Burke in the Land of Silver by Tom Williams

Author:Tom Williams [Williams, Tom]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781916263567
Publisher: Big Red
Published: 2020-06-18T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

The Santa Theresa carried a cargo of gold, silver, and the inevitable leather goods. She did not normally take passengers but de Liniers was not a man to be trifled with and Burke’s money was good. She was bound for Spain, of course, but she put in at Rio de Janeiro to offload some salt beef and wine and to take on board water and supplies for the months they would be at sea. Here, in Brazil, governed by friendly Portugal, James and William disembarked.

James looked up at the jumble of streets that ran down to the sea from the mountains that surrounded the city.

‘It could be worse, sir,’ said William.

James agreed. If he was to be exiled from Buenos Aires and Ana, there were far worse places to end up. After the geometric order of the Spanish towns in La Plata, Portuguese Brazil provided a welcome change. With its stunning setting, the sun shining on a sea of startling blue and the vivid greens of the jungle beyond the town, Rio de Janeiro would, James felt, proved an agreeable temporary base.

He established himself in comfortable quarters in the city and, for several days, concentrated on carefully composing his detailed report and his recommendations for the British to offer their protection to de Liniers and his rebels. Thus would South America be denied to the Spanish at little risk and for minimal military effort.

The day the report was completed, James retired to bed early. Usually a sound sleeper, he suffered an unusually restless night. He woke still tired and with a vague feeling that he had dreamt and that Ana had been in those dreams.

William entered with his morning tea to find him already up and pacing his room with unaccustomed anxiety.

‘Shall I pack today, sir?’

‘Yes.’

James reached the wall and turned abruptly.

‘No.’

Five paces saw him at the other wall.

‘Yes.’

William stood in confusion.

‘Dammit, William. I don’t know what to do for the best.’ He paced the room again and then, abruptly, stopped.

‘You’re going home, William. I’m staying here.’

William was aghast.

‘You can’t mean that, sir.’

‘I’m afraid I do, William. This report is too important to leave to a written communication only. It needs to be delivered by hand and by somebody who can vouch for its contents. I would take it myself but I do not trust de Liniers. Someone must stay near La Plata to keep an eye on things – and I’m the only person that can do the job.’

‘It’ll take me three months to get this to London, sir. And another three months to get any reply back to you. That’s six months you’ll be stuck here, sir.’

‘I’m aware of that, William.’ Burke smiled. ‘But I think I might survive six months in Brazil. Even without your estimable services.’

A ship left for London a week later – a week that saw William fussing over his master’s linen and polishing his boots as if to ensure that all would remain clean and in good order for the next half year.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.