The Gallant by William Stuart Long Page B

dismissed from the Anglican chaplaincy … the Reverend Rogers?”
    Kitty remembered and her lovely mouth tightened. Chaplain Rogers had been summarily dismissed from the prison service because he had made repeated reports of the excessive severity of the commandant of Norfolk Island, and the only man who had listened to him had been, ironically, one not of his Anglican persuasion but the Roman Catholic Bishop Willson, who … Kitty caught her brother’s excitement. Who was standing only a few paces from them at this moment, being received with unconcealed coldness by the governor, who bowed but did not shake the aging bishop’s hand.
    Captain Wilfred Thomas, of the 40th Regiment, whom they had met during the Spartan’s
    brief stay in the port of Melbourne, had told them, with a certain wry amusement, that Sir William Denison-at that time governor of Tasmania-had engaged in numerous acrimonious exchanges with Bishop Willson on the subject of Norfolk Island. Wilfred Thomas had not known, of course, the reason for her and Patrick’s interest in the penal settlement, and they had been at pains to disguise it, so they had not learned as much as they might otherwise have done. But, Kitty reflected, they had learned enough concerning Commandant Price to cause them renewed anxiety on Michael’s behalf. The civil commandant had ruled the convicts
    with a rod of iron, and Governor Denison, ignoring the strictures of both Bishop Willson and Chaplain Rogers, had given his support and approval to Price’s administration. HeThe viceregal footman was looking at them inquiringly, and Patrick gave their names.
    “Lady Kitty Cadogan-the Honorable
    Patrick Cadogan!” the man announced, and as they moved forward, Patrick said softly, “I’m going to have a word with Bishop Willson, Kit.
    Carry on without me, will you?”
    Kitty nodded her assent. Governor
    Denison, a stiff, solemn-faced man in an immaculate full-dress uniform, unbent sufficiently to give her a wintry smile and bid her welcome to the colony of New South Wales.
    His hand, when she shook it, felt cold and unexpectedly limp, but his greeting seemed friendly enough, and Lady Denison’s was even more so. Both, as nearly as she could judge, were in their fifties, the governor a few years older than his wife.
    “You have only recently arrived here, I believe,” Lady Denison observed. “You and your brother … so you will not yet be acquainted with Colonel and Mrs. William De Lancey,
    to whom, sadly, we are bidding farewell this evening, on their departure for India. Come, Lady Kitty, and let me make you known to them.”
    The De Lanceys were a good-looking couple, Kitty saw as, her hostess’s hand on her arm, she was led up to them. Colonel De Lancey, contrary to her preconceived notion of him, was tall and darkly handsome, a man in the prime of life, with intelligent brown eyes and a humorous smile, his hand claspin contrast to the governor’s-firm and warm, for all it was made with his left hand.
    His wife was young and slim, her beautiful auburn hair unfashionably dressed in a simple knot at the nape of her neck, which somehow became her better than any sort of elaborate coiffure would have done. Her gown, too, was plain, but in an exquisite shade of greenish blue, reflecting the color of her deep-set, smiling eyes and emphasizing the slim shapeliness of her figure.
    Despite her earlier prejudices, Kitty found herself taking an instant and purely instinctive liking to them both. Conscious of a feeling of regret that there would be no chance to further an William Stuart Long
    acquaintance with them, she turned, seeking to draw Patrick into their conversation, and then realized that he was not behind her.
    “Your brother,” Colonel De Lancey said, gesturing to the center of the room, “is with the Catholic archbishop and his brother bishop from Hobart, Lady Kitty. Not,” he added, lowering his voice, “the best way to win the approbation of His Excellency, I fear,