“Nine days ago, ten if I count today, I was at my house in Dumbarton making ready to retire for the night. I have lived there alone since my wife died. I have no children. Anyway, I did as I always do. I carried the cat out into the street and stood a minute to view the sky. It was a quiet night with a piece moon. I saw no one and heard no one, but as I walked back inside a man walked with me and so tight to me and so silent I swear I took him at first for my own shadow. As I have said, he was not a large man. A runtish, bandy-legged devil. But he carried a gun with him, a carbine of some type, and though everything was strange to me at that moment, I did not doubt that he would use it. He shut the door, bolted it, never took his eyes off me. We went into the parlour. There was a lamp in there. He stood me by the lamp, stood himself in the shadows. He said he had urgent business with John Lacroix, an officer of hussars, with whom he had lately been in Spain. Well, I knew Lacroix was your name. William Swann had told me that much. Your giving a false name to our visitor from the frigate was, I assumed, some matter I did not need to enquire into. And when you kept your mouth shut about my sailor I was grateful to you. Grateful enough to let the pretence continue.”

“And this man,” said Lacroix, afraid his hearing would deepen the confusion, that this story, wild enough already, would grow wilder through his failing to hear it. “He gave his name as Henderson?”

“He did.”

“And he had some business with me? What business?”

“Is that not for you to tell me? He had followed you from Spain to Scotland, man! You ask me to believe you have no notion of the reason for it?”

“I was in Spain,” said Lacroix. “I was on the campaign with General Moore, was evacuated from Corunna with what remained of the army. All that is true. Then, when I reached home . . . I was . . . ”

“Are you still in the army?” asked the master.

“What?”

“In the army. Are you still one of theirs?”

“I have not . . . formally . . . ”

“So that is why you did not give Crawley up. You are in the same scrape! But I’d say this Henderson has other things on his mind. Unless they send such creatures after all who jump ship, in which case they would need a great many.”

“He knew,” asked Lacroix, “that I had come with you on the Jenny?”

“He did.”

“How would he know that?”

“How did the navy know we had Crawley on board? Every dockside in the world is full of men who make a living selling what they see there. I’d say you were noticed.”