An Introduction To The Eternal Collection Jubilee Edition Read Online Free PDF Page A

face.
    He had the strangest feeling that this moment was important to him, though why and how he had not the slightest idea.

2
    The dew was still heavy on the grass as Rodney walked from the house through the formal gardens and down towards the lakes. The cows were busy grazing the fresh spring grass and the deer lay under the trees watching him with suspicious brown eyes as he strode past them, too intent on his thoughts even to notice their presence.
    He had been awake long before the first pale fingers of the dawn crept between the curtains which shrouded his windows. He had, though he was ashamed to acknowledge it to himself, been too excited to sleep well last night. It was not the excellent wines at Sir Harry’s table, nor the rich abundance of courses which had made him restless, but the knowledge that he had succeeded in his quest and what he had longed for so ardently and for so long was within his grasp.
    A ship of his own! He could hardly believe that it was true. Tomorrow he would go post haste to Plymouth and set down the money which was required for the purchase of the Sea Hawk. So thrilled was Rodney by the thought that he had with difficulty prevented himself from springing out of his bed and then and there leaving for the coast.
    Already fears were beginning to torture him. Suppose the Merchants did not keep their word and sold the Sea Hawk to some richer and more influential purchaser? Suppose the reports on her were not as satisfactory as he believed them to be? Suppose she was not as swift or as easily navigable as he anticipated?
    Such doubts and problems were enough to bring him from his bed to the open window. He drew back the curtains and looked out. For a moment he did not see the garden below him, the great trees bursting into bud and the birds twittering from bush to bush, but instead he saw a grey, empty horizon and fixed his eyes on that indefinable point where the sea meets the sky.
    How often had he watched for hours, days and weeks, longing for the first sign of an approaching ship which might prove a prize. The lowing of a cow recalled him to the knowledge that he was not yet at sea but in a rich guest-chamber where the silk curtains were embroidered by hand and the furniture polished until it shone almost as brilliantly as the mirror of burnished metal.
    He dressed then and, creeping silently from his room, let himself out of the house before there was any sign of anyone else stirring. As he walked across the park, his mind was already busy with calculations of what he would require to provision his ship and, what was more important still, how he should man her.
    It was not going to be easy to find the right crew with Drake and a dozen other redoubtable commanders laying hands on all the best men, especially those with experience. But somehow, now that the night was past, Rodney could not be cast down for long by the thought of the difficulties which lay ahead.
    It was in itself such a miracle that the most difficult part of his task was achieved – the raising of the money for the ship itself. He might have appeared confident enough of his success, but underneath there had always lain with him the fear of failure. His god-father, Sir Francis Walsingham, had been kinder than he had dared to hope. Rodney had not realised until he arrived at Whitehall that every adventurous sailor could count on the Secretary of State’s backing and support. Ill-health kept Sir Francis at his desk, but there, tortured by recurring attacks of the stone, he had, as so often happens with sick people, an insatiable desire for war and violence. The prudence of Burleigh and the unceasing manoeuvres of the Queen to keep peace with Spain troubled and distressed him.
    He believed that the only way to deal with Spain was to fight and conquer her. He had helped Drake with all the influence that lay within his power and he was equally ready to help Rodney, although he had decided at that particular moment to do no more