Season One, Episode Three
"Other points of the compass"
Back in Liverpool and reality quicky asserts itself, as James realises that due to his cleverness money will be coming in, but not right away, and at the moment he has not the wherewithal to pay his harbour dues and stowage fees. When he suggests giving the harbourmaster a letter of credit the man scoffs: the Onedin Line is new, not even listed and certainly not trustworthy enough that a letter of credit would be honoured. Grumpily, James has to amass any money he can get his hands on and with Anne's help he manages to meet his debts. He gets some money too from his client, Watson, for whom he has transported a parcel, and immediately sets Baines to undertaking another short trip, to Cork, with Irish emigrants. Meanwhile he learns with interest that his old arch-enemy Callon is on the board of trustees of the Harbour Board, so he can expect a rough ride from them; probably why his credit note was refused just now.
With no money left for lodgings James moves in with Anne and her father, much to the annoyance of Captain Webster, who demands rent, rent he is unlikely to receive from the currently penniless newlyweds. Fraser comes calling --- no doubt with prodding from James --- and sets Elizabeth all in a tizzy, as she tries to ignore his gentle mocking that she is meant for better things than to be the wife of a sea captain. When he leaves and Daniel arrives she receives him with bad grace, the situation not helped by Fogarty's discovery of Frazer's hat, which he has left behind (purposely?) as well as Elizabeth's total failure to lie about it. They have a big row and she refuses to attend the lunch they are supposed to go to with Callon, to discuss Fogarty's being given a command.
Callon is interested though when he finds out that the absent ladyfriend Fogarty has spoken of, and who was expected to have accompanied him, is none other than James Onedin's sister. This is news to him, news he can perhaps use to his advantage. He makes Fogarty aware of James's deals with Albert Frazer, and carefully floats the idea that Elizabeth's "tantrum" may owe more to James than to her. If he is using his sister in such a way, who is to say what else he might do? And of course, this only serves to widen the gulf and fan the flames between the three: James, Albert and Daniel. All of which suits Callon's purposes admirably.
Other wheels are spinning back at the docks, set in motion by the wealthy shipowner. A sudden influx of empty wine casks arrives from Callon's warehouse, and the harbourmaster will not allow them stay on the dock. James's ship is nearly full, but Frazer, visiting him, offers the use of his father's shipyards as a temporary storage, something for which James is grateful, but knows he will pay for, one way or another, in the future. Elizabeth goes to return Frazer's hat, but he has left the
Charlotte Rhodes and Baines tells her the dock will shortly be swarming with rowdy sailors who have come in on a clipper, making it unsafe for her to return home alone. While she's waiting for him to call her a cab, Fogarty comes looking for her, and after a tempestuous exchange during which she tells him their engagement is over, she will not marry him, they end up in each other's arms and, well, consummate their love, as was the style of the time. Afterwards it appears that she has changed her mind, as Daniel gleefully tells James she has chosen to marry him, which obviously does not sit well with the would-be master of the seas, and puts quite a crimp in his plan for an alliance with the Frazer shipyards. But by now we know enough about James Onedin to know that he will not let as small a thing as his sister's happiness, or her choice, stand in the way of his grand plans!
QUOTES
Anne: "Have you any jewellery yourself?"
James: "Nothing that glitters."
Anne: "What?"
James: "My partner's my only adornment!"
Elizabeth: "That's my life now, forever waiting for Daniel to come home..."
Frazer: "A lady who has no time to flirt is hardly alive!"
Frazer: "You're angry because I've dared to suggest there is something else in life other than arranged marriages, business luncheons, and appointments conceived for no other purpose than private gain. You're angry because underneath me banter I've dared to suggest one more thing, and that is, that another's happiness, the true fulfillment of a lovely human being, should always be declared importantly and at once. I have, as James would say, wasted a morning, but I think not. I have, at last, declared meself. There are other points to the compass besides profit and loss."
FAMILY
ANNE
With their return to home Anne quickly shows she is learning to stand on her own feet, and will soon enough become the rock upon which James depends. When he is despondent about not having the harbour dues she scolds him, and offers her mother's wedding rings and anything else she has that they can pawn to make money. She is not about to see their new venture sunk before it has time to even take its first breath at its home port! As she says herself: "For shame! Hangdog for twelve sovereigns!" She later confides to Elizabeth that despite all the hardships, going with James to sea was the best decision she ever made, and she has really taken to it. Elizabeth, in the same conversation, sounds jealous of Anne's comparative freedom. Paradoxically perhaps, though the younger woman is prettier, has two men after her and the world is ostensibly her oyster, she would in some ways trade places with Anne, her sister-in-law now, burdened with debt and fighting the odds in a new business venture with her new husband.
ELIZABETH
We're left in no doubt as to Elizabeth's growing boredom with Daniel Fogarty. In truth, it's not the man she's bored with but the expectations that she will marry him, and what she has to look forward to when that day comes. Her assignations with Albert Frazer, by comparison, must seem lively and more than a little naughty, and this suits her fine, as Elizabeth is one to court rather than avoid controversy. She does not see herself the wife of a sea captain, settling down and watching the docks for sight of her husband's ship, and worrying when he is away if he will return. She does not think widow's black will suit her.
It's quite possible she's leading Daniel on, when onboard the ship that night she first tells him that she will not marry him, then allows him to make love to her and later lets him think that she in fact is going to marry him. This notion will not last too long though. It's also possible that Elizabeth, whom from the strictures of nineteenth century England we can assume at this point to be a virgin (up to that night) is giving herself to Daniel to both experience what sex is like and to give him what he wants before cutting him loose: her sights are already set on Albert Frazer, whom she believes will give her a much better life than Fogarty can provide.
DANIEL FOGARTY
A man used to getting what he wants, usually by a shout or a fist, Fogarty cannot understand Elizabeth's change of heart on his return to Liverpool. He is unable to fathom anything happening while he is at sea that would bring about such a reversal in his romantic fortunes, and thinks that time stands still while he is away. He is angry to discover that he now has a rival, and that this man is here all the time, unlike he who has to be away so much. Absence, in Elizabeth's case, does not make the heart grown fonder, but more weary and restless, and while Fogarty is at sea Frazer will always be there to comfort and distract his woman.
He knows when he has gone too far though. When he argues with her, trying to convince her to come to the lunch with Callon, he tones it down to a concillatory murmur, but then blows it just as she is about to agree, by declaring to Robert that his sister is throwing a tantrum. A red rag to a bull, this sends Elizabeth into a fresh fury and he is left to go see Callon alone. Elizabeth can also hardly be enamoured or flattered by his couched view that a man with a wife and family makes a better prospect for promotion than a single one: she does not like being used, even though she is not at all averse to using people for her own ends.
He even goes so far as to purchase "a fancy hat", like Frazer's, an expense he can ill afford, just to try to please her and measure up to her expectations, but is crushed when she rejects him. Disappointment is followed by elation though and by the next morning he is loudly proclaiming to her brother that he will soon be part of the Onedin house.
ALBERT FRAZER
After what must be months of tip-toeing around the issue, teasing Elizabeth and dropping hints, and with his rival for her affections back in town, Albert visits the object of his infatuation and finally declares his intentions, albeit obliquely, but Elizabeth knows what he means. She is now in the perhaps unenviable position of having to choose between two men. Frazer knows she has little love of the sea and no real wish to be a seaman's wife, and he has the advantage of being pretty much always there, unlike his rival who spends much of his time at sea. No doubt he will utilise that time to turn Elizabeth's head with presents and outings and declarations of love, and by showing her the kind of life she can expect should she decide to choose him. He also knows he has James on his side, as the owner of the Onedin Line fancies an alliance with Liverpool's biggest shipbuilder, and Fogarty has nothing to offer him.
TIGHTFIST
Though it may be a little unfair to say in this case James is being miserly about the money involved, as he is in dire straits and needs every penny piece he can muster, he still has no compunction about squeezing the very most he can out of his new client. When Mr Watson wants to pay with a credit note, but James says he needs cash, and now, the man says this will be subject to the usual discount (as we learned last episode from Robert, cash always comes with a discount for the payer to the payee), in this case two percent. When he asks, rather bemusedly, if James is sure he wants to deal with "such trifling little sums", Onedin confirms he most certainly does. When Watson counts out the money and rounds it down, James wants it rounded up: "Nine pounds six shillings --- call it nine pounds" says Watson, but Onedin counters, "Call it nine pounds six!"
A LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVE
From this episode we learn about the drinkable qualities of paraffin. On Daniel Fogarty's ship he challenges the leader of the men who are refusing to go any further without fresh water. He sets down a jug of water which is full of paraffin, and each man must drink. What the leader, Ginger, doesn't know is that paraffin settles on water, so that Fogarty, who drinks second, does not taste as much of it as Ginger does. Plus he has lined his stomach by eating fat beforehand. It's a pretty horrible tale, but it is interesting, and shows something of the appalling conditions these men often had to work under.