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Aurelia said. “You must give him time.”
    “The King has been out of England too long,” Thomas said cautiously. “He doesn’t know who are his friends. Who knows what gossip was poured into his ear while he was in France, and then Spain? Think of him spending years in Catholic countries, living on the bounty of Catholic kings, and surrounded by court lackeys…”
    “You don’t sound very happy at the Restoration, darling,”Diana said.
    “It’s just that I wish I was in England. There’s bound to be a long period of confusion and that’s when an innocent man’s enemies can strike.”
    “Oh stop grumbling,” Diana said sharply, adding unsympathetically: “You have more to fear from debtors than anyone else. Ned, fetch out a bottle of something special and let’s drink out of glasses for once!”
    Aurelia jumped up and opened a locker which held glasses fitting into circular holes cut in a shelf. “What shall we drink?”
    “Anything but rumbullion,” Diana said firmly.
    “Cognac. Here, hold the glasses while I pour.”
    As soon as the four of them were holding their glasses, Thomas said: “I give you a toast, one I don’t think any of us expected to drink to with a king on the throne: Here’s health unto His Majesty!”
    As soon as they had emptied their glasses, Ned said: “We must tell the ship’s company, and give them the rest of the day off to celebrate. And pass the word to the Peleus and the Phoenix .”
    Aurelia suddenly said: “ Chéri , you are a most peculiar shape in front. What have you in your jerkin?”
    Ned pulled out the packet. “A letter from England. Sent out to Barbados with the Convertine ’s captain. Luckily they told him there that I had fled in the Griffin .”
    “Open it, open it!” Aurelia said impatiently. “How can you walk round for hours with an unopened letter!”
    “It’s of no consequence, of that I’m sure,” Ned said. “I don’t recognize the writing.” He broke the seal and unfolded the paper. There were three sheets, the last two being lists.
     
    “Sir,” he read:
    It is with the deepest regret that I have to inform you of the death of your father, the sixth Earl of Ilex. This occurred near Toledo in Spain on the fifth day of May last, when he was out hunting and his horse fell heavily. He was riding in a group accompanying His Majesty, who commands me to convey to you His Majesty’s sympathy in your grievous loss.
    Your father died intestate, and of course your elder brother George succeeds to his titles, estates and possessions, and as your late father’s steward, who was with him at the time of the fatal accident but who returned to England with His Majesty, I am enclosing a copy of the accounting of the estates which I sent to your brother. This account is of necessity cursory in its nature, but His Majesty commands me to inform you both that as your father refused to compound with Cromwell and instead went into exile, joining His Majesty, the title and estates pass to your brother without any stop, let or hindrance.
    In the meantime I assure you that all is well with the estates at Godmersham, Saltwood and Ilex, and that the family gold and silver plate has been recovered from the hiding place where your late father and I put it, and is in safe custody. Your brother will be writing to you as soon as he returns to England.
     
    The letter was signed by Henry Grey, who must by now be seventy years old, and who had begun serving the Yorke family when he was about eight years old.
    Ned suddenly realized that there was complete silence in the cabin, apart from the lapping of the waves against the hull, and a white-faced and distraught-looking Aurelia was waiting for him to say something. Diana too seemed close to tears, sensing that his concentration on the letter meant that it was both important and probably bad news. Thomas was running his fingers through his beard in the nearest approach to agitation that Ned had seen.
    “I’m sorry, but