ROMANTIC VENTURE

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

It was now late July, and the rosy chamber had never looked more inviting to Maurette than it did that night. Kitty had bathed and scented Maurette's ungainly figure, and Dominic was now assuring her that her form, though bulging, was more beautiful than it had ever been. They lay together in the thick folds of her velvet bed covers. All was secure, as the inlet was now being guarded by the Raven and its vigorous crew. Dominic and Maurette were as contented as any couple had ever been. They reveled in the warmth of each other's embrace and fell into the peaceful slumber of lovers reunited.

Very late that night the household was aroused by the ringing of alarms. The men of the house gathered in the great hall in various stages of undress to discover a legation from Sir Francis Drake The Spanish had been sighted off the coast of Plymouth at three o'clock in the morning of the previous week. The Vice Admiral had sent a relay of messengers to the far-flung corners of the country and even now, ships and men were gathering along the English coastline to meet the cumbersome Armada. On July twenty-first, the Spanish treasure ship, the San Salvador, had been damaged by an explosion, and a ~ big galleon, the Rosario, had collided with another Spanish ship in the close crescent formation that Medina Sidonia had ordered.

A number of other Spanish ships had been damaged, and the admiral's flagship, the Santa Ana; had been demasted and wrecked on the French coast. Howard, Sheffield, and Hawkins, among others, had been knighted for their patriotic service to queen and country, and now the Spanish waited at Calais for reinforcements. The battle was by no means over, nor, in fact, had it really begun. Still a formidable instrument, the Spanish fleet, with the addition of more warships and ammunition, would invade the shores of England within a very short time.

Dominic galvanized his crew. With the threat of Spanish ships invading the harbor of Ravenshead, he could not allow Maurette to remain there, and so, within hours, the entire household had also been mobilized. It was decided that Maurette should go to the palace of Placentia at Greenwich. Lady Violet and Edyth would attend her along with Kitty, Ben, and Jonathan. Rodrigo and Geoffrey would join Dominic on the Raven to join the action along the coast.

Kitty had requested that Ruth, the little laundress, be allowed to accompany them. The granting of that request began a flood of entreaties from servants wanting to join the progress from Ravenshead. Terrence Warbrooke was enlisted to take a list of all those who wished to make the journey. He bemoaned the fact that the number had reached twenty before he was through, but Dominic assured him that there would be room for all, including the lad who was at that moment standing near Terrence and looking forlornly up into his kindly eyes.

"Yes," said the old man, "you, too, shall be allowed to come, Dick."

The little boy smiled in satisfaction. "I should think so, my lord," he said righteously. "Else who would clean the chicken filth from my lady's morning eggs." The otherwise somber company laughed at the boy's certainty of his importance.

"We could not do without you," Terrence laughed kindly as he took the boy's slender shoulders in a fond embrace. He raised his eyes then to find Gwynn and Henry regarding him balefully Pushing Dick away gently, Terrence rose. "You should. know that Lydia has confessed that 'twas the two of you who supplied her with the drug that kept me enslaved to her and her son for two years.

Gwynn wound her apron around her hand. "We did not know to whom she administered the drug, sir," she whined.

"Did you not?" said Terrence coldly.

"No my lord," Henry responded with lowered eyes. "We had no idea 'twas you."

"What did you imagine she needed it for?" Terrence asked.

"We fig'red," said Gwynn piteously, "'twas none of our business."

Terrence threw back his head and laughed. Then his silver eyes became serious, and he regarded the couple with disgust. "You wished it to be none of your business," he said with steel in his voice. "You had to have realized her evil intent, and yet you did nothing. I rotted for two years in a decaying dungeon, and 'twas your loathsome aid that made it possible. Get from my sight." The couple scuttled away.

Lady Violet had entered the room and had watched the dismissal. She moved slowly to Terrence and placed a delicate hand on his heaving shoulder.

"You did the right thing, Terrence," she said kindly. "They do not deserve your mercy, for though they were but instruments in Lydia's evil plot, they are far from innocent."

Terrence sat heavily, "I have mercy for no one who had any hand in this. They shall all stay here to face either a Spanish invasion or, escaping that, the invasion of Her Majesty's agents, who will execute their own justice If any of them do manage to make their way from Ravenshead before either happens, they will forever bear the guilt of what they have done and be vulnerable to whatever punishment the wide world holds for them."

He looked up into Lady Violet's warm eyes and felt his anger soften in their sapphire depths. "'Tis with no small sense of irony that I consider the fact that if 'twere not for all this intrigue, I may never have met you, dear Violet."

With a soft smile, Lady Violet patted his shoulder and informed him gently that it was time to leave. Arm in arm, the elderly couple left the chamber to begin their journey.

The Raven, carrying its precious cargo of human souls, rocked and groaned over the choppy waters of the North Sea. The unsettled winds and summer storms had been the worst that anyone could remember. Rodrigo had folded his stocky legs beneath him on the deck and was now sitting with Kitty's head contentedly in his lap. He recounted his arrival at Ravenshead many years ago with Terrence Warbrooke as the captain of the ship, the Gloriana. Geoff sat next to them on the gently pitching deck and listened, in fascination, to the little man's tales of Kitty's mother, the stalwart galley wench, with whom he had fallen in love and eventually married.

"She was a darling woman," Rodrigo was saying with pride. "She was much smatter than any of the men, but she was smart enough not to let them know it." He chuckled. "I remember her once bargaining with a vituperative Spanish sailor. She wanted oranges for the crew and promised him the wonders of her body, if he would part with a crate of the fruit. He parted with the fruit, all right, but he never saw my Kate again.

Next morn, when every man had a juicy orange upon his plate, she merely answered and said that all their prayers must have been answered." He laughed at the memory. "And she loved me," he said with a kind of awe. "Me, the most unsightly of men, and she, the most beautiful of women."

"Unsightly, Father?" Kitty said. "I think not." They regarded each other warmly, "She was the lucky one, this good mother of mine." "She died at sea, child, shortly after you were born. She is buried in the ocean that she loved." He smiled down on Kitty. "She would have been so proud."

Geoffrey regarded the two people who had so recently found each other and discovered himself wiping a fond tear from his ruddy cheek.

Edyth sat with Maurette enfolded comfortably in her plump arms on a low bench. They, too, had come up on deck to enjoy the breezy night. Terrence Warbrooke and Lady Violet sat across from them on another beach.

"You would have liked Dominic's mother, Violet," Terrence Warbrooke was saying.

Lady violet smiled warmly. "And you would have liked Maurette's grandfather." The four people laughed.

"In truth I met the valiant Audley once. And you are right," Terrence said, his silver eyes sparkling, "I did like him very much." Dominic and Ben came onto the scene and wondered at the easy laughter. "We are being very nostalgic, Dominic," said Terrence. "I suppose 'tis that we all feel most companionable this night, for 'tis our last night together aboard the Raven before we reach Greenwich."

"And to think," said Lady violet with music in her voice, "all this might never have happened had I not mentioned publicly a certain challenge made privately by a certain reckless young woman to a certain hotheaded young nobleman."

Maurette's eyes widened, and she lifted her head from Edyth's shoulder. "'Twould almost seem from your tone, Granmama, that your announcement of my challenge to Dominic that night was less than innocent."

Lady Violet cocked her head. A mischievous twinkle was in her eyes. "Does it seem so, dear child? But how can you imagine that I would deliberately manipulate you?" She looked up at Dominic in feigned distress. "Do you believe, Dominic, that I would do what my granddaughter accuses me of?"

Dominic hid a smile. He recalled Lady Violet's demeanor on the fateful night of his duel with Maurette. "'Twould not be seemly of me to challenge your honest motivations, dear Countess," he said dryly, "but-in a word-yes." They all laughed. "Let me add, however, that in all my life, I have never been more sweetly manipulated." He smiled warmly at Maurette, who regarded him through lowered lashes with a smile of her own. "Who would have imagined," Dominic added softly, "that I would have won the love of the wondrously spirited, the dauntlessly courageous, and the gloriously beautiful Maurette?"

"And I," said Maurette with bubbling laughter, "the love of the dazzling Silver Raven."

Lady Violet shrugged a delicate shoulder. "Did neither of you anticipate that your duel would end in a draw?" she asked sweetly. "I did," she added with a certain adorable smugness.

For Terrence Warbrooke, they all recounted the story of Maurette and Dominic's first meeting. With much laughter and embellishment, the tale went on late into the night. Pitchers of ale and wine were brought up from the galley, and Roger and Jase and the other crew members joined the members of the Ravenshead household on deck. Dominic felt a warmth flow through him. On the eve of the great battle with the Spanish, he was very grateful to have those he loved near.

Toward the end of the evening, Dominic looked to Maurette and then to Lady violet. "I wonder if I might ask a favor of you ladies." They nodded. "I know my father would be most valuable company at the palace, for he is proving to be a fascinating conversationalist and even more importantly a fascinated listener, but I would know if I may borrow him for the coming battle? I should enjoy having my father at my side."

The two men regarded each other warmly.

"I should he most honored, my son," said Terrence quietly.

"There will be no more talk of 'gentleman seaman 'in this family," added Dominic.

"I should be honored to release your father for such a noble purpose, Dominic," said Lady Violet. "Just be sure," she added archly, that you bring each other back safely.". They were all aware of the danger that lay ahead.

Maurette regarded Dominic and his father solemnly. "Do protect each other," she said softly.

Terrence Warbrooke took her hands in his. "We have all lived through much, dearest Maurette, and we still have each other. So it will be when this battle is ended." They smiled into each other's eyes.

With the resilience of human spirit that they had all recently shown, the mood on board the Raven lightened once again. All accepted the rest of the happy night on own merits and did not again give in to dark thoughts.

The next day, Maurette and her entourage disembarked at Greenwich. Dominic, Geoffrey and Rodrigo accompanied them overland to the palace at Placentia. Lady Violet would make a trip up the Thames to visit with Queen Elizabeth at Richmond, but she promised to be back in time for Maurette's confinement. They both realized, as did Dominic, that he might not be back in time for the birth of their child.

Dominic took Maurette's small face into his hands. "Even if I must sail through the waters of hell," he said softly, "I shall try to make it back. Please wait for me."

Maurette smiled. " 'Tis not up to me, my love," she said softly. "Speak to your child."

Dominic looked down and placed a strong bronzed hand on her billowing abdomen. "If you have any respect for your father at all," he said to the growing bulge, "you will wait until he returns." The couple laughed.

And after a long embrace, Dominic was gone.