26th May, Morning - The Great Cabin

Once inside the Great Cabin, Bolitho crossed to his desk, then turned to face the lieutenants assembled before him.

"Gentlemen, the events of this morning have been...interesting, to say the least," he began, "Now, obviously I know what has transpired most recently, but I must admit I am rather hazy on the earlier events. Mr. Bush gave me a decent overview, yet I feel as though there is a good deal more information that I may be missing. Before I decide on the best course to pursue, is there anything else that I should know?"

From the stoically blank expression on his face it seemed that Leat was not able, or willing, to contribute any further information.

"I'm afraid I recall precious little of anything, sir," Cartwright said apologetically.

"I told you what had transpired before you came on deck, sir," Bush said, keeping his expression neutral, "You witnessed all the rest."

[Argh, posted as the wrong character! ]

"So that's all, is it? That's all any of you have to say on the matter?" Bolitho frowned. "Well, if you're all certain of that, then I suppose I have nothing further to ask. But something tells me there is more to this affair than meets the eye. Perhaps I'm seeing things that are not there, but if so, then I would like to be certain of that."

He made a point to fix each of the lieutenants in turn with a stern glare as he spoke.

Cartwright keep his gaze fixed aft and said nothing.

Leat dared to speak up, if rather tentatively.

"What, do you suppose, sir, there might be to the matter that we are not telling you?"

"I cannot say, Mr. Leat, being as I am really rather in the dark." Bolitho raised an eyebrow slightly, Leat's comment making him wonder even more. "It only seems that there might have been a bit more to it than what I saw. But as I said, perhaps I am imagining things. If there is nothing more to tell, then there is nothing more to tell." He paused. "Is there truly nothing more to it?"

"Not concerning her, sir... No."

Leat paused, his guilt maybe getting the better of him.

"Except we thought she might be trying to do us ill, being so persistant with the wine and all, so we tested it on Lieutenant Deverel. I think that's all concerning her, sir."

The rest of the night's goings on, however...

A chuckle tickled in the back of Cartwright's throat. That poor idiot Deverel. He set his jaw in order to keep the chuckle contained. It would not do to break countenance in the presence of the ship's captain.

Bolitho blinked. She had been persistent with the wine? Had they seen Perry's wife ashore? All three lieutenants had been ashore the previous evening, so it was entirely possible, and it would explain her turning up at the ship seemingly out of the blue.

"Mr. Leat, are you saying that you saw Perry's wife while you were ashore? Did you know who she was? It seems she must have known you--or at least knew what ship you were from..."

Leat felt a gaping hole open in his stomach. It seemed, contrary to his supposition, that Bolitho did not know anything of the previous night's events - and that he had just royally put his foot in it.

"I, that is we, sir..."

He turned to Bush, raising his eyebrows with such an expression as if to say 'I thought you'd told him!'

Bush saw Leat's inquiring glance and caught his meaning right away. He had not told Bolitho of the previous night's events, partly due to the fact that he was rather embarrassed about it all, and partly due to the fact that he had not really had any opportunity to do so before Perry's wife had shown up. Even if he had had the chance, Bush most likely would not have told Bolitho about her anyway because he would not have thought it necessary. How was he supposed to have known that the woman would come all the way out to the ship? And more to the point, none of them had known it was Perry's wife until it was too late. But it was out in the open now, so obviously he had to say something.

"We did see her in the tavern while we were ashore, sir, but did not know who she was," Bush said at last, "She kept trying to give us wine. I assumed she was just a tavern wench who had taken a fancy to us for some reason. But she..." He paused to clear his throat, then finished rather quietly, "...she was more than a little interested in seeing our ship."

"And you did not find that suspicious? None of you found that suspicious?"

Bolitho gave them a skeptical look. He hesitated to think that perhaps they had been too drunk to give the matter much thought, but he certainly was not going to inquire about that.

"No sir. I did not."

That was all Bush could bring himself to say. A terrible sense of shame was welling up in him after hearing Bolitho's reproach. Even though he had been on shore leave, he still felt as though he had shirked his duty, and was being effectively reprimanded for it.

Having dropped his colleague in it so thoroughly, the other lieutenant felt it his duty to speak up for him.

"Please, sir, her manner was rather... forward, but in a way that we thought she was merely after business. She attempted to offer us wine, saying she sold it and perhaps we'd want some for the ship? She flirted shamelessly with Mr. Bush as she did so, sir, so - if you'll pardon my mentioning it, Mr. Bush - we thought she was only eager to secure custom; of one sort or the other."

"I see." Bolitho did not really fault them for not seeing the woman's ulterior motive. He had met his share of pushy tavern wenches, none of whom had ever had any motive beyond selling their wares. If he had been in the same situation, he most likely would have dismissed the woman's attentions as well.

He did have to resist the urge to chuckle as Leat mentioned that Perry's wife had been flirting with Bush. Somehow he could not picture the first lieutenant reacting very well to that.

"Well, she certainly succeeded in unloading her wine, at any rate, so I suppose her efforts paid off. Though I still wonder how she knew you were from the Terpsichore. I don't suppose any of you told her that while you...may not have had all your wits about you?"

Leat hoped that the silence from his messmates was merely that of agreement, not fury. He thought hard, trying to recall through the throb in his head the exact sequence of events last night - which was a little difficult. He certainly didn't remember how he got back on board, but this would have been before then; at the beginning of the evening when their heads had been a little clearer.

"I... do not think we did, sir. No. At least not by us. As I said earlier Lieutenant Deverel had joined the table and she was paying attentions to him. I was late to join the party and she seemed to know that we were from Terpsichore already..."

He threw an appealing look to Bush and Cartwright. He was clueless as to what had gone on before, and hoped to God that they could provide the captain with a satisfactorary answer.

"I believe it was Mister Deverel, sir, who is the guilty party there," Cartwright said, a little slowly. "He was quite free with his tongue, but considering the state he was in when I arrived, I am sure he was insensible of his lack of manners."

Bush was certain he had had his wits about him when the woman had begun bothering them, and he knew neither he nor Cartwright had said what ship they were from.

"Mr. Cartwright is correct, sir. It was Mr. Deverel who first said it. He hailed me over to the table by shouting about the Terpsichore. Anyone in the tavern would have overheard him, so it is not surprising that she did."

So Deverel had been the one to mention the Terpsichore. Somehow Bolitho was not surprised. Hearing all this, he was beginning to feel sorry that the lieutenants had had to deal with both Perry's wife and Deverel. An impetus for drinking if ever there was one.

"I had thought Mr. Deverel would have been gone by now," Bolitho remarked, "But it certainly makes sense that he would have been the one with the loose tongue. Obviously it was no fault of any of you that Perry's wife learned what ship you were from. If he was so free with that information, I hesitate to ask what else Mr. Deverel might have let slip..."

Bolitho almost wished that Deverel was there, if only so he could give him a sound tongue-lashing. He seemed to deserved it a lot more than any of the men assembled in the cabin.

"Most likely better off not knowing, sir," Cartwright offered, straight-faced.

Bolitho nodded. "Yes, perhaps so, Mr. Cartwright."

And here he had thought they would have been rid of Deverel by now. It seemed they would not be rid of him so easily if he was going to be causing them problems just by spouting off his drunken ramblings.

Leat silently agreed, and wondered idly whether Deverel had managed to get back to his ship alright last night. He certainly hadn't left with them, as did not care to give him a berth on the Terpsy for the night; it could be possible he was still in the tavern, fast asleep on the table where they'd left him.

"Have all your questions been answered, sir?" he asked, in the hope that no more embarrassing information about the previous evening's debauch would be necessary.