Far Foreign (The Duty and Destiny Series, Book 9)

by Andrew Wareham

Mr Keating made his thanks, repeatedly, before being sat down in a corner where there was good light from the stern windows.

  “Now then, Mr Dunnett, it is clear to me that Captain Windsor made a most valiant onslaught upon Gloriosa, though much overmatched, so that Captain Vereker could use his more powerful twelve-pound frigate to best effect, which is just what he did. Unfortunately, the massive Gloriosa was able to pound Mercure under before Captain Vereker could complete his bold action and take her. We must find the correct words to drive home the truth of the encounter, Mr Dunnett – noble self-sacrifice and great daring combining to achieve a notable victory. The newssheets particularly must not come to the mistaken conclusion that Captain Windsor was an incompetent who, attempting to cross the ‘tee’, permitted the tables to be turned and lost his not only his own life but those of all of his crew. The name Windsor must be allowed a degree of discreet prominence and the mob must be permitted to conclude that even a royal bastard shares in the concept of duty to the Kingdom.”

  “And, if I may be permitted to say so, sir, his royal father must be satisfied that his son died well.”

  “If we wish to keep the sea, Mr Dunnett, he must be so persuaded!”

  Fair Isle rejoined the squadron two days out of Montevideo, crossing their track fortuitously, so Captain Vereker said; if Frederick had a suspicion that he might have examined the harbour by telescope before retracing his course to find them, he did not say so.

  “It is, of course, most convenient that you should be here before I must submit my reports, Captain Vereker.”

  Vereker murmured his agreement, reading the copy that Frederick handed to him.

  “You are very flattering to me, sir. Thank you.”

  “The squadron’s success is solely a result of your actions, Captain Vereker. As commodore, I, of course, claim the bulk of the official glory – your actions could only occur because of the wisdom of my orders! I shall seek a promotion for your premier, in compliment, to make it publicly clear that I have the greatest respect for your action, sir. I have had to make Captain Windsor a bold hero, of course; his father would not be best pleased was I to describe him as an incompetent little tit! Bosomtwi! A bottle, if you please.”

  “Thank you again, sir. I am glad to see that the report mentions Captain Dench – he is a very determined young man when in action. The sloop and transport were both his while Pincher accounted for the brig. The transport, I must mention, was cram-packed with soldiers, the bulk of whom must have burned with her.”

  “Very unpleasant, but nothing to be done for them, or not by us. I presume they were the native troops of whom we have heard so much.”

  “I believe not, sir. I think they may have been a Spanish regiment, a brigade probably from the number of transports, being returned to Spain. It seems likely, sir, that the flotilla, even if originally intended for the Rio de la Plata, had been diverted from that purpose and was now escorting the troops to the mother country.”

  “I must make an additional report to that effect, Captain Vereker. It might be of interest in Whitehall.”

  Montevideo was full to bursting point, harbour and town both packed with soldiers and sailors and assorted vessels.

  “What have we to salute, Mr Mason?”

  “No change that I can see, sir. I presume that still to be the flag of Admiral Stirling, sir.”

  “He will be glad when he is finally gone from these waters, I doubt not, Mr Mason. As shall I, so I trust. Wood and water as a matter of urgency, Mr Mason. Mr Tate!”

  Tate, only newly appointed as Fourth, was acting First Lieutenant, the wardroom having been emptied by the demands of the prizes; he was sat at the big table with Mr Mockson, the purser, trying to follow the intricacies of the accounts in the ledgers for which he was responsible. He thought he had understood the last explanation… Now he had to run to the quarterdeck, when he needed another hour at least undisturbed.

  “Sir!”

  “Stations to enter harbour, Mr Tate. No shore leave in the first instance. Assume that we must wood and water in very short time. Purser to shore markets. Mess stewards to the shore as well. I hope and trust that we may leave these waters within a very few days, well before any expedition sets out to conquer the whole of South America with a single division of soldiers!”

  Tate was out of his depth; he was a very new lieutenant and was still uncertain in all of his functions as Fourth; to be made premier of a seventy-four was little more than a nightmare.

  “You are doing very well in your temporary position, Mr Tate. I am most pleased with the way you are coping with tasks which are, by their very nature, new to you. The experience will be beneficial to your career, I assure you. I shall seek a more senior man as First as soon as I speak to Admiral Stirling; do not take this as a denigration of your abilities, sir! I shall take care that at least one of the new men to the wardroom is junior to you, and I shall see you as Second if it can be arranged – I do not know who will be available, obviously.”

  Tate made his thanks, hoping his relief did not show; he had feared that he might have been left to hold a post which would inevitably break him.

  They were given moorings and, to Tate’s immense pleasure, reached them without disaster, the squadron and prizes settling themselves in their proper places behind them. Frederick nodded his approval.

  “All commanding officers to flag, Mr Dalby. Your signal to specifically include the prizes, if you please.”

  Half an hour, every ship having expected the command and having a boat towing as soon as they reached shoal waters, and the officers assembled in the great cabin, glasses to hand, Bosomtwi having pulled the best remaining bottles from his double-locked wine pantry.

  “Gentlemen, first and foremost my thanks to you for performing a difficult task in trying circumstances. We must regret the loss of Mercure and her gallant captain, but may celebrate the prizes taken in that same action.”

  The quicker brains rapidly discovered that Captain Windsor was to be an official hero; they noted the fact for future conversations with the Army, senior officers in England, and, especially, the damned scribblers from the newssheets who might be listening anywhere.

  “I am to make my report out of courtesy to Admiral Stirling. We are not, as you know, part of his command, unless other orders have come from the Admiralty, but he has the right to know what is happening in his own station. I hope that he will be able to provide us with a pair of lieutenants of some seniority.”

  Like Frederick, they would have been amazed if Admiral Stirling could not find young favourites whose careers could be advanced.

  “The prizes cannot go to a court here, for I doubt there can be one in the circumstances of this expedition. If there are new orders for the squadron, then probably matters will be clarified. For the while, gentlemen, it remains only for me to express my great pleasure in the conduct of all of you.”

  Again, the bright officers read between the lines and decided that Sir Frederick expected to discover orders awaiting in Montevideo, sent out with the new troops, and that he would not be surprised to find the squadron dispersed to several different tasks.

  “Sir Frederick, I see your squadron has been augmented in your time at sea. An uncommon great frigate and a ship-sloop, but you are missing your little jackass frigate.”

  “Mercure, sir, was lost with all hands in a gallantly daring assault upon Gloriosa frigate. Fair Isle, attacking the stern simultaneously achieved success, no doubt in great part to Captain Windsor’s bold endeavour to cross her.”

  Admiral Stirling had been many years a sailor; he knew exactly what Frederick was saying.

  “No doubt Captain Windsor’s father’s grief will be assuaged by the knowledge that his boy died a hero.”

  “Quite, sir. I have little doubt but that my letter will feature in the Gazette.”

  “What of the Spanish flotilla, Sir Frederick?”

  “Last seen on a bearing for Spain, sir, escorting a brigade or so of Spanish so
ldiers. Strictly speaking, a few less than a brigade, Captain Dench – who deserves his mentions in my letter – having burned one of the transports.”

  “Unpleasant, but unavoidable. The work of rescue must lie with the Spanish in such a case, of course.”

  “One is given to understand they were more concerned to scatter to save the remainder of the convoy. Strictly, militarily, speaking, they were right to do so.”

  “True, but it would not be my way, Sir Frederick; nor yours, I would wager.”

  “Different navies have their own traditions, sir, and the Spanish have a fine history at sea, though experiencing vicissitudes in recent years.”

  “Very true, Sir Frederick. I shall inform the Army that they have nothing to fear from the sea. That will leave them with fewer enemies; they will remain, however, at the mercy of their friends.”

  Frederick cocked an eyebrow, hoping for more but very unwilling to actually ask in public. Admiral Stirling’s flag lieutenant and staff were present – all possessing ears and too many having mouths, no doubt.

  “General Whitelocke, sir! The man evidently became a soldier because he could not quite qualify as village idiot so as to be granted a dole from the Poor Law!”

  Frederick shook his head, commented that it was a sad state of affairs.

  “It is, sir. The officer commanding the Rifles lacks the seniority to make his protests heard, and the second-in-command, General Beresford, who is an intelligent and able man, still lacks the resolution to shout his superior down. There will be a disaster, I fear; its exact nature is still unclear, but the Navy will have no part in it, not if I have my way!”

  “Very wise, sir. I must enquire whether any communication has arrived from the Admiralty relating to my squadron.”

  “Waiting on my desk, Sir Frederick. You will wish to sit and read it, I doubt not. I am aware of part of your orders, because they affect me, but I do not know of the bulk. It is a brief communication, leading me to suspect that there will be a fuller set of instructions to follow elsewhere. Would you wish to read the packet now?”

  Frederick sat and cut open the waxed, waterproof wrapping.

  “We have a new First Lord, I see, sir.”

  “We do indeed, Sir Frederick. An occasion on which we can suggest that any change cannot be for the worse!”

  They raised their glasses to that comment.

  “Interesting, sir. I am to gift you the services of Endymion and am to raise my flag in Winchester as a Commodore of the First Class, Sir Iain remaining as captain! Recognition of services in the Indian Ocean, no less. John Company must have sent letters by fast ship to the Red Sea and then overland to Alexandria and a runner to Gibraltar to pick up the Post Office packet there. If all goes to plan they can now send a message from Bombay to London in less than ten weeks. I am to sail with the frigates and sloops and make best speed to Gibraltar where I will be given further instructions and, perhaps, additional ships. That must be to the Mediterranean, sir, or so I hope and pray… I do so much wish that I may not be ordered to form a squadron for service on the Slave Coast! The gunbrigs, sir, are to sail in company to the Cape where they will be utilised on inshore patrols at the discretion of the Admiral Commanding. Admiral Bertie, one discovers, who must have been newly appointed to the role.”

  “Bertie? A good man, or was as a captain. A little too fond of the bottle, but still controlling his thirst, I believe. Now, Sir Frederick, what can you tell me of Endymion?”

  Frederick had much to say of the old line-of-battle ship, and very little of it good.

  “One lieutenant, do you tell me? And him the Fourth and less than six months wearing the hat!”

  “Yes, sir. He cannot conceivably remain premier, though he deserves Second in recognition, I would suggest. Two lieutenants are essential, sir, but you could make the master’s mate who has been unofficially acting, if it seems good to you. I was not sure that he could make the step, had thought he might do better as a master, but I now would be inclined to take the risk on him.”

  “I shall make it so, Sir Frederick, the more willingly for useful lieutenants being thin on the ground the while. There is a nasty recurrent fever on these shores; it kills only a few but leaves any number very slowly convalescent. I have a young man who will make a very useful First, and there is a midshipman with five years in on the Flag who is a nephew of mine and will be pleased to rise earlier than he had hoped. He is no more than sixteen, of course, but that is the merest triviality. Promotions among the post-captains and master and commanders will be easily made, as always and I know exactly who will receive the blessing of first command of a seventy-four.”

  “My midshipman’s berth is full, sir, despite the needs of the prizes. The previous captain of Winchester was an enthusiast when it came to captain’s servants and there has been a plethora of boys to be given their warrant. My regular followers amount to no more than coxswain, two personal servants and my cook and it would be no hardship to me to take the three smallest boys away as well, unless you have a use for them.”

  Captain’s servants were often little more than a nuisance and the new man promoted into Endymion might well already have his own train of them.

  All was amicably arranged and it remained only to agree a very early date for the transfers to be made, after which Frederick would be wholly at liberty to say a thankful farewell to the South American campaign.

  # # #

  Thank you for reading The Duty and Destiny Series. Book Ten’s projected release date is late, 2016. In the meantime, please take look at Andrew’s other novels listed on the following pages.

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  The series goes on to chronicle Tom and Joseph’s rise to power and follows the triumphs and tragedies of the two increasingly powerful dynasties. As an introduction to this acclaimed series, The Privateersman is Free.

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  Book One: Long Way Place

  Long Way Place: In the early 1900s gutter rat, Ned Hawkins aims to rise from the grinding poverty of an English slum, but is forced to flee the country and ends up in Papau - a dangerous land where cannibalism and cannibals are never far away. Despite this menacing backdrop, he prospers and finds love. However, there are ominous stirrings in the land that bode ill for the future. Book Two, A Place Like Home is now published.

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