Chapter 11: Santa Venera

Le Marchand kept word. Three days later, Charles met with a Maltese merchant, Signore Correga, who acted for the owner of the vacant villa, and obtained permission to inspect the property. The whole family took Charles’s carriage for the short trip to Santa Venera.

The small village was dominated by the eponymous parish church, but the Casa Leoni was prominent enough. It had been built almost 130 years ago, in the Baroque style, with two storeys and a flat roof. A small garden in its front was closed off by a stone wall and a wrought iron gate and flanked by two wings that housed the kitchens and the servants’ quarters. An adjacent Baroque garden was also walled off.

It was a villa fit for a major nobleman, but it was secluded, away from wagging tongues in Valetta, and the gardens would allow Suzanne and Paulina to stroll in privacy. Renting the place was not exactly cheap, but Charles decided that this would not deter him.

Suzanne and Paulina simply fell in love with the house and the gardens, and by afternoon, Charles had rented the place for one year, with an option for a renewal. He also looked forward to spending time there with his family.

The house came with enough furnishings to move in, and before a week was over, the Tollivers and their household spent the first Sunday in their rented country home. Not two weeks later, Charles decided to spend the majority of his nights at the Casa Leoni. Winslow and Paddington found a pair of well behaved horses and a light carriage with a folding top, and soon, Rear Admiral Sir Charles Tolliver became a common sight on the road to Valetta. He found the ride to work in the fresh morning air refreshing and useful to clear his head for the day of work at the dock yard.

Suzanne and Paulina still accompanied him to social events, as they were, but around the start of the New Year, it became known that Lady Tolliver would abstain from social meetings for some time, and that her doting sister, Mrs. Faulkes, would care for her during her time of isolation.

The enlarged dry dock was finished at about that time, named in fact Dock 1 and Dock 2, and the dedication ceremony was attended by the governor, the commander in chief, and the captains of the ships currently at anchor. Charles was the host of this particular dedication ceremony, and he was accompanied by Suzanne and Paulina in what would be their last public appearance for months.

Everything went well. The steam-driven pump made short work of draining the dock chamber, and when the docks were flooded again, HMS Colossus was manoeuvred into Dock Nº 2 for her planned refit. The caisson lock was floated into position, and then the pump drained the dock. Again, everything worked just fine, and by the end of the day, the dock workers had begun the task of scraping off the barnacles and seaweeds from the copper-sheathed ship’s bottom.

On the next morning, the gun boat Vulcan, which had suffered underwater damage during a collision, was pulled into Dock Nº 1 for urgent repairs, and Charles could report the Valetta Navy Dockyard as fully operational.

There were a myriad of other things after which he had to look. Fortunately, victualling was well established, with supplies coming in regularly. The increasing demand for coal was satisfied by a steady stream of colliers coming from Cardiff, and the frequent clouds of coal dust in the air around Dockyard Creek were an outward justification for his decision to live outside Valetta with his family.

All through January, the work on Colossus proceeded according to plan. The dockyard carpenters, helped by a local joiner, also fitted adequate furniture for the admiral’s cabin, and by January 30, the two-decker could be floated out of the dock for provisioning.

In mid-February, Charles had a tearful farewell from his women, both of whom were now well along in their pregnancies. Taking only Winslow along, Charles boarded his flagship to the sounds of salute guns and ordered her steam to be raised. In his absence, Captain Waters would command the dockyard and proceed with the planned repairs of Fanshawe’s ships.

In the next morning, the ship and her consorts went anchor-up and left the Grand Harbour under steam. The small squadron of two line-of-battle ships, two steam sloops and three gunboats was accompanied by three collier brigs which were ordered to a rendezvous near Constantinople where the ships would coal for their return journey.

The warships lifted their propellers after a day of travelling under steam and set sails. Coal was expensive, and the squadron was in no hurry. They passed between the islands of Kythira and Crete, close to Crete, and then headed north. The plan was to visit Piraeus, the port of Athens, and after four days of sailing, the squadron dropped anchor.

The visit had been arranged with the Greeks, and the name of the visiting admiral was still remembered by some older officials. The Greek side had even tracked down seven of the men and women whom Racehorse had freed from an Egyptian slaver, back in 1830. Those people greeted Charles with flowers when he came ashore for his official reception, and he was moved by the nice gesture.

Apart from that, the visit was a stiff affair, with a banquet hosted by the Greek fleet commander, and another one on board Colossus. The Greeks were still bearing an ill will against the British in general and the Royal Navy in particular because they had sympathised with Russia during the Crimean War.

His personal highlight was a visit to Athens and the Acropolis. Being well-read, he appreciated the opportunity to see the ancient remnants of classic Greece, but also to sample the typical foods and wines.

After five days, Charles felt that they had outlived their welcome. The squadron weighed anchor and after rounding the southern tip of Attica, threaded through the islands and into the Aegean Sea. They reached the Dardanelles a day later and raised steam to sail through the narrows at Cannakkale and then onward towards Constantinople. Still under steam, they entered the Bosphorus Strait and sailed past the old Topkapi palace and the Golden Horn to where the Sultan Abdülmecid had built his new residence, the Dolmabahçe Palace. There, the ships dropped anchor whilst firing their salute.

Again, the visit was expected, and Her Majesty’s Minister Plenipotentiary Sir Ralph Woodforde, ambassador to the Sublime Porte, as the sultanate was known, had arranged for a week of receptions, dinners and visits, including a personal audience with the Grand Vizier, Mehmed Ali Pasha. The vizier was a modern thinking statesman of some repute, rather young at 43 years of age, and reform-minded. Having learned from Woodforde that Charles’s only son had perished in the defence of the Ottoman empire, he presented Charles with a richly decorated sabre and with a three-tiered necklace of flawless, spherical pearls for Adam’s widow.

The vizier spoke French, but no English, necessitating the services of an interpreter. As instructed by Vice Admiral Fanshawe, Charles assured the vizier of the continuing friendship between the British and Ottoman empires. They agreed upon a counter-visit of Ali Pasha to Charles’s flagship where his Excellency would be shown the workings of a modern battle line ship.

Charles also visited Scutari, on the Asian side of the Bosphorus, where Adam had died. There was a British cemetery, and the old keeper showed Charles the simple wooden cross that indicated the last resting place of Major Adam Tolliver. Young Mr. Anson, a talented painter amongst his numerous qualities, prepared a watercolour of the gravesite for Suzanne and Alice.

As per his orders, Charles then ordered his squadron to weigh anchor. Steam was raised, and the ships sailed through the Bosphorous Strait and into the Black Sea. The ships steamed along the western shores, past Varna and Constanta and further north to within sight of Odessa, showing the Russians that the Royal Navy was watchful. On the return journey, they sailed past Sevastopol, inspecting the efforts undertaken by the Russian side to rebuild their naval base.

The return passage through the Bosphorus was uneventful, and they met with the collier brigs on the other side. Charles sent a report to Sir Ralph Woodforde, detailing his observations along the Russian coast, but when the coal bunkers were filled again, they saluted the Star and Crescent Flag once more and steamed away on a southwestern course, across the Marmara Sea and through the Dardanelles.

Given the myriad of islands littering the Aegean Sea, Charles decided to anchor his ships at night and to sail only from dawn till dusk. He had no desire to lose a ship during his first cruise as squadron commander. Therefore, it took them three days on a southern course to reach Crete, whence they sailed straight for Alexandria, Egypt. The purpose was to remind the Wali of Egypt, Sa’id Pasha, of the fact that Britain was ready to look after its interests. Another point was to show the French, who were planning to build a canal across the Isthmus of Suez, that the Royal Navy was watching their activities.

Charles received the British consul in Alexandria for consultations and to gather intelligence about the French activities. It was mid-March by now, and Charles eschewed a shore visit, deciding to rather steam along the coast, to make observations and to show the British flag along the French colonies on the former Barbary coast. They sailed as far as Sfax before they headed for Malta again, and it was early April when the squadron entered the Great Harbour of Valetta, with all objectives met and no damages to report.

Fanshawe’s flagship, HMS Marlborough, 131, was lying at anchor, and Charles found his superior at Admiralty House. The two men shared a hastily arranged meal during which Charles gave his report, but also received an update of current affairs. Obviously, trouble was brewing between the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia and the Austrian Empire, with the French Empire under Napoleon III ready to interfere. All three powers were mobilising their armies, but no shots had been fired thus far. Sir Arthur had despatched three steam frigates to the Italian coast to keep an eye on the events, but so far, a naval campaign from either side was not expected.

Sir Arthur informed Charles that for the next two months, no general fleet excursions were planned, and that he would be able to focus on his duty as admiral superintendent of the dockyard.

In the meantime, Winslow had requisitioned a carriage from the dockyard. Their dunnage was already loaded onto it, and as soon as Charles exited Admiralty House, Winslow whisked him away and to Santa Venera. Suzanne and Paulina were almost seven months along by now, and Charles was eager to see them again.

Obviously, somebody had alerted the household of his return to Valetta, since the carriage had barely stopped when Suzanne and Paulina showed at the main gate to welcome him. Both were heavy with child, and Charles could see that Winslow had a hard time maintaining his composure. That cat was literally out of the bag, but the women looked healthy and hale, and that was all about which Charles really cared.

A few long strides brought him close to his wife and his lover, and into their embrace.

“Oh, Charles! You are finally back!” Suzanne sighed.

“We missed you so much,” Paulina added.

“Not as much as I missed you, my darlings,” Charles answered in a low voice. “Are you both well?”

“We could hardly be better given our state,” Suzanne assured him. “Alice is out riding with Paddy, but she should return soon.”

“I take it the staff is in on our secret now?”

“It is hard to hide,” Paulina smiled wryly. “We explained things to Alice. She was confused at first, but now she accepts.”

“I suppose that I shall have to talk to her, too?” Charles asked.

“I guess you had better, darling,” Suzanne answered. “Just give her assurance that you will keep loving her.”

“Well, that was always a given, wasn’t it?” Charles returned. “Have you found a good midwife yet?”

“We have. Her name is Maria Caxaro, and we already retained her. She will also help in the household and with nursing. She has four children herself, and no husband to show for it. So far she must have supported herself and her children by having men visiting, but she is quite tired of having children and grateful for regular employment. I can sympathise with her,” Paulina explained.

“Perhaps we had better discuss all that inside?” Suzanne said. “Standing is not that easy for us anymore.”

“Of course! Let’s step inside,” Charles agreed.

Once inside, he immediately noticed that the villa had undergone some redecoration. There was fresh wall paint everywhere and the wooden furniture had been freshly varnished. This had greatly reduced the stuffy smell he had noticed when they moved in.

“You were quite industrious,” he commented. “The house already looks much better.”

“We wanted to make it more habitable,” Suzanne explained. “Once the children are here, we can entertain here as well. The gardens are well suited for that, and guests will appreciate the ambience.”

“You mean...”

“Yes, Charles, let us keep this house for the duration of your command,” Paulina concurred. “We have also found a teacher for Alice. Miss Apollonia Powell is the youngest daughter of Major James Powell. She is giving private schooling to several girls already, and she has an opening for Alice. Paddington can drive her into the city, or she can ride with you and Winslow. That way, she won’t miss out on the contact with other children.”

Charles looked at the twins and had to smile. “Just promise me to let me run the Navy Yard by myself, and I shall accede to your rule of my domestic life.”

“Oh, you! Somebody had to look after things whilst you were off on your pleasure cruise!” Suzanne gave back in a mock-offended voice, belying her impish grin.

Two hours later saw them sitting in the gardens at a large table laid for dinner. The sun was about to set, but torches were ready for lighting, and the air was pleasant and almost balmy. Charles understood immediately to what Suzanne had alluded: the gardens were a perfect setting for social events.

A second table had been set for the household staff, close but not too close, and their servants shared in the tasty rabbit stew their new cook was serving. There was something to be said for a command on a Mediterranean island, Charles found, enjoying both the food and the closeness with the women he loved. Alice was sitting across from him and regaled him with her newly acquired knowledge from Miss Powell’s private school. Apparently, the girls were currently given a thorough teaching of history, Greek and Roman myths, and the arts, using the numerous artefacts of which Malta could boast as examples.

Later that evening, Charles gave an account of his cruise to the eastern Mediterranean and even into the Black Sea, and it was a sombre moment, when he presented Suzanne and Alice with the water colour of Adam’s gravesite. Mother and daughter became teary, and Alice reached for his hand.

“You must promise to be careful whilst sailing, Grandfather. We all love you and need you.”

“I shall be mindful of that, my darling,” Charles replied. “I love all of you.”