At that moment the governor returned, and Iberville's question was never
answered. Nor did he dine at Government House, for word came secretly
that English ships were coming from Boston to capture him. He had,
therefore, no other resource but to sail out and push on for Quebec.
He would not peril the lives of his men merely to follow his will with
Jessica.
What might have occurred had he stayed is not easy to say--fortunes
turn on strange trifles. The girl, under the influence of his masterful
spirit and the rare charm of his manner, might have--as many another has
--broken her troth. As it was, she wrote Iberville a letter and sent it
by a courier, who never delivered it. By the same fatality, of the
letters which he wrote her only one was received. This told her that
when he returned from a certain cruise he would visit her again, for he
was such an enemy to her country that he was keen to win what did it most
honour. Gering had pressed for a marriage before he sailed for the
Spaniards' country, but she had said no, and when he urged it she had
shown a sudden coldness. Therefore, bidding her good-bye, he had sailed
away with Phips, accompanied, much against his will, by Radisson.
Bucklaw was not with them. He had set sail from England in a trading
schooner, and was to join Phips at Port de la Planta. Gering did not
know that Bucklaw had share in the expedition, nor did Bucklaw guess
the like of Gering.
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