Chapter 16: A Friend At Last:
Day after day, Leigh went out into the town. More than once he sawthe fatal tumbrils going along in the distance, but he alwaysturned and walked in the opposite direction. Once or twice, havingchanged his clothes for those of a workman, he fought his way intothe public galleries of the Convention and listened to thespeeches; in which it seemed to him that the principal object ofeach speaker was to exceed those who had gone before him inviolence, and that the most violent was the most loudly applauded,both by the galleries and the Assembly.
Patsey was most anxious to be off, but he urged that it would notdo to show haste. She did not leave the house at all, while he wasout almost all day. At the end of the fortnight, he told MonsieurTourrier that he had now finished his business, and asked him if hecould obtain from the maire of the arrondissement a pass down toHavre.
"It is a pity that you did not get your pass direct from Arthenay,"he said. "You say that your sister wants to make inquiries about ahusband there, and that you are taking her down, and you also saythat you are a sailor."
"Yes."
"Then, I should think that the best thing for you would be to dressyourself as a sailor again. It will seem more natural than for youto be in that civilian dress. I can go with you, and say that youwere strongly recommended to me by the maire's adjoint at Arthenay,and that your papers are all en regle. If he asks why you did nothave your papers made out in the first place to Havre, say that youhad hoped to have been joined by your brother-in-law here; but ashe has not arrived your sister is anxious about him, and wishestherefore to go on to Havre, which indeed he has requested her todo, as it was uncertain whether he would be able to leave his ship.
"I know, of course, that it is all right, or my cousin would nothave recommended you so strongly to me; but in these days everyoneis suspicious, and one cannot be too cautious. I will get one ofthe market authorities to go up with me. I am well known to themall, and 'tis likely that none of the people at the mairie willknow me, seeing that I am a quiet man, and keep myself to myself."
Leigh had no trouble in buying a sailor's dress, at a shop down bythe wharves and, having put this on, went up with Monsieur Tourrierand one of the market officers to the mairie. As the former hadanticipated, there was no difficulty. Leigh's pass was examined.The market official testified to the grocer as being a well-knowncitizen, doing business with the market people, and taking no partin public affairs; while Monsieur Tourrier showed the letter thathe had received from his cousin, the adjoint at Arthenay.
"What is the name of the ship which your sister's husbandcommands?" the maire asked.
"The Henriette, a lugger. Formerly she traded with England but,since the war broke out, she trades between the ports on ourwestern coast."
"And you have been a sailor on board her?"
"Yes, citizen."
The maire nodded, and made out the pass for Jeannette Martin,travelling to join her husband, the captain of the luggerHenriette; for her brother, Lucien Porson; and for Louis Martin,aged two years, son of the above-named citoyenne Martin.
As they agreed that it would now be best to travel by water, Leighnext went to the stables and, as the horses were both good ones,obtained a fair price for them. The next morning they went on boarda sailing craft going down the river and, after a cordial adieufrom their host and hostess, and a promise to take up their abodethere, on their return through Paris, they went on board. Leigh hadsold the saddles with the horses; having, on the journey to Paris,removed the bundles of assignats concealed in them.
The accommodation on board was very fair. Patsey occupied a roomycabin aft, the rest slept in a large cabin forward; for before thetroubles began, the majority of people travelling from Paris downto Rouen or Havre went by water, and although the boats were mainlyconstructed for the carriage of merchandise, the conveyance ofpassengers formed an important part of the profits. At present,however, there was but little travelling, and Patsey had thewomen's cabin to herself; while one other male messenger, with themaster and two hands, had the forward compartments to themselves.
The master explained that, at ordinary times, his two men occupieda tiny place boarded off from the hold, or in summer slept on deck;but that, as there were so few passengers, they lived with the rest"for," as he growled under his breath, "the present."
The voyage was slow but not unpleasant. There was scarce windenough to fill the two sails carried by the boat, but the captainand his two hands frequently got out sweeps, to keep the boat inthe middle of the current. They stopped for a day at Rouen, whilethe cargo destined for that town was landed. Patsey and Leigh wereglad to spend the day in the town, visiting the cathedral, takingtheir meals at a restaurant, for the cuisine on board the boat wasnot of the highest character.
"We used to keep a regular cook," the captain lamented. "In thosedays we often carried several passengers; but at present, when weseldom have more than one or two, we cannot afford it. TheRevolution is no doubt a grand thing, and has greatly benefited thenation, but it has weighed hardly on us. There are but half theboats on the river there used to be, and they are hardly payingexpenses, now that no one travels. Those that go to sea are worseoff still for, what with the falling off in trade, and with theEnglish cruisers all along the coast, there is little employmentfor seamen, save in the privateers. However, they don't starve; forthe greater portion of the men on the coast have to go in the shipsof the Republic."
On the sixth day after leaving Paris, they arrived at Havre. Herethey had no difficulty in obtaining lodgings, in a small aubergenear the port. Their pass was, on their arrival, sent to theauthorities of the town and duly stamped. Leigh's first inquirieswere for the Henriette. He found that she was well known in theport, and had sailed for La Rochelle, six weeks before.
"She does not very often come up here," one of the sailors said."Sometimes she is months between her visits. As likely as not, shemay have been captured on her way down. Her port is Bordeaux and,if you wanted to find her, you had much better have gone straightthere than come to this place."
"I do want to find her," Leigh said. "Is there any chance offinding a ship going down south?"
"Well, you might find one," the man said; "but you would have totake your chance of getting there. Many of the ships are laid up,for the risk of capture is great. It is small craft that, for themost part, make the venture. They creep along inshore, and eitherrun into a port or anchor under the guns of a battery if they see aBritish cruiser outside. Drawing so little water, they can keep innearer than a cruiser would dare to; and as they all can take themud, they do not mind if they stick on the sands for a tide."
Leigh returned with the news to his sister.
"What do you think, Patsey?" he said. "I do not say that we cannotcross from here in a boat, though I have learned that the entranceto the Channel is guarded by gunboats. If we passed safely throughthese, we should have serious risk and many hardships to undergo. Ihear that there are numerous French privateers, and we might bepicked up by one of them, instead of by an English cruiser. I amafraid that our passes, in that case, would not avail us in theslightest.
"Now, if we go down to Bordeaux, we have only to wait till theHenriette comes in. Possibly she may be there when we arrive. Inthat case, I am sure that Lefaux will be willing to take us out,and either put us on board a British cruiser, or land us inEngland."
"Certainly we will go to Bordeaux," Patsey said. "We may find Jeanthere. If he escaped that night he would make for the Loire and, ashe is a good swimmer, he would get over without difficulty, and hewould then try to make his way towards Bordeaux."
"That may be so, Patsey; but I would not be too sanguine about ourfinding him there. It was so much nearer for him to have made forone of the northern ports that he might very well have done so and,as soon as he managed to obtain a sea outfit, he would no longer besuspected of having anything to do with the Vendeans."
They had learnt before this that, after the fight at Le Mans, theVendeans had m
ade for the river, had desperately fought their waythrough the forces that barred their march, had come down on thebanks, but had failed to find any means to cross it. Then they hadturned into Brittany again for a short distance, had fought two orthree more desperate battles, and had again reached the Loire.There was but one leaky boat to be found. In this la Rochejaquelein,with a few of his officers, had crossed the river to bring back someboats that were moored on the opposite bank. Directly they gotacross they were attacked, but la Rochejaquelein, with two or threeothers, effected their escape.
After this the Vendeans no longer kept together. The women andchildren, wounded and invalids, hid themselves in the woods; wherethey were hunted down like wild beasts, and either slaughtered atonce or sent to Nantes, where thousands were either executed ordrowned by the infamous Carrier, one of the most sanguinaryvillains produced by the Revolution. Many of the men managed tocross the river either by swimming on rough rafts or in boats. InLa Vendee the war was still going on, for Charette had marched upagain from Lower Poitou, and was keeping a large force of theRepublican troops engaged.
"I will try not to hope too much," Patsey said. "But at any rate, Iam for going down to Bordeaux for, apart from the chance of findingJean there, it seems much safer than putting out to sea in a littleboat."
"I certainly think so," Leigh replied. "Now I will go out and makeinquiries as to what craft there may be, bound south."
He returned in a couple of hours.
"I have arranged for our passage, Patsey. She is a fast-lookinglittle craft, with very decent accommodation. She is in the winetrade, and brought a cargo safely up last week, and will startagain the day after tomorrow. She carries a crew of eight hands;and I have made inquiries about the captain, and hear a very goodreport of him, and he seemed to me a first-rate fellow. When Imentioned the name of the Henriette he said that he knew her well,and was acquainted both with the present captain and with yourJean. He had heard, from Lefaux, that her former owner had beendenounced, and had been obliged to fly from Nantes to a chateauthat he had in La Vendee. The Henriette has never been into Nantessince, but went down to Bordeaux, and was there registered inanother owner's name, and Lefaux had worked for him ever since.
"'I fancy,' he said, 'she sometimes makes a run with brandy toEngland. She was in that business before, and had, Lefaux said,been chased many a time by English cutters, but had always managedto give them the slip.'
"I was half inclined to tell him that I was Jean's brother-in-law,but I thought it better not to until we had been to sea for a dayor two, and had learned a little more about him."
The next day Leigh went to the mairie and explained that, nothaving found the ship commanded by citoyenne Martin's husband, andthinking it likely that they would hear of him at Bordeaux, theyhad taken passage by the Trois Freres, which sailed the next day.The addition was made to his papers without a question, and thenext morning they went on board. They were heartily received by thecaptain.
"You ought to bring us luck, madame," he said; "I mean citoyenne,but the old word slips out of one's mouth, sometimes. It is notoften that I have a lady passenger. There are few who travel nowand, before the war broke out, people preferred taking passage inlarger ships than mine. Still, I will do my best to make youcomfortable, and I can assure you that Leon, my cook, is by nomeans a bad hand at turning out dainty dishes. He was cook in anhotel, at one time; but he let his tongue wag too freely and,having to leave suddenly, was glad enough to ship with me.Fortunately he likes the life, and I do not think anything wouldtempt him to go back to an hotel kitchen again."
"I am not particular, I can assure you," Patsey said. "In thesetimes we all have to rough it. Still, I own that I like a gooddinner better than a bad one."
"We shall put in to a good many little ports," the skipper said."Sailing as close as we do inshore, I always make a port if I can,as evening comes on; and we are therefore never without fresh meat,fish, and vegetables."
"How long shall we be going down?"
"That I cannot tell you. It all depends upon the wind. We may, too,be kept in port for two or three days if there is an enemy'scruiser anywhere about. We may get there in ten days, we may takethree weeks."
Before the boat set sail, a commissary with two men came on boardand examined the passes of the passengers, and searched below thehatches to make sure that no one was hidden there. As soon as theyhad completed their inspection the sails were hoisted, and theTrois Freres started on her way down the Channel. The wind waslight and blowing from the southwest, and they were just able tolay their course, and anchored for the night off the mouth of theVire river.
"I suppose tomorrow you will get round the Cape de la Hague,captain?" Leigh said.
"No, we shall not attempt that. The coast is a very difficult one,with furious currents. We shall bring up off Cherbourg and start atdaylight; and shall, I hope, be well down towards the bay ofAvranches by nightfall. There is no fear of a British cruiser tillwe get out towards Ushant. They do not care about coming inside theislands; what with the fogs, the rocks, and the currents, it issafer outside than in. Besides, there is little to be picked upexcept coasters like ourselves, and fishing boats. There is hardlyany foreign trade between Havre and Brest. It is from there down tothe mouth of the Gironde that their cruisers are so thick. FromUshant to Boulogne there are plenty of them, but these are chieflyoccupied in guarding their ships going up and down the Channel fromour privateers, which run out from every port: Dieppe and Havre,Granville, Avranches, and Saint Malo."
The skipper had by no means over praised his cook, who turned themout a better dinner than any that they had eaten since the troublesbegan, with the exception only of those they had had at Arthenay.
"He takes a pride in it," the captain said, "and you will never getgood work done in any line, unless by a man who does so. A sailorwho is careless about the appearance of his ship is sure to becareless about the keeping of the watch, and is not to be trustedin matters of navigation. When you see a craft with every rope inits place, everything spotlessly clean, the brass work polished up,and the paint carefully attended to, you may be sure that theskipper is as particular in more important matters. It is just sowith our man. It is a little bit of a galley, but his saucepansshine like gold, everything is clean and in its place. He grumblesif we run short of anything, and is a good deal more particularabout my dinner being just what it should be than I am myself.
"Sometimes when we have rough weather I say to him, 'Make me a souptoday, Leon. I shall be well content with that, and it is notweather for turning out a regular dinner.'
"He always replies gravely, 'Monsieur, anyone can cook when the seais calm. It is on an occasion like this that one who knows hisbusiness is required. Monsieur will dine as usual.'
"And up comes dinner, with three or four courses, cooked toperfection. For myself, I would rather snatch a few mouthfuls andgo up on deck again; but this would hurt Leon's feelings if he sawit, and he might even consider that he must seek another employer,for that his talents were wasted upon me; so I go through it allwith exemplary patience. I would not lose him for anything, notonly because I own I like good food, but the Trois Freres has sucha reputation for good living that, if I am in port, passengers willwait for days to sail with me, instead of going by other craft.
"And then, too, I have no trouble with my crew, and it is rarely,indeed, that I change one of my hands; for although their meals areof course much simpler than mine, they are all perfect in theirway.
"It takes a great deal of trouble off my hands, too. Instead of myhaving a dozen little accounts to go into, at every port we enter,I allow him a certain sum and he manages on that--so much a day formy own table, so much for each passenger, and so much for the crew.How he does it, I don't know. I find that it is cheaper than itused to be, before his time; and yet I have all sorts of dainties Inever dreamt of, then.
"I say to him sometimes, 'Leon, you must be ruining yourself;' buthe smiles and says, 'I am well content, captain; if you
aresatisfied, I am so.'
"He buys the fish off the boats as they come in, and I canunderstand that he gets them far more cheaply than if he waitedtill they were hawked in the streets. He is great at omelets and,when he has a chance, he is ashore before the countrywomen comeinto the market; and will buy the whole stock of eggs, a pound ortwo of butter, and three or four couples of fowls from one woman,who is glad to sell cheaply and so be free to return home at once.At Bordeaux he lays in a stock of snipe and other birds from thesand hills and marshes, oysters, and other such matters. He is agreat favourite with the crew and, in cold weather or stormynights, there is always hot soup ready for them.
"He has only one fault. As a rule, the cooks are expected to helpget up the anchor and sails, but he will not put a hand to sailors'work. He says that a cook must not have a rough hand, but that itshould be as soft as a woman's. Personally, I believe that is allnonsense. However, as we have a fairly strong crew, I do not presshim on the subject; though sometimes, when I tail on to a ropemyself, and see him leaning quietly against his galley smoking hispipe, I am inclined to use strong language."
"I don't think that is much to put up with, captain," Patsey saidwith a smile, "if he always cooks for you such breakfasts anddinners as we have had today; and I do think that there is,perhaps, something in what he says about rough hands."
"Well, I feel that myself," he said. "Still, it is a littleaggravating, when everyone else is working hard, to see a mancalmly smoking, and never raising a finger to help."
The next day they kept very close inshore. More than once a whitesail was seen in the distance, which the captain pronounced, fromits cut, to belong to a British cruiser.
"The weather is fine, you see, and the wind is steady, so they arecoming rather farther into the bay than usual. We shall see more ofthem, as soon as we are round that cape ahead, for they keep a verysharp lookout off Cherbourg."
It was not, however, until they had rounded Ushant that any Britishvessel came near enough to cause them uneasiness. There were twolarge frigates cruising backwards and forwards off Brest, and abrig-of-war came within shot, as they were doubling Penmarch Point.
"There is plenty of water for her, here," the skipper said."However, she will hardly catch us, before we are under shelter ofthe batteries of Quimper."
"I should have thought that she would hardly think you worth thetrouble of chasing."
"It may be that they think we are carrying fresh meat from SaintMalo to Nantes. There is a good deal of trade that way, this timeof year, when meat will keep good for a week. Or it may be thatthey want to get news of what ships there are in Brest. However, itis certain that he is in earnest; he is politely requesting us tolower our sails."
He laughed as a puff of white smoke broke out from the brig and, asecond or two later, a ball dashed up the water fifty yards aheadof them. The emotions with which Patsey and Leigh watched the brigdiffered much from those of the captain. They would gladly haveseen the lugger overhauled and captured, but they soon saw thatthere was little chance of this. The lugger was a fast boat, thewind just suited her, and the brig fell farther and farther asternuntil, as the former entered the bay of Quimper and laid her coursenorth, the brig hauled her wind and turned to rejoin the vesselsoff Brest.
Keeping close to the land, they passed L'Orient and Quiberon andVannes without stopping, and did not drop anchor again until theyentered the bay on the eastern side of the island of Noirmoutier.The next day they passed out through the narrow channel of Froment,and had gone between the island and the mainland, for a distance oftwo miles, when they saw a large brig making in towards the shore.
"Another of those cruisers," the captain exclaimed. "This is moreserious, for there is no bay we can run into, and the fellow isbringing the wind down with him. Our only chance is to anchor underthe guns of Saint Jean des Montes; we shall be lucky if we getthere in time."
The brig came up fast, and was within a mile when the lugger caughtthe wind; then running along rapidly she held her own until offSaint Jean, when she ran in as close as her draught would permit,and anchored. Two French privateers were already lying in there,one having dropped anchor only a few minutes before the TroisFreres arrived.
"I expect it was that fellow that the brig was in chase of, and Iam not by any means sure that we have done with her, yet. They areas likely as not to try to cut out one, if not both, of theseprivateers. Of course it would look like madness, with the guns ofthat battery on the height protecting them, but they have done suchthings so often that one can never say that one is altogether safefrom them."
The brig stood in until two or three guns in the battery openedfire, when she turned and made out to sea again.
"That means nothing," the captain said. "Of course she would notattack in daylight. I dare say she will sail pretty nearly out ofsight, so as to make the privateers believe that she had nointention of meddling with them. If I was sure that was her game, Iwould get up sail again, as soon as it is dark, and make forOleron; but it is likely enough that she may think that that isjust what the privateers will do, and will sail in that directionherself, so as to cut them off before they get there, and forcethem to fight without the protection of a shore battery.
"There is the bell for breakfast! Leon would not be two minuteslate, if there was an action going on close to us."
Half an hour later they went on deck again.
"At any rate, the sea has saved us the trouble of discussing thematter," the captain said. "We are aground. The tide turned justbefore we got here. It is now half past twelve, and we shall not beafloat again for nearly twelve hours.
"Well, there is one thing: if they are thinking of trying to cutout the privateers, they are not likely to do it before two orthree o'clock in the morning. As soon as we float I shall haul out,a cable's length or two, so as to ensure our being able to get off;and if they do attack, I shall get up my sails at once, and runsouth. They will be too much occupied to give us a thought. Whereasif I stay here, and they capture the privateers, they might take itinto their heads to come on board and set fire to the lugger;which, as I am part owner, would be a very serious matter to me."
It was apparent that the privateers had no thought of the brigreturning, at any rate at present, as boats went backwards andforwards between them and the shore.
"What do you think, Leigh?" his sister asked quietly, as they weresitting alone together.
"I do not know in the least," he said. "Our best chance is that thetwo Frenchmen seem to be so confident that they are safe under theguns of the fort, that they will take no very great precautions.One of them mounts eight guns, the other ten, and they ought to bea match for the brig, even without the forts; for we could see, byher ports, that she only carries sixteen guns. However, I thinkmyself that she will very likely have a try at them. It will be avery dark night, for the sky is overcast and there is no moon."
It was between ten and eleven when, just as they were about to turnin, the captain ran in.
"Quick, madame, you must hurry on your clothes! I heard a soundjust now that could only be made by a boat. As we are stillaground, I shall bring a boat alongside and land. There is nothinglike being on the safe side!"
The two privateers were lying a quarter of a mile farther out, andthere were still lights burning on board them.
"The fools!" the captain growled, as Leigh and his sister came ondeck; Leigh carrying little Louis, who had been put to bed fullydressed. Indeed, no time had been lost, for his mother and Leighhad agreed that it would be better to lie down in their clothes, incase of an alarm being given.
"The fools!" the captain repeated. "If they had extinguished everylight, as they ought to have done, the boats would have haddifficulty in finding them. Now, they could not miss them if theytried.
"Now, madame, will you please take your place in the boat with me?I am sure that there are boats coming along. Of course the oars aremuffled, and there is enough sea on to prevent us hearing thesplash. I think the noise I heard was ca
used by one of thestretchers giving way."
Reluctantly Patsey and Leigh took their places in the boat. Just asthey reached the shore, a shout was heard on board one of theprivateers and, a moment later, came the sound of a British cheer.It was followed by a hubbub of shouts, then muskets flashed outfrom the decks, and almost immediately came the sounds of conflict.A blue light was struck on the deck of one of the privateers and,by its light, those on shore could obtain a view of the conflict.The boats had boarded from the shore side. Two of them layalongside each of the privateers, and the crews could be seenclimbing up by the chains and leaping down upon the decks.
"They deserve to be taken," the captain said. "They have not eventriced up their boarding nets."
A confused medley of sounds came to the shore; with the shouts ofthe French sailors were mingled the clash of cutlasses and thecrack of pistols. The British sailors fought, for the most part,silently. On the heights above, blue lights were burning in thebattery, and men could be seen standing on its crest watching thecombat below, but powerless to assist their friends.
It was but five minutes after the outbreak of the combat when aloud British cheer, followed by a dead silence, showed that one, atleast, of the privateers had been captured. The fighting stillcontinued on the deck of the other craft but, from the vessel thathad been captured, a number of sailors leapt down into one of theirboats, and rowed to the assistance of their comrades. Thereinforcements apparently decided the issue of the fight, for in acouple of minutes the British cheer was again heard, and the bluelight was promptly extinguished, as were all the other lights onboth vessels. Scarcely was this done when the guns from the batteryboomed out.
"It is of no use their firing," the captain said. "I don't thinkthey can depress the guns enough to bear upon them.
"There, they are making sail!" he went on, as the creaking ofblocks was heard. "Of course they have cut the cables. They wouldnot waste time in getting up anchors, with the forts playing uponthem. However, it is mere waste of powder and shot on such a nightas this. I don't suppose the gunners can make them out, now; for acertainty they won't be able to do so, as soon as they have movedoff another quarter of a mile. Of course a stray shot may hit them,but practically it is all over.
"I think that we can go on board again. I did not think of itbefore, but they would hardly set fire to us, for the light wouldenable the gunners to see them till they were a long way out.
"There is no doubt those Englishmen can fight. Our men are allright when they are under sail, and it is a question of exchangingbroadsides, but the success of so many of their cutting outexpeditions shows that, somehow or other, we lose heart when we areboarded. We must have had nearly twice as many men as there were inthose four boats, and yet it seemed to be a certainty, as soon asthe English got among them.
"Our craft had much better have sailed out together when the brigcame in this morning, and fought her fairly. They ought to havebeen more than a match for her. No doubt they would have done so ifthey had thought that they would be attacked tonight; but theyrelied upon the battery, and allowed themselves to be takencompletely by surprise.
"I could see, even from this distance, that most of them werefighting in their shirts; and I expect that they were sound asleepwhen the attack began, and men roused in that sudden way can neverbe relied upon to do their duty as they would do, if prepared tomeet it."
The party were soon on board the lugger again. Just as daylight wasbreaking there was a trampling of feet on the deck, and Leigh,going up, found that sail was being hoisted. Keeping close to theshore they ran down, without putting in anywhere, to La Rochelle.Here they waited for a day and then, keeping inside the Isle ofOleron, entered the Gironde and, the next day, anchored in theGaronne, off the quays of Bordeaux.
After thanking the captain very heartily for his kindness duringthe passage, they landed, showed their papers to an official on thequay, and then, being unhampered by luggage, walked quietly away.As there was nothing particularly noticeable in their appearance,they attracted no attention whatever. It was five o'clock when theylanded, and already becoming dusk. They waited until it was quitedark and then, having inquired for the house of Monsieur Flambard,the merchant to whom Jean had assigned the Henriette, they knockedat his door.
It was a handsome house, not far from the quays. The lower portionwas evidently occupied by the offices. As a servant opened thedoor, Leigh, seeing that his sister hesitated to speak, inquired ifMonsieur Flambard was at home.
"He is," the man said shortly, "but he does not see people onbusiness after the office is closed."
Leigh saw that his dress, as a sailor, did not impress the man.
"I think he will see us," he said, "if you take the name up to him.Will you tell him that Citoyenne Martin wishes to speak to him."
A minute later the merchant himself, a handsome man of about thesame age as Jean Martin, came down.
"Ah! madame, I am glad indeed to see you," he said; for he had morethan once been up to Nantes, during the time she was living there,and had been frequently at the house. "I have been in great anxietyabout you."
"Has Jean been here?" she asked, in a tone of intense anxiety.
"No, madame, I have heard nothing of him for many months; not,indeed, since his lugger first came down here, with his letter andthe deed of her sale to myself. Did you expect to find him here?"
"I hoped so, although there was no arrangement between us to meethere. Still, I thought that he would have made his way down here,if possible, as he would then be able to escape in the lugger."
"He may have found it more difficult than he thought," MonsieurFlambard said, soothingly. "But do not let us be standing here.Pray, come up. My wife will be glad to welcome you, for she hasoften heard me speak of Martin's English wife."
Leigh had been standing behind Patsey while they spoke but, as themerchant closed the door, his eye fell upon him.
"Ah, monsieur, now I recognize you. You are Monsieur LeighStansfield, the brother of madame. I welcome you also, cordially."
So saying, he led the way upstairs.