Lasseur had managed to maintain the devil-may-care facade up to the moment he'd seen the men in the longboat being cast adrift from the hulk's side.
Around them, the other fresh arrivals assigned to the gun deck were also looking for places to bed down. The invasion of their living quarters had caused most of the established prisoners to pause in their tasks to take stock of the new blood. The mood, however, seemed strangely subdued. Hawkwood wondered if the original prisoners resented this further reduction of what was already a barely adequate living space.
Among the new batch was the boy. He was standing alone, weighed down by his hammock, mattress and blanket, utterly bewildered by the activity going on around him; though he was one of the lucky ones in as much as he did not have to amend his posture in order to move about inside the hull. He looked like a small boat tossed by waves as he was turned this way and that by the men brushing past him, mindless of his size.
The boy turned. One of the other prisoners, a slight, weak- chinned, effete-looking man with a widow's peak of thinning hair - a long-standing resident of the hulk if the decrepit state of his yellow uniform was any indication - was crouched down with his right hand on the boy's shoulder.
Hawkwood watched as a look of doubt crept over the boy's face. The boy shook his head. The man spoke again, his expression solicitous. The boy tried to squirm away from the man's touch, but the latter took hold of his jacket sleeve. The hand on the boy's shoulder slid down and began to make gentle circular movements in the small of the boy's back. The boy looked petrified. Hawkwood took a step forward.
'No,' Lasseur said softly, 'I'll deal with it.'
Hawkwood watched as Lasseur ducked beneath the beams and the hanging sacks. He saw the privateer place his hand on the man's shoulder, lean in close and speak softly into his ear.
The man said something back. Lasseur spoke again and the man's smile slipped. Then he was holding his hands up and backing away. Lasseur did not touch the boy but squatted down and spoke to him.
A voice in Hawkwood's ear said, 'Right, it's all arranged; a room with a view for both of you.' Murat looked around. 'Where's your friend?'
'Here,' Lasseur said. He was standing behind them. The boy stood at his side, clutching his bedding. 'This is Lucien. Lucien, say hello to Captain Hooper and our interpreter, Lieutenant.. . my apologies, I didn't catch your given name.'
'Auguste,' Murat said.
'Lieutenant Auguste Murat,' Lasseur finished. He fixed Murat with an uncompromising eye. 'I want space for the boy as well.'
Murat's eyebrows rose. He shook his head. 'I regret that's not possible.'
'Make it possible,' Lasseur said.
'There's no room, Captain,' Murat protested.
'There's always room,' Lasseur said.
Murat looked momentarily taken aback by Lasseur's abrasive tone. He stared down at the boy, took in the small, pale features and then threw Lasseur a calculating look. 'It could be expensive.'
'You
Murat's brow wrinkled, unsure how to respond to Lasseur's barb, before it occurred to him it was probably best to tell them to wait once more and that he would return.
Hawkwood and Lasseur watched him go.
'I have a son,' Lasseur said. He did not elaborate but looked down. 'How old are you, boy?'
The boy gripped his bedding. In a wavering voice, he said, 'Ten, sir.'
'Are you now? Well, stick with us and you might just make it to eleven.'
Murat reappeared and, unsmiling, crooked a finger. 'Come with me.'
Stepping around and over bodies, heads bent, the two men and the boy followed the interpreter towards the starboard side of the deck.
'You're in luck -' Murat spoke over his shoulder '- another place has become vacant. The former owner doesn't need it any more.'
'That's fortunate,' Lasseur said. He caught Hawkwood's eye and winked. 'And why's that?'
'He died.'
Lasseur halted in his tracks.
Murat held up his hands. 'Natural causes, Captain, on my mother's life.'
Lasseur looked sceptical.
'From the fever. They say it's due to the air coming off the marshes.' Murat jabbed a thumb towards the open grilles. 'It's the same both sides of the river. It's what most men die of, that and consumption. That's the way it happens on the hulks. You rot from the inside out.'
Hawkwood noticed that the prisoners near the gun ports were making use of the light to read or write, using the bench along the side of the hull as a makeshift table. Some were conversing with their companions while they wrote. As he passed, Hawkwood realized they were conducting classes. He looked over a hunched shoulder and guessed by the illustrations and indecipherable script that the subject was probably mathematics.
'It's best to try and keep busy,' Murat said, interrupting Hawkwood's observations. 'You'll lose your mind, otherwise. Many men have.' The lieutenant pointed. 'Here you are, gentlemen. Welcome to your new home.'
Compared to where they'd just come from, it was the height of luxury. Hawkwood wondered how Murat had persuaded the previous incumbents to relinquish such a valuable location. It didn't seem possible that anyone would want to do so voluntarily. Maybe they were dead, too.
They weren't, Murat assured them. 'It's just that they prefer food to a view. You'd feel that way, too, if you hadn't had a square meal for a week,' Murat added, pocketing his fee. 'You'll learn that soon enough. If I were you, I'd guard my purse. Don't indulge in fripperies. The price you've just paid for your sleeping spot will buy three weeks' rations. Not that they give us anything worth eating, mind you. There are some who'd say death from the fever would be a merciful release. If you want to make a bit of money, by the way, you can rent out your part of the bench.'
'I knew I could count on you,' Lasseur said. 'I had this feeling in my bones.'
The interpreter permitted himself a small smile. His teeth were surprisingly even, though in the gloom they were the colour of damp parchment. 'Thank you, Captain. And might I say it's been a pleasure doing business with you.'
Murat turned. 'And the same goes for you, Captain Hooper. It's a pleasure to meet an American. I've long been an admirer of your country. Now, if there's anything else you require, don't hesitate to ask. You'll find I'm the man to do business with. You want to buy, come to Murat. You have something to sell, come to Murat. My terms are very favourable, as you'll see.'
'You're a credit to free enterprise, Lieutenant,' Lasseur said.
Murat volunteered a full-blown conspiratorial grin. 'You're going to fit right in here, Captain.' The interpreter gave a mock salute. 'Now, if you'll excuse me, gentlemen.' And with that, he turned on his heel, and walked off. To hand the money on, Hawkwood assumed, minus his commission, of course.
'I do believe we've just been robbed,' Lasseur said cheerfully, and then shrugged. 'But it was neatly done. I can see we're going to have to keep our eyes on Lieutenant Murat. Did you ever have any dealings with his cousin?'
Hawkwood shook his head and said wryly, 'Can't say I'm likely to, either, considering I'm an American and he's the King of Naples.'
'I keep forgetting: your French is very good. Murat's cousin served in Spain, though.'
'I know,' Hawkwood said. 'And your army has been trying to clean up his damned mess ever since.'
Lasseur looked taken aback by Hawkwood's rejoinder. Then he nodded in understanding. 'Ah, yes, the uprising.'
It had been back in '08. In response to Bonaparte's kidnapping of the Spanish royal family in an attempt to make Spain a French satellite, the Spanish had attacked the French garrison in Madrid. Retaliation, by troops under the command of the flamboyant Joachim Murat, had been swift and brutal and had led to a nationwide insurrection against the invaders, which had continued, with the assistance of the British, ever since.
Lasseur gave a sigh. 'Kings and generals have much to answer for.'
'Presidents and emperors, too,' Hawkwood said.
Lasseur chuckled.
