He glanced through the letter of instructions from the Board. It set forth Stukeley’s crime, the details of the escape from Salcombe, the necessity for the arrest of the whole party; it was not a pleasant letter. No one had ever before described Margaret as an abettor of felons; the sensation was new; and oppressive, like some contaminations. “Well,” said Howard. “You seem to take it very coolly.” “I’ve been preparing for this moment for a quarter of a year.” “What is this Stukeley? He seems a boorish kind of fellow.” “He’s an unpleasant man. A bad man.” “I should call him a thorough scoundrel, from that letter.” “He’s married to a charming woman. A woman I’ve known for years. You can see for yourself that she’s a lot too good for him.” “Do you wish him to be arrested? You know the penalty, of course?” “I suppose I could plead ignorance?” “You? Yes. But he. _Sus. per col._ Eh?” “I think, Howard, he ought to be cut off. But his wife’s going to have a child. I happen to know her, as I said. She believes in him. She doesn’t suspect. I’m afraid the shock would kill both her and the child.” “You’d rather that I didn’t arrest?” “For her sake, yes. And for the sake of the merchants concerned in the venture with me.” “Your tobacco will keep them from loss. They’re all right. Do you know that your Darien scheme is known in Spain?” “Ah. Then. Then the Government will curry favour with Spain by arresting us on this pretext, and claiming to have stopped us on her account?” “That is, of course, possible. It depends on party needs at the moment. I know nothing of that.” “It is something you ought to reckon, Howard.” “Well. If I don’t arrest you. You’ve put me in such an awkward position. I can’t very well arrest my guests. It would bring me into disfavour, and my office into disrepute. I don’t know what to say. Are you ready to sail?” “Yes.” “Why didn’t you sail two or three days ago? As soon as you’d made your voyage. Why in the world did you wait for the tobacco fleet?” “We were kept waiting for our new topmast. We found our foretopmast sprung. It was only this morning that we finished setting up the rigging on the new spar.” “You understand, Margaret, that at this moment you’re Stukeley’s judge. You’ve got power of life and death over him. You can turn it over in your mind, and then say, whether you wish me to arrest him, or not. You wish to spare the girl, his wife. Looking at it impartially, I should doubt whether you would spare her by sparing him. The man’s a scoundrel.” “There’s the child, remember.” “Yes. I was forgetting the child. Of course. There’s the child.” “If you arrest us all and send us home, of course her people will look after her on arrival. Is that a possible solution to you?”