For Clarissa, the trip to Hull was a bit of a blur. She changed horses at Market Weighton, which gave her just enough time to send her father a message about where she was going before going off again to Hull. She kept her wits about her, and was glad that she had servants with her who were able to help smooth over such conversations as needed to happen about where to go, but in as much time as she could expect, she had arrived at the busy port of Hull and had found passage on a ship that was bound to Gibraltar, presumably dealing with the military bases there.

As might be imagined, Clarissa, being an attractive young woman, well-dressed and a good tipper besides, drew plenty of attention, and it was soon known below decks that the young woman was on her way to marry a lucky officer in one of His Majesty’s regiments that was posted in Gibraltar, and the fact that she brought with her two servants suggested to all that she was a gentlewoman, but her distinct lack of snobbery suggested that she was not too fine a woman to enjoy a cruise.

Indeed, this was the first time that Clarissa had ever been away from home in such a fashion and she enjoyed the chance to get to know life on the sea. She found out quickly enough that she was not seasick and that she enjoyed the smell of the ocean and the calming rhythm of the waves. Not everyone did. It seemed as if her servants were well-suited to travel as well, and she had a conversation with both of them about what they could expect when they got to Gibraltar. None of them was an experienced traveler, but as Clarissa had a note with the address of a branch of the barristers that Lord Lipton worked with, they figured they would start there and then seek housing, which should not be an issue.

For the most part, Clarissa found life on the ship to be a mixture of pleasant but also very much governed by consistent patterns. She saw the changing of the watch, as there were always people looking out for the threat of Barbary pirates or some sort of attack from privateers, but fortunately for her there was nothing of the sort to worry about. Nor were there any storms along the way that would trouble a trip. Instead there were clouds, some sunshine, and plenty of opportunities to breathe in the sea air and enjoy the sight of birds, and be informed about the various names of the parts of the sea where they happened to travel. For the most part, they sailed out of the sight of land until it was nearly time for them to arrive at their destination.

When they came into the port of Gibraltar, Clarissa had to agree that Roland had given it a fair account. The port itself was gorgeous and it was a pleasure to her patriotic heart to think that this little spot of land and its control of the Pillars of Hercules were under the control of Great Britain rather than Spain or some other less friendly nation. When the boat made its way to the harbor and the passengers and cargo was let out, Clarissa showed the address to a cab driver and they were off to the surprised barristers who found a lovely young woman with a letter from an important client of theirs and two servants being deposited upon their doorstep.

Needless to say, Clarissa’s arrival prompted a very important meeting of the staff there. When Clarissa explained the hurried nature of her departure and the willingness of Lord Lipton to trust the management of her affairs while she was in Gibraltar to their very excellent hands, the meeting took on a far more pleasant aspect than had been expected to be the case. Before too long the firm had made arrangements for Miss Bennett to let one of the nicer buildings near the barracks where it was only a short walk to where the local apes could be seen and also a short walk to the marina. It must be admitted that since Gibraltar was quite small, everything was a short walk for a country girl like she was, and if it was not a big city it was certainly big enough to suit her.

For a while, at least, most of her guests visited for reasons of business. Once it was discovered that she was attached to a member of the 69th Lincolnshire Regiment, she formed bonds with some of the wives of other officers, who of course found it necessary to write to their husbands in order to determine what sort of man they knew Roland to be, and to give their accounts of Clarissa as a friendly but also determined young lady. She quickly gained the respect of those around her, who saw that while it was easy to underestimate someone who was as polite and friendly and attractive as she was, that she also had a firm knowledge of her own mind and was inclined to defend her interests strongly, yet without being disagreeable. This was to the pleasure of those who knew her, and it did not take long for her to find a circle of officer’s wives that was much to her liking. From them she heard many of the same things she had been told by Lord Lipton, and she informed them that her foster father had sought out the opinions of officer’s wives from the army and navy about how to best endure the profession of being a military wife.

It did not take too long for other business to sort itself out. Once word got out that a young woman was looking for a local cook, there were plenty of suitable candidates, of which one was chosen, and before too long Clarissa got to practice the householding skills that she had seen Lady Lipton manage, concerning the menu for the week, what guests were to come, and what sort of household she was to keep. Clarissa was by no means slack in such matters, and it did not take too long for her to feel comfortable with the rhythm of life as she found it in this beautiful and strange city. The fact that she had at least some of the Mediterranean looks of her mother made her feel less alien in the city as well, as most of the women around were, like her, people with a bit of a tan and brown hair and eyes like she was. She did not stand out here to the extent that she had back at home, where her looks made her appear to be an alien. Here, it seemed that everyone was an alien in their own way at least.

For a while, at least, most of her guests visited for reasons of business. Once it was discovered that she was attached to a member of the 69th Lincolnshire Regiment, she formed bonds with some of the wives of other officers, who of course found it necessary to write to their husbands in order to determine what sort of man they knew Roland to be, and to give their accounts of Clarissa as a friendly but also determined young lady. She quickly gained the respect of those around her, who saw that while it was easy to underestimate someone who was as polite and friendly and attractive as she was, that she also had a firm knowledge of her own mind and was inclined to defend her interests strongly, yet without being disagreeable. This was to the pleasure of those who knew her, and it did not take long for her to find a circle of officer’s wives that was much to her liking. From them she heard many of the same things she had been told by Lord Lipton, and she informed them that her foster father had sought out the opinions of officer’s wives from the army and navy about how to best endure the profession of being a military wife.

It did not seem strange to Clarissa to be thought of as a military wife before she was, in fact, married. Her willingness, indeed, to travel to Gibraltar and to avoid the uncertain fate of life in the country while her beloved was so far away and in such a glorious and dangerous siege was viewed with respect, for it was clear to the women around that Clarissa was certainly of the sort of women who were to be considered as wives and not as mistresses. Clarissa did not know how such women were to be considered, as she had never been acquainted with the sort of women who were assumed to be mistresses. Her own acquaintance, such as it was, was with the servants of her own household or wherever her family happened to be, as well as with the women of those families themselves.

Lord Lipton had never kept any mistresses, and had not raised his sons to think of any women as merely receptacles of their sexual sport. The women there were not personally familiar with Lord Lipton or his household, but soon gathered that Clarissa had been raised the right sort of way, with an independent fortune and with enough information and insight to handle herself, come what may. She was certainly young, and innocent of much of the world, but by no means a fool, and her honest and unaffected manners gained her much favor with those women who wished to preserve her good nature and to give her such useful information as they could. For her part, Clarissa was eager to learn from those who had something to teach, and soon had as many surrogate mothers and aunts and older sisters as she could ever wish for.

Even though Gibraltar was a lot closer to the action in Toulon than North Yorkshire was, it must be admitted that not much news of the battle reached them. It was understood that the battle was serious, that it had gone on for months, and that it was a major operation, but it was not exactly clear how the battle was going, and no one wanted to guess or speculate as to what that meant. No one wanted to be prey to their worries and fears, and so the women kept busy talking to each other, reading, engaged in various charitable efforts, and the like. If the diet was not exactly an English one, there was still fish to eat, still an enjoyment of tea and cookies and crackers, still plenty of soup, and so on. Day after day, Clarissa thought to herself that if Gibraltar did not seem likely to be her home forever, that it was a place that she certainly enjoyed spending time with. She found herself a local Anglican congregation to attend, and sat there with the ladies of the regiment who likewise enjoyed making it known that their religious habits were no less regular abroad than at home.

In their conversations, Clarissa began to find out something of the background of the women there and they began to find out something about her own. Though they had quickly learned that she was taken care of by Lord Lipton, and under his protection, however remote, they were intrigued to learn that Lord Lipton was in fact not her father but rather her cousin, and that they shared a connection with a mercantile house. Some of the wives of the regimental officers were themselves of the gentry or lower ranks of the nobility themselves, but some of them were locals of various British outposts, and some of them were American Tories who had married their husbands in the late war there, mostly in the area of New York. When they found out that Lord Lipton had himself spent time helping out the military in the Southern colonies, their interest in knowing more about him, and what interests he had in the army, was considerably heightened, although they dared not introduce themselves directly to his household.