The Flag of Freedom (31 page)

Nathan's head was instantly full of calculations. The approaching ships were still well over a mile away, nearer two. If he cut the
Swallow
's cable now, the offshore breeze would very likely take her out to sea long before the
Meshuda
could bring her guns to bear. There was no time to pick up the ship's boats, but he could return for them later. More than anything else, they needed sea room – room to manoeuvre, to avoid being trapped and boarded in the shallow, treacherous waters of the bay. Then he remembered the reefs – the Kaluisa Reefs, an unmarked bank of shale and rock somewhere between the
Swallow
and the open sea. But he did not know their exact location – and in the darkness there was a very great risk he would not know until his keel grated upon the first rock.

Before he could think of a solution to the problem, the distance between the
Saratoga
and her shadow lengthened, and he saw that the schooner was bearing away to the north, heading for one of the gaps between the long line of islands that extended from the curved beak of the port.

‘Where is she going?' he wondered aloud as he watched the triangular sails of the
Meshuda
disappear behind the islands.

‘She can go to the Devil for all I care,' said Imlay. ‘That signal – it was from one of Cathcart's men, to let us know the hostages were aboard the
Saratoga
.' His features relaxed into a grin. He even clapped Nathan on the shoulder. ‘Let her go. We have got everything we wanted. It is over.'

His jubilation lasted a little over an hour until the
Saratoga
came alongside and he learned that he had been short-changed. Two of the hostages were missing, and one of them was Louisa Devereux, the daughter of the American Consul, the man who had put up the money for their entire expedition.

T
he fury of a woman scorned was nothing, in Nathan's admittedly limited experience of the condition, to the fury of the double-crosser double-crossed, and a few hours' sleep did nothing to improve Imlay's temper. At times his wrath reached biblical proportions as he vowed to be revenged on the treacherous Pasha, his wives and his children, his oxen and his asses, even down to the seventh generation. He was for sending off an immediate ultimatum, threatening all manner of reprisals unless the missing hostages were returned forthwith.

‘ “I will do such things”,' murmured Nathan to Tully, ‘ “what they are, yet I know not: but they shall be the terrors of the earth”.'

Imlay might not have recognised the quote but he had a clearer idea than King Lear of what terrors to unleash.
They should commence with a close blockade to stop even fishing boats from putting to sea, followed by a bombardment of the port, and if that did not bring the desired result they should send in boats under cover of darkness to fire the ships in the harbour.

Nathan turned away, rolling his eyes at Tully, and even Cathcart counselled a more moderate approach.

‘Before we go off on half-cock, I reckon we need to send to the Pasha and tell him that two of the hostages are missing,' he argued. ‘Maybe he does not know about it. He has played straight with us on every other issue.'

A head-count had established that all the other prisoners were present and correct. The crew had been put to work as labourers, repairing the harbour defences, and there were some minor injuries and complaints, but most of the hostages were in reasonable shape. So, too, was the
Saratoga
after her long lay-to in Tripoli Harbour, and the cargo appeared to be intact, inasmuch as Captain Fry had been able to tell without a thorough inspection. Some of the women hostages echoed Imlay's desire for revenge, but this was largely on account of being treated as skivvies, the Captain reported. From what he could gather, they had not been violated or otherwise mistreated during their stay in the seraglio. And the two missing women had been accommodated with them until the previous night when they had apparently been moved to other quarters, no one knew where.

‘Maybe they got overlooked in the confusion,' Cathcart proposed. ‘After all, they are but two out of a hundred or more.'

‘Oh, well, that is some consolation, I suppose,' Imlay
remarked with icy sarcasm. ‘But perhaps you have overlooked that one of them happens to be Louisa Devereux, the daughter of the man who is not only paying our wages but has also raised most of the money for the ransom. And am I now to go back to him and say, “I am very sorry, sir, but your daughter has been overlooked in the confusion”? Pah!'

There was a short but uncomfortable silence. Nathan broke it by raising the practical difficulty of bombarding Tripoli with one small sloop, especially as it would be impossible to approach closer than a mile and a half without being bombarded in turn by the guns of the fort.

This only drew Imlay's fire upon himself.

‘What is the use of an Englishman who will not fight?' he complained to Cathcart and the world in general. ‘It is like keeping a bulldog that runs shy of the bull.'

‘Let us first discover the true situation,' Spiridion interposed hastily, observing the sudden clenching of Nathan's jaw, ‘before we start a war between the United States and Tripoli – not to speak of ourselves.'

He proposed that he and Cathcart should go ashore – Cathcart to make a formal representation to the Pasha while he made more discreet enquiries of his informants in the port.

Imlay was far from content, but for want of a better suggestion he reluctantly agreed.

It was late afternoon before Spiridion returned with the somewhat confusing news that the women had been kidnapped.

‘Kidnapped?' Imlay's voice was a harsh echo. ‘We
know
they have been kidnapped, goddamn it. That is why I have
just paid one hundred thousand dollars for their ransom.'

‘I mean, since they were brought to Tripoli. Two nights ago, in fact.'

Imlay stared at him in astonishment. ‘So where are they now?'

‘Well, you will not like it,' Spiridion informed him, ‘but I have it on good authority that they are aboard the
Meshuda
.'

Imlay did
not
like it. In fact, he demonstrated his dislike by taking off his hat and hurling it upon the deck. Mr Lamb picked it up and thoughtfully dusted it with his sleeve before returning it to him.

‘By God, I might have known,' Imlay swore. ‘We should never have let her slip away,' he rebuked Nathan bitterly.

Nathan reminded Imlay that it was he himself who had insisted they should let her ‘slip away'. ‘You said she could go to the Devil for all you cared.'

‘But I did not know the women were aboard her,' Imlay wailed. He turned on Spiridion. ‘How could they have got out of the castle without anyone knowing? Unless the Pasha is behind it and he has sent them away for safekeeping – is that it?'

‘I suppose that is possible.' Spiridion gazed about the quarter deck where Mr Lamb, as officer of the watch, and several other English-speakers were pretending they had not the slightest interest in the conversation of their superiors. ‘Do you think it is possible to talk more privately?' he requested.

They adjourned to the stern cabin, which the Pashazade's unfortunate demise had now restored to them.

‘I am told that their escape was contrived by Xavier
Naudé,' Spiridion revealed when they were settled around the table, ‘with the undoubted assistance of Murad Reis, or if you prefer, Peter Lisle.'

‘I know who Murad Reis is, goddamn it,' Imlay rebuked him, ‘but who in God's name is Xavier Naudé?'

‘He is the leading French agent in Tripoli,' Nathan supplied calmly. ‘And you will oblige me, Imlay, by controlling your temper. We are not your lackeys, even if you would like to think so.'

Imlay glared but then surprised Nathan by apologising with apparent sincerity. ‘But it is enough to make a saint cuss,' he declared in a more reasonable tone. ‘Why in God's name would the leading French agent in Tripoli wish to abduct Louisa Devereux?'

‘I do not think he would, had he any choice in the matter,' Spiridion replied. ‘Naudé's interest is in the other woman.'

‘I am confused,' Imlay informed him. ‘Why would he be interested in either of them?'

‘Well, that is something of a mystery,' Spiridion admitted. ‘It may be because she is a British agent, but I am told it may be more personal than that. An affair of the heart. She is a very beautiful woman and he is a Frenchman, after all.'

‘A British agent?' Imlay wiped a hand over his streaming brow. ‘Who in God's name
is
she?'

Spiridion glanced at Nathan. ‘Her name is Caterina Caresini,' he revealed, ‘and she was until recently the Deputy Prioress of the Convent of San Paolo di Mare in Venice.'

‘She was
what
? I think I am going mad,' confessed
Imlay. He appealed to Nathan: ‘Do you understand any of this?'

‘I was once acquainted with a woman of that name,' Nathan confirmed thoughtfully. ‘In Venice.' In fact, their association had been brief but it had made a lasting impression. He frowned suspiciously at Spiridion. ‘However, I had no idea she was here in Tripoli.'

‘I had no intention of deceiving you,' Spiridion assured him. ‘But there was no occasion for me to mention it. It was a great surprise to me when I saw her among the other hostages at the Pasha's Divan. I suppose it was necessary for her to leave Venice in a hurry when the French landed – and unfortunately she picked the wrong ship.'

‘Well, I am sorry to be boorish,' Imlay interrupted them, ‘but I have not the slightest concern for this woman, whoever she is – nun, spy or the Empress of Ethiopia. Xavier Naudé, whoever
he
is, is welcome to her. Louisa Devereux is all I care about. And how to get her back.'

‘We must get them both back,' Spiridion agreed coolly. ‘For I have as much an obligation to Sister Caterina as you to Miss Devereux. Which means catching up with her in the
Swallow
,' he said to Nathan. ‘Before they reach Egypt.'

‘Wait a moment.' Imlay massaged his fevered brows in an attempt to focus his thoughts. ‘If Naudé's interest is in this –
nun
– why have they also taken Louisa Devereux, and why is Murad Reis involved?'

Spiridion shrugged. ‘I am told the nun, as you call her, insisted upon it. Though it may be that Murad Reis has interests of his own.'

‘What interests? You are not saying this is another “affair of the heart”?'

‘It is not impossible. But I rather suspect it is more of a financial interest. He probably thinks he deserves more than a small share of the hundred thousand you paid the Pasha and thinks to demand a separate ransom for her.'

Imlay groaned and held his head in his hands. He seemed on the verge of tears.

‘But this is speculation,' Spiridion said, with another glance to Nathan. ‘All I know for certain is that Monsieur Naudé has hired the
Meshuda
, ostensibly to undertake a survey of the coast between here and the Nile Delta.'

Imlay looked up at him in astonishment, his eyes wild and his voice almost a wail. ‘What?
Why?
'

‘In preparation for a French landing,' Nathan explained.

‘His interest in the women may be something of a diversion,' Spiridion added.

‘But what if this whole business is a diversion?' Imlay objected. ‘A ruse to send us off on a wild-goose chase after the
Meshuda
. How can you be sure the women have not been concealed in the Red Castle?'

‘Because my chief informant helped to organise their escape.'

Now they both stared at him in bemusement.

‘You are saying that
you
were behind this?' Imlay challenged him.

‘Of course not. I said my informant, not my servant. She is what you might call a
routier
– a freelance. She serves several different masters. One is Naudé, another is myself. She also takes money from the Pasha, or his Grand Kehya. And doubtless others of whom I have less knowledge.'

‘And yet you trust her?' Imlay challenged him.

‘Oh, I would not say that. But in this instance, yes I do. She has nothing to gain by deceiving me. Her true loyalty is to God and her family – who are of the Jewish persuasion, by the by, with financial interests throughout the Levant and in Italy. I am not sure about God, but certainly her family would not wish to make an enemy of me.'

There was a knock and Qualtrough poked his vulture face around the door to report that the barge was returning with Mr Cathcart.

‘Perhaps he has different news,' said Imlay hopefully.

But what little news Cathcart had gleaned only confirmed Spiridion's version of events. He had been unable to speak with the Pasha, but after keeping him waiting for most of the day, the Grand Kehya had informed him that the two women had escaped from the seraglio two nights before.