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"Ay," assented Radlett, "well met, beef or mutton." Ingrow euphemized, "I shall be well content with bread and cheese and dreams," as he glanced admiration at Brilliana. Bardon grunted, "I would sell all my dreams for a slice of cold boar's head." Halfman addressed them in the character of Father Capulet. "We have a trifling foolish banquet towards."
Lord Fawley gasped as the virago swaggered towards his companions, and young Ingrow popped his handkerchief into his mouth and bit at it while he stared with eyes of nursery wonder at the dame. Radlett winked as if dazzled by the whimsical apparition, and Sir Rufus, familiar with Mrs. Satchell and her vagaries, was the only member of his party who kept his countenance unchanged on her entrance.
"Old Si Radlett," as he was generally called, was something of a character in Millbay and its immediate neighbourhood, for, in addition to being admittedly the best builder of ships in all Devon, he was a bit of an eccentric, a man with bold and original ideas upon many subjects, a man of violent likes and dislikes, a bachelor, an exceedingly shrewd man of business, and some said a miser.
What do 'e think of her?" "Upon my word I hardly know," answered George. "Let me look her over a bit, Mr Radlett, before you ask my opinion of her. Is she finished?" "Finished?" reiterated the old man. "Iss, sure; quite finished, and all ready for launching. Why? Do 'e miss anything?" "Why, yes," said George; "I see neither fore nor after castles. How is that?"
"And, supposin' that they should deliver up your brother at the first town you call at San Juan de Ulua, I think you named the place what'll you do then, boy?" demanded Radlett. "I shall still require compensation for my brother's seizure," replied George.
It was of course impossible to keep the fact of her fitting-out an absolute secret from everybody, so when inquisitive people came prowling about the wharf, asking all sorts of inconvenient questions, old Radlett gave them to understand, with many nods and winks of mystery, that he had it in his mind to see what could be done with her in the way of a trading voyage to the eastern Indies, where, he understood, pots of money were to be made by those who were willing to take a little risk.
Ingrow commented, smoothly, maliciously: "You see, the gentleman does not drink." Ingrow's words fanned the Cavalier fire. "Damn him for a disloyal rat!" Radlett shouted. Halfman elbowed his way past him and addressed Rufus. "Sweet Sir Rufus," he said, "I have lived in places where a little persuasion has often led folk to act much against their personal inclinations and desires.
The partition of the treasure was immediately proceeded with; and so enormous was its amount that even the lowest grade of mariner received sufficient to render him independent in a modest way for the remainder of his life, while as for George, he was after old Simon Radlett, the owner of the Nonsuch easily the richest man in all Plymouth, his share being sufficient not only for his own needs but also for those of his brother Hubert, with whom he insisted upon an equal division, despite the energetic and long-continued protests of the elder brother.
For a time there was a possibility that George's exploits on the Spanish Main and at Panama might involve him in serious trouble with the Queen; indeed he and old Simon Radlett were summoned to London to give an account of themselves.
Sir Rufus Quaryll, her neighbor and hot lover; the Lord Fawley, who had vainly wooed her for wife; Sir John Radlett, who had the sense to love her and the sense to hold his tongue; Captain Bardon, the bold and bluff; and young Lord Richard Ingrow, with the delicate, girlish face that masked the amazing rake.
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