Devil to Pay Read Online Free PDF

conference ended on that note but Lord Moira remarked as he left that he would mention his plans, in broad outline, at the coming banquet. D’Auvergne protested about this breach of security but was told that only senior officers would be present and that they’d be told to keep the information to themselves. He looked far from happy about it but said nothing more. The meeting broke up and Major Moncrieff and Delancey left together, walking down to the quayside with the ostensible object of visiting the
Royalist.
They really wanted the chance to talk.
    â€œThere’s something about this affair that I don’t understand,” said Moncrieff. “Why was that fellow Mortemart chosen for a dangerous mission? He is plainly terrified. Why tell secrets at a banquet, with the risk of rumours being spread before the officers are sober again?”
    â€œWhy indeed?” Delancey agreed. “And why should we trust ‘Mr A’? I thought him a dubious-looking fellow, as likely to be against us as for us. All the arrangements depend upon him but I have seldom seen anyone for whom I have felt a more instant dislike.”
    â€œI wouldn’t trust him a yard,” replied Moncrieff. “I like D’Auvergne, though. I should have thought him too good an officer to be employed ashore.”
    â€œHe seems an ideal choice, though, for the work he has to do.”
    â€œThat’s true enough. And I’m glad that we are to work together, you and I. We’ll succeed at La Gravelle even if Mortemart gives himself up or is betrayed by ‘Mr A.’“ Delancey warmly agreed, reflecting that his own liking for Moncrieff had been immediate. He felt instinctively that they could rely on each other.
    â€œYou said just now, Major,” said Delancey, “that there is something about the operation that you don’t understand. I was just about to say the same thing in almost the same words. I wish to God the whole thing were over and done with.”
    â€œSo do I, in a way. But it’s our chance to make a name for ourselves. You are more fortunate, no doubt, but I haven’t yet been in battle.”
    â€œThere will be no battle for me provided that all goes well. If the plan miscarries, however, we are both likely to be captured and executed as spies.”
    â€œNot in uniform, surely?”
    â€œDon’t be too sure of that, sir.”
    â€œAnyway, it will be an adventure.”
    â€œNow, about this rehearsal,” said Delancey, “I think we must do it three times at least, once in daylight and twice in the dark. . . .”
    Delancey took the
Royalist
to sea with a caution which might not have impressed the experts watching from the breakwater. He cast off at the beginning of the ebb, passed the pier head under his jib alone, hoisted the mainsail a few minutes later and let fall the square topsail only when he was in the roads. The cutter handled beautifully, however, and he soon began to gain confidence. Under a light breeze, he sailed slowly past Herm and set a course for Alderney, not then visible owing to a mist which cleared later, allowing him to head for the west side of the island, avoiding the Swinge and keeping well clear of the Coque Lihou and the Noire Roque. With the wind dying away he brought the cutter into Longy Bay and dropped anchor there with a mild sense of achievement. He could remember these waters well enough, he found, and had recognised the hanging Rock at a glance. Could he have done it on a moonless night? Possibly, but he was not so sure.
    After due warning to the garrison of Fort Essex and Raz Island, Delancey staged his exercises at the Nunnery. For the second daylight rehearsal he assumed that the enemy had been warned and had laid an ambush. The exercise was one involving a withdrawal under fire. In view of this possible contingency the longboat mounted a three-pounder gun in the bows. There was a separate exercise and target