An Awkward Commission Read Online Free PDF Page B

interest her. For once, she decided to let him know her feelings, though she made a great effort to sound good-humoured.
    ‘I should sand your latest scribblings, sir, for if your finger slips from holding open the page they will be rendered unreadable.’
    The feathery eyebrows on his rather fish-like face were raised at what was, regardless of the delivery, nothing short of a direct admonishment, something new from the Captain’s wife. That would be an interesting observation to add to what he had been writing, which was in the nature of the changes in the crew since the ship first weighed. The journal contained everything he had learnt since coming aboard, part of his study into the workings of a ship and the people who sailed it. Above his head, in a secure locker,were the notebooks which he had filled on a daily basis before transcribing his interpretations into this journal, which would, one day, be the basis of a treatise which would make his name in the circle of savants to which he aspired.
    In future, those wishing to understand the strange nature of shipboard life and the people who lived it would read Heinrich Lutyens on the subject, and be informed on such diverse matters as reactions to impressment, arbitrary and accepted punishment, the relations between a certain type of officer and the men they led, the tensions that existed in the wardroom, where he ate daily, as well as in the living and sleeping quarters of the crew. Perhaps more interesting was the nature of warship captaincy, with the additional bonus that with his wife aboard, Captain Barclay had added the study of the conjugal relationship between people of very different backgrounds, ages and perceptions of the world in what was, to say the least, a peculiar setting.
    ‘Mr Coyle, who has the compounded leg fracture, is beyond that screen. I am sure he will welcome a visit.’
    ‘Is he in pain?’
    ‘Of course, and that will be increased if he moves in any way. The other fellow, with the broken arm, I sent to help the cook as even one arm is enough to throw wood into an oven. As you know, the Captain does not like men to be idle.’
    It was indeed a strange world to a landsman, and despite his office Lutyens considered himself to be that, not least in the variety of souls that were contained within the confines of these wooden walls. Every vice was present, and each person was an individual to be studied for their tics and emotions, but more importantly for the subtle changes that emerged as the time spent in the confines of the ship grew. As Emily Barclay went through the screen, he did as she hadsuggested, opened his journal and sanded the half-dry ink. Then, reflecting on the changes in her, he went back over the observations he had made from the very first time they had met.
    Such words as ‘shy’, and ‘tense’ leapt out at him, and he knew that at the time of writing they had been accurate. Then had come the day when she had stood up to her husband over what she saw as chastisement of an innocent man. From that day on, his observations had told of a changed woman.
     
    ‘Mam,’ said Coyle, seeking to ease himself up from the cot on which he lay, that made more awkward by an attempt to touch his forelock. He was a stocky fellow, with enough scars on his face to hint at a life of hardship.
    ‘Please do not bestir yourself, Mr Coyle. The surgeon was most adamant on that point. I have only come on behalf of my husband to see how you fare.’
    Coyle kept his face bland then, as still as his bad leg, for the notion that Ralph Barclay cared two hoots for his welfare was sheer bollocks and he feared that might show. That his wife might was possible; he did not know her well enough to say though she appeared a kindly soul, but he knew his captain both by reputation and experience. If he was respected for being a hard horse, he was not loved, and he had shown on this voyage that he would flog any man who crossed him even if the offence fell