The Delfe Treasure

7. North from London

A week later — Monday, 18th May 1733

Following Elizabeth's recommendation, Aldrick had four new wheels crafted with broader felloes and tyre strakes to better handle the poor road conditions once through the last of the turnpikes. The two better of the old wheels were lashed firmly to the rear of the carriage when in the early morning of the third Monday in May, they left St James.

Judith sat with Wilson on the coachman's seat atop the carriage as he guided the horses through the archway and into the busy street. Inside, Elizabeth leaned against Aldrick's chest and heaved a contented sigh. "I have always relished the beginning of a journey — and its end. It is the parts between which are tedious. Is it the same at sea?"

"No, at sea, we are forever occupied, allowing no opportunity for boredom. But here, we have little to do but enjoy each other's company." He pulled her closer and kissed her hair. "But up top, Wilson has a duty to perform, and so does Mistress Hodgins — Judith." He chuckled. "She seems a sensible woman." 

"I told her if Father discovers our ruse and refuses to pay her, I will pay and defend her as having followed my orders. Her presence maintains our appearance to others, but her discretion benefits my health, my soul." 

"What will she do once we are wed?"

"I enjoy her company, and I have asked her to stay on as my lady's maid for a few months. I have dared not mention my going to sea lest she let it slip."

"Is she aware Wilson is going?"

Elizabeth bolted upright to gaze into Aldrick's eyes. "He is? You have not told me. Nor has Judith." 

"He was Second Officer on our last voyage, and he will replace me as First as I become Captain." 

"So, he is one of the descendants?"

"He is. As are all the staff in both my house and Grandfather's."

Elizabeth remained quiet as she absorbed this new information, laying her head again on Aldrick's chest before speaking. "I sense that last voyage was with your father. You seem always to skip over anything involving him."

"It was. And I do." He heaved a heavy sigh, pulling Elizabeth tighter to him. After a long pause, he continued, "I have dealt with it by ignoring, but you are now showing me this has not worked."

She remained silent, stroking his cheek, waiting for him to continue.

"Returning from the Bahamas last summer, our ship struck a shoal near the mouth of the Medway."

"Where is the Medway?"

"About forty miles downstream from Deptford. The river flows into the approaches to the Thames, and with its water flows silt which settles in shifting shoals."

"Like the sandbanks you have explained? Always moving?"

"Yes, but in the Thames approaches, the edges of the shoals are marked with warning floats. We arrived near low water, and we needed to wait until the commencement of the flood tide before continuing upriver."

"You have mentioned the tides and shown them to me at the shipyard, but you have not explained the constant rise and fall."

"They are still not well explained. Since ancient times, they have been associated with the position and phases of the moon. But the irregular relationship had confounded thinkers through the ages until recently. Sir Isaac Newton's theory of gravitas attributed their cause to the earth's relationship with not only the moon, but also with the sun."

"So, can they now be predicted?"

"The timing is rather imprecise as we have seen at Deptford. Two lows and two highs each day, but at irregular intervals." 

"And we have noted some highs are higher than others, and lows lower." 

"They are, and they vary around the globe. In the Bahamas, we see only two feet. But on the Medway Shoals, there can be as much as twenty feet of variation between high and low. And at Deptford, only forty miles upriver, the range can be as much as twenty-four feet."

"So, your ship and the shoal at Medway?"

"It is common for returning ships lay at anchor there to await the rising tide to assist their way up the Thames."

"And your father did this?" 

"He did. But as we later learned, a recent storm had torn free the marks warning the edge of the shoal and moved them across the shallows. As we sailed onto our anchor, we took to the shoal edge in surprise. After we had floated free on the rising tide, the hold was reported awash." 

"Awash?"

"Filled with water. A hull plank had sprung, and even with our efforts to staunch the gap, and with all pumps manned, we could not keep up with the flooding."

"So, the ship was sinking? What did he do?"

"A captain's responsibility is to the ship, and then to the safety of the crew. When he saw the ship was lost, he ordered the longboats launched, and he assisted us into them." Aldrick shuddered. "When we reached the riverbank, he was not in either boat."

Elizabeth again remained silent, caressing Aldrick and allowing him his uninterrupted thoughts.

"As we rowed ashore, we watched her masts leaning steeply upriver in the current, her hull nearly awash. Our attempts to row back to the ship were defeated until the incoming tide had eased." He shook his head. "I had hoped he would be riding the hull or clinging to a mast." 

Aldrick took a deep breath and slowly released it. "We searched the shore, hoping he had swum." He shook his head then fell silent, staring out the window as the carriage rolled along Tiburn Lane past Hyde Park.

Elizabeth lay still against his chest waiting for his breathing to calm, and when it had, she reached up and wiped the tears from his cheeks. "You have not spoken about your mother, and you need not now. Just be aware I am interested to know about her, as well as more about your father."

He nodded, swallowing to clear the constriction in his throat. "She was left frail after delivering another daughter ten years ago, and she was unable to recover her strength."

"And the baby?"

"She survived only a few days, and with her passing, Mother appears to have lost all will."

Elizabeth grimaced. "Oh, dear. My inquisitiveness has again run rampant. I am so sorry for having led you to these thoughts."

Aldrick turned his face from the window to gaze down into Elizabeth's eyes. "You need not be sorry. These are things I need to face, and with your help, I will."

"We have four days in here with little to do but share fond memories from our pasts and to make some fonder memories of our present." She wiggled her bosom into his chest as she stretched up to kiss him. "Have you ever done it in a moving carriage?"