Christmas as it ought not to be (ch2)

I'm more or less on schedule for daily posting of the Christmas story in that I've just completed typing and proofreading Ch2, and completed Ch4 in manuscript (with a great deal of crossing out; angst is easier than happy endings, and there was too much model-yachting detail, lovingly laboured over for hours) this afternoon. Whether I'm going to be able to type, edit and proof the whole of Ch3 tomorrow evening, when I shall have rather less free time versus more words to deal with, is another matter!

(Yes, the title change from 'The' to 'An' is deliberate; 'The' fits the pattern, but it doesn't look right.)

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Chapter 2: The invitation in Africa

The vast African sky, bright and quivering overhead, seemed to vibrate taut as a drum, and the palm-fringed coast was fit to wilt in the heat. La Tauride lay at anchor in the roadstead of Assinie, tugging a little at her cables beneath a gentle onshore breeze, and the endless surf broke on the beach beyond, where a handful of pirogues lay drawn up under the sun. Another darted swiftly between the waves, guided by a few skilful strokes of the paddle from a dark-skinned native stripped to the waist. From his vantage point at the edge of the knot of officers gathered on the deck, the young Vicomte de Chagny watched it come, discreetly easing the prickle beneath the collar of his naval uniform with one finger and conscious of a certain envy.

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