A Certain Threat (The Merriman Chronicles Book 1)

by Roger Burnage

  “Don’t worry about that side of it my boy, I’ll deal with it. I’ll ride into Chester immediately after you have gone. You’ll need the small carriage to take you to Parkgate, I’ll send Hoskins with you to bring it back..”

  “There is one other thing you might do Father, perhaps tomorrow, is to visit Doctor Simpson to find out how Mr. Grahame is faring. If he has recovered consciousness he’ll be desperate to know what is happening so you can tell him everything.”

  He turned to young Shrigley who was still eating, “My God boy, I don’t know where you put it all. Leave it now, we must go.”

  It was not long before the smart carriage belonging to Captain Merriman drove up to the doctor’s house to collect McBride and to allow Merriman to enquire after Mr. Grahame. The doctor announced that Grahame was resting comfortably but was still unconscious.

  “I’ll have to leave him with you then” said Merriman. “I don’t know how soon I may be back but I’ve asked my father to look in on him and tell him all that has happened since he was wounded, if that will not be inconvenient to you. Perhaps father will take him off your hands when he is able to be moved.”

  “Your father will be welcome James, but I’ll not allow my patient to be moved until I’m certain he’s fit enough to travel” replied the doctor.

  And so the small carriage, now rather overloaded with the passengers and Hoskins the coachman, set off for the jetty where Lieutenant Andrews and the longboat’s crew waited. Merriman was displeased to find quite a large number of idlers had gathered, staring down at the boat and speculating amongst themselves on the reason for the presence of the naval party. Several of the idlers were trying to stir up the boat’s crew with abusive remarks and jeers, but under Lieutenant Andrews’ stern eye the men remained quiet, although muttering darkly about what they would do if the Lieutenant were not there.

  Merriman beckoned to Lieutenant Andrews and they moved away from the crowd.

  “Have you news of the Dorset’s captain yet David?”

  “Yes Sir, he is aboard. He is a Captain Knox, a Scotsman. I have spoken with him and confirmed what you told the lieutenant, but he wishes to speak with you Sir.”

  “Good, we’ll go over there at once. Mr. McBride, Mr. Shrigley, Owen, into the boat with you. You’ll remember Owen I’m sure, Lieutenant, he has been of great service to us in this matter. He managed to join the smugglers and has provided us with valuable information but they now suspect him and he cannot go back to them. So, from now on he’ll be my cox’n in Aphrodite.”

  “Of course I remember him Sir, a good man to have at your side in a fight, saved your life on the Conflict as I recall.”

  “Indeed, and now let us be off.” Both officers swiftly climbed down into the boat, Merriman last as custom demanded. A few strong oar strokes brought them alongside the Dorset where the Captain welcomed Merriman aboard and ushered him down to the cabin.

  The captain of the Dorset was a stout, weather beaten individual with one arm missing. A Post Captain of the Royal Navy he would have been fortunate to be given this command, which, although a responsibility, was also a fairly safe and easy appointment.

  “’Pon my soul Lieutenant Merriman, I find this tale of villainy hard to credit. To think that these, these scum, would dare to attack my ship ----,” he broke off, spluttering with fury and going red in the face “Is it really true?”

  “I regret to say that it is Sir. As you now know, we have re-captured the Revenue ship and I have six French prisoners and perhaps twenty three Irish as a result. From what I have learned from various sources, the Irish rebels were to hold the Lord Lieutenant and his party hostage to force the Government to accede to their terms for Irish freedom. In return for French assistance the Irish would welcome French troops to Ireland, from where they would be poised to attack England. That is the heart of the matter Sir, I’ll vouch for it, but I’m not at liberty to reveal the source of all my information.”

  “An incredible story Lieutenant, incredible.” He shook his head in amazement, then suddenly remembering his manners, “May I offer you a glass of something Lieutenant?, I have a new claret here, received from London only last week. I’m told it is rather good.”

  “Thank you Sir, that I would relish.”

  Captain Knox poured two glasses of the deep red wine, and handing one to Merriman said “A toast Lieutenant, confusion and damnation to the Frogs, what.”

  “Confusion and damnation to the Frogs,” repeated Merriman. “An excellent sentiment and if I may say so Sir, this is an excellent claret too. Now Sir, have you heard when the Lord Lieutenant’s party will arrive?”

  “I was told two days ago that I could expect them here in four or five days, which means that they might be here tomorrow or the day after. The Dorset is ready to sail immediately they are aboard. Incidentally Commander, he prefers to be known as the Viceroy, rather than the Lord Lieutenant, sounds more important you know. Might be important to you to know that, should you have occasion to meet his party and staff.”

  “Thank you Sir, I’ll remember it. And now, with your permission, I should like to propose what we should do to safeguard your ship when you sail for Dublin.”

  “Safeguard my ship? I thought the threat was over with the re-capture of that ship.”

  “No Sir, there is also a French ship somewhere about and I believe they were to meet to attack you together. There is no reason to suppose they’ll abandon their plan simply because the weaker of the two ships is lost to them.”

  “You’re right, the Frogs don’t lack for enterprise and courage, I’ve fought them often enough to know,” he touched his empty sleeve for a moment, lost in memories. “Do you have any suggestions Commander?”

  “When they laid their plans Sir, they would have expected to be able to take your ship by surprise and overwhelm you by sheer weight of numbers before you were able to resist. I know that they have formed an alliance with the smugglers along this coast who must be acting as their eyes and ears, so it is certain that they are aware of the presence of my ship Aphrodite anchored off the Point of Air. However, they may not realize that we know of their intention to attack the Dorset, and may believe that it was only a co-incidence that we found the Revenue cutter.”

  “Surely they’ll suspect that we have extracted details of their plans from the prisoners and know that they can no longer surprise us,” interrupted Captain Knox.

  “Yes Sir, that is very possible, but I believe that you should still expect to encounter the French ship somewhere between here and Dublin, probably off the north west of Anglesey, and be prepared for it.”

  “You say I should expect to encounter the French, will you not be escorting us? This ship has little armament and though my crew will fight, this is not a ship of war.”

  “I shall escort you Sir, but at a distance. This is what I intend if you are agreeable. Whatever the Lord Lieu ----- the Viceroy says, you must make every excuse not to sail until the morning of the day after tomorrow when the tide will be right. Tomorrow I’ll take Aphrodite away to the north so that watchers may assume that we are leaving the area. I’ll stay well out of sight of land until the day after tomorrow. When you sail, take a course two or three miles further to the north than you might normally do and fly St George’s flag at the main. You’ll be able to see my tops’ls and I’ll be watching you. The moment you see any ship appear which looks suspicious in any way, haul down that flag. It will be the signal to me to close with you. At the same time you should alter course towards me.”

  “A good plan Commander, it could work but I don’t know if the Viceroy will allow it. I doubt not he would prefer you to be in close escort, not over the horizon.”

  “He may do Captain, if you tell him. You outrank me Sir, and this is your ship, but I should tell you that I have been given orders from the very highest level of government to do whatever is needful to apprehend these people. It is important that this French ship is captured and I hope my plan will tempt him to try to
seize your ship and then I can bring him to action.”

  Knox turned and stared out of the stern windows at the view up river. It was a major decision for him to make, to balance the safety of the Viceroy against the need to stop the French. He turned back to Merriman. “What is this highest level you refer to Commander?”

  “The Prime Minister himself has charged Lord Stevenage to co-ordinate all the efforts of government agents, the Judiciary, the Revenue and the Navy to prevent all French activity between this country and Ireland. I myself met with Lord Stevenage at the Admiralty not many weeks ago and he stressed to me the urgency of this. I need hardly add Captain, that what I’ve just told you is highly confidential and should not be discussed with any others.”

  “Have no fear Mr. Merriman, I can be a veritable oyster when I choose. Very well then, let us do as you suggest. I’ll not sail until dawn the day after tomorrow.” A thought struck him, “It may be a day later if the Viceroy’s party is delayed.”

  “No matter Captain, I shall be on station. Now Sir, if there is nothing further, I should be getting back to my ship.”

  “Of course, another glass before you go?”

  “Thank you Sir, but no more.”

  Knox accompanied Merriman to the ship’s side and after a brief handclasp, Merriman descended into the longboat.

  “Back to the ship if you please Mr. Andrews. The tide is with us so we should make good time. Yes, what is it boy?” Little Shrigley was desperately trying to attract Merriman’s attention, having to restrain himself from tugging at his Captain’s sleeve.

  “Sir, it’s a man in a fishing smack that passed us when you were aboard the Dorset Sir. I saw him on the trading ship we boarded, you know, the one with the three passengers, a fat man, a small man and him, Sir.”

  “Are you sure Mr. Shrigley?”

  “Yessir” squeaked Shrigley in his excitement, “I’m sure Sir.”

  “I saw ‘im too Sir” put in Owen, “He’s the leader of the smuggling gang. I don’t think ‘e saw us Sir, an’ you remember the fat man you caught cheating at cards back in Oxford? Well ‘e was there too.”

  “That settles it”, mused Merriman. “If you are right, that ties Robinson in with the smugglers, probably with the Irish rebels as well, and by extension, with the French also.” Merriman’s mind went back to the occasion of the meeting with Robinson and the three men in the Hotel in Chester. The third man had looked vaguely familiar, it must have been the fat card cheat.

  Darkness had fallen by the time the longboat drew near to the Aphrodite. As they approached a challenge rang out. “Boat there, what boat are you? Keep off or I will sink you.”

  The bos’n yelled back “Aphrodite,” the single word telling the officer of the watch that the Captain was coming aboard.

  As soon as he climbed onto the deck Merriman called all the officers to his cabin and explained to them what had been arranged with the captain of the Dorset, and what had been learned about the French plot to take the plumbago. “We still do not know exactly when or how they propose to do that, so one or more of our French prisoners must be made to talk,” said Merriman grimly. “Yes, Mr. Oakley, what is it?”

  “Sir, I know I must seem ignorant, but what exactly is plumbago and why would the French want it so badly?”

  “A good question Mr. Oakley. Plumbago is found in veins and pockets in the ground. Shafts and tunnels have to be dug and when it has been mined it must be washed and sorted. I believe the plumbago, which is also called graphite or blacklead, is used in foundries to improve the quality of castings of such as cannon and shot, and is also used in the manufacture of gunpowder but how that is done I cannot say. I imagine that the French must be desperately short of it to even consider such a plan, but if they intend to go to war with us again they will need all they can get, as will we. Now Mr. Cuthbert, Mr. Jeavons, I want the ship on station by dawn, see to it if you please.”

  Chapter 23: French Agent Moreau

  Monsieur Charles Henri Moreau, once titled Charles, Count de Treville et Beaupreau, stared with distaste at the miserable French seaman before him, whilst his mind raced to find a way of recovering from the blow to his plans.

  Only that morning he had landed at Holyhead, having been rowed ashore from the French corvette La Sirene, the Mermaid, in high hopes of his plans reaching success.

  Not often did he stay ashore and this was only the third time he had come to the miserable little inn on the edge of the town and he hated it. The food was execrable and as for the wine, the wine was only fit for peasants and pigs. He tolerated the place only because there had to be somewhere his agents could contact him or leave messages. The landlord was well paid to keep his mouth shut although Moreau knew that the offer of more money or the threat of violence would rapidly open it .

  “So, you tell me that you are the only man to escape when the English ship attacked, how was that possible? Tell me that”.

  “I wasn’t there Sir, I was inland, keeping a watch on the road as ordered. When I heard the shooting I went back to the village but by the time I got there I could see that the cutter had been taken. I saw Lieutenant de Boyard killed by an English soldier in a red coat and Lieutenant Benedict wounded and our men taken prisoner. There was nothing I could do so I hid in the bushes until the English left and then I crept away”.

  “Boyard dead? But he was an excellent swordsman”.

  “Well, the Englishman was better. The two Lieutenants attacked him together and he killed one and wounded the other”.

  “Mon Dieu! There is one man I should like to face with my friend here.” For emphasis his hand pulled his long sword partly out of its scabbard and slammed it back in again.

  He began to pace up and down the room. So the damned English had found the cutter, well, the plan could still work without the second ship. His own ship was well armed and could easily overcome the resistance of the unsuspecting crew of the Dorset And there was no reason to suppose that the English were aware of the plan to capture the Viceroy and his party. His own men wouldn’t talk, and the Irishmen hated the English so much that they wouldn’t say anything either. Once the Dorset and the passengers were taken, the Irish were supposed to kill the crew and sink or burn the ship to ensure that there was no-one left alive to tell tales. He despised the Irish and had expected to be far away when they did their evil work, but now his own men would have to do it although he would take the important prisoners back to France.

  Then the second part of the plan could be carried out. The English could know nothing of his intention to seize the shipment of plumbago, so there should be no difficulty about that. The plumbago would have to be transferred to the hold of his ship La Sirene instead of the revenue cutter and he would have lost the money that ship would have brought him, but still, if all went well he would have struck a great blow for France.

  He had no illusions about his own situation. As one of the hated aristos his own head could fall into the basket beneath Madame Guillotine as easily had those of his parents, brother and sister. He was the younger son, and after a monumental row with his father, he had left home, taking only his father’s sword and a horse. He had been fortunate to have spent most of his adult life away from the family estates, moving round the world, selling his sword and services where he could.

  He had been with the French volunteers under the Marquis de Lafeyette in the American War of Independence, simply taking the name Moreau which was his family name. Whilst he was known to be a gentleman he was not known to be an aristocrat. He hated the revolution for what it had done to his family, but he loved France, and was pragmatist enough to realize that there could be ample opportunity to make a new fortune under the new regime, especially as war with England was almost certain.

  With this in mind he had approached members of the National Assembly in Paris to whom he was known and been introduced to a Monsieur Gaillard. It seemed that this gentleman had at his fingertips the strings to all kinds of mysterious affairs carried on in
secret on behalf of the Assembly. He had welcomed Moreau as someone he could use and between them they had devised the plot involving the Irish rebels who were, of course, known to French agents in that country. Moreau had been given La Sirene, a corvette, the French equivalent of a sloop of war and until now the plan had been successful.

  Speaking to the seaman who had stood in silence whilst Moreau had been thinking, he said “I must return to the ship. They will not be sending a boat for me until tonight so we shall have to find a fisherman to take us out there. You will come with me.”

  Chapter 24: Prisoners interrogated

  Dawn found Aphrodite just out of sight of land, tacking back and forth in a moderate breeze to hold station in a position to be able to see the topsails of the Dorset when she emerged from the sandbanks which would keep her close inshore for the first part of her passage along the coast.

  As usual the ship had cleared for action ready for dawn, an activity which was carried out in every King’s ship. Doubtless some thought it a waste of time as the country was not at war, but Merriman had always insisted on his officers and crew trying to better their previous time, every time. Now, with his knowledge that war with France could not be long delayed, it was more important than ever to keep the men on their toes.

  Merriman had retired to his cabin. Peters, who had improved with practice, was shaving him with deft strokes of the razor as Merriman’s mind worked over his plans. He was as certain as he could be that his plan for the safety of the Lord Lieutenant and the Dorset was a good one, but what about the other business, the French interest in plumbago? What was to be done about that?