26th May, morning at anchor

"See for yerself," Perry said amiably, handing it to the marine officer. At his side, Madalena offered Cartwright a sweet smile of recognition without rancor.

He took the paper and read it, and frowned deeply. "Ought to see this, sirs," he said tonelessly, holding the paper out to the sea officers.

Though he did not blame Leat for having shouted at Perry, Bush did wish he had done it in a slightly less loud tone. His head was pounding fiercely now, all this aggravation not helping one bit. (Surely shouting had not helped Leat's head either, come to think of it.)

Bush saw the paper that Cartwright was holding, but as much as he wanted to see it, he knew he could not take it before the Captain had a chance to peruse it. Instead, he continued to simply glower at Perry as much as possible.

While Bolitho appreciated Leat's courtesy, there was really no need for him to apologise for shouting. He had only been on deck for short time, but already he was extremely aggravated with Perry. The smug grin on the sailor's face was only making it worse.

Accepting the paper that Cartwright was holding out, Bolitho grew even more upset. It was an official protection certificate, signed and dated by an American Public Notary, declaring that Perry really was an American citizen. They could no longer contest his citizenship, could no longer accuse him of being a deserter from the Royal Navy. Grimacing, Bolitho re-read the certificate, but there was nothing even remotely suspect about it.

"Well Perry, it seems you actually were telling the truth," he said at last, lowering the paper and glaring at the sailor instead. In a much lower, much more forced tone he added, "Do accept my apologies."

As Bolitho read the certificate, Bush peered over at it. It seemed official. It seemed to be something they could not argue with. The thought of having to let Perry go now--especially when he was looking so damned smug--was positively infuriating.

But then Bush remembered something. Perry had made such a fuss about wanting to provide for his bloody wife that he had offered to sign on as a volunteer in order to receive more pay. According to the ship's book--which was every bit as official as that certificate--Perry had voluntarily joined the crew. That was something which his "protection" did not cover.

"Perry may have told the truth about his nationality and his marriage, sir, but I don't think he should be ready to depart just yet," Bush said to Bolitho. Then he turned to Perry and offered the sailor a rather smug grin of his own, "Do you recall what happened when you signed in, Perry? Do you recall that you offered to join as a volunteer, in hopes of earning more money?"

That was interesting. Nothing was ever clean cut and simple, was it? Cartwright glanced down at the weather deck and caught the eye of one of the Marines who'd come topside after the surgeon. A slight nod was all it took to send the man to stand by the entry-port and block the path to the side ladder, though the Marine went about it with remarkable casualness.

Hearing Bush's words a nasty little joy blossomed in Leat's bosom. Perry had signed on as a volunteer, hadn't he? Which meant that all this display and ruckus was not only pointless, but would now have to be paid for under Naval discipline - and as soon as that dawned on Perry, Leat reckoned things were going to get very interesting.

A quick glance at the entry port made him see that Cartwright had everything under control, and Leat tranferred his attention back to Perry, waiting to see what the man would do.

Perry's face lost a touch of happiness and gained an edge of apprehension. Still, he exuded confidence that this was only a slight setback. "But sir," he gently protested, responding to Bush but also including the captain. "That was only after bein' kidnapped unlawfully and falsely arrested and put in irons and all. Only after bein' told I had no choice but to stay." His wife frowned and asked for an explanation in her own language, but he held up a hand to quiet her.

"But you are a volunteer, Perry. The one factor has no bearing on the other."

"But sir!" he protested again, his voice growing more anxious. "You all - I'm not sayin' as anyone did it on purpose, now - but the navy did a crime against me!"

His wife loudly persisted in demanding an explanation of the problem. He spoke a few brief words, and then her eyes glittered in silent rage. It was fortunate that the officers were still holding his certificate or she would have torn it to pieces on the spot. Of course she could do no such thing to the Bible in her arm, being a pious woman, so she contented herself with slapping her husband hard across the face.

Leat barely suppressed a smirk; and by the looks of things the other officers were rather enjoying the sight too.

Perry put a hand to his face in surprise and then grabbed her wrist as she prepared to hit him again. The Bible saved him from attack by her other hand.

"Madalena!" he exclaimed. "I did it for you, though, and sent you that money! O dinheiro, para tu!"

She responded by hurling abuse at him in her own tongue, speaking so rapidly that he could barely understand. Her voice and her face, though, made the meaning quite clear.

Now this was an interesting sight, Bush thought. And after she had come all the way out to the ship too. Obviously she had not appreciated Perry's attempt to earn her more money. But despite it being a decidedly enjoyable sight, the woman was making too much of a ruckus, and Bush was not going to tolerate that going on right in front of the Captain.

"Perry, will you please control your wife?" he snapped, before continuing his explanation, "Whether or not the Navy did any crime against you is irrelevant. You signed on as a volunteer, which means you joined the crew of your own free will. Thus your certificate has no bearing on the matter, and you are still a part of the ship's company." He stared hard at Perry as he added, "And as such, you may be subject to any punishment the Captain may see fit to order for having caused such an unecessary uproar."

Perry stared at Bush in utter dismay. Losing some of her fire, his wife began now to cry instead, leaning her head on Perry's shoulder and weeping into his shirt.

"Sir. I didn't go to cause an uproar, honest," he said in unusual quiet humility, stroking his wife's damp head abstractedly. "I didn't even know she was comin' today. How could I."

"How indeed?" Leat muttered darkly to himself. No one beyond the quarterdeck overheard this comment, though.

Perry knew it was a futile question, but he asked it anyway. "Can't I just give the bounty back and go?"

"I'm afraid not, Perry. You have been signed into the ship's company. That is a binding contract which cannot be broken simply by giving back the bounty." Bush glanced at the weeping woman. "Feel free to explain that to your wife."

Bolitho had been watching the spectacle with a mixture of anger and sadness. He felt sorry for the woman, especially after she had made such an effort to come out to the ship. Whether it had been planned or not, that was still quite an undertaking for her. But Bush was right. They could not just let Perry go now that he had signed on. He had to remain in the crew.

"I am sorry for your distress, ma'am, but you must understand that your husband cannot leave the crew," he said to her, glancing at Perry in case he needed to translate.

"But, when we're paid off when we get back to England, I can leave then, right sir?" Perry asked anxiously.

"Well yes, but I cannot say when that will be," Bolitho said, "We are needed here now, and it may be some time before we can return to England."

"But it's just till the end of this voyage, right sir?" Perry looked down at his wife whose sobs had grown quieter.

"Perhaps, but that will depend on our orders. We may be ordered to remain here for a time. Or we may be sent elsewhere before we can go back to England. Either way, it is not my decision to make."

Perry eyed the captain and then his wife before speaking comfort to her, probably some reassuring variation on the truth. She whimpered something quiet and barely intelligible back to him, and he had to ask her to repeat herself before he understood.

"She says she brought me some shirts, just in case," he laughed quietly, ruefully, squinting against the threat of his own tears now. "And that the wine really is for you officers, sir. The stuff in the barge. As a gift." His tone was numb, but his face still betrayed his emotion. He was crushed to have ruined his own chances, but worse, to have disappointed his wife after all she had done to fetch him home.

He seemed to notice for the first time the marine standing at the gangway which led down to her rabelo, and he suddenly had a horrid vision of his wife being clapped in irons for her ruse de guerre. "You won't... you won't stop my Missus Perry from goin' home, will you, sir?" he asked with carefully contained distress.

"No, of course not. She is perfectly free to leave." Bolitho nodded to the Marine, indicating that the woman was to be left alone. "And if she truly wishes us to have the wine, we will accept it."

Well that was some comfort at least. "Thank you, sir," Perry said quietly before repeating the information to his wife.

He looked down at his feet, his speech awkward as he spoke to the captain again. On top of all his other disappointed emotions he was embarrassed to have had his affairs carried out so publicly. "I... I can't rightly say I'm sorry she came and brung me my paper. But I'm sorry for all the... all the trouble, sir." He looked at the woman by his side and gave her a reassuring smile. She was obviously a temperamental creature of fiery passions, but it was also apparent that his affection was genuine.