“That one,” he answered, pointing through the window. “The ship with the flag.”
“And you’re leaving England at once?”
“Yes. This afternoon’s tide.”
“But what are you going to do when you get there?”
“Oh, don’t let’s talk about that,” he answered. “Tell me about yourself, and your plans. What are you going to do, now you’re leaving Salcombe? Will you go home to Flaxley?”
“No,” she answered, colouring slightly. “Uncle Nestor was rather rude to Tom, to my husband.”
The captain bit his lip, and gazed out absently over the sea. He had heard why Uncle Nestor had been rude. The knowledge made him doubtful of Olivia’s future happiness.
“So I suppose you’ll go back to town,” he answered, “and settle down. What do married people do, when they settle down?”
“Oh,” she said, “I’ve great schemes for Tom. He’s going to stand for Parliament. But I want to know what you’re going to do in Darien. What is your scheme?”
“Just to help the Indians,” he answered. “The Spaniards have robbed them and ill-treated them, and I thought that if some Englishmen settled on the Isthmus, and opened up a trade with them. For you see, we could trade with both Jamaica and Virginia. And if we opened up a trade there, we could check the Spanish power there, making the Indians our allies.”