The Firebird

She said, ‘I take it you no longer do command a ship yourself, then, Captain Deane?’

His cold eyes angled downward to her own. ‘I have acquired other interests, Mistress.’

Mrs Hewitt said, ‘The captain told us, Mistress Jamieson, that he is writing a new and complete account of his heroic rescue of his crew upon Boon Island. I’m sure it will be most exciting.’

‘I’ve no doubt.’ This time she paid no heed to Edmund’s warning hand upon her back, but said, ‘I will be glad to read it, Captain, for I’ve heard such differing accounts of that adventure.’

There, she thought, she had succeeded in her purpose. Edmund surely could not help but see the captain’s nature now, for Deane’s annoyance with her plainly showed behind his icy smile.

‘I have been ever plagued by enemies,’ he said, ‘whose only purpose is to slander my good name.’

And there, thought Anna, was the venom, plainly evident. She met his gaze directly with her own. ‘A good name, Captain Deane, must first be earned, before it can be slandered.’

And not bothering to curtsey as a proper lady would, she just as frostily excused herself and carried on her way towards the Colleges.

‘She never did!’ The general laughed, and leant back in his chair behind the heavy desk that sat before the windows of his offices within the College of War.

‘She did indeed,’ said Edmund, ‘I was there, and had the very devil of a time making excuses for her afterwards.’

From where she stood beside the window looking to the square below them, Anna said, not turning, ‘I’ve no need of anyone to make excuses for me.’

General Lacy shared a look with Edmund before folding up the letter he’d just written. ‘Here, then, take this to Sir Harry, if you will. And are you going, then, to Mrs Hewitt’s supper, Edmund?’

‘Sure I’d rather swim with sharks. I told them I did fear that I was otherwise engaged.’ He paused, and asked, ‘Have you sent ships to Spain?’

‘Why do you ask?’

‘Deane said he saw three Russian ships, just heading out as he was coming in the Baltic. He believes they might be on their way to Spain.’

The general asked, ‘What else has Deane been noticing about our ships?’

‘He has observed the squadron is preparing to set out, and that the shipyards have been busy building pinnaces.’

The general nodded and looked faintly satisfied, though Anna could not see it was in any way remarkable. The Russian squadron always sailed to sea, this time of year.

So she was puzzled when, a few days later, Captain Hay and Gordon were again discussing ships.

‘Deane did observe you at the shipyards, though?’ asked Gordon.

Captain Hay said, ‘He’d have had to be a great fool not to.’

Gordon nodded. ‘Good. That’s very good, then. Mr Elmsall tells me he and several others of the Factory were called to the College of Foreign Affairs last night, to answer questions about whether Deane had been their choice for consul, and whether they’d known he was coming. Apparently, they answered “no”, on both counts.’

Captain Hay grinned. ‘So then that’s an end to it?’

‘Hopefully, aye. Count Golovkin has little affection for English spies, and quite a lot for King James, so I should not be very surprised to see Deane told to pack his belongings and leave, very soon.’

‘That will be a relief to me,’ Captain Hay said, ‘for he’s been like a hound on my trail these past weeks.’

The next morning, the College of Foreign Affairs ordered Deane to depart, and the news spread like fire through the Admiralty and the exchange. He’d been given a week to arrange his affairs, and still made himself visible in the community, only he now was less likely to show charm to anyone, and much more likely to find fault with those whom he claimed had so bitterly wronged him.

When Anna had pointed this out at the table to Edmund, she’d found Father Dominic nodding agreement.

‘St Francis would teach us,’ the monk said, ‘that we cannot know a man’s nature when all does go well with him, but when those people he thinks will assist him oppose him instead, then we know, for a man has the patience and humility that he shows then, and no more.’

General Lacy agreed. ‘He is at his most dangerous now, William,’ he had advised Captain Hay, ‘so you keep your head down.’

The vice admiral had gone a step further, and sent Captain Hay with Sir Harry to Cronstadt.

‘To what end?’ the captain had asked.

‘When he does leave St Petersburg,’ Gordon had told him, ‘he’ll head first to Cronstadt to make his complaints to Apraxin, and when he arrives, I want you and Sir Harry to inspect as many ships as you’re both able to. Make sure Deane sees you do it.’

And with a nod, Captain Hay had agreed. ‘But it will be for nothing,’ he’d warned, ‘if the Empress remains out of reach.’

Anna saw the vice admiral’s frustration at that.

He’d been trying for weeks, since the day Captain Hay had arrived, to arrange for an audience with Empress Catherine. He’d had such a cordial relationship with the late Tsar that, a year ago, he’d have had only to ask and the audience would have been granted. But since the Tsar’s death, the whole court had closed in round the Empress – some said to protect her, some said to control her, and those who would speak to her had to first pass by Prince Menshikov.