An Awkward Commission by David Donachie Read Free Book Online Page B

curiosity. ‘And a very valuable prize, I daresay. Am I to understand that you were part of that action, sir?’
    His own chest puffed out, and speaking in a tone he would have despised in another, Pearce replied. ‘Part of it, sir! I can tell you that without me no success would have been possible. Indeed King George himself, when I was called up to attend his levee at Windsor, made that very connection.’
    The words ‘King’ and ‘levee’ were accompanied by a clicking of fingers, as the now-smiling clerk summoned a porter in a striped waistcoat and leather apron. A heavy key was produced and an instruction whispered, whereupon the porter lifted the small valise, with a care that suggested it contained the whole prize fund for the French warship, and headed for the thickly carpeted stairs. The clerk indicated that Pearce should follow, with the words: ‘I hope you enjoy your stay with us, sir. It is most uplifting to have a hero under our rafters, and one who will garner a fine reward for his sterling efforts.’
    Wondering if the word sterling was a pun on money, Pearce made for the staircase. The porter had waited for him, the paucity of the luggage and the notion that he was dealingwith a well-heeled champion of the nation’s arms had no doubt inspired his excessive garrulousness; he seemed eager to inform Pearce that the room he had been allotted was one normally reserved for folk of real quality.
    ‘Fit for an admiral, your honour, and why not, if’n it be fit for a duke or an earl. Why, I have had folk in there, sir, who have needed a dozen local beds just for accommodation of their servants.’
    Pearce was shown into a comfortable sitting room with tall windows, armchairs and settles, and a bedroom attached, while the porter made a great play of carefully placing his valise by the washstand, talking all the while in an ingratiating manner. Well versed in the art of extracting a tip from his guests he then stood and waited for this new one to oblige. He was even practiced enough to hold the smile on his face when he felt the paucity of what had been placed in his hand, bowing slightly as he informed John Pearce that he would fetch his luggage from the basement store room, ‘in a trice’.
    ‘I shall be back in a jiff, your honour, and I daresay you would like to remove them boots and have them cleaned, as well as welcome some jugs of piping water fetched for a bath?’
    Grubby from travel, that was a very welcome idea. ‘Thank you.’
    ‘And wine, sir, will you be partaking of some wine? The hotel does a fine ordinary claret, of which I am happy to say we have a good supply. Not that it will be long before that is back on tap, those madmen have taken to murdering each other now, though I will add that you’ll be safer in your bath than that sod Mirat.’
    Too embarrassed to refuse, and too disinterested to correct his mis-naming of Marat, Pearce just nodded. ‘I need writing materials.’
    ‘In the bureau, sir. Paper, quills and a knife to sharpenthem, as well as fine sand. I shall fetch a candle, sir, for the wax.’
    The porter departed, the face outside the door less pleasant as he contemplated the two pieces of copper in his hand, for he was a man accustomed to silver at the very least, and in the case of proper folk with a rate of servants, the odd half guinea. In the basement he moaned to the storekeeper that, ‘This new fellow is no gent, but Ezekiel Didcot knows how to get his due. And I shall, be it in dribs and drabs of copper, I’ll get my due.’
    Didcot had left John Pearce wondering how he was going to pay for this, or rather how he could avoid payment, for he knew he lacked the means for such accommodation. Matters were not improved by his missive from the Admiralty, his lieutenant’s commission, along with a bill for eleven shillings and eight pence due to the clerk who had drawn it up, to be paid at his earliest convenience. The enclosure also informed him that he needed to attend