True Treasure: Real - Life History Mystery (27 page)

While onboard, when his thoughts were not occupied with the plight of Bennett and Mary, he thought of Elizabeth. His fiancée, all those years ago. While it had only been eight years or so, it could have been a lifetime. Had she married? Or was she still holding out hope for him? He knew once back on British soil he would find out the truth. Right now, he pushed it back to a corner in his mind. He had life and death matters to attend to. Now was not the time for remembering a past romance.

***

Aboard the Lancashire Ship, Before Docking

England came into view. “It won’t be long now,” Bennett said to Mary as they looked out the window of their cabin. “I wrote some letters to Ben. Please give them to him when you see him. I want him to know he is loved. Was…”

“Do not talk like that!” You will be freed. I just know it.”

Mary hugged Bennett. He returned the hug. Her perfume and the way she felt he burned into his memory. He sighed.

“In a few hours, when we are taken ashore, they will take me either to the tower, or down to Canterbury where most of the naval trials are held. They convene court once a quarter, so I could have up to three months before my trial. I will hire counsel and plead my case as best I can, for me and my men.”

He pulled back to look at Mary, “You should be set free upon landing. In my box are the letters to Ben, the address to my maisonette, and other papers, plus some funds for expenses. I will have my barrister, Gilford and Sons, contact you to let you know where I am being held. The guards will come for me as soon as we dock, but do not be afraid. Be strong for my men, and—for me.”

Bennett felt Mary nod as her chin burrowed into his shoulder. He drew her back for a kiss. “I love you, Mary.”

***

Once the ship was docked, orders arrived for Captain Stafford. “All the women and sailors are to be transported immediately to the court in Middlesex which will hear their cases. The officers along with the pirates are to be sent to the naval court held at Canterbury,” the captain read aloud. He turned towards the guards, “Round up the women and the sailors.” The guards left to carry out their orders.

***

A knock sounded on Mary and Bennett’s door. Bennett opened it. “Mrs. Graham is to come with us.” The guard said.

“What is going on?” Captain Graham asked.

“All the women onboard are being routed to Middlesex, sir.”

“There has been a mistake. Mrs. Graham, was employed as an artist aboard the ship. She is pardoned by virtue of being part of the for-hire crew, and is not associated with the accused.”

The guard took out the order from his back pocket and read it again, “Is she not your wife, captain?”

“Yes.
Now
she is Mrs. Bennett Graham. She was hired on as Mary Welch, an artist to the King.” The guard checked the passenger manifest.

“There is a male, M. Welch listed. No Mary.”

Bennett nodded, “Yes. It was a mistake on my part. I
thought
she was a Mr. at the time of the consignment as I had not met her yet.”

“I’m sorry sir, but my report indicates
all
the women, and that would include your wife, are to be taken to the jail in Middlesex. From there it is my understanding they will be sentenced and sent to Van Diemen’s Land. If I let a passenger on the crew manifest go, I will be charged myself with allowing a prisoner to escape, and it will be my head in a noose.”

Bennett shrugged on his coat. “There has been a mistake. Inform Captain Stafford please.”

“You no longer have any authority to make demands as you are under arrest for desertion and piracy.”

Bennett looked shocked. “I am asking you to get the captain, please. My wife has done nothing wrong and has a letter from the King
proving
she was commissioned to work in his service.”

The guard lost the kindness in his face. “When she chose to marry you, she abdicated her loyalty to the King, in favor of that of a deserter and pirate, did she not?”

It dawned on Bennett the guard was enjoying arresting his wife. There was nothing he could do that would do anything but make the matter worse for her, him, and his men.

“Bennett?” Mary questioned.

Bennett looked at the guard, “May we have some time so the lady can get dressed and gather her belongings?”

The guard considered for a few seconds, “She can only take one trunk, and what she can carry.
Captain’s orders. Choose wisely. I will be back shortly.”

Bennett closed the door.

Another knock followed a few seconds later. Bennett opened the door. In the last few years Charles, the cabin boy, had grown to be a handsome young man. Bennett said, “Charles, thank God it is you!” He showed him in and shut the door. “How do you happen to be without a guard?”

Charles smiled, “I learned a trick or two before I came into service aboard the Devonshire.”

Bennett smiled, “I need you to take a message to my barrister forthwith.” Bennett sat down at the desk to pen a letter quickly.

“Yes sir.”

“Do you think you can sneak this message out?”

“It is my specialty, sir.”

“They plan on taking Mary to Middlesex for trial rather than letting her go. It is a misunderstanding. I need one letter to Captain Stafford, and one to my barrister. Understood?”

Bennett finished writing, folded the letters, heated his wax, and sealed the letters with his ring.

“Yes sir.”

“Mary, carry the letters, our marriage certificate, King George’s letter assigning you to the ship, and my picture on you personally.”

Mary quickly ripped open the seam of her skirt and placed them inside the lining with some paper money that Bennett handed her. She hastily took a needle, threaded it, sewed her skirt shut, then pulled her dress over it. She turned around for Bennett to tie it securely around her waist. His fingers fumbled while he helped hook the skirt to her top. She tied on a sash to complete the look. She gathered another original of her marriage certificate, and the letter from Graham authorizing her to work aboard the ship, to keep on hand. Mary placed them in her leather satchel.

She quickly packed drawing paper, pencils, ink and charcoal in the bottom of her trunk then threw an apron on top. She packed in as many clothes as she could. Bennett gave her money. “Put a bill or two in your purse. Let them think it is all you have. The rest is on your person. Do the same with your jewels.”

She did as she was told.

***

Mary’s Pre-Trial

It took a fortnight before the barrister, Guilford, could make it to Middlesex to consult with Mary. She languished in a room of an old home being used as a jail for those with means. She pleaded for word of Bennett or the crew, yet she heard nothing. She spent her days writing letters to Ben, her parents, and Bennett. She did not paint as she wanted no memory of these awful days where she was stuck in limbo. Finally, the day arrived with a knock at her door. “Mr. Guilford, the solicitor, is here to consult with you.”

“Thank you,” Mary said to her guard.

***

The solicitor looked at Mary’s papers again. “I will plead as you wish. However, with the reputation your husband has garnered on the high seas, and because of the loss of so many Spanish galleons loaded with gold, it will be hard for the judge to come to any positive resolution on your behalf.”

“But I have told you, my husband did
not
take the ships he is accused of. Pirates took them or perhaps the galleons sunk in the seas during storms. If they were loaded with treasure they would sink quickly.”

The solicitor put down the papers. “Mrs. Welch, with all due respect, the magistrate will not believe the pleadings of the wife of an accused pirate.” He frowned, then leaned forward as if dispensing a secret, “I am sorry, but he will see you as one yourself.”

Mary’s eyes widened as she sat back in her chair, “I had not thought—”

“Your husband was brought ashore with thirty
-four pirates, men of Portuguese and Spanish descent, not of the caliber of Royal Navy men.”

“I told you those were the men Bennett captured. They were not working for him.”

“‘Of course he would say that now,’ is what the King’s magistrate will argue.” The lawyer clasped his hands while he pursed his lips. “For your case, the best I can do is to think of any reason the judge should find mercy on you.”

Mary let out a breath of air as if it had been knocked out of her. She looked around desperately, lost in thought, “We have a son. I sent him to live with his grandparents when we were taken here. Would they show me mercy because I have a son?”

The lawyer leaned back and drummed his fingers together. “No.” He pulled up his eyebrows and spoke, “Dress in your best finery, but
no
jewels. You are very pretty. That may work to soften his heart. Act delicate, on the verge of fainting at your estate. Bat your lashes in his direction, but
never
look so boldly or directly at him as you do with me. I have presented before this judge before, and he has a weakness toward pretty frail young things. He believes they are in their circumstances because their beauty makes them vulnerable and they are too stupid to know any better. Play into his beliefs.
That
is your best hope.”

“Do you know what will happen to the rest of the women and the crew from the Devonshire? I would like to send word to my husband.” The solicitor nodded and leaned forward with a stern look on his face.

“Mrs. Welch, the trials for the crew have already been held. The women were sentenced to twenty years on Van Diemen’s Land, and the men to life.
This is how I know
what you may expect of him.”

Mary leaned sideways in despair onto the arm of her chair.

“What then of my husband, and the officers?” Mary asked.

The lawyer looked at her and said nothing
.

***

Graham’s Trial

It took almost two months for Captain Graham’s trial to come about. The judge wore his powdered wig well. He patiently heard out Captain Graham’s defense through his lawyers, then the rebuttal by the King’s magistrate.

It was obvious to all the trial was merely a formality, and since no pardon had been issued by the King, the judge would have no option but to see the trial to its logical conclusion.

The judge and magistrate had only one question they wanted resolved before sentence was passed.

“Where is the treasure, Mr. Graham?” The magistrate asked.

“I will turn it over to the King when my men and I are exonerated.”

The judge raised his eyebrows. “If you are not a pirate, why not produce the treasure now?”

“If I produce the treasure before I have the papers freeing us in hand, I know full well you will find us guilty as pirates. The King of Spain lost his nephew to the true pirates, and now you need pirates to hang. It is all in the interest of keeping good relations with Spain. I understand the politics of the situation, which is why I am pleading on behalf of my men and myself.”

The judge cleared his throat. “I have no recourse but to sentence you and your officers to be hung by the neck until dead, along with the thirty-two Spanish and Portuguese prisoners brought back by Captain Stafford aboard the Lancashire that he accuses of piracy. The rest of your crew has been sentenced at the court in Middlesex for the crime of piracy and been sent to the penal colonies for the rest of their natural lives. May God have mercy on all your souls.”

With that the judge banged his gavel. His day completed.

***

Mary’s Trial July 16, 1829

Mary dressed in her best frock, and tried to look frail. It was not in her nature. When she sat in the dock for her trial, she again gave her best attempt to appear weak and in need of rescuing. Her lawyer motioned with his hand to remind her to fan herself and droop, but it just made Mary feel awkward and silly.

The judge asked, “Thank you solicitors for presenting Mary Graham nee Mary Welch’s case so beautifully, but I would like the pleasure of asking the young lady some direct questions myself. Do you object?”

The Guilfords, father and son, looked at each other perplexed. Mary guessed it was because yes, they did object, but to say so may not work well in her favor.

Instead she piped up before they could answer, “I would be delighted your honor.” She looked at the ground shyly, and batted her eyelashes in the judge’s direction as she had been instructed. Mary thought she heard her lawyers let out their breath in quiet relief.

“The ring upon your finger—it is beautiful. Is it a part of the missing treasure?” he asked gently as if to a young child.

Mary paled. Her solicitor had warned her not to wear jewelry, but she hadn’t thought to take her wedding ring off.
Surely they hadn’t meant her wedding ring too?

Mary smiled. “Your honor, no. This ring is one that belonged to my husband’s mother. He gave it to me on our wedding day as a pledge of our betrothal.”

“Was that before or after he
saved
the treasure from the Spanish galleon?”