“I fear she must be condemned, sir. She has floated her last, I believe.”
The Port-Admiral was reluctant – there was a shortage of all ships but of frigates especially and he was unwilling to lose one. The Survey next day stated that he must, however.
“The First Lord has ordered that your squadron be disbanded, Sir Frederick, lacking Acheron to provide a ship of some power. The sloops are all to go to other work and there is always a need for transports, of course. I am able to provide a berth for your Mr Luscombe, you will be glad to know, on Blackbird sloop. Captain Burford has gone to half-pay, his rheumatics playing him up, and I have given her to his first, in consultation with the First Lord, of course. There is thus a place and Luscombe has the seniority and will be premier.”
Frederick was pleased, seeing the appointment as a compliment to him.
“The First Lord requests you, Sir Frederick, to go out to Gibraltar, sailing as a passenger on Andromache, 36 next week. Your followers with you, of course. As well, sir, you are to take your first lieutenant and your midshipmen, and your master’s mate, Doolan, who you have mentioned.”
Frederick was instantly alert – something was badly astray here.
“Euripides, 64, is lying at anchor in Gibraltar Bay, extra Marines aboard her and her commissioned officers and midshipmen all ashore and under a degree of restraint. Her captain is dead, and in peculiar circumstances, to express the matter mildly. The admiral at Gibraltar says only that she is in bad condition, in terms of her people, though outstanding in simple physical condition. She came last from the West Indies Station.”
The West Indies was renowned as the home of meaningless elegance, in peacetime. It was not impossible that ships of the Jamaica Squadron had reverted to type in the Peace.
“Euripides is earmarked to perform a number of special services in the Mediterranean in the event of the Spanish entering the war, which is to occur, I am told in about four weeks from now. The action off Cape St Mary should have been the last straw for the Spanish – they are waiting apparently for their orders to arrive from Bonaparte, or permission perhaps! Captain Murray, who is known to you, is to be in post in Gibraltar and will provide you with much useful information and may wish to accompany you on occasion. You will need an extra lieutenant to assist with landing parties particularly and I will make your Mr Doolan for that purpose.”
Again, the offer was a compliment and Frederick was pleased to accept.
“Obviously, Sir Frederick, you do not retain the appointment of Commodore, but you will be well positioned should any expedition be mounted in the Mediterranean. As well, I can whisper that you will have the opportunity to familiarise yourself with the diplomatic processes of the Mediterranean, such as a Captain of the Fleet must know.”
Only the most favoured officers received such a posting, there being very few fleets in being at any given moment. To have what amounted to a promise of such honour was a high mark of favour and guaranteed him employment not only as a captain, but also in later years as an admiral. It was almost the last thing he wanted – an end to independence; seeing action at a distance; great mounds of paperwork; doing the pretty to visitors and politicians; smiling sweetly at a mass of gilded idiots. He made his thanks, disguising his sourness and practising the false smile he would need.
“I have ordered your lieutenant and midshipmen to attend me here, Sir Frederick, but I felt you might wish to inform Mr Doolan of his good fortune yourself. You will have but the two lieutenants initially, Sir Frederick, but will add another pair at the convenience of the people in Gibraltar.”
“I will speak to Doolan, sir. I shall then make my way to Long Common, sir, for a few days in my wife’s company. She had hoped for me to be with her over winter, but the service must come first.”
Bosomtwi was waiting with Dunnett the clerk, Marc and Jean and his baggage.
“They done threw us off Acheron, sir, said we was in the way.”
Ablett had been sent off to Long Common soon after they had made port.
“Home for the week, then it’s Gibraltar for us, Bosomtwi. What do we do for a replacement for Ablett?”
“Done it, sir. That Kavanagh, I ask him and he getting his seabag now. He good enough a seaman, and bad enough a man, to do the job and be useful. I tell you the story another day, sir, he coming now. I talked with him once or two times, sir. He the man for us, isn’t it.”
“So be it, Bosomtwi. Go to the Crown and get a pair of post-chaises, if you would be so good. Marc, would you go aboard Acheron and ask Mr Doolan to come to me?”
“Ain’t nobody left on board her, sir. They all been ordered off and a passage crew from the yard got her to take her round to the breakers, sir.”
Doolan was standing at wharfside, scratching his head and wondering what he was to do and how to stretch the couple of guineas in his pocket to their farthest when Marc found him and brought him to Frederick.
“Your lieutenant’s commission is waiting at the Port-Admiral’s office, Mr Doolan. You are to be Fourth of the Euripides, 64, at Gibraltar, if you wish, myself as captain.”
“Yes, sir, if you please, sir. Oh, very much, sir!”
“We are to sail on Andromache next week, as passengers. You will wish to remain in Portsmouth for a few days, I doubt not – the Port-Admiral must arrange pay-tickets among other factors and you will purchase your uniforms. You may wish to speak to Mr Dunnett. Have you family in England?”
“None that know me, sir.”
There was a story in that, undoubtedly, possibly somewhat discreditable. It would not be correct to ask what, but possibly Dunnett would find out while he was making a loan to Doolan to cover his unavoidable expenses as he filled his lieutenant’s sea-chest.
Kavanagh walked up with his bag on his shoulder, stiffened and touched his hat to Frederick.
“Welcome aboard, Kavanagh.”
“All is changed, my dear, and we are off to Gibraltar next week!”
Elizabeth was sufficiently used to the vagaries of life as a naval wife not to protest, but she was disappointed nonetheless. She wondered if it might not be possible for her to join him there – Gibraltar was none so far, after all.
“It will be taken under siege, nominally at least – extra civilian mouths will not be welcome in the first instance and food might actually be difficult to come by. Not a good idea for the while, ma’am. If it becomes possible, be sure I shall write you. I expect this appointment to be short again – I am merely to perform a few jobs for the First Lord, I believe. I am given a sixty-four, which is not a command I would like to keep, and suspect I am to go to Tetuan to the Emperor of Morocco and probably to Naples and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, perhaps to Lisbon, to our old allies of Portugal – there will be ‘diplomatic business’, which may be no more than carrying an envoy, of course. Captain Murray is to be in Gibraltar and will again be offering his valuable advice. One understands that the Rock is seen as a safe place for him, and he will never go ashore in foreign parts again, or so I trust.”
“What exactly is he now, Frederick? An adviser who had suddenly, it seems, become a post-captain – is that not unusual?”
“He is an intelligencer, my dear, one of the men who tell us what is actually happening in the world.”
“He is not himself a spy from what he said to us.”
“Not as such, not now – for he has become a little too visible, he is known in France. He is now one of those who spies report to, one whose job it is to make sense of all of the little packets of information that come to hand and sort them into a rational whole. He is quite often right, as well. The problem, he tells me, is that many of his people are also owned by the French, or by German princelings, or the Austrians, or even by Russia or Spain, though the latter two very uncommonly, and very occasionally by the Vatican, which has its own set of policies in the world. He has thus to decide just what he can or cannot trust of the knowledge that comes to him; he says it is ‘great fun’, but it is not a game I wish to pl
ay, or, in fact, know how to.”
She had always understood spies to be very nasty people, yet she liked Captain Murray – it was all very disturbing for a sheltered young woman.
“Why a sixty-four, Frederick – a small line-of-battle ship, too old and too little to hold a place in the line these days?”
“I am available, and the First Lord can trust me to keep quiet about all I see and hear, the questions of Spanish neutrality still giving him a hold on me, or so he may think. Euripides has come very close to a mutiny, I suspect, and her officers have been removed, and her midshipmen, and I am to replace them with my people. When I have her in hand then we must perform a number of services for the First Lord – their nature I do not yet know, but to be kept secret, I suspect. Some of them may be of a questionable nature which many officers might not agree to.”
“But you are likely not to object, sir?”
“I prized Dutch East Indiamen in the peace before the French invaded the Low Countries; it is firmly believed by many that I gave French prisoners to cannibals to win their complaisance; I was recently involved with this foolishness with Santiago; a close associate took Spanish merchantmen in his privateer and yet was not called a pirate. In the eyes of many I am just a fraction blown upon – rather given to compromise, shall we say, on questions of honour. The First Lord can make use of my talents; in return I shall be well looked after in the future.”
“So, you in fact are to do the Admiralty’s dirty business for it again?”
“To an extent, yes. I will not behave too dishonourably, of a certainty, but I will not be troubled by the more extreme qualms of conscience that some might face, and, of course, I rather like being a baronet, knowing that Iain will become Sir Iain one day. I would not mind too terribly was I eventually to become baron – there is much to be said for Lord Harris, you know. It will not come as a battle honour for leading a fleet to victory – this war, even if it drags on as long as the last, cannot be quite so drawn out as to see me flying a Vice-Admiral’s flag – but politicians very commonly ennoble their more useful satellites. So, a commission such as this, whatever it may be, must amuse me for a year or two, and serve the needs of the faceless men of Whitehall. Add to that, with Spain just coming into the war, there will be prize money!”
Elizabeth was in favour of money – there was always a place for a little more. She asked of the action off St Mary’s which was rumoured to have recently won millions for a few frigate captains.
“Admiral Girton thought not, my dear – though nothing is to be said yet. Droits of Admiralty, almost for sure, the cargo. Payment on the hulls and head money, assessed on a generous scale, certainly – perhaps fifteen thousand apiece to the captains – but the treasure to be taken into the government’s avaricious hands. It may be the last of the great treasure flotas, or so the Admiral said, as the Spanish colonies are becoming uppity at seeing their wealth taken away from them. Not less than two millions in sterling, perhaps more, and it would have been mostly put into Bonaparte’s hands… I suspect he may be irritated!”
She thought the captains might be as well – had the cargo been declared prize they would have been in line for more than one hundred and sixty thousand each. Quick counting on her fingers converted the sum into the better part of twelve square miles of good farmland – a fortune indeed.
“Might have beens, my dear – we must live with reality, not with far-fetched hopes. How is Ablett settling in? Is he reconciled to his injury? I must go to him – he must not feel cast aside.”
“He has told me that he will not go to sea again, Frederick. Is that truly so?”
He nodded – there was nothing to say.
Ablett was sat in the big armchair by a fire in his large and comfortable cottage, twice the size of any farm labourers and far better furnished. He struggled to rise as Frederick walked in.
“Healing well, Ablett?”
“Clean as a smelt, sir, not a whiff of corruption. The local doctor has seen it and says he is content with its progress. But there’s a bloody great big lump out of the calf, sir, and I ain’t going to grow that muscle back. I don’t ever run again, and walking’s liable to be slow.”
“Ride a cob around the farm and a gig into Botley or Waltham – there’s beasts in the stables, man.”
“Difficult to ride a gig round a deck, sir!”
“You are a homebody now, Ablett. The children will get to know you better, at least.”
They shrugged together – the sea was no place for weaklings and tended to knock the self-pity out of any man.
“My Mary is pleased enough, anyhow, sir. Better than being away for years at a time. So she says. She’s expecting, as well, sir, so that’s a good thing for us both. I might talk with Dick Makepeace, the gunsmith in Waltham, sir, do some work for him or go into partnership maybe.”
“Good idea. Better than sitting on your backside, that’s for sure. Bosomtwi has taken Kavanagh on in your place. Would he be your choice?”
“Cleverer nor me, sir, which ain’t so bad a thing, and handy with a knife or pistol, so I believe. Likely to take the shortest road home whenever it comes to the pinch – a great one for cuttin’ corners, so I have been told. I reckon he might do very well, sir. He won’t let you down, not by intent, but he might be a little too quick at slitting a throat for comfort. I should think you’ll be safe with him at your back, sir, and that’s the most important thing – a reliable lad!”
Frederick wondered again how it came about that Kavanagh, with his gentlemanly ways of speech, had run off to sea, and where he had run from.
“Mr Doolan has his commission and is coming with us… me, that is. Bound for Gibraltar and a sixty-four for a few months. Not quite a jobbing-captain but filling in a gap for the First Lord.”
“Maybe you’ll need a man to watch your back, sir.”
Even in mid-winter the Rock was warmer, more attractive than England. It smelt of the Mediterranean as well.
Frederick made his farewells to Andromache’s captain, thanking him for his hospitality. He was one of the Parker clan, currently allied to the Alton interest in Parliament, and he had been a good host, considerate of Frederick’s comfort. He was also a very taut seaman, well known for the smartness and efficiency of his ship – the ‘Andrew Masher’ was renowned among the lower deck as a ship to avoid if you did not fancy doing everything at the run with a polishing rag permanently to hand in case you noticed a piece of brass that did not sparkle – and there was a great deal of brass to be seen on her decks. Against that, she made prize-money, was very often on the scene when there was action to be handed out – and that was much in her favour.
“That is your Euripides in the inner basin, Sir Frederick. She is in good condition, I see. Your people have spent their time well waiting for you.”
It depended on one’s definition of time well spent, but she looked very smart from a distance – all that should be black was as midnight; the while almost glowed in the midday sun; the gold shone to perfection and the brass glittered to hurt the onlooker’s eyes. The sails were furled neatly, the gaskets precisely and equally distant one from another. He could not see the decks and guns from the lower level of the frigate but was prepared to wager they were perfection itself. The men had been kept busy during the eight weeks or so that she had been at anchor. He wondered how often they had exercised the boats, had run the guns in and out in dumbshow, had shifted topmasts as an evolution. Not to worry – at least the men had shown willing.
First things first – he must report to the Admiral and hope that he would not find it necessary to take him along to the Governor to make his number there. He could waste the better part of the day bowing and scraping and smiling at nondescript donkeys in glittering uniforms, all so that they could discover yet again just what important little fellows they really must be.
He stepped ashore, instructing Bosomtwi to take the party of followers to a convenient hostelry, to look after the baggage there and to have a d
rink, but not too much.
“Mr Gentry, will you bring our people with you to the Admiral’s office. If at all possible I will then send you aboard to prepare for my official arrival.”
To Frederick’s relief, the Admiral was unknown to him – he had trodden on a few toes over the years and was pleased that he did not have to face initial enmity.
“Vice-Admiral Clerke,” the flag-lieutenant told him as he brought him upstairs to the large office. “’Err’ not ‘Ar’ or ‘Ur’, sir; Cl-err-ke.”
That told him much of the admiral’s nature – and little that was good. He entered the room and raised his hat fully in respect – no mere touching of the brim to this man.
“Captain Sir Frederick Harris, reporting. I am to take Euripides, sir, at the First Lord’s command.”
All very formal and long-winded, but it was better to be pompous than to seem disrespectful.
“Yes, Sir Frederick. The despatches arrived some eight days ago, stating that you were to take passage in Andromache. She is bound for the Cape, I believe.”
“So her captain said, sir.”
“Very good. You will find Euripides in fine condition, Sir Frederick. Her premier remained aboard, sir, there needed to be one sea officer at least. I believe he has brought the men to a state of obedience, though I have little liking for the fellow and have hardly seen him myself. It was best I kept away, I thought – I did not wish to see signs of mutiny which I could not, in my position, have ignored.”
“Has he allowed shore leave to the men, sir?”
“No – he did not believe it to be wise.”
“And their pay-tickets, sir?”
“He did not believe the men should be upset by having money in their pockets.”
Not perhaps a happy crew, Frederick thought.
“When must I sail, sir?”
“Tomorrow, Sir Frederick. You are to run east down the coast towards Tetuan to pick a convoy running northwards, taking dry rations and live meat to the Mediterranean fleet. It is fortunate that you are here, for there is word that Barbary rovers are to make at try at it.”
The Odd-Job Man (The Duty and Destiny Series, Book 7) Page 12
