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.Zoe is inLondon with the children, but she remembers you fondly.Was a response required? St.John didn t seem to needone. I thought you might enjoy meeting my cousin whohas recently returned from Canada, he went on. He wasin a fierce battle with privateers, and has come here torecover his strength and perhaps to stay on for a time.Marshall nodded, looking at his shoes, at thefloor anything to keep from enduring the sight of a faceso like the one he would never see again.What was wrongwith this chipper, chattering idiot? What was wrong withCaptain Smith? Did they feel nothing? Davy was dead, forGod s sake.Why choose this time to haul out a pirate-fighting Canadian?But he had no energy to sustain the anger.Whatdifference did it make? St.John had given Davy a hero sburial; it was little enough for Will to cater to his whims.Very well.Show me your cousin.Show me your horses,your dog, your chamberpot, anything.Only, please, do notask me to look at your face, I cannot bear it.He followed St.John and Captain Smith down theelegant Turkey carpet that lined the paneled hall.Theyentered a sitting room, and proceeded through it to thebedroom that formed part of a guest suite.A small figure76Lee Rowanin the blue coat of a naval surgeon blocked his view of St.John s cousin.The figure turned, and Marshall was astonished torecognize their own ship s surgeon. Dr.Curran? At your service, sir! The doctor seemed quitepleased with himself, Marshall noted absently. Is yourheart sound, Mr.Marshall? Are you well?My heart is broken, thank you.It doesn t matter. Isuppose so, he said automatically. That s a relief, said Curran s patient. I was afraid Imight have given you palpitations.Marshall heard the voice; he didn t believe it.Dr.Curran stepped aside and Will saw a cap of blond hair overa beloved face, drawn with pain and much too pale, butundeniably alive. Davy? That s  St.John, if you please.David St.John, lateof the Canadian colonies.And I suppose you must be Mr.Marshall. And then Davy s face split wide in that familiargrin, only to dissolve in a haze of tears and grey mist.When Marshall came to himself he found that he hadbeen draped into a chair beside Davy s bed, and Dr.Curran was apologizing. Mr.Archer assured me that youwould be up to the strain, sir.I am very sorry  It s my fault, Will; I m a damned fool. Davystretched out a hand to him, wincing at the movement, andWill struggled up to take it. I couldn t resist the dramaticrevival.Marshall shook his head, half-convinced that he trulyhad gone mad. Davy.My God, please don tmisunderstand me, but how why ? I surprised our traitor when he came to get thekey and all hell broke loose above. Short of breath,Davy looked at the Captain. Would you explain, sir? Certainly, said Sir Paul. Mr.Marshall, our traitorwas the ship s purser, Joseph Dowling.In the confusion ondeck he shot Mr.Archer and believes him to be dead.77Winds of Change He has not been arrested? Unfortunately, no.After consultation with theIntelligence people and politicos here in Kingston, it wasdecided that since our traitor thinks himself safe, we willlearn more by allowing him to continue his activities andkeep a close watch on where he goes and with whom hecommunicates.This can only be done if he believes Mr.Archer to be permanently out of the picture. The Secret Service thinks I m better off dead, Davysaid. At least for a time. Easy for them to say that, Lord St.John interjected.Davy raised an eyebrow at him. They can sayanything they like.It was I who spotted the bastard forthem. He rested his head against the pillow, closing hiseyes.Dr.Curran frowned and checked his pulse. For mypart, I have never seen anyone so very hard to kill.But Iam glad of it.He persuaded his patient to drink something from asmall cup.In a moment Davy s color improved, and heresumed his explanation. You know how I love thetheatre, Will.The edict had its appeal.I m sorry no onehad time to get a message to you. But you look like you look terrible. No.He didnot look like death.He looked like life, like resurrection.Like a miracle. Why didn t anyone tell me?Captain Smith spoke up at last. Mr.Archer is still notout of danger, if I understand the doctor correctly.I wasunwilling to tell you he was alive, and inflict anothercruelty if he had not survived the journey here.Davy grinned faintly. But I did [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]