The Lost Years by E.V. Thompson Read Free Book Online

than Edward.’
    Morwenna looked mildly amused, but Maude did not. She had realised from the day of Perys’s arrival at Heligan that Arabella was smitten with him. It was no more than a schoolgirl’s infatuation, of course, but Maude felt it was time Arabella put such preoccupations behind her. She was approaching an age when she should be looking forward to meeting prospective husbands. Perys did not come into such a category.
    However, if world events were moving in the direction predicted by most of the men who had attended the Lanhydrock ball, it was doubtful whether she needed to be too concerned about Arabella’s infatuation with Perys. Most of those in contact with the government in London were of the opinion that orders had already gone out to the service chiefs to prepare for war. It was firmly believed that any conflict was unlikely to last longer than a few months. Nevertheless, the army and navy would need to be brought up to strength very quickly - and Perys was destined for the army.
    Maude had no wish to see him exposed to the dangers of battle, but she was aware he would need to undertake army training, possibly followed by flying instruction, all of which would take time. By then, she told herself, the worst of the fighting might be over. In any case, she and her two daughters were unlikely to meet up with Perys in the future.

CHAPTER 8
    When he visited the stables, Perys was disappointed to learn that Martin had gone to St Austell on an errand for Maude. However, he was delighted to learn that the dappled mare was now hardly limping at all. He set off for Mevagissey with the girls feeling much relieved. The day had started well.
    By the time it was over world events would have taken a course that would touch the lives of every man, woman and child on the Heligan estates, with repercussions that extended far, far beyond the Cornish borders.
    But a drama of a much more local nature swiftly unfolded as Perys, Morwenna and Arabella neared Mevagissey. As they walked together, a rocket, fired into the air from the harbour area, rose into the sky, emitting a loud and shrill noise that startled the three walkers.
    ‘I wonder if that’s a signal to launch the lifeboat?’ Perys cried. ‘If it is, something must be happening off the coast. Let’s hurry and find out what’s going on.’
    His surmise was correct. By the time the trio reached the harbour the lifeboat had already been launched. They were in time to see it clear the outer harbour and begin battling against a choppy sea. While most of the lifeboatmen continued pulling lustily on the oars, others raised the sails in order to take advantage of the stiff breeze.
    Many of the villagers had turned out to follow the progress of the lifeboat, and they lined the wall of the outer harbour. Perys and the two girls were able to find a place among them.
    It was unnecessary for the three new arrivals to ask why the lifeboat had been launched. Not far offshore a large sailing barque was wallowing in the swell with sails flapping. Flames, fanned by the wind, jumped ever higher from one of the holds.
    The crew evacuating the stricken vessel seemed to be in a state of panic. Watched by the onlookers onshore, one of the ship’s boats dropped in a lop-sided manner from its davits, pitching the occupants into the sea. It remained dangling vertically from a single davit, dipping into the sea with each roll of the stricken ship.
    Due to the conditions there were no fishing boats in the immediate vicinity. Those that were at sea were working in the more sheltered waters of nearby St Austell Bay, out of sight of the drama taking place off Mevagissey.
    A couple of seamen still remained on deck, but boats from the burning vessel were putting as much distance between themselves and the stricken ship as possible, the crews hauling on their oars with considerable urgency.
    ‘What is happening?’ queried Arabella. ‘Why aren’t they trying to save the rest of the men on