Taboo

I attended Mr. Delaney's funeral.

And a ghost appeared.

A son we all thought dead in Africa.

James Keziah Delaney.

Dear Lord Almighty. Is that your brother?

Your father was poisoned.

I would say heavy doses over a short period.

One thing Africa did not cure

is that I still love you.

Now he is returned

and Delaney's will leaves him everything.

Including Nootka.

Britain and the United States are currently at war.

Sell this land for a reasonable price.

Nootka Sound is not for sale.

I can give you whatever you like.

Boys, girls...

You have two hours to get out.

I know things about the dead.

I hoped to settle his matter in a modern way.

But that is not going to be possible.

He's all yours.

This Nootka Sound is a curse.

It will bring the King and empire down upon your head.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER) (BELL TOLLS)

Pick it up.

So you have no problem with

the principle of obeying me, just the execution.

Execution? Of Delaney.

I told you to take care of it.

It is taking a little longer than I anticipated.

If you open up that ball of paper you will see

notice of your dismissal

from the East India.

Dated two days hence.

Only Delaney's death will render it obsolete.

This is gonna bring the house down around it.

Damn thing, begging pardon.

So what's this for?

To keep things safe.

What things?

And Brace?

Go to hell.

You marched with Tremain. Now you march with me.

March to where?

For what bloody purpose?

For the purpose of staying alive, right now.

You may choose to leave my services

if you wish, Mr. Brace.

What is it with you bloody mad Delaneys?

Hang it in the meat locker.

Just keep the powder out of the steam.

Bloody mad house. Again.

While we're on the subject of housekeeping.

I mean to have a word with you about food.

You're hungry?

No.

Toward the end, you said my father rarely ate.

Uh, he...

lived on air and honey beer.

From where?

From a man in Featherlane.

Look, it was cheaper than the tavern and, uh...

Your father only gave me coppers.

What man?

A man who since died.

And his wife since left.

Why do you ask?

Because I am more generous than my father.

From now on we drink beer only from bottles

and wine from flasks.

That's all. Go.

Gentlemen.

Jardine, Matheson and Company would like to commence this candle auction

with a published list of 12 items for sale.

Each item on the list will be auctioned

for the length of time it takes for

its allotted candle to burn down one inch.

When the inch is burnt,

the last bid will win.

First item on the list,

a merchantman brig

commandeered from the Spanish fleet

by Captain Reeves, this last 12 months and one.

Currently the brig is named the Feliz Aventurero.

Who will start the bidding?

Six hundred and ten.

620.

630.

640.

650.

660.

Do I have... 670!

680, 690.

Seven hundred.

Eight hundred pounds.

The Feliz Aventurero. Sold

for 800 pounds to...

The Delaney Nootka Trading Company.

I spoke to old Grady afterwards and he said Delaney had told him

he was going to use the ship for trade.

With whom?

He said his company was called Delaney Nootka Trading.

He is planning to re-open up the trading post

to assert his ownership.

That fucking man will hang for treason.

Sir, I already have a

strategy in my head,

sir.

Why?

Why wouldn't he even look at our offer?

Why would he defy logic and the King?

I believe he is simply trying to raise the price...

Why did he know so much about the border negotiations?

Mmm?

How did he know they were taking place in Ghent?

The location is a state secret.

And where did he get the money to buy

a ship?

Mmm?

Jesus Christ.

Am I the only one in this company with a brain?

They got to him first.

Either in Africa

or on the journey back to London.

One of their agents approached him,

briefed him, gave him money

and secured his services.

Who... Who did, Sir?

The fucking Americans!

Atticus!

Atticus!

James Delaney.

Well, look at you.

Sit down.

Give me back my horse.

What's the biggest thing you saw?

For my files, my book about the world.

What's the biggest thing you saw in Africa?

An elephant.

How tall was it?

Atticus, give me my horse back.

A 100 foot, I heard, some of them.

Atticus, you stole my horse and you left your name.

So what do you want?

As you may recall, I'm gonna write a book

one day about all I know about the world.

I don't care.

I've been to most places

but not the devil's back yard where you went.

What's the biggest thing you saw and the smallest.

And also, I want the money your father owed me.

Ah.

See, there it is.

Nothing changes.

Are you more comfortable with business than with learning, James?

Twenty pounds is what I'm owed.

I know you're golden.

You just bought a ship, so pay up.

For what?

Well, you know how when someone wants a man killed

they come to the Dolphin.

What, still?

My directory of knowledge covers every fucking thing from cradle to grave.

Birth, love, death, all goes into the river of my book.

When someone wants a man killed,

they come to Atticus.

Well, about a year ago, a gentleman comes in... (INHALES DEEPLY)

Sat right here, where you are now.

And said how about old Horace Delaney.

That mad bastard lighting fires by the river.

Say he falls in. Current takes him.

How about that?

So I says to the gentleman,

"I sailed with old Horace all around the world."

You see?

So I said "You go or I'll slit your gizzard

"and drop you in the current you had planned for Captain Delaney."

And who was this gentleman?

What was the smallest thing you saw?

Human kindness...

An ant.

Was he a Company man?

I'd say he wasn't East India.

More from up Leadenhall.

I could tell by the cut of his jib.

So how much will you give me for not killing your father?

Nothing. He's dead.

Well, 15 pounds. Fifteen pounds.