Martin Marbeck 03 Marbeck and the Privateers by John Pilkington

Author:John Pilkington [Pilkington, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2014-01-31T22:00:00+00:00

TWELVE

Late the following night, Marbeck was back in Weymouth. He had slipped into the town after dark, and tethered Cobb to a ring on the quayside. Now, with the streets empty, he walked to the corner of Hope Cove and readied himself.

It had been a long day, of regret and remorse, but he’d been spared one grim task: that of disposing of the body of Thomas Oxenham. In the morning, after Marbeck had stayed up half the night and watched his fellow-intelligencer die, Woollard had changed his mind and said he would deal with the matter. The surgeon wished to be rid of both his unwanted guests, the living and the dead, but Marbeck’s departure seemed to him the more urgent. Having handed Oxenham’s purse to him, he said he would dispose of the man’s horse and belongings. So with few words the two of them had parted at dawn, Marbeck riding swiftly out of Melcombe and concealing himself in a copse on the road to Broadwey. There, he’d formed his plan to free Mary Kellett from her dreadful captivity.

Oxenham’s death, as well as his testimony, had shaken him; but now he saw it differently. Juan Roble, the man he had thwarted in the past, wished him dead and had forced Oxenham to carry out the task – though his people, it seemed, had misjudged the man’s capabilities: someone like Levinus Monk, perhaps, could have advised them differently. As for Roble’s corsair activity: it took Marbeck’s breath away. It revealed a link between the Langostas of the Mediterranean and their fellows in the northern seas: the Sea Locusts. And after all that Oxenham had said, was it not likely that this network of renegades was behind attempts to spoil the peace talks in London?

He had turned the matter about, and the more he looked the darker the whole business appeared. There were people on both sides who disliked the planned treaty – even if both their nations had much to gain from its successful conclusion. But in the end he felt helpless in the face of these wider events, and after hiding out all day, he’d grown weary of it. Two things he could and would do, because he had given his word: one was to go to Oxenham’s father, but the first was to rescue Mary Kellett from John Buck. And for that task only a bold approach would serve: in short, he would go to the house and take her away by force.

Now, with the town quiet and most folk abed, he steeled himself to the task. In the evening clouds had scudded in; as a result the place was almost pitch dark, with only a couple of lanterns on the quays. After a final look round, he walked the short distance to the Buck house and rapped on the door.

For a moment nothing happened; then came a creak overhead as a casement opened. Drawing his poniard, he pressed himself against the doorway. From above he couldn’t be seen; and when a voice called out he made no answer.

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.