21: The Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey by Patrick O’Brian Read Free Book Online

about our plentiful, plentiful sources of supply. The present governor is entirely on our side, and I do not think you will be disappointed.”
    “Make it so, Aubrey” said the Admiral, rising. And when you dine aboard me tomorrow, pray bring your political adviser. I should be happy to be acquainted with him and to offer what civilities I can. I presume he goes home in Surprise. ”
    “ I cannot tell, my lord: his mission in Chile is clearly at an end — a most satisfactory end – but there may also be some duties waiting for him in South Africa and above all eastwards. He and Dr Jacob are very knowing about those parts. But in any case I mean to return to her at once, and transfer some of her hands to poor thin Suffolk. ”
    “ Aye. It was the yellow jack. Off Port of Spain .”
    “ And I shall carry your message. Your servant, my lord, and thank you for the capital Madeira.”
    The pull back had the breeze and the sea right aft, and Jack went aboard Surprise in fine style, the side dressed by smiling seamen and officers. He asked for the Doctor, who, unused to the ceremonies attending a flag-officer, was reading in the great cabin, reading his letters from home. Jack noticed his gravity but delivered Lord Leyton’s invitation and said, “ I shall be back in a few minutes: please sort out my post and I shall join you.”
    On deck he gave the not unexpected order for all hands and when the particularly attentiv e group was assembled he said, “ Shipmates, as you know, the barky is going home. Some people are uneasy in their minds at being t hrown ashore in peace-time. . .” A general murmur o f agreement: intense interest. “ Well, I can take sixty-three prime seamen over to Suffolk with me. Aboard her it would in course be the same pay, rations and allowances as here, and in her you would find some officers you already know and a score or two of former shipmates. So let them as choose to serve on the South African station ask my clerk to set their names down on a list and I shall mark those I thi nk best suited for the climate.”
    A general buzz of strong approval, not quite a cheer, out of respect for a flag officer, and Rear-Admiral Aubrey plunged below, where Stephen looked up with a frown, pushing Jack’ s heap towards him and silently going on with his own. Sophie Aubrey had almost all the virtues of a woman who had had the meagre education of her class, taught by a singularly ignorant governess – little beyond the three R’ s and a smattering of French together with a list of good and bad kings. She had never been encouraged to read and in fact she had read very little; but she could and did write a singularly beautiful hand. Her piano-playing was purely mechanical, yet then again she had naturally pretty manners, she was tall and slim, her complexion was quite admirable and she moved with a perfect, unconscious grace - it was a delight to see her going down the dance. But she was an indifferent, unwilling horsewoman in spite of arduous, dreaded lesso ns in her youth and her husband’ s kindly-meant encouragement: and she had never learnt to date her letters.
    Jack’ s bundle had not come aboard arranged in order of time and although from a few hints thrown out by chance - gifts of partridges, the flower ing of certain shrubs, children’ s holidays, birthday feasts - he slowly imposed a remote hint of sequence he could scarcely confide in it at all. He did make out that his valuable agent was managing his more distant estate - the inherited rotten borough that gave him a seat in Parliament -remarkably well, that the Woolcombe land was more prosperous than ever it had been, and that generally speaking the children’ s health, apart from the usual coughs, colds and one greenstick fracture, was all that could be wished.
    Th e pattern, the history of all that these many letters told, was still very far from clear, but the hint of discord and unhappiness that he had acquired from the first random pages