Hugh Bolitho nodded. `Very well. I accept the plan, sir. But after this I will stand no chance of success in these waters. My command and all in her will be laughed into oblivion.'
Bolitho looked at his brother and felt sorry for him. But there was no other way.,
The others eventually left the house and Hugh said vehemently, `If I could have laid hands on just one of them. I'd have finished this damned affair once and for all!'
The next two days were filled with suspense and anxiety at the Bolitho house. There was silence from Dancer's captors, although no further proof was needed as to the value of the letter. Some gilt buttons, cut from a midshipman's coat,. and a neckcloth which Bolitho recognized as Dancer's were found outside the gates as a blunt warning.
On the second night the two brothers were alone by the fire, each unwilling to break the silence.
Then Hugh said suddenly, `I shall go down to the Avenger. You had better remain here until we hear something. One way or the other.'
Bolitho asked, `After this, what will you do•?T
'Do?' He laughed. `Go back to some damned ship as a junior lieutenant, I expect. Promotion went through the window when I failed to finish what I came to do.'
Bolitho stood up as horses clattered in the yard. A door banged open and he saw Mrs Tremayne staring at him, her eyes filling her face.
`They've got him, Master Richard! They've found him!'
In the next instant the room seemed to be full.
Servants, some troopers and Pendrith, the gamekeeper, who -said, `The soldiers discovered 'im walkin' along the road, sir. 'Is 'ands were tied behind 'is back and 'e was blindfolded. Wonder 'e didn't go 'ead-first off the cliff!'
They all fell silent as Dancer, covered from head to foot in a long cloak, came into the room, supported on either side by two of de Crespigny's dragoons.
Bolitho strode forward and gripped his shoulders. He could barely speak, and they looked at each other for several more seconds until Dancer said simply, `Near thing that time, Dick.'
Harriet Bolitho pushed through the watching figures and lifted the cloak from Dancer's shoulders. Then she took him in her arms, pulling his head to her shoulder, tears running unheeded down her cheeks.
`Oh, you poor boy!'
Dancer's captors had stripped him of all but his breeches. Blindfolded and stumbling barefoot along a road unknown to him, had he fallen, he would certainly have died of the bitter cold. Someone had beaten him too, and Bolitho saw weals on his back like rope burns.
Mrs Bolitho said huskily, `Mrs Tremayne, take these good men to the kitchen. Give them anything they want, money too.'
The soldiers beamed and shuffled their boots.
'Thankee, ma'am. It was a real pleasure to be sure.'
Dancer lowered himself in front of the fire and said quietly, `I was carried to a small village. I heard
someone say it was supposed to be a witches' place.
That nobody would dare come looking for me there. They laughed about it. Told me how they were going to kill me if you didn't release their man.'
He looked up at Hugh Bolitho. `I am sorry I failed you, sir. But our attackers looked like real soldiers, and acted without mercy.' He shuddered and touched his arm as if to hide his nakedness.
Hugh replied, `What's done is done, Mr Dancer. But I'm glad you are safe. I mean it.'
Mrs Bolitho brought a cup of hot soup. `Drink this, Martyn. Then bed.' She sounded composed again.
,Dancer looked at Bolitho. `I was blindfolded all the time. When I tried to get it off I felt them holding a hot iron close to my face. One of them said that if I did it again I would not need a blindfold. The iron would take care of my sight.'
He shivered as Nancy covered his shoulders with a woollen shawl.
Hugh Bolitho banged his fist against the wall. `They were clever. They knew you'd not recognize their faces, but thought you might recall where you were being held!'
Dancer got painfully to his feet and grimaced. He had cut them badly along the way before the troopers had found him.
`I know one of them.'
They all stared at him, thinking he was about to break down.
Dancer looked at Mrs Bolitho and held out his hands until she took them in hers.
`It was the first day. I was lying in the darkness, waiting to die, when I heard him. I don't think they'd told him I was there.' He tightened his grip on her hands. `It was the man I saw here, ma'am. The one called Vyvyan.'
She nodded slowly, her face full of sympathy.
`You've suffered enough, Martyn, and we have been very worried for you.' She kissed him gently on the lips. `Now to bed with you. You'll find everything you need.'
Hugh Bolitho was still staring at him as if he had misheard.
`Sir Henry? Are you certain?'
She exclaimed, `Leave it, Hugh! There's been harm enough done to this boy!'
Bolitho watched his brother's strength returning, like a sudden squall approaching a becalmed ship.
`A boy to you, Mother. But he is still one of my officers.' Hugh could barely conceal his excitement. `Right here under our noses. No wonder Vyvyan's men were always nearby and we never caught anyone. He had to rid himself of his so-called prisoner before an examining judge arrived. The man would have informed on him to save his own life.'
Bolitho felt his mouth go dry. Vyvyan had even had some of his own men shot down to make it look perfect. He was a monster, not a man at all. And it had nearly worked, might still work if Dancer's story was not believed.
Wrecker, smuggler and an important part of some planned uprising in America, it was like a growing nightmare.
Vyvyan had planned all of it, outwitted the
authorities from the very beginning. He had even put the idea of exchanging hostages in their minds.
To his brother Bolitho said, `What will you do?'
He gave him a bitter smile. `I am inclined to send word to the admiral. But now we will try to determine where this village is. It cannot be far from the sea.' His eyes shone like fires. `Next time, Richard, next time he will be less fortunate P
Bolitho followed Dancer up the stairs, past the watching portraits and into his room.
`In future, Martyn, I will never complain about serving in a ship of the line.'
Dancer sat on the edge of the bed and cocked his head to listen to the wind against a window.
`Nor I. ' He rolled over, worn out with exhaustion.
As his head lay in the glow of some candles, Bolitho thought of that other one, dead in the wet grass, and was suddenly grateful.
9. The Devil's Hand
Colonel de Crespigny sat stiffly in the Avenger's stern cabin looking around with a mixture of curiosity and distaste.
He said, `As I have just explained to your, er, captain, I cannot take a risk on such meagre evidence.'
As both the midshipmen made to protest he added hastily, `I am not saying I disbelieve what you heard, or what you thought you heard. But in a court of law, and make no mistake, a man in Sir Henry's position and authority would go to the highest advocates, it would sound less than convincing.'
He leaned towards Dancer, his polished boots creaking on the deck.
`Think ofit yourself. A good advocate from London,,an experienced assize judge and a biased jury, your word would be the only voice of protest. The schooner's crew, can be held upon suspicion, although there is nothing so far to connect them with Sir Henry or any evil purpose. I am certain that fresh
