,’ Lisette said. ‘And so dirty and dismal. Everyone is worried what the King’s supporters will do next and since the death of Mirabeau, the most moderate of the Revolutionaries and the most popular, there is no telling what the mob might do.’

‘I met Mirabeau when he came to England,’ Jay said. ‘He seemed anxious to learn about our British democracy.’

‘Yes, that is what he advocated for France, but I do not know how much support he had. He maintained that for a government to succeed it must be strong, but to be strong it must have the support of the people, that was why he was so well liked, in spite of his dubious past. Now…’ She shrugged. ‘Who knows? The political clubs like the Jacobins, the Girondins and the Cordeliers are becoming more influential and extreme. The people are being encouraged to turn their hatred on to the nobility, whether they deserve it or no.’

‘Then the sooner we have you and your father out of France, the better,’ Jay said.

The evening broke up after that and Jay offered to escort Lisette home, which was only a few minutes’ walk away.

Chapter Two

The night was balmy with a slight breeze that did no more than ruffle Lisette’s shawl and it was so still they could hear the distant sound of the sea breaking on the pebbles of the river estuary less than a couple of kilometres away. Above them a new moon hung on its back and the stars made a pincushion of the dark sky.

This peaceful country lane gave no hint of what was going on in Paris, the main seat of all the troubles, where the parks had been given over to making arms and uniforms for the army in the war against Austria, where Revolutionaries in red caps manned the barricades at every entrance to the city and stopped people going in and out to search them for contraband or for aristos taking money and valuables out of the country, which was strictly prohibited. They could expect no mercy.

She was thankful that Monsieur Drymore had had the foresight to bring his yacht to Normandy and they would not have to brave the mob to leave the country by the usual route from Paris to Calais. Even so, they still had to overcome the guards at the prison and spirit her father safely to the vessel. For that she needed the enigmatic man at her side.

At last he was constrained by politeness to break the silence. ‘You speak excellent English, mademoiselle.’

‘My mother was English. My father met her on a visit to London in ’64 and they fell in love on sight. Her parents disapproved. You see, she came from an old aristocratic family and, in their eyes, he was only the grandson of a merchant who thought he could buy his way into the nobility and French nobility at that, which hardly counted.’

‘But they married anyway.’

‘Yes. She came to live with Papa in France and never went home again. She rarely spoke of her family. She told us Papa and Michel and I were all she wanted and needed, but sometimes I wonder if she was simply accepting what could not be helped and would have liked to be reunited with her parents. It was not to be. She died of a fever she caught when travelling with Papa in India.’

‘I am sorry to hear that. Please accept my condolences.’

‘Thank you. But I should warn you, it has left my father bitter against the English and he will feel mortified to have been rescued by one of them.’

‘But he is my grandfather’s friend, is he not?’

‘Oh, yes, but Sir John has lived in France so long, he is almost French.’

‘I do not think he regards himself in that way. He is anxious to return to his homeland.’

‘Yes, I know,’ she said with a sigh. ‘It is Papa who will be exiled, if we go to England. Their roles will be reversed.’

‘The Comte will not refuse to go, will he? I will not force him if he does not wish it.’

‘Let us see what he says when we have set him free, but I do not think he will argue. For all his defiance, he is a frightened man. And so is your grandfather, or I miss my guess.’

‘What about you?’ he asked softly. ‘Are you afraid?’

‘I would be a liar if I said I was not, but for Papa’s sake, I will try to be strong.’

‘Methinks you have already shown that you are,’ he said. ‘But there is a difference between being strong and being foolhardy. I beg you to remember that.’ He spoke so earnestly she turned to look at him in surprise, but he was looking straight ahead and she could read nothing from his profile.

‘Indeed I will. But tell me about yourself. I know only what little Sir John has told me. Are you married?’

‘I was once. My wife died.’

‘I am sorry, not for a moment would I add to your grief.’

‘It was over three years ago. An accident while I was away at sea.’

‘And have you not thought to marry again?’

He looked sharply at her, then turned away again. ‘No. Once is enough. I would not put myself or my children through that again.’

‘You have children?’

‘Yes, Edward is ten and Anne is eight. They are staying with my parents while I am away and making mischief with their cousins, I do not doubt.’ His voice softened when speaking of his children, which made her realise this seemingly cold man must have a heart.

‘Your parents being the daughter and son-in-law of Sir John?’

‘Yes.’

‘It must be lovely to have so large a family,’ she said, a little wistfully. ‘I only have Papa and Michel.’

‘Perhaps we could find your English relations for you.’

‘I doubt they would accept me. They never once wrote to Mama.’

‘But it was all so long ago. My mother is longing to be reunited with Sir John, so why not you and your grandparents?’

‘Let us wait and see, shall we?’ she said.

They had entered the gates of the château. In the light of a torch set in front of the door they could see the Liberty Tree casting a long shadow across the gravel of the drive. Its leaves had fallen and were scattered on the ground, but the decorations still hung there. ‘What is that?’ he asked.

She explained it to him. ‘I dare not have it taken down,’ she added. ‘It will only inflame the mob further and I do not want to make it more difficult for my father.’

‘Or be arrested yourself,’ he added.

‘No.’

They reached the door, which was flung open by Hortense. ‘Lissie, I have been so worried about you. You have been so long gone. I should not have let you go alone. Anything could have happened to you.’ She glared at Jay as if her anxiety were all his fault.

‘I have been perfectly safe with Sir John and Monsieur Drymore,’ Lisette said. ‘We have been talking of ways and means to free my father.’ She turned to Jay. ‘Hortense is my maid and she worries about me. I thank you for your escort, monsieur. I bid you bonsoir until tomorrow.’

She held out her hand to him; he took it and bowed over it. ‘Your servant, mademoiselle. I will be here at ten o’clock.’

He turned and left them. He did not look back, but heard the door shut behind him. The flame in the torch flickered and died, leaving the drive and the ghostly tree in darkness.

Striding along the country road back towards Honfleur, he mused about the task he had been set and the woman who asked it of him. She was not what he would call womanly; she was too tall and thin for a start, her features a little too sharp, but her blue-grey eyes revealed intelligence and a stubbornness which might cause problems. He smiled to himself, anticipating squalls. So be it, he was used to squalls and having his commands obeyed.