How Dark the Night (31 page)

“What of C&E?” Lizzy Crabtree inquired. Earlier in the evening, she and Phoebe Hardcastle and Joan Cutler had resolved to make every effort to steer conversation away from the dangerous shoals of current affairs out toward deeper, calmer waters. But that had been like trying to contain a raging river with a fish net. Their resolve having gone by the boards before the first course was served, Lizzy was succumbing to the inevitable in asking her question.

“That is the great unknown,” Caleb said. “We have long regarded the Orient as the future of our family business, but today even that business is uncertain. Although we own only a 50 percent share of C&E Enterprises, we have committed the bulk of our resources to it. To date, those investments have paid off handsomely. But with England doubling its efforts to blockade the Continent and Napoléon issuing his Milan Decree and threatening to impound any neutral merchant vessel that complies with British orders in council, C&E is in danger of losing its biggest and most lucrative market. It's also in danger of losing its crews. King George has called Jefferson's bluff and is urging the Royal Navy to step up its efforts to impress American sailors. At least we know where
he
stands on the issues of the day. So much for any lessons we hoped the good king might have learned from the
Chesapeake
affair.”

“He did agree to suspend punishment of the three American sailors,” Katherine pointed out.

“I don't think the good king had much to do with that decision, my dear,” her brother Hugh countered. “That would have been made by the Admiralty, and I'd wager it was not motivated by any humanitarian gesture. More likely it was made in response to pressures in Parliament. Many MPs disagree with King George, and in fact openly oppose the impressment of Americans. They contend, quite correctly, in my opinion, that England has jolly well enough troubles over there without stirring up the pot over here. Of course, I may be mistaken; it has been
known to happen, as implausible as that may seem. To our knowledge, the three American sailors have not yet been released, and their ultimate fate remains as uncertain as our own future prospects.”

“So, you will be sailing with Jack Endicott to Cape Town, Hugh?” Joan Cutler asked. What had once been merely a business proposition from Jack Endicott to Jan Van der Heyden was about to become a reality. It had taken months to coordinate, with correspondence crisscrossing the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, but a summit meeting between Endicott and Van der Heyden had been arranged for mid-July in Cape Town, Africa, a popular port of call located roughly halfway between C&E Enterprises' New England office and its Far Eastern headquarters on Java in the Dutch East Indies.

If Jack Endicott was clear on what the two business behemoths would be discussing during their rendezvous, however, he was offering no clues, not even to Caleb Cutler. Indeed, the entire affair was shrouded in mystery. To date, Endicott had chosen to ignore the embargo, and as a result, C&E Enterprises had been fined $20,000 and two of its ships' cargoes were now in the hands of the U.S. Treasury Department. Even worse, C&E merchant ships that had managed to evade port authorities, revenue cutters, and the U.S. Navy had not netted much of a profit, certainly not enough to justify the business risks. Worse still, one of those vessels had been detained by the British and then seized by French authorities in Rotterdam because her captain had complied with British demands. Napoléon subsequently announced, tongue in cheek, that by seizing the ship and its cargo he was simply helping the American president enforce his embargo.

“Napoléon is playing Jefferson for a fool,” George Hunt had commented when word of that arrived at the company's countinghouse on Long Wharf.

“Which is exactly what he is,” Endicott had spat in disgust. “The United States has become the laughingstock of Europe.”

Worst of all, to Richard's mind, was Endicott's flouting of the law. The Cutler name was attached to C&E, and as a former naval commander with one son currently serving as an officer in the U.S. Navy and another son aspiring to that position, his family was sworn to uphold the nation's laws, including the embargo. Richard was adamant that Cutler & Sons would play by the rules, whatever the consequences, and Caleb had agreed.

“Yes, Joan,” Hugh confirmed. “We sail in six weeks. Unless, of course, Agreen has a change of mind and agrees to serve as
Falcon
's captain. It
grieves me no end to admit it, but he was Jack's first choice.” He smiled at Agreen.

Agreen shook his head. “
Falcon
is yours to command, Hugh,” he said. “She's as fine and fast a vessel as has ever put to sea. No one needs t' remind me of that. But I have two reasons for declinin' Jack's offer. One reason is sittin' across from me at this table, and the other reason is upstairs playin' with young Thomas. No, Baltimore is the limit for this old sea dog.”

“How very fortunate for Lizzy and Zeke,” Phoebe Hardcastle said sharply, either unable or unwilling to mask her sarcasm. The prospect of her husband being away at sea for many months was not to her liking, and the mention of children always seemed to underscore her inability thus far to successfully deliver one.

Hugh raised both hands. “I really have no choice, my dear,” he said in a tired tone that suggested he and Phoebe had wallowed through this subject many times before tonight. “We must consider the benefits. By all accounts, money is going to be increasingly difficult to come by, and Jack Endicott is offering me a handsome wage to take him to Cape Town. He and I have handpicked a crew from the Cutler & Sons muster roll, and to ensure their loyalty, each sailor will be paid a bonus of 25 percent of his normal pay at the end of the voyage. As Agreen said,
Falcon
is a fast vessel—despite her age she is one of the fastest vessels of my acquaintance—and we shan't be tarrying long in Cape Town, I can assure you. We'll be home long before the leaves turn, and then you and I will kick up our heels like never before. We'll make Will and Adele and Jamie and Mindy look like drab, boring stay-at-homes.”

“I shall be looking forward to it,” Phoebe said, but there was sadness in her voice.

T
HE DISTANCE
from the family seat on lower Main Street to Richard and Katherine's two-story gray clapboard house on South Street was only a quarter mile. Nevertheless, in consideration of the inclement weather, Caleb and Joan offered a bedroom upstairs to Richard and Katherine, with the added incentive that the room was the one that had been Richard's as a boy. Hugh and Phoebe were staying the night just down the hall in Anne and Lavinia's old room, Joan said to entice them, and in the morning the six of them could have breakfast together. When Katherine politely declined the offer, Will and Adele volunteered to accompany her and Richard home before walking the short distance to their own home on Ship Street.

The air was dank and chilly, and fog was moving in, but the mixture of rain and sleet proved to be more annoying than challenging. Winter along the South Shore and the Cape had been unusually mild this year, although the interior of Massachusetts had received its normal dose of wintry weather. Whale oil lamps hanging on posts thirty feet apart along Main Street, South Street, and North Street revealed a patchwork of dead grass, open road, and dirty mounds of slush where snow had once been piled. Without those lamps, even townspeople who had known these streets for years would have been hard put to find their way about the village on a night like this—which is why lamplighters would remain on duty to ensure that the lamps remained lit until midnight, two hours hence.

No one said much as they walked north on Main Street before turning west at the intersection with South Street. It took every bit of concentration to maintain a sure footing, and Richard kept a firm grip on Katherine's arm until they were at the front door of their home and under the protective overhang of the roof at the front stoop.

“Would you two like to come in?” he asked his son and daughter-in-law. “Your mother and I normally have a glass of wine by the fire before retiring. You're certainly welcome to join us.”

A hopeful glance from Will to his wife was met with, “We'd love to, but we really must be getting back. I'm sure Edna has had her hands full with little Katherine and deserves a respite. Maybe tomorrow? Or the next day?”

“Any day is fine, Adele,” Richard said, repeating his oft-used phrase: “You just need to open the door and walk in.” He looked at his son. “Will, I was proud of you this evening. You must have bitten your tongue to keep from spilling the news about your letter from Lieutenant Perry.”

In fact, Will had been near to bursting with excitement since receiving a letter from Lt. Oliver Hazard Perry two days ago. Richard had never met the young man, although he knew Oliver's father, Capt. Christopher Raymond Perry, who had commanded the frigate
General Greene
during the war with France. Perry's son, Richard was aware, had entered the Navy at the age of thirteen, serving first in his father's frigate as a midshipman and then serving with distinction in the war against Tripoli: in the frigate
Adams
and later as commander of the 12-gun schooner
Nautilus
in the attack on Derne. At the moment he was engaged in the construction of gunboats, although as he stated in his letter to Will, he was in line to relieve Lt. Jacob Jones as commander of
Revenge
, a 12-gun schooner attached to the North Atlantic Squadron under the command
of Commo. John Rodgers in
Constitution
. The squadron's mission was to cruise the North Atlantic to enforce the embargo, and no less a personage than Navy Secretary Robert Smith had put forward Will Cutler's name to Perry.

“Nothing is definite yet, Father,” Will reminded him. “I don't want to say anything about it until my appointment is approved.”

“I understand. So you are firming up plans to sail to New York to confer with Lieutenant Perry?”

“I am to be there three weeks from tomorrow. The Navy is footing the bill for all expenses,” he added with a sheepish grin. In former days Will Cutler would not have deemed it necessary to emphasize that point. Today he did.

His father nodded. “That will give us ample time to discuss matters before you sail,” he said. “In the meantime, your mother and I wish you both a very good night.”

“Indeed we do,” Katherine said.

Richard opened the door for Katherine and followed her inside. After helping her off with her coat, he walked across the parlor to the hearth, lit a round of candles, and set a fresh bundle of birch logs on the smoking embers. He did the same in the kitchen and again upstairs in their bedroom. When he came back downstairs, he joined Katherine on the sofa near the now-blazing fire. On the long, low table before her she had placed a bottle of Bordeaux and two glasses next to a three-branched brass candelabra. The candles and firelight cast a cozy glow over the room as the last of the sleet and rain tapped against the window-panes.

“I shall miss Will if he enters the Navy,” Katherine sighed as Richard poured out two half glasses of wine and handed one to her. “I shall miss him as much as I already miss Jamie.”

“No more than I will,” Richard said reflexively. An instant later the full impact of what she had just said struck him a crushing blow. When their two sons went to sea, he would indeed miss them—but their mother knew that she might never see them again. He quickly added, “We have to bear in mind how fortunate we've been to have had them so close to us during these past few months. Now they must do their duty as they perceive their duty to be, and I am proud of them both—as I know you are.”

“I am,” Katherine said. “And I admire Adele for handling their situation so magnanimously. Not every wife would be so supportive of a husband's voluntary leave-taking so soon after the birth of their first child. I have always said that Will and Adele make an excellent match.”

“As do Jamie and Mindy. And Diana and Peter. If nothing else, my love, you and I have seen all three of our children marry well and lead the lives we would want for them.”

Katherine raised her glass toward him, “We have certainly had our priorities straight when it comes to our children, haven't we.” It was not a question.

Richard clinked his glass against hers. “Yes, although you deserve most of the credit for how they turned out. You did the hard work of raising them while I was often off at sea pursuing my dreams.”

Katherine shook her head. “As your Aunt Emma used to say, pish posh, my dear.”

The mention of his English aunt and her favorite phrase harkened Richard back to that voyage long ago, first to England and then on to Barbados, in the Cutler & Sons merchant brig
Eagle
. At their father's insistence Richard and his brother Will had signed on as ordinary seamen to learn the ropes at sea and, more important, to learn the ropes of Cutler & Sons from their uncle's perspective and those of their cousins, John and Robin Cutler. It was during their stay at their aunt and uncle's home in Fareham, England, that Richard had met Katherine Hardcastle, a close childhood friend of Richard's cousin Lizzy Cutler, now living a short way away and married to Richard's shipmate and close friend Agreen Crabtree. He marveled at how all the variables and intricacies of his relationship with Katherine had linked up, one to another, in a chain of events that had brought them from their introduction to each other at his uncle's home in Fareham thirty-four years earlier to this parlor on this night in Hingham. It must have been divinely inspired. It
had
to be.