Van der Wycke bowed in well-feigned gravity.
"Pardon, Mynheer," he replied, "but you yourselves haf put to much trouble for nothing. You are now free!"
And to our astonishment we learned how that peace had been proclaimed at Breda on the previous day, and that our futile attempt might well not have taken place.
Needless to say, our further stay in the Low Countries was hurried as quickly as possible, and next day a stout little brig conveyed us from Rotterdam to London. The joys of seeing our native land once more were somewhat damped by the pitiful sight of the blackened hulls of our men-of-war that had been sunk off the mouth of the Thames.
[CHAPTER XVIII--The Veil is Partly Drawn]
Directly I set foot once more on English soil I hastened to Portsmouth, though on my journey thither I did stay a while at Rake, for the sake of old memories. On my arrival at Portsmouth I found my uncle looking careworn and haggard, due to the constant strain and worry that his duties in the dockyard entailed, for discontent amongst the workmen had almost grown into open mutiny. So ill paid were they that in some cases families were starving while work was plentiful.
As the 23rd day of April, 1668, drew near, that being my twenty-first birthday, I found that I was becoming more and more excited over the vague rumours that I had heard from time to time respecting the remarkable disclosures that were to be made under the terms of my father's will.
Nor was the excitement confined to myself. My uncle busied himself till all traces of his worry lost themselves in his activity; my aunt bustled about the house, driving the servants hither and thither, bringing linen from the huge oak chest, furbishing the massive furniture, and causing a huge supply of viands to be prepared for the entertainment of our guests--for the invited company numbered close on a score, so that our house would be filled to overflowing, and rooms had to be engaged at "The Bell Inn" and "The Blue Posts".
On the Monday preceding the eventful day the guests began to arrive. There were Sir George Lee, greyer and more bent than of yore, Master Hugh Salesbury, Lawyer Whitehead, all from the neighbourhood of Rake; my old shipmates, Greville Drake and Felgate, the latter accompanied by his young wife, whom he had lately wedded, and several others who had been friends of my father long before I could remember.
My birthday eve they kept in high style, the men smoking long clay pipes, till our dining-room was enveloped in a cloud of tobacco smoke, so that my aunt declared that her best hangings would reek for days like a London coffee tavern, whereat Sir George pacified her by saying that the weed of Virginia is ever a sovereign safeguard against the plague!