Free In the Commodore's Hands by Mary Nichols

place and time with the Giradet carriage, they could be in trouble. They would have to take the prison van down to the shore and that would be cumbersome and slow and attract unwelcome attention. There were so many things that could go wrong and he had to rely on others doing their part.
    In the navy he had known he could command obedience, but could you command obedience from coachmen like Georges, who owed him no allegiance and saw the Revolution as a way to set him free? Or from a young lady with strong views of her own and a reluctance to leave France’s shores without her father?
    Lisette was like no other woman he had ever met. She was a strange mixture of the
ingénue
and the worldly-wise, which was somehow penetrating the hedge he had grown around himself and he was not sure he wanted that to happen. It was far too disturbing.
    He woke Sam before dawn and they donned the uniforms; his was too small and Sam’s too large, but they would have to do. Then he sent Sam down the road to watch out for the prisonvan. He hoped Lisette had been right about the time and it would be along soon and that the papers he had stolen along with the uniforms would be enough to persuade the guard to hand the Comte over to him. This waiting about was the worst part. It was already daylight and he wondered if the prison authorities had changed their minds or found the two guards and put two and two together. He had been banking on the prison van setting out before that happened.
    The sun rose high in the sky and still there was no sign of it. Had he been wrong and it was not on this road at all? He didn’t fancy chasing after the van all the way to Paris. He didn’t fancy going to Paris. Lisette and his grandfather should be on board the
Lady Amy
by now, waiting for him. He had given instructions that the boat was to wait no longer than two hours for him, not even that if there was trouble. It was going to be tight, very tight.

Chapter Four
    T he portmanteaux, those of Lisette and Hortense and another belonging to Sir John, together with the jewel-stuffed cushion, had been transferred from Sir John’s carriage to the ship’s boat and Lieutenant Sandford was waiting to help the passengers into it. Lisette was reluctant to comply. She stood on the beach looking inland, waiting for a glimpse of her carriage arriving with her father on board. There were one or two people on the road above the beach and a cart wending its way into town, but no sign of the carriage.
    ‘Mademoiselle,’
the lieutenant said, ‘I must insist you allow me to help you into the boat now.’
    ‘Let me wait a little longer.’ It was not thefirst time she had said that; it had been repeated at intervals ever since they had arrived on the foreshore and each time her worry increased. What had happened? Had Monsieur Drymore failed? Had the plan backfired and everyone been taken back to the prison? Had they even left the prison? Or, God forbid, had they all been killed? She could not stand still and kept going back towards the road and then returning to the boat in increasing despair.
    ‘I cannot,’ the lieutenant said. ‘The Commodore’s orders are to come back for him and he will be mightily displeased if he arrives and I am still here with you. The boat is small, it cannot accommodate everyone in one trip.’
    ‘Then take Sir John and Hortense and leave me here to wait.’
    ‘I won’t go without you,’ Hortense said.
    ‘Lisette, you will put the whole operation in jeopardy,’ Sir John said. ‘We must follow Jay’s instructions to the letter or all will be lost. He will be in a great hurry, perhaps pursued by guards, and the boat must be waiting for him. If it is not, how is he to get your father to safety?’
    His words went home. With a last despairing look towards the road, Lisette turned and allowed herself to be helped aboard, followed by Hortense and Sir John. The lieutenant didnot need to tell the two oarsmen to cast off, they were already