Her voice sounded muffled and Ramage, glancing at her reflection, saw that she had been crying again. She tried to smile but suddenly began sobbing, waving to the maid to leave the room as she buried her face in her hands.
Ramage stood helpless for a moment and then, as he heard the maid shut the door, put his hands gently on her shoulders.
"Oh Nicholas," she wailed, "I've been so worried!"
"Why, what happened?" he asked in surprise.
She dropped her hands and stared at his reflection in the mirror, her eyes wide. She looked so startled that Ramage gave a nervous laugh. In one movement she stood up, turned and threw her arms round him.
"It doesn’t matter what I was worrying about," she murmured, burying her face in his shoulder. "Tell me what the Admiral said."
"Oh - well, everything's all right."
With that she pushed him away, holding him at arm's length, and smiled up at him.
" 'Everything's all right,'" she mimicked. "Nicholas - for days and weeks the St Brieuc family have been dreading the moment when you reported to the Admiral. My father has needed brandy to help him through this afternoon; my mother has taken to her bed. I myself lay on my bed and wept" - she waved at the rumpled counterpane - "and I've sat in that chair and wept. And finally" - she began sobbing again - "you march in as though there had never been anything to worry about and announce 'Everything's all right'!"
Before she started speaking Ramage had been dumbfounded to find her in tears and now he stood in front of the almost hysterical girl in total silence.
"Nicholas," she said quietly, "you are without doubt le plus grand bumpkin I've ever met. Why I should fall in love with you I don't know. But if 'Everything's all right,' then please kiss me!"
Fifteen minutes later, by which time she had bathed her eyes and powdered her face in an attempt to hide all traces of both tears and kisses, she called the maid back and Ramage left to find the Duke.
He was sitting in the large drawing-room playing chess with Yorke and watched by the Count de Chambéry. The moment they saw Ramage all three men stood up, looking at him questioningly.
Ramage grinned sheepishly. "I've just seen Maxine. I didn't realize that-"
When he broke off the Duke said: "Was your visit to the Admiral - ah, satisfactory?"
"Very. I get a new ship and I have a month's leave."
"I should think so," Yorke said. "Does that mean Sir Pilcher is abandoning his friend Goddard?"
Ramage nodded. "If I get the ship, it means that Goddard has been abandoned very publicly."
"A wise man, Sir Pilcher," the Duke commented. "So perhaps the vendetta is over now."
"I think so."
The Duke picked up the black knight from the board. "The knight's move, two ahead and one to the side ... that sums up Goddard's way of life: he can do nothing directly. But, like the knight, he cannot change his moves."
Ramage suddenly remembered the convoy conference on board the Lion at Barbados: the canvas covering the cabin floor had been painted in black and white squares, chessboard fashion, and Goddard had reminded him of the knight and Croucher of the bishop.
"By the way," the Duke said, "one of the guests at dinner last night offered us the use of a big estate house up in the mountains: it belongs to his brother, who is away in England for a year. It is very beautiful up there, and cool."
Ramage's face fell. He wondered whether some of Maxine's tears had been shed at the thought of their early separation ...
As though he had read Ramage's thoughts, the Duke said: "We were planning to leave tomorrow. The Admiral has given you a month's leave - will you spend it with us?"
A month in the mountains with Maxine. A few weeks ago he was fighting a hurricane; a few hours ago he was being court-martialled; a few minutes ago he was manoeuvring with the Commander-in-Chief. It was hard to take it all in...
"You'll have to put up with my company, too," Yorke said blithely. "I've been invited and assured that the shooting up there is splendid!"
Could they be interpreting Ramage's silence as reluctance to accept the invitation? He bowed to the Duke. "Thank you," he muttered.
"Good - my wife and daughter will be delighted," the Duke said. "We did not accept the offer at once because we wanted to be certain that your affairs at Admiralty House had been arranged to everyone's satisfaction."
The slight emphasis on the word "everyone" told Ramage that there had been pressure on Sir Pilcher from Government House. The Duke's influence, combined with a knowledge of all the facts, had been enough to mobilize the Lieutenant Governor and the Attorney-General.
"I'll leave you to finish your game of chess," Ramage said, and went back to his room to wash and change.
A month in the Jamaican mountains with Maxine! The house would be crowded - the Duke and Duchess, Chambéry, Yorke ... It might be the most tantalizing month of his life, with no opportunity to see her alone. It might be the most glorious...