LAST ASSAULT ON OAK ISLAND 27

Chapter 27

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Miles no more than glanced at Lauren's mail as they drove back to the island. It occurred to her that he was really offering her a ride out of sheer politeness rather than inquisitiveness fostered by Saul. He made no excuses to see her to Rudy's door, either. He only waved to Carlos standing in the cottage doorway and drove on.

"Within the hour," Lauren said to Carlos as they sat at the kitchen table. She handed him the overseas mail. "He didn't see these."

Carlos adjusted his glasses and immediately opened the letter from Gordon Brielle. Rudy sat down opposite Lauren. Carlos read silently for a moment, then sat back and handed the letter to Lauren.

"They aren't going to tell us anything," he said flatly. "Honored great-grandfather Claude was unjustly accused of treason to the Crown and imprisoned, besmirching the family name beyond cause," he scoffed. "They refuse to admit Admiral Brielle was the conspirator we know him to have been."

Lauren read over the letter.

"What did they call him? An '. . . altar of heroism in the face of adversity'? 'Courageous above measure'?" Carlos glared at the letter she held. "Gordon even claimed Brielle was so consumed with guilt after being acquitted that he took a ship and disappeared in June of 1780. No one knows where he went or what happened to him."

She set the letter down. "They're certainly preserving their side of family history. Was he acquitted?"

"No," Rudy answered. "My nephew said everyone knew Admiral Brielle was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged in May of 1780, but the descendants maintain he was acquitted to this day. It's a bold face denial, even today."

Lauren sighed, rereading the letter bearing the Brielle coat of arms. "What does that one say?"

Carlos skimmed the letter from the naval department, nodding in satisfaction. "This is more like it. Get your notebook, dear. According to their records," he said, pausing as she retrieved her papers from the secretary, "the Lady Grey had 127 men when it left the British harbor in September of 1776. Aboard was Jonathon Stuart, formerly of the Royal British Engineers, who was to advise one Captain Becket on matters the department does not wish to disclose.

"The Lady Grey was commanded by Admiral Claude Brielle. He was to drop ninety laborers off at Port Shannon, Virginia, with Becket, Stuart included, and a payroll 2.2 million pounds, mostly in silver. The payroll was old money, comprised chiefly of coins issued before the silver shortage of 1758. Also included were copper farthings from the previous century."