The Contraband Shore

by David Donachie

  Pitt had drained his glass and taken a second from the same tray.

  ‘Amusement is rarely what my sister seeks, Brazier. Those who have acted with bravery or witnessed strange phenomena are more to her liking. She is an avid student of the world and corresponds regularly with Sir Joseph Banks, who, you will recall, sailed with Captain Cook.’

  ‘How I wish I had done so too,’ Lady Harriot said. ‘There is a great deal outside these walls, and what have I seen?’

  ‘East Kent,’ was posited as a wry and amusing response by her brother. ‘The centre of the universe, so how can you complain?’

  ‘Pay him no heed for his poor wit, sir. Come and sit with us a while, for dinner will be some time. You have, I believe, seen service in both the East and West Indies?’

  ‘I have been fortunate in that regard, yes.’

  ‘I find the notion of India and the Spice Islands fascinating. Then there are the places visited by Cook, not least Australasia.’

  Pitt interjected. ‘Perhaps I should send you and James there as envoys.’ A nod to Brazier. ‘But, of course, the objects first have to be gained by our soldiers and sailors.’

  ‘A task of oversight I would carry forward with greater brio than most of the men you might favour, my husband James notwithstanding.’ She turned to Brazier. ‘As you can see, Captain, he tends to patronise me. It is no secret I find the confining nature of my sex a burden.’

  ‘Then hope for a son, sister, to live through.’

  The response was a manufactured expression of exasperation which did not convince, given it was not intended to. Brazier felt he was witness to a dispute that had been long in the making and probably went back to childhood. Their father had been the Great Commoner, William Pitt, the architect of victory, who had led the country to triumph in the Seven Years War to be then ennobled as the First Earl of Chatham.

  His second son could be eager to emulate Pitt senior, although the nation’s finances must be able to sustain the burden. But what of Lady Harriot? She would have been raised in a household at the centre of national affairs, at a time when great events overseen by their father were taking place and, being very likely as bright and engaged as her brothers, mightily narked at having a lesser role in the world being created.

  Prior to moving to the table, the conversation was as Brazier expected. He was gently questioned on his service, the enquiries posed in the main by the sister. With mention of the West Indies came the inevitable interrogation on slavery.

  ‘It is the most pressing cause of the age, Captain, do you not agree?’

  ‘Important yes, Lady Harriot, but I think your brother would be the best person to address with the term “pressing”, for I have only opinion while he has the ability to effect change.’

  ‘It certainly merits attention, that is true,’ Pitt responded. ‘Had I the power to force it through the House it would be law in a trice, but the sugar lobby is exceedingly powerful, which curtails whatever ability you ascribe to me.’

  ‘They are even more powerful in the Caribbean islands than at home,’ Brazier insisted.

  The fellow who had shown him in arrived to say dinner was about to be served, so the trio moved to the table, Lady Harriot easing herself in with care and Pitt, once the first glass of wine had been served and a tureen of soup disbursed, immediately taking up the conversation where it had left off.

  ‘I seem to recall you had several run-ins with the plantation owners.’

  Brazier smiled, though he did wonder at such facts landing on such an elevated desk.

  ‘They want the law enforced to keep their slaves under control, but not to stop them buying cheap goods, smuggled in from the United States or the Spanish colonies. It was my job, and that of my fellow captains, to stop it.’

  ‘And how successful were you?’ Lady Harriot enquired over a soup spoon.

  The temptation to snap ‘Not as successful as we should have been’, was not expressed; instead it was replaced by a softer answer. ‘We enjoyed moderate success, more towards the end of my commission than at the outset.’

  ‘And to what would you attribute that?’

  Pitt was looking into his bowl and there was no eye contact, while the tone of voice carried no emphasis, yet his guest still felt the need to be guarded in his response. Things had happened in the West Indies upon which he had no wish to dwell, matters he certainly had no desire to openly discuss.

  ‘I would posit good intelligence as the cause.’

  ‘That and no more? It would not, then, be a question of leadership? It seems to me that matters improved markedly following on from your taking over the command.’

  ‘It surprises me you are so well informed.’

  ‘I read a precis prepared for me of what despatches come in from all our overseas possessions, and with the Caribbean I would say the conclusion of better intelligence was there for all to see. Your captures went up markedly in number and Lord Howe was mightily impressed. I’m sure you, and those you took command of, made a pretty penny in prize money, even excluding the recapture of the Santa Clara.’

  ‘For which the locals threatened repeatedly to sue me.’

  That was a deliberately evasive reply; he had no notion to be questioned on prize monies or to defend a practice that often saw naval officers accused of greed, in effect putting their purse before their duty, given it was not what had motivated him to be so active.

  ‘They have leverage on the colonial courts, and the judges own plantations as well. I’m far from certain they would not have succeeded in having me locked up.’

  ‘A case that would have ended up being appealed in London, where it would have no merit. The Lord Chancellor would have thrown it out.’

  ‘Good Lord Mansfield – a saint in my eyes.’

  Pitt’s face was a picture as he reacted. If his sister esteemed the man for his judgement on slavery in Britain, it seemed obvious that her brother held him in somewhat less regard. Pitt led a fragile coalition of competing interests, the holding together of which would likely be taxing. Mansfield was, by repute, something of a weathervane.

  Conversation was put in abeyance by the removal of dishes and the arrival of several more, as well as a different wine. Pitt had behaved in a more abstemious fashion than at his Three Kings meal, but his glass was never empty and neither was Edward Brazier’s, while Lady Harriot was still sipping her first pouring. The conversation became more general and wide ranging than hitherto, this over several courses, more a reflection of society at present until, food consumed, Lady Harriot announced her intention to walk the battlements and take in the air, prior to laying down to rest.

  ‘If you will excuse me, Captain Brazier. My condition demands it.’

  He raised himself from his chair, a mark of respect not replicated by her brother.

  ‘I seem to recall your service was not without complications,’ Pitt advanced, as soon as she was gone. Given a querying look by his guest, who had a good idea where this might be heading and was reluctant to go there, Pitt added, ‘His Majesty would not recall your name fondly.’

  ‘Prince William was in the wrong. Honesty, as well as a Bible oath, obliged me to say so.’

  ‘It is odd, is it not, that our sovereign sees little good in his male brood, but will not have anyone else question their behaviour? How bad was it?’

  ‘I should suspect you had any number of people to inform you of that. If I did not read the numerous furious letters sent home, I was appraised of their contents.’

  The eyebrows were raised, the look of enquiry insistent. ‘Still.’

  ‘The horse’s mouth?’

  ‘Precisely.’

  To be utterly frank or fillet the tale? Where did Pitt stand on the matter: with his King and the Prince, or on the side of what was accountable behaviour, even for a royal? It was Pitt draining his glass that gave him an opening.

  ‘The effect of drink on Prince William is not good. He becomes free of restraint and loses the ability to apprec
iate how his behaviour is perceived.’

  The eyes narrowed as did the cheeks. ‘I see you’re no stranger to diplomatic obfuscation, sir.’

  Brazier refused to be cowed. ‘Do I sense irritation?’

  ‘You sense I asked a question, to which I would like a plain answer.’

  ‘I reckon myself to be in the steep tub on the matter as it is. Why would I venture into an area that might well make matters worse?’

  ‘And if I said I have no opinion on the subject?’

  ‘Then I would be bound to ask why it has been raised.’

  ‘Would it surprise you to know that His Majesty takes a keen interest as to whom is appointed to command his ships of war?’

  Time to equivocate. ‘He sees them as personal possessions, then?’

  ‘It is a fault in monarchs to believe so, Captain Brazier. What do you think he would say if he saw your name put forward for a line-of-battle ship, a seventy-four?’

  ‘Given your previous remarks, I cannot believe it would pass without comment.’

  Pitt threw his head back and laughed. ‘Comment would not be the half of it. More like a display of outraged spleen and some ripe blasphemy.’

  ‘I believe you’re telling me I can wish for the moon in the article of a command.’

  ‘Even King George is not immune to the taking of advice from his ministers. He has many people who wish to whisper in his ear, but it is true to say that he generally listens with care to what I say.’

  Brazier sat back, toying with his glass, as the two men engaged in a mutual stare, which had within it curiosity but no aggression. ‘I cannot help but believe that countering the King’s prejudice would not come without a price.’

  ‘I daresay you have been in Deal long enough to measure how my name is taken?’

  That switch did not make sense, but had to be responded to, which he tried to do with a pun. ‘Forgive me if I’m too forthright, but cess tends to combine too readily with pit.’

  The response came from a fellow very far from amused, even if he tried to cover it.

  ‘Which I take as a compliment. I have tried to curtail smuggling over several years, with little success. As you will no doubt have heard, I had the boats of the villains torched out of sheer frustration, not that it was easy. The navy would not assist, while I had to press very hard indeed to get the soldiers I required to carry out the task.’

  The tone became seriously bitter. ‘Everyone sees romance where there is nothing but foul delinquency, even as it has become more organised. It’s no longer just single luggers risking a small cargo, though that is still prevalent. But I sense an ordered enterprise in excess of that, depriving us of unimaginable sums of money, and such are the vested interests both here and in Whitehall that I struggle to gather the means to curtail it.’

  Pitt wandered off into the constraints that applied even to a King’s First Minister, working with a slender parliamentary majority held together by the constant trading of advantage. There were many things that he wished to do to improve the nation’s finances but could not, for they too often touched on the incomes or interests of the members, both peers and commoners, the latter ever careful of the views and needs of those who elected them.

  ‘They will not see such things effected and, I am sorry to add, too many are themselves the consumers of untaxed goods.’

  ‘There are many who see a bargain, not a problem.’

  ‘Creatures of no integrity, who would sit idly by to see the nation bankrupt. As for the application of law here, it is near blind to contraband. The magistrates and justices, when I charge them with negligence, behave as though it is some kind of innocent lark.’

  ‘I’m wondering where this is leading?’

  ‘The only way to end it is by the gathering of incriminating evidence, so strong it cannot be brushed aside. That, given my reputation, I cannot even begin to gather. If I can show how extensive it really is and the true and staggering amount of the losses, I may be able to get the support in Parliament I need to put a stopper on it. For that I require help.’

  The direct look aided enlightenment. ‘You’re not asking I enquire on your behalf?’

  ‘You are without employment and unlikely to receive any without my help. You thus have time and know the value of what we speak when we talk of intelligence. That which I cannot gather could much more easily be sought by someone with an unsullied local reputation.’

  ‘I’m afraid I must decline.’

  Pitt sat back in contemplation for a few seconds before speaking again, and his tone matched the primary sentiment. ‘It gives me little pleasure to say this, but I wonder if you would welcome an enquiry into the sudden and peculiar death of Admiral Hassel.’

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  ‘Why would that have any bearing? Admiral Hassall died in bizarre circumstances, I acknowledge, but—?’

  Pitt was looking at him in a way not inclined to induce a feeling of ease, while Brazier sought to create an expression that showed, he hoped, a combination of query and mystification. There was a case to answer and he knew he was dealing with a sharp brain – few more so – which presaged this conversation going in a difficult direction, one he would struggle to deflect.

  It was another of those occasions when silence served better than words and, as with Flaherty, he was dealing with a fellow who knew the game, willing to play it with a cold and steady stare. The length of time that lasted indicated, perhaps, that Pitt was hoping for some kind of explanation, but he was not going to get one and nor was he going to hear anything that had not been included in that despatch.

  ‘Bizarre?’ Pitt said finally, picking up his wine glass and draining it. ‘A curious word, is it not?’

  ‘Fits the bill, I would say.’

  A twitch of the lips, but far from a smile. ‘You were at sea when it happened, I believe.’

  ‘I was hove to off Kingston harbour the very night he died, waiting for the tide to make possible an entry into what is a difficult port, given the direction of the prevailing wind.’

  ‘Yet you were told it had occurred.’

  ‘I was, come morning.’

  ‘Yet still you waited until you had dropped anchor to act. Faced with news, you chose not to boat in and investigate the circumstances? I find that strange.’

  ‘It seemed unnecessary given he was already dead. I was told he had been laid out and the doctors were examining the body.’

  How in the name of the devil did Pitt know all this, and why was he probing? If Brazier had failed to go ashore in his barge, did he know the reverse had occurred? That he had been visited by his fellow captains aboard Diomede, five in number if you included a pair of masters and commanders, and that did not include Hassall’s flag captain, who had stayed aboard his own vessel? If Pitt was querying the nature of the admiral’s death, so had he and to little effect.

  He could recall the wary responses his questions produced, just as vivid the memory of the way those present had assumed him complicit in what had happened, this because the villainy of Hassall had been the subject of prior discussions. Had he not said before weighing, something would have to be done to curtail his superior’s greed, while writing to the Admiralty, which had been posited, would not serve without irrefutable proof?’

  Pitt had been right about intelligence: it was the lifeblood of any attempt to enforce the Navigation Acts and Admiral Sir Lowell Hassall had been in receipt of a great deal. The Royal Navy had spies in every port from Charleston to Caracas, so the various Caribbean commands were well furnished with information. Just as vital was the local ear to the ground, picking up unguarded gossip from subjects of the Crown only too willing to aid others in transgressing the law.

  All of this information came to Hassall, ostensibly to be disbursed to his cruising captains, thus ensuring all shared in prosperity. The devious old sod had aimed for the precise opposite, setting up an arrangement with a one-time French privateer, to whom he gifted what information was gleaned, which
allowed the rogue to intercept a goodly number of the blockade runners before the navy.

  Under normal circumstances, when his inferiors captured a vessel a commanding admiral under whose flag they sailed would get an eighth of the value on what was a very well-remunerated station. By this arrangement he was thought to be garnering half of the value – worse, he was depriving his own officers of any share at all.

  ‘Your despatch stated his wish to be buried at sea, which was carried out with some alacrity?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Arrived at how?’

  ‘I daresay he mentioned it in passing, but I can’t quite recall.’

  ‘Lady Hassall was adamant in his wish to be buried in the graveyard at Church Stretton, where the rest of his family are interred in a family vault. Indeed, he is reputed to have asked that, in the event of him expiring in the Caribbean, his body should be returned home, preserved in a puncheon of rum. Lord Howe was beset by her on the very matter and he could only plead climate as an excuse, supposing that to demand a swift disposal of a cadaver. Of course, with no body …’

  It was Pitt’s turn to leave a question hanging in the air, one to which his guest could only respond with raised eyebrows. The doctors had spoken of contusions on the arms and a bruise of the head, which they had accepted might have been brought in the struggle to fight off the venom killing him.

  ‘I wrote to ask Sir Joseph Banks about snakes,’ Pitt continued. ‘He replied there were none venomous in Jamaica, but any number on the French and other sugar islands. It is therefore curious there was such a creature, not only in Sir Lowell’s bedroom, but in a position to sink its fangs into him.’

  ‘There are slaves on Jamaica who keep snakes. We could only suppose one had escaped.’

  ‘To be killed itself not long after the foul deed.’

  ‘I doubt you can call foul a snake doing that for which it was created.’

  ‘It would apply if it had been introduced into Sir John’s bedroom by human agency.’

  The laugh was manufactured. ‘A fanciful notion.’