The Portuguese Affair Read Online Free PDF Page A

down at the map, trying to think what else might be meant. Surely not a voyage round into the Mediterranean and an attack on Spain’s eastern ports?
    ‘The third goal, after Lisbon has been taken and the Dom crowned, is to sail south and west, to seize the Azores from the Spanish, establishing a permanent English base there, in order to hamper Spanish trade with her colonies in the New World. You can see how the three parts fit together, to weaken Spain’s world power. Destroy her Atlantic fleet. Drive her out of Portugal and thus rob her of the excellent Portuguese harbours. And finally, take control of the route to the New World. The Azores are of vital importance as a staging post for ships making the Atlantic crossing, a final stop for water and provisions.’
    He rolled up the map and restored it to the shelf.
    ‘There is an additional goal, if the timing proves favourable. To capture the returning Spanish treasure fleet.’
    Drake would be glad of that. I did not speak aloud, but I saw from the gleam in Walsingham’s eye that he was thinking the same thing.
    He motioned me back to my chair and poured us both more wine.
    ‘Now you understand the route and purposes of the expedition, Kit.’ He sipped his wine. ‘There is indeed a mission you could undertake for me. In fact there are two.’
    I held my breath. What would he say? Could I even undertake what he had in mind?
    ‘You can pass for Spanish, can you not?’
    I nodded. ‘I grew up speaking Spanish as well as Portuguese.’
    ‘I thought so. I know you have worked as a translator in that language. We have an agent in Coruña, Titus Allanby. In the most recent despatch we received from him, he said he feared that his identity might have been compromised. He did not say how. He needs to leave the town, but fears to make a move as he believes he is being watched. He is privy to too many secrets for us to risk his being taken and tortured by the Spanish. In our reply, we instructed him to send no more despatches and to behave like an innocent citizen. He has good Spanish and is working as a tailor.’
    ‘You want me to contact him, when we reach Coruña?’
    ‘I want you to do more than that. I want you to bring him out. And if you cannot, you will have to kill him.’
    My head shot up and I gasped.
    ‘Oh, do not worry. I do not think it will come to that.’ He gave a bleak smile. ‘If it looks as though the Spanish authorities will take him, he is a brave enough man to take his own life, rather than fall into the hands of their torturers.’
    I gripped my hands together until I heard the joints of my fingers crack. I had volunteered for this. I would simply have to ensure that this man Titus made it back to the ships with me. I knew I could not kill a man, an ally.
    ‘You said there were two things you wished me to do?’
    ‘Aye. The other is easier. When Lisbon is taken – if it is taken – there is a man of ours in prison there. Even from prison he has been able to send us valuable intelligence.’
    ‘Hunter?’ I said.
    ‘You remember. Aye, Hunter. I want you to make sure he is found and brought safely out of prison. He can return with the expedition.’
    ‘If we take Lisbon.’
    ‘Indeed. I do not have quite the same confidence as Dom Antonio in the readiness of the Portuguese to rise up on his behalf. His birth, unfortunately, was illegitimate. There is another, legitimate, claimant to the Portuguese throne, Catherine Duchess of Braganza. At one time a man had always a better claim to a throne than a woman, even if his birth were questionable. Now our own great Queen has shown that a woman can be a mighty monarch. The Portuguese leaders, should they decide to rebel against their foreign overlords, might well prefer a woman with a more legitimate claim. The final decision could well lie with the Portuguese Cortes-Gerais , whether or not to support Dom Antonio.’
    ‘I knew of the Duchess of Braganza,’ I said thoughtfully, ‘but did not