Hornblower: The Duchess and the Devil Page #3

At least her ports

are closed, sir.

Mr. Hunter, have Styles

and Oldroyd

Ioad the swivel guns

with case.

And to make it look like

they're cleaning the guns

not loading them.

Styles, Oldroyd,

starboard midships.

Messieurs, identifiez

vous memen, s'il vous plait.

Le Reve, en route

Pour Cadiz.

Looks like they're

sending a boat, sir.

Man:

Nous avons I'honneur

de preter I'assistance a notre

confedere estime et valiant.

He's offering us

his assistance now.

God damn him to hell.

Sir, their boat's

in the water.

Stand by your gun.

Fire on my order.

Damn, they're everywhere.

Sir.

They're up to something, sir.

(speaking French)

They're signaling, sir.

But what are they

damn well signaling?

She's opening her ports, sir.

Le Reve, you must surrender.

Je ne comprends pas.

We know who you are.

Surrender or we fire.

Mais pourquoi?

Nous sommes Francais!

Sir, their boat's in range.

(screams)

Oldroyd,

Haul down her colors.

Aye aye, sir.

(man wailing)

Mr. Hunter, get everyone

out of these damn costumes.

Let's be taken

for Englishmen, eh?

Aye aye, sir.

I must go below,

Mr. Hunter.

The deck is yours.

I'm so sorry, sir.

It was a valiant attempt.

But it failed.

Your Grace must excuse me.

What have you got there?

They are dispatches.

From Gibrattar.

I must ensure

they do not fall

into the wrong hands.

Give them to me.

I cannot do that.

If you get captured,

what'll happen to me?

You will be transferred

to a neutral ship

or a neutral port, and then...

Aye, and then?

You will be returned

to England.

No, Your Grace.

They will search your baggage.

I have orders.

You have information

that will be

more useful

to the admiratty

than at the bottom

of the sea.

Give them to me.

If they found

these documents on you

your rank will not

save you from the noose.

I have as much right

to risk my life for my country

as you do.

But how will you hide them?

My skirts, where else?

Who'll dare search there, eh?

(quick rap on door)

Who is it?

Styles, sir.

Come in.

Dagoes are coming

below, sir.

(men talking in Spanish)

Man:

Adelante, adelante.

It's all right, Mr. H.

Lieutenant

Diego Romero

at your service.

Do I have

your surrender?

Acting Lieutenant

Horatio Hornblower

Of his Britannic Majesty's

frigate, Indefatigable

At your service, sir.

Well, Mr. Hornblower.

Your ruse almost succeeded.

Unfortunately for you

there was an officer

on the San Ysidro

who knew Le Reve

and the manner

of her capture.

You play the rules of war

very loose, sir.

I play to win, sir.

But here

you are.

Who is this lady, sir?

Her Grace, the Duchess

of Wharfedale.

Muy encantada de conocerle,

teniente...?

Romero.

Romero!

Encantado.

I never knew

she spoke Spanish, sir.

Romero:

We will take La Reve,

Mr. Hornblower.

I'm sure my captain

will be delighted

to entertain La Duquesa.

However, you and your men

will be put ashore.

I am sure we will be able

to find you a prison

to keep you safe

for the rest of the war.

Don't bet on it, mate.

(shouts)

(gulls cawing)

(officer shouts order

in Spanish)

(booing, jeering, whistling)

(yelling insults)

Maricones!

(whistling, booing continue)

Piratas!

Mr. Hunter!

Boy:

Piratas ingleses!

(man shouts orders in Spanish)

Man:

Vamos!

(door creaks)

(keys jangle)

(locks door)

(yelps)

(whimpering)

My god! Kennedy?

No. No. Go away.

Go away!

We must get out of here.

Or we'll end up like him.

We will get out

of here, Mr. Hunter.

And we'll take him with us.

How? He's lost the use of his

mind and of his legs.

God knows how he ended up

here, in this state

But he was a midshipman

on the Indie

Just like you and I,

Mr. Hunter.

He was captured

in action.

Are you saying we should leave

one of our own behind?

No.

But it will make

our escape much harder.

And success that

much more satisfying.

(groans)

(whispers):

Archie, I need your help.

We all need your help.

We're going to work out

how to escape.

And we need to know

how many guards there are.

Kennedy:

You'll never escape.

I'd rather try

than not.

Five times I tried.

Got further away

from England every time.

I should have saved myself

the grief.

But didn't you feel

better for trying?

No.

Because the last time I tried

they locked me up in a hole

in the earth for a month

With no room to stand up

or lie down.

Now leave me alone.

Hunter:

He's given up.

He wants to die.

No use thinking of him.

I will not leave one

of my men behind.

He's not one

of your men, is he?

And if he slows

the rest of us down

then what's the point?

Mr. Kennedy is one

of the Indefatigable's

midshipmen, Mr. Hunter.

What I heard was...

He had a fit, Mr. Kennedy

during a night attack

and you had to knock

him down in order to

stop him getting

the rest of you killed.

What sort of a midship man

is that?

You were not there.

You do not comprehend

the circumstances.

We do not leave without him.

Aye.

Aye aye, sir.

(birds singing)

Anyway, before we concern

ourselves with Mr. Kennedy

We must first consider

how we get out of here.

How do you read our situation,

Mr. Hunter?

What do you mean, sir?

How many guards are there?

That's clear enough.

What are

their weapons?

Their weap...

Their officers? Their morale?

Their hours of duty?

Their quarters when

they're not on duty?

We have work to do, don't we?

(chuckles)

(moaning, grunting rapidly)

(whispering):

Archie.

Archie, it's all right, Archie.

Archie, it's all right. Shh.

Archie.

Archie, there, there.

(breathing more normally)

It's all right.

(catching breath)

I was having a fit,

wasn't I?

Strange.

I had not been troubled

by them.

Not until you came.

(softly):

Archie.

I will not go back to the Indie.

Do not ask me to.

(talking quietly)

(guards yelling in distance)

What is it, Matthews?

It's the lads, sir.

They think we should

be doing something.

Doing something?

Styles:

Aye, sir.

Not just, uh,

sitting about.

We are sitting about

until Mr. Kennedy

is fit to escape with us.

Oldroyd:

Well, some don't think

he will get fit, sir.

Look, Mr. Hunter's

counted all the guards.

He says there's never

more than four on a watch.

Now, he says we could

take four easily.

I mean, there was more than that

on the Le Reve

weren't there?

Once we've taken

these four guards

what then, Oldroyd?

What about

the garrison?

How many are they?

I don't know, sir.

You don't know.

And neither do I.

Until we know

these things

I will not risk your life

or mine in folly.

We go when I say

we're ready to go

Not before then.

Aye, sir.

(rocks tapping)

What on Earth

are you doing, Mr. Hunter?

Weapons.

We'll need these.

Mr. Hunter, I do not doubt

your courage, but...

But what?

You want to wait

until the war's over?

Mr. Hunter...

(keys jangle)

(unlocking lock)

(groans)

It stinks in here.

Come with me.

Well, don't just stand

there gawping. Come.

(door shuts)

(hinges creak)

(birds singing)

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