Free PIRATE: Privateer by Tim Severin

to finance this colony for several years.’
    De Cussy returned his gaze to the distant warship. The wind must be shifting for she was swinging to her anchor. He had to admit that the frigate captain was very shrewd in dressing up his
proposal as being in the interests of France. He decided to test de Graff a little further.
    ‘If the rewards will be so immense, why is it necessary to use the
Sainte Rose
? Could you not persuade investors to equip another vessel for salvage work?’ he said.
    De Graff shook his head. ‘Proper salvage will take many weeks. As soon as the Spanish know that an interloper is working the wreck, they will send vessels to drive off the intruder. Only a
well-armed ship is able to see out the task.’
    Governor de Cussy chose his words carefully. ‘This can only be done with authorization from Paris.’
    De Graff sensed that the Governor was tempted by his proposition. ‘You will not regret it if you recommend to Paris that the
Sainte Rose
is assigned to this task.’
    ‘I agree only to ask for permission to despatch the
Sainte Rose
to intercept enemy trade by sea.’
    ‘How will that help?’
    The Governor stood up and went over to the window. The heron had just speared a fish. It was holding its victim up in the air. The fish wriggled, flashing silver, frantic to escape. A swift
movement, and it was nothing more than a bulge in the heron’s throat. Keeping his back to his guest, de Cussy spoke slowly and precisely. ‘To inflict the greatest damage on the enemy,
the frigate must be at the heart of their shipping routes, not here on the fringe where her presence is known and can be avoided.’
    ‘And you have a location in mind?’
    ‘The island of Providencia, formerly an English colony, has been abandoned. I will suggest to Paris that you establish a temporary base for the
Sainte Rose
there.’
    De Graff could picture exactly what the Governor had in mind. The island of Providencia commanded the sea routes between Cartagena, Havana and Porto Bello. From there the
Sainte Rose
could pounce on all the passing shipping.
    The frigate captain shook his head in admiration. ‘Governor, you would have made an excellent admiral.’
    What the Governor had left unsaid – and de Graff knew full well – was that Providencia was less than a day’s sail from the Vipers. If the
Sainte Rose
was based on
Providencia and unsupervised, de Graff would be able to conduct salvage operations whenever he wanted.
    De Cussy turned and held up a hand in warning. ‘You must be patient. It will take some months before I receive an answer from Paris. I presume you know the precise location of the
wreck?’
    The filibustier’s expression hardened. ‘That is why I added the Kergonans to my crew. I’ll make sure they tell me.’
    The servant entered with a tray of wine and some cheese, and the two men quickly dropped the subject. For some time they chatted amiably about other matters – the prospects for the tobacco
crop, the recent hurricane that had devastated the eastern end of the island, rumours of military reinforcements arriving from England and being deployed on Jamaica. Eventually, when the heat had
gone out of the day, the Governor suggested that they should take a stroll through the town.
    *
    M EANWHILE A NNE -M ARIE had located her brothers. They had chosen the nastiest tavern in Petit Goâve.
It lay right on the waterfront, a down-at-heel shed with a reed thatch roof weathered to a dingy grey. Several half-starved dogs dozed against walls of planks warped by sun and rain. Chickens
scratched the dirt around the open doorway, and by the corner posts were patches of damp in the dust where the customers had relieved themselves. From inside came the sounds of loud conversation,
bursts of tipsy laughter, and someone playing clumsily on a fiddle. After a childhood spent on Tortuga, Anne-Marie knew what to expect as she stepped in through the open door. The floor of the
tavern was grimy beach sand