Rough Passage to London(132)

Morgan stared intently at Nanvers. “You actually thought my brother was alive, and that he survived the shipwreck?”

“We thought it highly unlikely, but we couldn’t take the chance.”

“Why was he so important? Surely there are others who knew your secrets.”

“None who knew my name. Unfortunately, your brother Abraham stumbled on papers which mentioned my name as the purchaser of slave cargoes. No one else knew that or knows that today, not even our trading partners.”

“Still, what harm could a blind man possibly have done to you, Lord Nanvers?”

“I am surprised that you don’t know the answer to that, Morgan. It is very simple really. The answer is . . .” He paused as he slapped the head of his cane on the palm of his hand. “The answer, my dear Captain Morgan, is you.”

Nanvers smiled at the confused look on Morgan’s face. “If somehow Abraham were alive, we knew you might eventually find him and then we would have a problem. You would not have been content to keep a secret. Am I right, Captain?”

Morgan was silent.

“Now that I have been so candid with you, Captain, and divulged all of our secrets, I think you understand the seriousness of my proposal. You are a smart man, Morgan. You must realize you have no choice but to join our business syndicate. Am I being perfectly clear, Captain?”

Morgan was boiling inside. He looked up at Nanvers and said firmly, “It does sound like you are not aware, Lord Nanvers, that the Hydra was shipwrecked on the rocky shoreline of the French island of Ouessant. All on board are reported lost. That includes your son, William Blackwood, and your two business associates, Captain James Stryker and Tom Edgars. If you don’t believe me, look in today’s paper.”

There was a deathly silence in the room as the two men stared at each other with long penetrating looks, each taking careful measure of the other. Morgan took some satisfaction in noticing that Lord Nanvers’s lips were quivering and his hands were shaking.





30





Morgan caught a cab early in the morning for the docks. As was customary, he had stayed at the Queens Hotel, where many of the American packet ship captains lodged when they came ashore in London. The coolness of the morning air rejuvenated him, and he took off his black beaver top hat to feel the breeze on his head. The driver slapped the reins, and soon the clattering hooves of the horses and the already busy streets of London jolted him awake. More than two weeks had passed since his confrontation with Lord Nanvers. At first, he didn’t think he would survive another day. He was sure he would be killed. He had said nothing about Nanvers’s confession to Leslie. He knew he was in serious danger, but he had tried to put that fear out of his mind. He still felt guilty about the Hydra, sad for all the innocent sailors who had died. But he also felt relieved that there were fewer men who wanted him dead. With Stryker, Edgars, and Blackwood gone, he guessed Nanvers would be uncertain about his next move.

Today was departure day. He was looking forward to going home to see his family. It was becoming harder for him to be away. The children always plaintively asked their mother when their father would be home. He had invited the usual group for the daylong cruise down the Thames, everyone except Nanvers. A late breakfast with plenty of refreshments would be served on the quarterdeck. Only a handful of the Sketching Club artists could make it. Dickens wrote to Morgan that he would be bringing some artists he worked with, including Frank Stone and Hablot Browne. They were going to do sketches of the emigrants. Thackeray was also coming with the well-known illustrator Richard Doyle from Punch and his editor, Tom Taylor. Leslie had sent word he would be there even though he was busy with commissioned paintings. Morgan didn’t have the courage to tell his old friend that this might well be one of his last regular journeys down the Thames as a packet ship captain. He was seriously thinking of accepting Griswold’s offer to join him as a manager for the Black X shipping line. He would be coming ashore for the sake of Eliza and the children.

As his cab pulled up to his ship, Morgan was alarmed at the sight of Constable Pinkleton with his small battalion of police officers. They were ready to begin their inspection of what looked like a full shipload of emigrants. Pinkleton was already writing down a list of all the sailors and the emigrants. Morgan wondered if perhaps he was looking for Hiram. Worse still, he could be looking for him. To his surprise, he learned that Pinkleton seemed more interested in the whereabouts of Lord Nanvers than he was about the sailors and the emigrants. He asked why, but the policeman didn’t answer. It was at this point Morgan became aware of a small man dressed formally in a long black coat, white shirt, and cravat who was clearly waiting to speak with him at the gangway.