Giles went about the ship telling each of his officers what he expected and what their role would be. Since speed now would be of little advantage, he ordered sails shortened and the foremast main sail to be furled. His opponent also shortened sail before the bow-chaser duel could commence. With all his preparations made, Giles returned to the foredeck to watch the coming confrontation.
Giles had left the ports for the bow guns closed, in the hope that his opponent would not realize what weapons she faced. The enemy opened fire while they were still some distance apart, the ball skipping off the water before harmlessly sinking well in front of Patroclus. Giles suspected that she might be using Mr. Hughes’s tactic of lulling an opponent into thinking that the threat was less than it was. Giles had been tempted to use it himself, but felt that his enemy might well not know what sort of guns he faced and that it would be better for Giles to have his first shot be one that had been loaded and aimed at leisure. He ordered the ports raised and the guns fired. The result was satisfactory. One ball whistled over the bow and what damage it may have done as it passed down the ship could not be seen. The other one smashed into the bow almost directly below where the enemy’s larboard bow chaser was being run out. It must have done some damage, for only the opponent’s starboard gun fired immediately, but soon the larboard one was back in action. The duel continued with only minor damage to either vessel, though the cumulative effects might soon prove to be significant. Neither vessel was forced off course as the distance narrowed. The two ships had almost reached the point where one or other must flinch or their bowsprits would crash into each other.
Giles had been concentrating on the activity on the other ship around where Patroclus’s ball had struck when he noticed a powder monkey racing towards the gun with another cartridge for the gun. The cartridge was clearly leaking a thin stream of powder as he ran. Patroclus’s guns fired at that time and one of the balls must have hit some iron for a shower of sparks erupted from where it struck. Giles, in that superior vision that extreme danger can produce, saw a spark ignite the powder trail and flames race in both directions from where it had first ignited the powder. In moments, the cartridge the lad was carrying burst violently into flames. The other trail of fire had disappeared, probably stamped out by someone or stopping where there was a break in the powder trail. Giles thought no more about it, until a ball of fire seemed to erupt from the center of his opponent. A moment later the shock wave hammered into Patroclus, carrying a miscellaneous assortment of missiles that wreaked havoc to Patroclus’s rigging. The enemy had blown up!
Giles was thrown backward by the shock wave, landing up against the foremast. He was dazed, but confusedly was trying to get to his feet when he heard the unmistakable crack of a large timber breaking. The mizzenmast had gone by the board. The accompanying lurch of the ship again knocked Giles off his feet, and he was clearly both dazed and confused as he struggled to rise. As his head cleared, he stared ahead. Through a gap in the tangle of ropes about the bowsprit he could see that there was no ship ahead. Slowly he realized that the opposing frigate had exploded, leaving only a dense litter of flotsam behind.
Giles turned towards the quarter deck to bellow an order, but saw that the boats were already in the water searching for survivors. Other seamen had been ordered to start cutting away critical rigging that might otherwise spread the disaster stemming from the collapse of the mizzenmast. Giles in fact had little to do until the reports on damage and injuries started coming in. He was immensely tired. He would make his way to the quarter deck and if there was nothing pressing he would go to his cabin.
His journey, and it felt like a journey even though it was only a few yards, was interrupted by the surgeon, “Four dead, Captain, seven wounded. The worst are a couple of broken legs, but I should be able to save them. Twenty men were blown overboard, but have been rescued. Six are still missing. The boats are searching for them. So far, they have only found French corpses, no one alive.”
“Very good. We’ll bury the dead later in the afternoon.”
“Captain, you are not steady on your legs. Let me look…Turn your head…Lord, I should have seen this immediately. You have given your head a monstrous blow on your right side. I’ll take you to your cabin and clean the wounds and dress them. But you must stay immobile for a while. Bad knocks on the head do strange things to one, and can have funny effects on one’s thinking. I should tell you not to make any important decisions for the next few days, but I expect that would be pointless in your case. But get some rest right now. I insist.”
Dr. Maclean guided Giles to his cabin. The captain’s cabin was one of the first areas attended to when the ship was restored from action, so the Doctor was able to ease Giles into an armchair, before examining his wound. The wound itself, though nasty looking, was not too serious. It would only require bandaging. Dr. Maclean was more worried about the effects that the crack on Giles’s head might have on his mind.
When the doctor looked into Giles eyes, the signs were not good. The Captain might be incapacitated for many days, he might never regain his full powers, or not for a very long time. He might even die. All Dr. Maclean could prescribe was rest. He was a firm opponent of the standard procedure of bleeding patients. In his experience bleeding did more harm than good. Disagreement with others on this subject had led to heated discussions with other practitioners. More importantly, Dr. Maclean’s income had suffered. Disputes with patients who expected to be bled whenever they felt ill, led to their seeking other doctors who would give them the long-approved treatment. The bickering and the loss of patients was one of the major reasons Dr. Maclean had come to sea. Only time would tell when or if Captain Giles would be able to resume his duties effectively.
Chapter IX
The furor over Susan Butler’s elopement died down quickly, though it was generally agreed that her reputation was permanently ruined around Dipton, but that it might be restored when she began to live in Bradford. Mrs. Butler, while wishing that the marriage had followed a more conventional route, was pleased to have one of her daughters off her hands.
The happy outcome of Mrs. Butler’s younger daughter’s forays to Ameschester resulted in all her qualms about Catherine’s walks to the town evaporating. If Susan could make such a good match, surely her more vivacious, older sister could too. Since other stratagems to acquire husbands from the ranks of the militia had been a complete failure for the mothers of Dipton, it would be nonsensical to abandon the successful one. After all, Lord Mosely’s Regiment was officered by the very best class of men. Mrs. Butler would now most graciously allow Catherine to find healthy exercise in the walk to Ameschester, quite forgetting the grounds for the earlier prohibition on any such activity. Other mothers could see the same logic, and soon the meeting of the young ladies with officers of the Regiment resumed in the tea room of Ameschester.
“You see, Catherine, there was merit in my allowing you girls to visit Ameschester to see the officers there. Susan is getting married in the most romantic way. You can’t let Susan get far in front of you. You must renew your walks to Ameschester. I’m sure that you can find romance and marriage there.” Miss Butler’s riverside picnic had only been postponed, not cancelled.
Mr. Butler was less clearly delighted with the outcome. He couldn’t help remembering that Lieutenant Barrows seemed to be a man with no fortune and no income other than his militia pay, a most uncertain and probably most inadequate basis to set up married life, and his ability to rise in his chosen profession had yet to be tested. Mr. Butler had visions of the newly married couple having to live with the Butlers, putting an extra strain on his own precious finances.
Other news quickly took the place of Susan Butler’s misdemeanors. The work on Dipton Hall had been proceeding apace and the end was in sight. With its completion would come the return of Lord David Giles, who would, in any case, be taking up his duties as Vicar of Dipton shortly. His half-sister, Lady Marianne Crockett, and her daughters, Miss Catherine Cr
ockett and Miss Lydia Crockett, would be arriving with him to take up residence in the Hall.
Speculation about the new arrivals ran rampant, despite not being fueled by any new information. The social structure of Dipton would be changed radically. Lady Marianne would take precedence over all the other ladies of Dipton. It was less clear where Miss Crockett and Miss Agatha Crockett would fit into the hierarchy. They would clearly be ahead of any of the other unmarried young ladies including, the nastier among the gossiping ladies would remark gleefully, Miss Moorhouse, who had been giving herself such airs stemming from her closeness to Captain Giles. But would the daughters outrank the wives of prominent land-owners? That was a question suitable for endless debate, since none of the ladies had access to a volume of precedent and etiquette that could settle the issue.
On the male side, things were much clearer. Even though he was only a fourth son and a country vicar, Lord David would take precedence over everyone else until his even more exalted brother returned. Where Captain Bush should be ranked was a bit more difficult, since he had no lands and his income or wealth were unknown, as yet. That his standing was unclear made things very difficult because where his mother and sisters should be slotted in depended so much on his own status.
The approaching completion of the works being undertaken on Captain Giles’s behalf gave rise to innumerable complaints. Many people were interested to see what changes were being made. Indeed, few had seen much of the inside of Dipton Hall or the Dower Cottage, and the improvements that were rumored to be taking place in the Vicarage were the subject of much additional speculation. All visits of inquiry were turned aside, politely but firmly, by the workmen, or in more persistent cases by their foreman or one of those whose designs were being implemented. Protest was met with the response that this was on the orders of Mr. Edwards, who was in charge of all the work on behalf of the Captain. Application to Mr. Edwards was met with refusal. Curiosity would have to be left to be satisfied after the work was completed.
This was all very galling for two reasons. The main one was that Captain Bush had access to all three properties. It was reasonable that he should be able to inspect progress on the Dower Cottage, for he would be living there and, as the prospective tenant, he should be in a position to select some aspects of the work which was being done. It was even reasonable that he should be able to take his mother and his sister on these expeditions. Indeed, from the start, Captain Bush had in effect been overseeing the work on the Dower Cottage. It was not so reasonable that he should be given free access to the other two projects. He might be Captain Giles’s good friend, and it might be the case as Mr. Edwards had indicated, when complaints had been made to him, that implicit permission had been given by Captain Giles when he had asked Captain Bush to keep an eye on his interests in Dipton. That this permission had referred rather explicitly to the antics that might accompany Lady Marianne’s arrival in Dipton was not mentioned by Mr. Edwards. Worse still, Captain Bush was frequently accompanied by Miss Moorhouse, and there was great doubt that Captain Giles’s foolish encouragement in matters of drainage and farm management should extend to the house itself. Especially annoying was that Miss Moorhouse was said to have commented on the disgraceful state of the gardens at Dipton Hall to Mr. Edwards himself. Apparently, Mr. Edwards had forgotten that bringing the gardens into their best state should be part of his commission. When the state of the plantings, the lawns and the beds was pointed out to him, Mr. Edwards had recruited Miss Moorhouse to plan and oversee the work needed to bring the gardens into first rate condition. This may have been based on Captain Giles’ remarkable faith in her agricultural talents, but it was outrageous to engage her in the much more delicate matter of planning and making gardens which surely should have required a true professional to be engaged. Just who did Miss Moorhouse think she was? One could only hope that Captain Giles would soon return from his voyage to put the hussy in her place.
It was known that Captain Giles had engaged some very superior servants from his father’s London house and that they were now engaged in recruiting other servants in preparation for the arrival of Lady Marianne and Lord David. Little was known about the details, but the numbers of servants were soon exaggerated, so that more and more the talk turned on how rich would be the welcome in Dipton Hall when the neighbors came to visit.
As time passed, the most important subject of conversation moved from the work being done on Dipton Hall to the imminent arrival of its residents. It became widely known that Lord David had gone north to bring back his sister and nieces. Excitement reached almost fever pitch when it was learned that the party had rested at Ameschester for a night before coming on to Dipton Hall.
The anticipated group did indeed move on to Dipton Hall the next day. There was considerable discussion about when it would be appropriate to call. The consensus was that a week should be allowed for Lady Marianne and her daughters to settle in, though each lady who agreed with her friends that this was the suitable length of time, did not dream that the period should apply to herself; she would call much sooner.
No one was surprised that Captain Bush was at Dipton Hall to receive Lady Marianne and her daughters. He, after all, was Captain Giles’s special friend and had had a major role in readying the Hall for its new, elevated residents. But that he should have invited Mr. Moorhouse and Miss Moorhouse to accompany him passed belief. That they should receive special treatment because of Miss Moorhouse’s underhand ways of getting Captain Bush to stay at Dipton Manor was intolerable.
The coterie who so carefully analyzed all the activities that occurred in the Dipton area might have been astounded as well as insulted had they witnessed the scene of greeting that marked Lady Marianne’s first encounter with her neighbors at Dipton Hall. She first railed at the fact that Mr. Edwards had refused to accommodate changes to features of the Hall which she considered essential to her wellbeing. She believed that Captain Bush should have countermanded all of Mr. Edwards’s orders that displeased her, quite ignoring the fact that Captain Giles had made it perfectly clear that Mr. Edwards had full authority on such matters. Captain Bush was the height of civility, without actually promising any changes. He certainly wasn't going to state that, in some of the matters that so exercised Lady Marianne, Mr. Edwards had in fact consulted with Captain Bush and that it was often at Bush’s firm recommendation that the desired changes had not been made. All he would say now was that he was sure that when Captain Giles returned all the problems would be resolved, carefully avoiding pointing out that he was sure that his friend would undoubtedly uphold all the decisions that Mr. Edwards and he had had to make.
Lady Marianne then began to complain about how her father had starved her of funds and how her brother had been positively miserly. What sort of family members would leave her in penury? Her father had ceased to advance her money and she had had to cut her spending to the bone after Captain Giles had visited. Captain Bush would have to see that Captain Giles was more generous. Bush’s sympathies to this line of cajoling were less than they would have been had Lord David not informed him in an aside that he had had to find more than £350 to settle the bills that Lady Marianne had run up since Captain Giles had visited even though Giles had left her with a generous amount of money to pay for her needs until she could move.
Amazement would have been even stronger had the local gentry been able to see what happened next. Lady Marianne had gone to the tall windows to look out on the garden. It might have been taken for a gesture dismissing her visitors, but before they could comply, Lady Marianne again started unfavorable comment. Why was there a garden bed here which clearly obstructed a much better view? Who in the world thought that rhododendrons should be planted in front of the tall holly bushes? Why was there no rose-garden immediately next to the perennial beds? And so on and on, not noticing that many of her later suggestions, delivered in the form of hectoring questions, were contradictory to earlier ones or were quite impossible to carry out given the lay of th
e land.
Lady Marianne had been startled and horrified when the young chit of a girl who had accompanied Captain Bush, a Miss Morecatch, or Moorland or some such name, had the temerity to start explaining in patient tones the answers to her questions. Worse still, when Lady Marianne asked who this young woman thought she was, she was told by that same young woman that she had been engaged to restore and improve the gardens and that was what she was doing. The young woman went on to explain, in detail, why Lady Marianne’s complaints made absolutely no sense given how God had chosen to lay out this part of the countryside. Well! Lady Marianne would have to have a word with Mr. Edwards about that! Even this threat seemed to leave the hussy unconcerned. It would never have occurred to Lady Marianne that Mr. Edwards would almost certainly know that Captain Giles would side with Miss Moorhouse over Lady Marianne on any subject, let alone on one where Miss Moorhouse had made herself expert.
The Moorhouses realized that poor Lord David must have been enduring this sort of haranguing all the way down to Dipton. Daphne, after getting a nod from her father, invited him to accompany them and Captain Bush for luncheon at Dipton Manor. Lord David accepted the invitation with alacrity, and enjoyed the first meal with pleasant company that he had experienced in some time.
At the end of the meal, Mr. Moorhouse surprised everyone by saying, “Vicar, if you would like to stay at Dipton Manor until the vicarage is ready, we would be happy to have you as our guest. I am afraid that the atmosphere at Dipton Hall may not be conducive to writing sermons. We have no end of space here. While the Bushes are staying with us now, and so are Colonel and Mrs. Craig, you can be on your own as much as you like. You are welcome to use my library and I am sure that Miss Moorhouse can arrange for you to have a sitting room to yourself in which to compose your thoughts.
A New War Page 14
