the Swiss Alps might answer the case, if safe passage could be managed.”
“Is the complaint a nervous one?” I enquired apprehensively. Even to Mr. Hill I dared not voice the idea of madness.
“Perhaps it began as such. But she has not helped her situation by consuming so much of laudanum. It is a tincture that carries its own dependence; more and more of the stuff is required to achieve a salutary effect; nightmares and waking terror swiftly follow; and the total destruction of the bodily frame must eventually result She should be weaned from it as soon as may be.” He shook his head grimly.
“You mean Dr. Wharton's Comfort? But surely that cannot be harmful. It is stocked in every stillroom in the land. Babies take it from their wet nurses' hands, to comfort them in crying.”.
“Laudanum is a tincture of opium, Miss Austen,” enjoined Mr. Hill brusquely, “and no less vicious than what may be eaten in a Chinese den. I suggest, Captain Austen, that you speak to your friend about his wife.”
“I expect to meet him within the hour,” Frank returned, “but it is a delicate subject. Perhaps if you would be so good as to vouchsafe an opinion—in a professional capacity, of course …”.
“I can do nothing unless I am expressly consulted,” said Mr. Hill, “but I stand willing to perform the office.” 5 Frank bowed. Mr. Hill clapped LaForge on the shoulder.
“We two shall take a nuncheon, Captain, and await you and your sister at the quay. Our French colleague deserves a toast to freedom, before he is immured once more in walls of stone.”
Our French colleague looked almost prostrate with apprehension. He had attempted too much in his weakened condition. I smiled encouragement at LaForge. “Did you speak before the court, monsieurt”
“I did,” he returned with feeling, “but I wish that I had not My tale served no purpose in freeing your captain—he was no longer in danger—and it exposed me most decidedly.”.
“Exposed you? In what manner? I confess I do not understand.”
“A man has been killed, Miss Austen. This Chessyre who lied about murder. I am the sole remaining person who professes to know the truth. That is not a healthy position, hein? You see before you a man in terror for his life, mademoiselle”
“I suspect you take too much upon yourself, LaForge,” said Mr. Hill drily. “A good lunch should defray the worst anxiety. Pray come along and allow me to buy you a glass of claret There must be smugglers enough along the Channel coast to provide us with refreshment.”
I could not be so sure that the answer to a Frenchman's care must always be found in wine. I reflected, as I watched the two men proceed up the street, that there were worse habitations than a comfortable gaol of stone.
“NOW, FRANK,” I CHARGED, AS WE STEPPED SWIFTLY INTO the High, “you must tell me everything you know about the proceedings against Seagrave and Mr. Chessyre's death. Relate the particulars without exception.”
He told me then of the ships of Seagrave's squadron drawn up at anchor off the harbour, in the strait of die Solent opposite to Spithead; of the signals that flashed from each to each, and the air of unhappy expectancy that pervaded the crews assembled on deck; of the solemn looks of the empanelled officers—a vice admiral, a rear admiral, and Admiral Hastings, Seagrave's commanding officer; of how Frank was forced to cool his heels while the court convened, his spirits oppressed by the gravest anxiety for his friend's fate.
My brother has never commanded a ship that has struck to the enemy, or been wrecked upon a stormy coast; and thus he has been spared the indignity and suspense of a court-martial.1 He had supposed that his ardent wish of speaking to Seagrave's character, and delivering a witness in the form of Monsieur LaForge, might be exercised at the first opportunity; but, in fact, he was forced to await the court's pleasure, while the charges against his friend were read out. Next Mr. Chessyre was summoned, and found to be absent; a tedious interval ensued, while the Admirals deliberated their course; and at last, Captain Seagrave was called before the panel to give his account of the Stella's engagement with the Manon.
In relating the latter, Frank became so enthralled with the details of battle that he quite forgot for a period the point of his recital, and I was forced to endure all the tedium of broadsides and their timing,