Chapter 14: Wedding Bells

May 1802

One evening, in late May, after supper in the common room, Clyde Barker cleared his throat.

“If I may have the word for a moment, Will?”

Will had an idea of what was coming and he nodded.

“Gentlemen and you, Mistress Potter, this afternoon when we had tea at Oldham’s, I endeavoured to ask Miss Belle Faversham for her hand in marriage. To my immense happiness, she accepted, and we now consider ourselves promised. I have yet to speak to Reverend Atherton, but since we are both of age and without living parents, I foresee a wedding in our near future, to which you are of course invited most cordially!”

“Hear, hear!” Will exclaimed. “This is not too surprising for us, but we are very happy for both of you and wish you a long and happy life together!”

“What he said,” Balder smiled. “Miss Faversham, I have known you for over five years now, and I can state with certainty that Commander Barker is to be congratulated for winning a bride such as you, being both beautiful and virtuous!”

Belle blushed prettily. “Why, you old charmer! I firmly believe that I finally found a good, honest man with whom I can find the sort of happiness our landlord and his wife enjoy. Mister and Mistress Potter made me see what I needed in my life and Clyde here is it!”

Clyde was too moved to speak, but he silently kissed the hand of his bride who beamed back at him.

“I believe this calls for something better than thin ale,” Will smiled, rising quickly and finding the trapdoor leading into the cellar. He’d brought along a lantern, and in its shine, he picked one of the last bottles of Maltese wine brought back from the Egyptian campaign. Wiping it clean, he pulled the cork whilst Abigail distributed clean glasses. Raising their glasses, they toasted the happy couple until the bottle was reduced to dregs.

They retired to their respective bedrooms soon after, and Will had a slightly drunk and very amorous wife at his hands. They fell asleep, still joined together and as naked as they had been born. Little Horace woke a little after midnight, loudly demanding his next feeding, but when he was sated and asleep again, the young couple melted together one more time.

After a very short night, Will and Abigail rose, awakened by the clatter of pots and plates from the kitchen. Abigail put on her house dress to join the breakfast efforts, whilst Will shaved and dressed for the day. Balder was the only other person joining them at table, for Belle and Clyde obviously slept in.

After breakfast and getting their lunches packed, the two men then took a cab to the victualling yard since it was raining fiercely. As they settled on the narrow bench and their driver got the horse into a trot, Balder spoke up.

“I shall give notice today, Will.”

Will was surprised. “Why? You’re not nearly that old.”

“My wife’s father died last week.”

“Oh, I am sorry for your loss.”

Balder grinned. “He was a miserly old bastard. Even my wife didn’t like him. Yet, being the miser that he was, he left Kathleen a small fortune. With that, we can expand our holdings and live off the rents; quite comfortably I may say. There’s no reason anymore to spend my weekdays in Deptford, away from my wife and working under those two nincompoops. I’ll be giving notice to Croft today. Just don’t let them talk you into joining the clerks’ room permanently. You make more as a purser, and from what I saw, you’re good at making extra monies. Right now, you’re sitting pretty in the Dido’s wardroom, and soon you’ll get bigger ships.”

Will nodded. “You’re right, Jeremy. Working the victualling yard is a good way to increase my income, but I wouldn’t give up my wardroom berth. I take it that you will leave us then?”

“Yes, of course. I expect that your friend, Mister Barker, and Belle will also look at establishing their own household. I may be wrong, though.”

“I haven’t asked them for their plans yet. Time will tell.”

“Of course. Let them get married first. It is a huge change for them both, and they may not have thought out all the consequences yet. You should do well without boarders, though, shouldn’t you?”

Will smiled. “With my pay and the interest from the Funds, we can live well enough. My other incomes are just on top and can be invested. Should I be relieved from Dido’s wardroom, I’ll have the surety to invest, too.”

“It is astonishing how well you handle your monies, Will, given your origins. I do not mean that in a denigrating way in the least. Old Jimmy Evans already told us about you after your first journey together, claiming he’d picked a winner.”

“Without Mister Evans, I would be nothing,” Will said soberly. “I have been incredibly lucky.”

“Some wise man said that luck is another word for seizing the opportunities as they offer themselves. I mean not only money-wise, but you picked a fine wife, too. She’s pure gold, Will. If I weren’t married to my Kathleen, I’d certainly envy you.”

“And now you will be with her every day,” Will offered, to end the slightly embarrassing line of talk.

“That is true! Once I’m settled in my house, we’ll invite you and Mistress Abigail to visit us. My dear Kathleen is dying to meet her; you too, of course.”

“We’ll be glad to visit. Can you wait with your resignation until I am safely off to the victualling yard?”

Balder laughed richly. “Yes, I better. I pity our fellow clerks. Parry will be unpleasant, to say the least. I do not plan to mince words when I quit.”

“I better put on my foul weather gear and head out immediately.”

Will spent as much time in the warehouses as possible, and when he finally returned to the offices, the storm had blown over. The clerks were very quiet though, and Will did his best to not draw any attention to himself. Indeed, he left the yard at 6 p.m. without seeing Croft or Parry.

Back home, the common room was already set for supper, and it was a special evening. Samuel McSwain was there, too, with his Jane, and Abigail had sent to the butcher’s for the makings of three different pies, the costs being borne by Jeremy Balder, to celebrate his retirement. They ate the good food and toasted Balder’s future, and it was again late before they could retire.

Balder had planned things in advance, and in the next morning, when Will left for the yard, there was a two-horse wagon waiting out front to take his former boarder and his belongings home. The two men shook hands once more, and then they were both off.

When he arrived at the yard, he was immediately summoned to Mister Croft’s office. Croft welcomed him like a long lost nephew.

“A good morning to you, Mister Potter. Surely, you heard about Mister Balder’s resignation?”

“He told me of his plans yesterday morning. It was quite a surprise, Sir.”

“I imagine. You lost a boarder in him, too.”

“Yes, Sir, yet he paid for the month in full.”

“Still, we have to make do here without him. He was an experienced man, and we cannot hire just anybody to replace him. Have you ever given thought of joining my office on a more permanent appointment, Mister Potter?”

There it was, the offer. Will had thought about this the whole day before, and he had his answer pat.

“I did, Sir. Yet, I am a sailor foremost. I cherish my berth in a wardroom, Sir. I want to advance in the service, and help bring down Mister Buonaparte. I can offer you to take over more tasks whilst Dido is laid up in ordinary and to help fill the gap left by Mister Balder until you can find a fitting replacement. Yet, I ask you to understand that I see my employment here as a stop gap, until I can serve in a seagoing ship again.”

Obviously, Mister Croft was impressed. “My dear Mister Potter, I applaud your sense of duty. Too many people forget that it takes more than daring captains to win battles and wars. It is the victualling service that feeds and clothes the men who win our battles! Without our hard work, our ships and crews would lack the fighting spirit that they so amply display. I shall ask you to take our younger clerks, those without any experience or knowledge of shipboard service, under your wings and to teach them what our brave tars need to crush the Corsican tyrant! We shall raise your pay, of course, but until your brave frigate puts to sea again, we shall utilise your knowledge and talent for the benefit of our victualling yard.”

Will was relieved that his refusal was taken so well, but he realised that Croft only wanted a stopgap in the first place, somebody who would tide over the yard until Croft could move on to some juicier posting.

“Thank you for your understanding, Sir,” he said modestly.

“No, thank you, Mister Potter. Please keep up your good work and show the junior clerks how to perform their duties!”

Shortly after, Will was dismissed, literally having received a pat on his back. Returning to the clerks’ office, he started his usual tasks, going over the lists coming from the warehouses, but soon, Mister Parry announced that the warehouses and the clerks assigned to them would for now answer to Mister Potter. The way Will’s name was pronounced, it was clear that Parry himself was not to be bothered with their running.

Therefore, after finishing the lists, Will assigned junior clerks to the various current tasks, which were still mostly returning provisions from ships that were laid up. Parry himself likely concentrated his talents on the accounting side, in other words, making the pursers’ lives miserable. Will was happy to not be involved in that, as it would have been awkward for him to deal with senior pursers.

On the positive side, Will was now drawing nine shillings a day. Since he did not work in the yard on Saturdays — he tended to his purser duties in Dido on Saturdays — he earned £2 5s during the week on top of the £1 9s of his purser’s pay, a vast increase. He and Abigail could certainly find use for the extra monies. He would have to speak with Clyde Barker about his plans, but he decided that they could easily afford to give up the letting of rooms in their house. Their expenditures were modest and without three additional mouths to feed would be even lower. His added pay at the yard and the income from the Funds would allow them to save up even more. The house maids would stay, of course, for more children were likely to come, with him at home every night. Already, he and Abigail were busy again under the blankets, and it was only a matter of time for her to catch.

Returning home at the usual time, he took Abigail to the side to tell her the news and to ask her mind. She was of a mixed mind.

“Will, my darling man, you are too good to me. I don’t mind the boarders. They are more our friends anyway, and if you have to go to sea again, I shall have company. We can keep Mister Balder’s room free for now, but if those newspapers are right, we may have a war with France again. Belle and I can keep ourselves company if you and Clyde have to do your duties again.”

Will could see the wisdom in Abigail’s words, and he nodded.

“I can see how having Belle around is helping you cope with my absence, but let us ask Clyde about his plans.”

Later, at supper, Will brought up his question.

“Clyde, have you made plans for after your wedding already? I mean, will you keep your rooms here with us, or would you rather establish yourself and Belle in your own household?”

Clyde and Belle exchanged looks, and it was Belle who answered for them.

“From all we hear, the peace may not hold. We were thinking to ask you to let us have Balder’s room and my old room as our own sitting room and bedroom. We could even have private suppers on certain days with one of the girls bringing up the meals to our sitting room, always assuming you want us to stay.”