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the privateer's REVENGE
JULIAN STOCKWIN
the privateer's REVENGE
A KYDD SEA ADVENTURE
MCBOOKS PRESS, INC.
www.mcbooks.com
ITHACA, NEW YORK
Published by McBooks Press 2008
Published simultaneously in Great Britain by Hodder and Stoughton Copyright © 2008 Julian Stockwin
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the publisher. Requests for such permissions should be addressed to McBooks Press, Inc., ID Booth Building, 520 North Meadow St., Ithaca, NY 14850.
Cover painting by Geoff Hunt RSMA.
Represented by Artist Partners Ltd., www.artistpartners.com.
Dust jacket and interior design by Panda Musgrove.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stockwin, Julian. The privateer's revenge : a Kydd sea adventure / by Julian Stockwin. p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-59013-165-7 (alk. paper)
1. Kydd, Thomas (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Great Britain—History, Naval—18th century—Fiction. 3. Seafaring life—Fiction. 4. Sailors— Fiction. I. Title. PR6119.T66P75 2008 823'.92--dc22
2008019445
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Printed in the United States of America 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CHAPTER 1
HIS MAJESTY'S BRIG-SLOOP TEAZER eased sheets and came round prettily for the last leg of the short passage from Polperro eastwards to Plymouth Sound. The ship's clerk knocked softly at the captain's cabin door. There was no reply so, from long friendship, Nicholas Renzi entered quietly. Commander Thomas Kydd was sitting rigid at the stern windows staring out. He turned, his face a bleak mask. 'Tom, dear fellow? I've brought you this,' Renzi said, proffering a glass. 'The natives hereabouts do swear by its power to lay demons and recruit the spirit.'
Kydd accepted the offering but it remained untouched in his hand. 'Fine nor'-westerly blow,' Renzi went on brightly. 'We should raise the Sound on this tack, I'd venture.' There was no response from the fine and ambitious sea officer, who had made the incredible journey from the fo'c'sle to the quarterdeck, then achieved his own command, now brought so low.
It had been so sudden. Returning triumphant after a rousing cruise, Kydd had decided to snatch a few moments in Polperro, the home of his newly betrothed, Rosalynd. There, he had learned of her tragic death, just days before.
Renzi drew a chair close. There was little to be said—grief was such a private thing, but in this Renzi knew guilt. His closest friend had stood alone when he had followed his heart and asked a country lass to be his bride, not Persephone Lockwood, the admiral's daughter. There had never been a formal understanding between Kydd and Miss Lockwood, but society—and Renzi—had been outraged nevertheless.
'You should know this, dear friend, I—I own myself shamed by my actions, you must understand,' Renzi said, in a low voice. 'It was unpardonable not to recognise that it was—that your sentiments sprang from the noblest and purest . . .'
His words went unheard but he vowed that whatever lay ahead for Kydd he would be at his side. Especially when he tried to reenter the world that had turned its back on him. But there were more pressing concerns now. 'We dock in so little time I have to ask, shall you prepare to take the deck again?'
Kydd's face turned slowly. His eyes filled as he tried to speak and his fists clenched.
Renzi knew for the sake of the future that Kydd should be the one to take
As the words penetrated, Kydd rose from his chair like an old man and made his way to his inner cabin. After a few minutes he emerged and took a last long look through the windows at the receding wake.
'I have th' ship, Mr Standish,' Kydd mumbled to his first lieutenant, and stood alone, face set and pale, staring ahead. Rame Head passed abeam;
The early autumn sunshine had a fragile, poignant quality as the sloop's gig pulled across the short distance to the dockyard; at Kydd's side, Renzi held ship's papers. The boat nuzzled into the landing stage and Kydd stepped out, seeming lost and bewildered. 'This way, old fellow,' Renzi said, glaring at passers-by, who stopped to gape at the subject of the so-recent scandal.
It was not far to the offices; the flag-lieutenant hurried away to inform the port admiral of their arrival.
