The longboat arrived alongside, and while hands secured the strops to the litter, a voice called from the boat, "Je vous remercier, mon seigneur. Dieu vous bénisse."

"I called down to the man, "D'ou venez vous?"

"De La Rochelle."

"Comment êtes-vous arrivé ici?"

He turned and pointed northward. "Naufragé sur les rochers."

I said to Charles, "French from La Rochelle. Wrecked on the rocks."

Then I asked the man, "Y en a-t-il d'autres?"

"Il ne reste que nous quatre."

"Only the four of them remain. Oh, dear God! What horrors they must have endured."

"Ask about the one in the litter."

"L'invalid? Comment est-il blessé?"

"Il est tombé et s'est cassé une jambe et un bras."

"Fell and broke a leg and an arm."

Charles grimaced, then he pointed. "Doc is already at the bulwarks."

"Nous avons un médecin pour le soigner."

"Dieu et la Vierge Marie vous bénissent, Madame."

We remained quiet while the crude litter was slung aboard. Then Charles turned to Mister Cogswell. "While Doctor Stevens tends to the injured, have the other three escorted to my cabin."

"Aye, Sir. Three to your cabin."

When Cogswell had left, Charles led me below, and at the bottom of the steps, I said, "You may pause your dusting now, Olivia; we have guests soon arriving."

"Aye, m'Lady." She smiled, then she pursed her lips and frowned. "I'm sposta open the door when they knock, ain't I? I ain't never done it afore. What do I say?"

"You need to learn who they are and why they have knocked, then when you know, tell Captain. Remember, you are opening the door for him, and he needs to decide whether or not he wishes to see them at the moment." I paused to think how best she might phrase it. "Ask them, who may I say has knocked and for what reason?"

"Oh, thank you, m'Lady. Who may I say has knocked and for what reason. Who may I say has knocked and for what reason." She shrugged and grinned. "Richard said saying it three or more times makes it easy ta remember. Who may I say has knocked and for what reason. Who may I say has knocked and for what reason."

I smiled at her eagerness; then I turned as Charles asked, "Where shall we receive them, Camille? Chairs by the windows or at the table?"

"By the windows is less formal, and it would allow them a sense of ease and relief."

"Excellent! Yes, they have endured a terribly distressing adventure."

I turned to Olivia. "Assist me with moving more chairs..." I paused at the knock on the door. "No, rather go respond to the knock."

"Aye, m'Lady."

Charles carried two chairs and I one, and we were arranging them in a large circle with the others when Olivia rushed across the cabin toward us. "Captain, Sir, Mid Edwards is at the door with three men he was told you wanted ta see."

"Excellent. Bring the three here."

"Aye, Sir. Three, but not Mid Edwards."

Charles and I stifled chuckles as she hastened away, then I said, "Seems Richard has been teaching her how to respond to orders."

"Indeed. Such an eager maiden."

A short while later, Olivia led three men across toward us, all in soiled and tattered clothing and all gawping at the sumptuousness of their surroundings. Charles stepped forward and offered his hand to the first one, then to the other two, and I said, "Voici le capitaine Betheson. Quels sont vos noms?"

The portly, grey-haired man who had spoken from the boat, replied, "Je suis Sieur Bernard des Moulins," then pointing to two men with him, he continued, "Ils n'ont pas d'importance."

They have no importance? This shocked me, so I turned to them and asked, "Comment vous appelez-vous?"

The taller one answered, "Louis," and the other, "François."

To counter Bernard's pomposity, I said, "Et je suis Dame Camille de La Trémoille et Cavendish." I extended a hand toward the chairs. "Asseyons-nous. Soit à l'aise."

When we were all seated, I asked Bernard, "Do you understand English?"

His shrug and quizzical expression appeared to have answered. Then to confirm, I asked, "Comprenez-vous l'anglais?"

He shook his head. "Non, le français est la supérieur langue, donc ce n'est pas nécessaire."

Oh, God! The attitude. Regardless, I asked him about the wreck, "La naufrage. Comment est-ce arrivé?"

Bernard related a series of terrible misadventures, and I asked him to pause so I could translate for Charles, "In the middle of the night, in strong winds and heavy rain, their ship struck the rocks in the passage north of here, and it overset. Those in the water or atop the wreck managed to cut free a longboat as the ship flooded and settled to the bottom. He said that many were trapped below decks when the ship sank."

I asked Bernard to continue, and again I translated, "Only about twenty made it into the boat before it was blown away by the wind with neither sweeps nor sails to guide their way. The area is shallow with many rocks, most unseen not far beneath the surface, and as their ship had done, their longboat struck one and was pierced and then overturned. Only a few could swim, and most were last seen clinging to the boat as the wind and current swept it westward. Five of them made it to a group of exposed rocks, and they rested there until the storm had passed."

Charles blew a deep breath as he nodded. "When was this?"

I asked Bernard, "Quand est-ce arrivé?"

"Il y a six jours."

"They wrecked six days go. That would have been during the rain when we met Santiago."

"Aye, it arrived in a fierce blow before midnight, then it eased to heavy rain by dawn."

"Oh! I slept through the tempest."

"You did, and so beautifully." He sighed and smiled. "Ask him how they made it to this islet."

"Et de là à ici?"

Bernard related the events, and again, I retold them to Charles. "When the storm had passed and they had daylight, they swam from the rocks to a shallow reef, where they waded until it became too deep. They swam again, and as they neared the next group of rocks, a shark took one of them, leaving the four." I winced again at the thought.

"They remained on those rocks for four days, gathering the courage to cross the remaining distance to the land."

Charles nodded. "Either do nothing and perish or take action for a chance at salvation."

"Indeed, the will to continue." Knowing they had made it to the islet, I asked Bernard when they had reached the cabin, and I told Charles, "They arrived only this afternoon. When they had made it across, they spent a day searching for food and trying to catch fish, all without success. This morning, they came along the leeward side of the point hoping to find some, and in the excitement of seeing the hulks, one slipped and tumbled down a sea cliff. They tried to carry him, but there was too much pain, so they crafted a litter, and with him in it, they arrived at the cabin."

Charles stroked his beard. "Too complex and detailed to be a picaroon fabrication."

"But that they are French, also proves their truth."

"No, not so. There were French and Spanish among them – both the pirates and their slaves. Ask him their cargo and their destination."

"Que portiez-vous et quelle était votre destination?"

"Nous étions à Saint-Domingue avec des animaux; chevaux, bovins, esclaves, porcs."

Oh, dear God! "Bound for Saint-Domingue with slaves, which he considers as animals. They also carried horses, cattle and hogs."

Charles pursed his lips and nodded. "For their new colony there. Sugar plantations. Ask his position aboard. Of the others, as well."

"Quel était votre fonction à bord?"

"Je suis le patron. Je possédais les bêtes et ceux sous actes de contrats."

I indicated the other two men. "Et les deux ici?

"Ils sont les miens. Sous contrat à moi."

"Et le blessé?"

"Il n'est pas à moi. Il appartient au navire."

"He owned the slaves, the indentured passengers and the animals. The injured one was among the ship's crew, but these two are his."

Charles heaved a sigh. "Are you convinced?"

"I am. None would fabricate such a disgusting tale about themselves. Also, these two appear near starved, yet he is grotesquely corpulent."

"Indeed. We have learnt enough." Charles stood and crossed the cabin to the chart table, uncovered the voice pipe and blew the whistle.