Cross of St George by Alexander Kent Page A

would have been better if they had allowed him to remain in Indomitable; and in the same second he knew that was a lie. To be with her, only for an hour, would have made all this worthwhile.
    Yovell came back, holding the familiar canvas envelope with its Admiralty fouled anchor, to dispel any lingering hope he might have had.
    Yovell returned to the window and peered out at the trees. The cat, he noticed, had disappeared. He thought of Allday again. It was going to be difficult.
    He listened to the knife slitting the envelope. The messenger was in the kitchen being given something hot to drink, no doubt full of envy for those who lived in great houses such as these. He heard Bolitho say quietly, “It is brought forward by a week. We take passage for Halifax on February eighteenth.” When he turned from the window he thought his admiral seemed very composed: the man everyone expected to see. Beyond the reach of any personal emotion.
    He said, “It is not the first time, Sir Richard.”
    Bolitho seized a pen and bent over the papers on the desk. “Give the fellow this receipt.” He stood up and held his cuff over his eye as he faced the light. “I shall ride out to meet Lady Catherine. Tell Matthew, will you?”
    Yovell hurried away, not wanting to leave, but understanding that he had to confront the prospect of separation alone. Three weeks, then an ocean, a world apart.
    He closed the door quietly behind him. Perhaps cats had the right ideas about life, he thought.
    They met by the slate wall that marked the boundary of Roxby’s estate. She did not dismount until he got down and walked to her, and then she slid from the saddle and waited for him to hold her, her hair blowing out freely in the salt breeze.
    â€œYou’ve heard. How long?”
    â€œThree weeks.”
    She pressed her face to his so that he would not see her eyes. “We will make it a lifetime, dearest of men. Always, always, I will be with you.” She said it without anger or bitterness. Time was too precious to waste.
    He said, “I don’t want to go. I hate the thought of it.”
    Through his cloak she could feel him shivering, as if he were cold or ill. She knew he was neither.
    He said, “Why must you suffer because of me, because of what I am?”
    â€œBecause I understand. Like your mother and all those before her. I will wait, as they did, and I will miss you more than any words can describe.” Then she did look at him, her dark eyes very steady. “Above all, I am so very proud of you. When this is over, we shall be together, and nothing will ever force us apart again.”
    He touched her face and her throat. “It is all I want.”
    He kissed her very gently, so gently that she wanted to cry.
    But she was strong, too strong to allow the tears to come. She knew how much he needed her and it gave her the courage that was necessary, perhaps more now than at any other time.
    â€œTake me home, Richard. A lifetime, remember?”
    They walked in silence, the horses following companionably behind them. At the top of the rise they saw the sea, and she felt him grip her arm more tightly. As if he had come face to face with the enemy.

3 M ORNING DEPARTURE
    C APTAIN A DAM B OLITHO tightened his boat-cloak around his neck as the jolly-boat pulled out strongly into the Solent. A strange departure from Portsmouth, he thought: wpointing out something toithout the snow, everything was normal again. Noise, bustle, marching men, and many boats milling around the stairs, waiting to carry their officers out to the ships at anchor.
    Except that this was not his ship. He had paused only briefly to step aboard the frigate Zest, to sign some papers, to take his leave as quickly as possible. The ship had fought well; without her, even Indomitable ’s formidable artillery might not have been able to beat the Yankees into submission. But that was as far as it went. He never felt that Zest was