Chapter 9: Games Under the Table

Mama and I read Richard’s note. It is very brief and a little vague. ‘Keep clear of the witch’ is all it says. I do my best to convince Mama that the note is a prank. She acts as though she believes me, but it’s hard to be sure. However, I’ve no doubt in my mind that the witch mentioned in the note is the ship we saw at the quayside.

That night I lie awake going through in my mind the various bit and pieces I’ve learned over the last few days, trying to make sense of it all. There are so many people involved one way or another. There’s Richard, Colonel Vichy and his two men, Yvette, Eloise and her parents, and Rebecca. Then there’s the house overlooking the harbour, and the strange request Yvette made for an empty barrel. Plus the note to Eloise warning her about Yvette, and the one from Richard to me. And finally there’s that ship, the Southern Witch, whose name I seem to have heard before.

None of it is making sense and I drift off to sleep. I wake up in the middle of the night suddenly remembering where I’ve heard of the Southern Witch before. She’s the ship in one of Samantha’s many seafaring stories. The Southern Witch ran aground during a storm and was badly damaged. She was abandoned to a French salvage crew. But was Samantha’s story fiction, or is this a ship that has returned from the dead?

Satisfied that I’ve at least solved that mystery, I go back to sleep.

On Tuesday, Eloise, Rebecca and I meet for lunch before returning to our respective homes so that we can prepare for tonight’s party. Eloise is surprised Rebecca is attending, but doesn’t reveal anything that might give me a clue as to why Vichy and his men were talking about Rebecca.

With Annie’s help, I’m ready by seven o’clock. Two carriages draw up outside the house. Madame d’Arles and Eloise are in one of them. I presume Rebecca is in the other, but she doesn’t disembark. Mama gives me a short lecture on deportment and etiquette, before wishing me well, and seeing me off.

I’m about to board the carriage, when I suggest that rather than Eloise, her mother, and me squeezing into one carriage and crushing our dresses, I should travel with Rebecca, who has the second carriage to herself.

Madame d’Arles thinks it’s a good idea. Before anyone can stop me, I climb in opposite Rebecca, who is already sat there waiting. It could be my imagination, but Rebecca’s coachman, one of Vichy’s men, doesn’t seem too pleased about my presence.

The two coaches set off. After a short ride we arrive at the mayor’s house. Rebecca’s father is there to greet her, and I leave her in his capable hands. I go and join Eloise who is my appointed companion for tonight. I’m introduced to the Comte d’Arles and numerous other guests, including Colonel Vichy. I look around for Samantha, but apparently she is visiting relations in St. Lucia. Outwardly everyone is polite and the conversation typical for this type of function. Not that I’ve attended that many, and this is my first without Mama hovering nearby. I notice that some of the guests are looking very serious, among them Colonel Vichy.

We sit down to dinner and I’m placed with Eloise on my left and a young French naval officer on my right. Eloise has a handsome French army officer on her left, who is introduced as Lieutenant JeanPaul de Valdon, to whom she is giving her full attention. Sitting opposite us is Commodore Beaufoy and Rebecca. The young naval officer next to me speaks very little English, so we converse in French. He introduces himself as Lieutenant Louis Clemençeau and he’s twenty years old. He seems happy to talk to Rebecca and me about his life in Bordeaux, before joining the French navy when he was fourteen. However he politely refuses to talk about his ship, saying he is under orders not to say anything of a military nature.