Things had not sped at all well with him in the past fortnight since his acceptance of the King’s commission.  There had been trouble with Bishop from the moment of landing.  As Blood and Lord Julian had stepped ashore together, they had been met by a man who took no pains to dissemble his chagrin at the turn of events and his determination to change it.  He awaited them on the mole, supported by a group of officers.

“You are Lord Julian Wade, I understand,” was his truculent greeting.  For Blood at the moment he had nothing beyond a malignant glance.

Lord Julian bowed.  “I take it I have the honour to address Colonel Bishop, Deputy-Governor of Jamaica.”  It was almost as if his lordship were giving the Colonel a lesson in deportment.  The Colonel accepted it, and belatedly bowed, removing his broad hat.  Then he plunged on.

“You have granted, I am told, the King’s commission to this man.”  His very tone betrayed the bitterness of his rancour.  “Your motives were no doubt worthy... your gratitude to him for delivering you from the Spaniards.  But the thing itself is unthinkable, my lord.  The commission must be cancelled.”

“I don’t think I understand,” said Lord Julian distantly.

“To be sure you don’t, or you’d never ha’ done it.  The fellow’s bubbled you.  Why, he’s first a rebel, then an escaped slave, and lastly a bloody pirate.  I’ve been hunting him this year past.”

“I assure you, sir, that I was fully informed of all.  I do not grant the King’s commission lightly.”

“Don’t you, by God!  And what else do you call this?  But as His Majesty’s Deputy-Governor of Jamaica, I’ll take leave to correct your mistake in my own way.”

“Ah!  And what way may that be?”

“There’s a gallows waiting for this rascal in Port Royal.”

Blood would have intervened at that, but Lord Julian forestalled him.

“I see, sir, that you do not yet quite apprehend the circumstances.  If it is a mistake to grant Captain Blood a commission, the mistake is not mine.  I am acting upon the instructions of my Lord Sunderland; and with a full knowledge of all the facts, his lordship expressly designated Captain Blood for this commission if Captain Blood could be persuaded to accept it.”

Colonel Bishop’s mouth fell open in surprise and dismay.

“Lord Sunderland designated him?” he asked, amazed.

“Expressly.”

His lordship waited a moment for a reply.  None coming from the speechless Deputy-Governor, he asked a question:  “Would you still venture to describe the matter as a mistake, sir?  And dare you take the risk of correcting it?”

“I...  I had not dreamed....”

“I understand, sir.  Let me present Captain Blood.”

Perforce Bishop must put on the best face he could command.  But that it was no more than a mask for his fury and his venom was plain to all.