Part 30 (1/2)

He turned back to the table, reached for the Declaration, and shoved it toward Powlett. ”I think you'd do well to peruse this, sir. There's a tone of defiance here that's unsettling. I don't know if it's genuine, or a bluff. It's the unknowns that trouble me now, the d.a.m.ned uncertainties.”

Those uncertainties, he found himself thinking, went far beyond Barbados. According to the first steps of Cromwell's plan, after this centerpiece of the Caribbees had been subdued, part of the fleet was to continue on to any other of the settlements that remained defiant. But Cromwell's advisors felt that would probably not be necessary: after Barbados acknowledged the Commonwealth, the rest of the colonies were expected to follow suit. Then the Western Design could be set into motion, with Calvert's s.h.i.+pboard infantry augmented by fighting men from the island.

The trouble with Cromwell's scheme, he now realized, was that it worked both ways. If Barbados succeeded in defying England's new government, then Virginia, Bermuda, the other

islands of the Caribbees, all might also disown the Commonwealth. There even was talk they might try attaching themselves to Holland. It would be the end of English taxes and trade anywhere in the Americas except for that scrawny settlement of fanatic Puritans up in ”New England.”

There would surely be no hope for the Western Design to succeed, and Edmond Calvert would be remembered as the man who lost England's richest lands.

While Powlett studied the Declaration, skepticism growing on his face, Calvert turned back to the window and stared at the rainswept harbor, where a line of Dutch merchant fluyts bobbed at anchor.

Good G.o.d. That's the answer. Maybe we can't land infantry, but we most a.s.suredly can go in and take those d.a.m.ned Dutchmen and their cargo.

They're bound to have provisions aboard. It's our best hope for keeping up the blockade. And taking them will serve another purpose, too. It'll send the Commonwealth's message loud and clear to all Holland's merchants: that trade in English settlements is for England.

”There's presumption here, sir, that begs for a reply.” The vice admiral tossed the Declaration back onto the table. ”I still say the fittest answer is with powder and shot. There's been enough paper sent ash.o.r.e already.”

”I'm still in command, Mr. Powlett, whether you choose to approve or no. There'll be no more ordnance used till we're sure there's no other way.” He walked back to the table and slumped wearily into his chair.

Already waiting in front of him were paper and an inkwell. What, he asked himself, would he write? How could he describe the bright new future that awaited a full partners.h.i.+p between England and these American settlers?

The colonies in the Caribbees and along the Atlantic seaboard were merely England's first foothold in the New World. Someday they would be part of a vast empire stretching the length of the Americas. The holdings of Spain would fall soon, and after that England would likely declare war against Holland and take over Dutch holdings as well. There was already talk of that in London. The future was rich and wide, and English.

I just have to make them see the future. A future of partners.h.i.+p, not defiance; one that'll bring wealth to England and prosperity to her colonies. They have to be made to understand that this Declaration is the first and last that'll ever be penned in the Americas.

He turned and dismissed Powlett with a stiff nod. Then he listened a moment longer to the drumbeat of tropical rain on the deck above. It sounded wild now, uncontrollable, just like the spirits of nature he sensed lurking above the brooding land ma.s.s off his portside bow. Would this dark, lush island of the Caribbees harken to reason? Or would it foolishly choose to destroy itself with war?

He sighed in frustration, inked his quill, and leaned forward to write.

The a.s.sembly Room was crowded to capacity, its dense, humid air rank with sweating bodies. Above the roar of wind and rain against the shutters, arguments sounded the length of the long oak table. Seated down one side and around the end were the twenty-two members of the a.s.sembly; across from them were the twelve members of the Council. At the back of the room milled others who had been invited. Winston was there, along with Anthony Walrond and Katherine.

Dalby Bedford was standing by the window, holding open the shutters and squinting through the rain-swept dusk as he studied the mast lights of the wars.h.i.+ps encircling the harbor. He wiped the rain and sweat from his face with a large handkerchief, then turned and walked back to his chair at the head of the table.

”Enough, gentlemen. We've all heard it already.” He waved his hand for quiet. ”Let me try and sum up. Our Declaration has been delivered, which means we've formally rejected all their terms as they now stand.

The question before us tonight is whether we try and see if there's room for negotiation, or whether we refuse a compromise and finish preparing to meet an invasion.”

Katherine listened to the words and sensed his uneasiness. She knew what his real worries were: how long would it be before the awkward peace between the Council and the a.s.sembly fell apart in squabbling?

What terms could the admiral of the fleet offer that would split the island, giving enough of the planters an advantage that they would betray the rest? Who would be the first to waver?

The opening terms sent ash.o.r.e by Edmond Calvert had sent a shock wave across Barbados--its standing a.s.sembly and Council were both to be dissolved immediately. In future, England's New World settlements would be governed through Parliament. A powerless new Council would be appointed from London, and the a.s.sembly, equally impotent, would eventually be filled by new elections scheduled at the pleasure of Commons. Added to that were the new ”Navigation Acts,” bringing high English prices and s.h.i.+pping fees. The suddenly ripening plum of the Americas would be plucked.

The terms, signed by the admiral, had been ferried ash.o.r.e by longboat and delivered directly to Dalby Bedford at the compound. Members of Council and the a.s.sembly had already been gathering in the a.s.sembly Room by then, anxious to hear the conditions read.

Katherine remembered the worry on the governor's face as he had finished dressing to go down and read the fleet's ultimatum. ”The first thing I have to do is get them to agree on something, anything. If they start quarreling again, we're good as lost.”

”Then try to avoid the question of recognizing Parliament.” She'd watched him search for his plumed hat and rose to fetch it from the corner stand by the door. ”I suspect most of the Council would be tempted to give in and do that, on the idea it might postpone a fight and give them time to finish this year's sugar while they appeal to Parliament to soften the terms.”

”Aye. The sugar's all they care about. That's why I think we best go at it backwards.” He'd reached for his cane and tested it thoughtfully against the wide boards of the floor. ”I think I'll start by raising that business in the Navigation Acts about not letting the Dutchmen trade. Not a man in the room'll agree to that, not even the Council.

I'll have them vote to reject those, then see if that'll bring us enough unity to proceed to the next step.”