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

  He took his post-chaise and four in early spring, just as soon as the roads started to dry.

  Lord Howick consented to see Frederick, as he had discovered to his chagrin that he must. Any officer had the right of access to the First Lord, which was a damned nuisance and one that he was sure was overdue for change; he found though that he would have to present a Bill to the House of Commons to make the alteration, and there was sufficient opposition in the Navy to prevent him securing its passage. Party allegiance to both Whigs and Tories was weaker than the Party leaders might have wished – they could never take a majority for granted. Howick did not desire to speak to Frederick; he would far rather have sent him a letter detailing his plans, keeping him, and all other mere sea-captains, at a proper distance.

  “Sir Frederick! Do take a seat, sir.”

  There was no handshake and small pleasure in the voice.

  “What may I do for you, Sir Frederick?”

  “Lord Barham had suggested that there would be a squadron for the Mediterranean, my Lord. I would wish to discover whether you have other, or indeed any, plans for me.”

  “Not the Mediterranean, Sir Frederick, that is a certainty. The need is for a more experienced man, sir, and one who is more than a mere seadog.”

  “Thank you, my Lord. I am glad to hear your opinion of me.”

  Howick was uncomfortably aware that he had been gratuitously offensive. He became more hostile, knowing that he was in the wrong and damned if he would apologise.

  “I believe I merely mirror the understanding of your peers, sir. Now, if you are in need of employment then there is a squadron suitable for you and due to sail in the month. A pair of seventy-fours, a thirty-two gun frigate, two sloops and a pair of brigs suitable for inshore work. Respectable enough, I believe.”

  “That would depend on the ships, my Lord. Where are they bound?”

  “The Cape initially, and then to the waters of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. The aim is the suppression of piracy, which is a major menace in those seas. The Honourable East India Company has been demanding action of the Navy for some little time. An expedition has, as you will know, been sent to the Cape and will have secured Cape Town at least by now. The governor there will exercise command over your activities in the theatre. He will have instructions to release a battalion of infantry to you, against the need to take action on land, though he will have an absolute veto on their use.”

  “You are saying, my Lord, that he may simultaneously give me troops and forbid me to use them?”

  “That is to express the matter unnecessarily baldly, Sir Frederick! He may state that he wishes landings to be made in the Red Sea, for example, but certainly not on the Mauritius, or whatever seems wise to him.”

  “I see, sir. And if the necessity arises one thousand and more miles from him, what then?”

  “Then you will obey orders, sir, unless you can show very good reason why not.”

  Lord Alton wanted him to go to sea; he had insisted that it was better to have the fleet in safe hands, even if that meant tolerating an over-clever and underbred Whig in the first instance.

  “Nasty little man, everything petty about him, except his prick,” Alton had said, “and that seems to be far too great for his own good! He won’t last in the Admiralty – he don’t want it for its own sake, only accepted it because it is one of the most important ministries.”

  Frederick reminded himself that he wanted to stand well with Lord Alton, and that he owed him the duty of a lesser member of his family.

  “Very well, my Lord. Where is this squadron? And what of captains?”

  “Portsmouth, Sir Frederick. Three of the vessels are Chatham ships but they are to join you in Portsmouth inside the week. As for captains, you will fly your pennant in Endymion as a Commodore of the Second Class, without a captain under you, but you may name your choice for Winchester, 74, and for the frigate, whose name escapes me, it is here somewhere in these damned papers – yes, I have it, Fair Isle, 32. The other small ships are manned and officered already, though I see that Captain Dench is known to you, has recently been under your command.”

  “He has, my Lord, and did his duty well. A fine young officer; of good family, I believe.”

  “Oh! Is he one of those Denches?”

  “So I understand, my Lord.”

  “I wish I had known that – there is better work I could have put him to other than the mere suppression of piracy.”

  “Indeed, my Lord, are you to say that protecting the interests of the East India Company is unimportant?”

  Howick was made even more angry – no politician could ever safely slight John Company; the institution was far too powerful.

  “I am saying no such damned thing, Sir Frederick! You take too much on yourself, sir! If you do not want this command you have but to say so! There are others who will jump at it.”

  “Lord Alton has informed me that he wishes me to take any command that is available, in order to keep a number of inadequate seamen who are nonetheless politically favoured ashore where they belong. One might note that even Lord St Vincent would not have considered sending Whig toadies to sea when they were bereft of any other talent!”

  The Ministry’s position in the House of Commons was shaky and might not survive the implication that the Navy was being weakened for political ends. Howick brought the meeting to an end before he committed an imprudence.

  “I am due to see Vice-Admiral Sir Iain Farquhar in a few minutes, Sir Frederick. I must therefore bid you good-day, sir. You will receive your orders within the week, sir.”

  “Sir Iain did inform me that he is to be in the Admiralty today. I trust he will find you in better temper, my Lord! Good-day to you, sir!”

  Frederick swore inwardly as he left the Admiralty; he had not established the details of his squadron, other than the one seventy-four which sounded much like one of the contractor-built English ships, most of which had been named for English county towns. Some of the naval contractors produced very fine ships; others were thieves who skimped everything possible and turned out floating coffins. English ship design was poor as well, there being no such thing as a naval architect and nothing in the way of formal, academic training in the service.

  He met Sir Iain in the courtyard, had time only to comment that the First Lord seemed to be a man of uncertain temper and limited nautical ability and that he would be at his Town House overnight.

  “Good evening, Sir Frederick! What a nasty little man that one is. I much preferred Barham – a gentleman on the verge of senility is far preferable to a mere courtesy Viscount who seems not to be a gentleman at all. An unpleasant piece of work – fit for service in Her Grace’s boudoir, no doubt, but of small value in the Admiralty!”

  “I agree, Sir Iain! I gather that I am to have some ramshackle sort of squadron for the Indian Ocean; better that than nothing. The suppression of piracy for the Company is a useful task in its own right.”

  Sir Iain laid a finger to his nose, conspiratorially.

  “There may be more to it than that, Sir Frederick. I am told that Whig merchants in the City have it in mind to undercut the Spanish in the Rio de la Plata and to encourage the despatch of a semi-formal expedition to take Montevideo and Buenos Aires. There will be treasure to be taken up, but also a great set of trading concessions which the merchants will fall upon. The expedition is to be sent from the Cape, under the orders of the governor there.”

  “Ah! That explains why the governor is to have control of the battalion lent to me for pirate hunting.”

  “It does indeed, Sir Frederick. It is also why the First Lord had rather wanted a safe pair of Whig hands at the helm, to keep the City happy, and is none too pleased to have been pressured towards you.”

  “So it does, Sir Iain. What of you, sir? Was you offered anything today?”

  “I am to have Malta, with a respectable little fleet, my flag in a First-rate and four of Thirds at my heels. Too few frigates, of course. The
re is word that the Foreign Secretary is to talk to Denmark, to discuss an alliance – the Danish fleet is substantial and contains forty at least of frigates and sloops which would be very valuable to us.”

  It would be an alliance of great value, securing the entrance to the Baltic as well as the fleet.

  They turned to domestic matters, commenting on Dorset affairs, Sir Iain having recently stayed at Abbey.

  “I was glad to see Sir Iain so well wed, Sir Frederick. Will he join you in the Indian Ocean?”

  “I hope so, sir. If the ships are poor then good captains are all the more necessary, and he is very good indeed.”

  “A pleasure to know that he is with you, Sir Frederick; you seem to work well together. I am to stay with my own son in his house here for the time I am in Town. My wife and daughter accompany me, for the benefit of the shopping and perhaps to attend part of the Season.”

  Frederick was vaguely aware that Sir Iain’s heir had not fancied either a naval or a military career and had instead taken a seat offered by his uncle, a tiny Scottish burgh that he held in the Tory interest. He had married very well in the Party ranks and was confidently expected soon to progress to minor office, his wife’s money sufficient to maintain him in his position. The daughter was little short of thirty, he thought, and unwed, almost certainly to stay that way. Sir Iain was not particularly pleased with either of his legitimate children, had been heard to refer to them rather ungenerously, as a ‘mere politico and an old maid’. He was happy indeed at Captain Sir Iain Jackman’s success in his chosen career.

  “You are to sail soon, I believe, Sir Frederick. I believe your Captain Warren is in Town at the moment. I could perhaps beg him to wait on you if you are here tomorrow?”

  “I wish you would, sir! I have a frigate, I am told, that is in need of a captain, and I suspect she will be old and exhausted, hence demanding the best of men. A pity that Warren is senior in his rank to Sir Iain and could not properly take her.”

  “She is a French capture of recent origin, regunned, of course, and the damage of battle made good, but I believe she was not new when taken. She was called Murat, in honour of the cavalryman, having been renamed at least once – she may have been Danton in her youth. Why she is Fair Isle now, I know not. The First Lord has already consented to your appointment of a follower into her, I know. He will not go back on his word – he may be a mere politician but he is not quite so dead to honour.”

  “Can you tell me anything of the others, Sir Iain?”

  “Endymion, 74, is ancient and slow. She is well armed, thirty-twos on the main deck and twenty-fours on the upper, and has no fewer than four of sixty-eight pound carronades. If you can take her close to an enemy, then she will give a good account of herself. She has spent time in the yard recently and I believe has been well reinforced, but she has the lines of a barge! No matter how much sail you may clap onto her you will never persuade her to point up or to make as much as ten knots. I served with her twenty years ago and she was the despair of the squadron then, for holding the others to her pace.”

  “Pirates are commonly poorly kept and a chase may still be possible. Do you know the other, Winchester, I believe?”

  “Slab-sided and, again, slow and a poor ship in any sort of sea. She was one of the better made contractor’s ships, and at least her hull does not work and leak like so many. But she is a sad apology for a ship-of-the line! Twenty-fours and eighteens, Sir Frederick! I am told, how correctly I know not, that the upper battery may have been wholly converted to carronades. If so, then she will have a much improved weight of broadside, at least.”

  “One must count one’s blessings, Sir Iain. One may well achieve something even with such unlikely beasts to hand!”

  Captain Warren was delighted to meet Frederick and wished he might have sailed with him again. He was as fat as ever and somewhat better spoken – it was to be presumed that his lady wife had decided to improve upon his education.

  “A very good marriage, Sir Frederick, made possible only because of the prize-money, of course! I did very well out of the blockade in the Channel – Nantes frigate being recognisably French she was used inshore as much as possible and I was able to snap up more than one merchantman trying to run down the coast. My last prize before hauling down my pendant was a two hundred ton ship running from Brittany and thinking to make the Army around Boulogne; she carried brandy, nothing else!”

  “Two hundred tons of brandy, Captain Warren! That must have been a pretty penny!”

  “She went to auction, of course, and fetched more than twenty thousand, Sir Frederick! Two eighths of that into my pocket and very welcome, too!”

  “Very much so, one must imagine!”

  “I came home, sir, to Kent and gave thought to the purchase of a house and a few acres, as one must, but was pointed in another direction entirely. I was told, in great detail, of a landowning gentleman outside Faversham, not so far from the coast, a Mr Norris, who had been careless in his ways and had wasted almost all of his funds. He owns more than a thousand acres of good land, and had mortgaged it to the tune of eight thousands and was having the devil’s own job even to pay the interest. His wife had been a friend of my own mother when they were girls and before they made their marriages; she had but the one daughter and never a son, and no entail forcing the land to be left to some nephew or cousin. Mrs Norris had read of my successes in the local newssheet and made contact with my mother again and before I was even onshore they had schemed a marriage between them. The lands to be left by Will to Miss Norris as part of a Marriage Settlement and, in return for her hand, I was to have the privilege of clearing the mortgage. It was a very cheap way of obtaining an estate and I was happy enough to consider the matter. The young lady transpired to be both intellectually able and rather attractive and so the marriage was no hardship to me – and she seems happy enough. We have a son and life pursues an even tenor. It wants only the termination of her spendthrift father’s existence for all to be well in my life!”

  Warren had not changed so very much, it seemed.

  “I need a captain for my frigate and am at a stand for a follower in England, Captain Warren.”

  “Do you remember Mr Vereker, sir, who sailed with you in the Spice Islands and was made by you? He is in Town now as an unemployed post-captain…”

  “The frigate is of thirty-two guns – more than that I know not, Captain Vereker. She was the French Murat – what she is now is unknown to me; the First Lord called her Fair Isle, which is a name I have not heard and makes me wonder whether he was correct. I would beg you to make your way to Portsmouth at an early moment, if you would be so good, and then to bring her into order. I would imagine that Endymion and Winchester will both be short-handed; see what you can discover of them, if you would. I must return to Abbey and recruit Sir Iain to Winchester and pick up any landsmen I can lay my hands on – there are always a few to follow the local man to sea, you know. I would hope to see you within two weeks.”

  Bosomtwi entered the room and was greeted kindly by Vereker who then asked after Ablett. He was much upset to be told of his wounding and of the loss of Marc and Jean; they were good men for whom he had had a respect.

  “Who has replaced Ablett, Sir Frederick?”

  “Kavanagh, or so he names himself. That is, of course, provided he does not choose to retire into the little piece of land his brother will have put by for him in Cornwall.”

  Kavanagh was waiting for Frederick at Abbey, said very little in greeting other than that he was ready to come to sea with him again, if it suited him, that was.

  “I was not looking forward to going to sea without my coxswain, that I can tell you, Kavanagh! Did you see your brother?”

  “Aye, sir, that I did, and he was as pleased as ever to greet me. Said he had feared me dead but had still put a farmhouse and four hundred acres into my name, that being a convenient holding down in the valley where the southerly slopes was especially good. I could walk in on a quarte
r’s notice to the tenant, if I so wished. He is wed, as is only to be expected, and has a pair of youngsters to his name, and a wife whose plans did not include the return of the scapegrace brother, sir!”

  “Ah! You feared as much, from all I gathered.”

  “I did, sir, and rightly so. My brother is very much the gentleman of the Shire, sir, and I am but a coarse and ill-favoured ruffian of the sea. She did not say so, not directly, sir, but she looked on me with great distaste when I shared their board. Rightly enough, in many ways, I suppose – I was out of my place there, sir. I ain’t a gentleman no more, and there’s no way I’m likely to be a farmer either! Good land, my brother had set aside for me, and worth more than a pound an acre each year in my pocket – which is, when all is said and done, a lot more than a sailorman will lay his hands on. But I cannot be doing with ploughing and sowing, raking and hoeing, year in year out for the rest of my days, sir. It is not for me. The greatest the bit of excitement the chance of maybe chasing a poacher off my fields! Not for me, sir! Where are we bound for, sir?”

  “Cape Town and then north to chase out the pirates, if we can find ‘em.”

  “I sailed round those parts five years since, sir. Bad waters! When the storm winds blow and there’s no place to run to, sir, they can be very lonely seas. In the time of the big winds, sir, that is a good place not to be!”

  “We shall be well south, or to the north perhaps, when the storms come through, or so I intend, Kavanagh.”

  The word went out across the whole of the county; Sir Frederick was off to sea, far foreign to chase down pirates and their treasure. Every boy and young man knew that pirates amassed great hoards and tucked them away in their lairs; the man who caught a pirate ship would not return home poor. The sons of farm labourers made their way along the lanes to Abbey and begged to sign up with the master while two of the merchants of Bridport made courteous contact to enquire whether it might not be possible to send a boy to sea as a midshipman. The contact was very tentative and ingratiatingly polite, for Sir Frederick was related by marriage as well as blood to the aristocracy and they were self-made men of trade.