The Hawk Read online

  'Damnation to that blackguard, James. I am equal to any challenge of his. As are you, yourself. But that is of no importance when ye've been offered your first command. Do not you grasp what it means? Do not you see what honour has been bestowed? You are to be given one of His Majesty's fighting ships! The greatest reward a junior sea officer can hope for! Why, the entire Lieutenants' List yearns, and sighs, and prays for this!' A sniffing breath, and he banged his palms down on the table. 'You must pack your valise, and be on your way. I do not mean to be inhospitable, but there ain't a moment to lose. You must go to London at once, and at once accept. To throw this chance away would be pure folly.' Rising, pushing back his chair. 'Jenny!'

  'Sir?' Earnestly, remaining in his seat. 'You did not hear me out.'

  'What?' Distractedly. 'Jenny!'

  'It is not just a question of the honour, d'y'see. There is – something else.'

  'Something else . . . ?' Looking at him.

  'I am – I am short of funds.'

  'Short of – ' Staring at him now. 'You, James? How so?'

  'Well, sir – I have had considerable expenses since we paid off. Heavy outgoings.'

  'Had not you saved anything, though, from our earlier little episode?' Rennie was referring to their joint acquisition of several thousands of French money, by an action at sea during their second commission, in the West Indies. 'That is how I am able to afford this house, renting it, you know.

  Certainly I have not the expense of a family since I – since I lost my dear wife.' He cleared his throat. 'But surely you had some of that gold put aside?'

  James, reluctantly and miserably:

  'I had indeed. I had put a thousand pound aside for my son, and husbanded the remainder. However – however – I have been obliged to find moneys to pay for a venture.' Lifting his head.

  'Venture?' Frowning, waving away the maid, who had come in response to his call. 'Venture? I hope y'do not mean – a speculation?'

  'Alas. I do.'

  'In what?'

  'In something of Tom Makepeace's. Not that I blame Tom.' Hastily added. Tom Makepeace had been Second Lieutenant in two of their previous commissions. 'No, I must not blame him. It was my own folly, as much as his.'

  'But, good God, what was it that has lost you everything? I take it you have lost everything?'

  'All but my house. I have nothing to live on but my pay, and even that must go to pay off the residual debt.'

  'James, James . . .' A deep, sniffing sigh. 'It matters little now, I suppose, what the venture was, but y'may as well tell it to me.' He sat down.

  'It is a new kind of paint, to protect the hulls of ships against worm, replacing copper sheath.'

  'Replacing copper?'

  'We thought – that is, Tom thought and so did I, that this new paint would save the Admiralty, and John Company too, tens of thousands a year in copper, and that it could not fail therefore to gain favourable attention.'

  'You mean, it is like white lead?' Frowning.

  'No, sir, it is a preparation made from coal tar, mixed with mineral oils, and fixed. It forms into a thick coating that will endure for years at sea. It is quite impervious to corruption, impervious to worm, and repels weed. And it is less than one third the cost of copper sheath.' In spite of himself James's eyes had lit up as he spoke, and he found himself leaning forward in his enthusiasm.

  'Ah. Ah.' Rennie nodded, made a face, and: 'May I venture to ask, then, why your venture has failed?' With irony.

  'Well – the Navy Board could not be persuaded to conduct fair tests, d'y'see. They –'

  Rennie held up a hand. 'When you say "fair tests", what d'y'mean, exact?'

  'We – that is, Tom and myself, and the others in the syndicate, we – '

  'Syndicate!'

  'Naturally, you know, we needed sound investment to begin. We needed ten thousand pound, and formed a syndicate. Well, it was already formed, to say the truth, and Tom and I had an opportunity to come in. We needed ten thousand, and were all obliged to dig deep. And so the money was found. Then we – '

  'Again, may I venture to ask: how much did you invest? You yourself?'

  'I put up five thousand.'

  'Five! – And Tom?'

  'He put up five, that came from his late father's estate, but that – '

  'So between you, you have put up the entire capital of this venture, this speculation, and the other members of your syndicate have put up nothing. Hey?'

  'When you say it like that, you make it sound a very foolish thing. With respect, sir, the paint itself was anything but foolish. The paint is a wonder, a miraculous invention, and our investment in it was sound, and wholly in the nation's interest.'

  'You wished to take no profit yourselves?'

  'I did not say that. In course we did wish for a profit. I have a young family, and must look to their welfare.'

  'Welfare! How have you assisted their welfare in this, James?'

  James bit his tongue, and made himself count to five. 'I admit – that I have been guilty of folly. Our folly, mine and Tom's, was our belief in the good sense and honourable dealings of Their Lordships and the Navy Board. They have behaved with the direst stupidity and bad faith. They have – '

  'You had better say no more, James, along those lines. Not to me. I am a senior post captain, whose every action must display loyalty to Their Lordships, and obedience to their wishes and commands.'

  'Oh, very well, sir. As you like. – But you cannot deny that Tom and I have lost all of our money through their reckless obduracy and – '

  'Have not I just said that you may not talk like this to me?' Sharply.

  'I am sorry.'

  Rennie looked at him, and unbent a little. 'Well well, I must not bite off your head when you have come to me for advice.' He paused a moment, then: 'Perhaps you will like to consider a different opinion of Their Lordships, if I give it. Propose the case to yourself thus. Copper is a very great aid to Their Lordships in the preservation of ships. It took long persuasion before His Majesty's government felt obliged to vote through the moneys to pay for it, regular. It took years of persuasion. And now you young fellows come along with your new paint, crying miracle and magic, and let us do away with copper entire, it is so damn' wasteful and costly, and so forth, and expect to be embraced, and rewarded, and fêted up and down Whitehall.'

  'I never wished to be fêted – '

  'Fêted, and covered in glory, and given knighthoods, or peerages even. But had you considered for one moment what it would mean to remove the work of coppering from the dockyards, whose business it is to build and repair ships? A whole enterprise, a whole industry, would be ruined. Not just the men who smelt and make the copper, and beat it into sheath, but all the artificers who nail it to the hull, and prise it off again in a year or two, to repair or replace it, and attend to the rotted timbers beneath. And not just in the naval dockyards, neither. There are many small private yards engaged in the Navy's business. This is a broad enterprise. There are great contractual obligations to be honoured, made in good faith. The business of coppering is very broad, very large, and many people depend upon it. A great deal of money is involved.'

  'Exact! That is why – ' Rennie cut him off with a sharply raised hand.

  'A great deal of money!' A breath sucked in, and he shook his head. 'Their Lordships are not fools, you know, James. They know what killing copper would mean. It would mean loss. Pernicious, ruinous, terrible loss for a great many interested parties, and great trouble. Their view – and I cannot say that I do not understand it – their view must surely be, why seek out such trouble . . . where none exists?'

  'So our paint is to be condemned out of hand? Even when it answers the question of worm and corruption infinitely better than copper?' Furiously.

  'Damnation, James, you force me to condemn your own blockhead stupidity! Will you argue and dispute with Sir Charles Middleton, Navy Controller, the man behind coppering? Will you fight him, that has himself fought tooth a
nd nail to sheath the whole fleet? You, a junior sea officer, against all his power, all the power and might of the Navy Board, that in turn has the full confidence of Their Lordships? Do you want to fight the Royal Navy entire, you bloody fool!'

  'Then – then – what am I to do?'

  'Do! Go to London, without the loss of a moment! Accept your commission, and your first command, with open arms and a glad heart!'

  'How can I ?' burst out James in an agony of frustration.

  'How can I accept anything from these men, that have ruined and humiliated me? Hey!'

  Rennie laughed, throwing back his head in mirthless disbelief. 'By God, you cannot see, you will not see.'

  'See?' Pacing, shaking his head. 'See what?'

  'You disappoint me, James. For a well-educated, levelheaded, perceptive fellow, you're as dull as an ox. They are saying to you – here is your reward.'

  'My reward?'

  'Aye, aye, you fool! They are saying – we could not accept your bloody paint, even had we wished it. However, we know ye've strove at it, and believed in it, and so we will like to compensate you for your trouble. Here is a ship. Here is a commission. Take it, with our blessing.'

  James stopped pacing. 'You think that . . . ? Oh, but I could not. No, I cannot.' Setting his mouth in a firm line.

  'Christ Jesu. Why not?'

  'It is bribery.'

  'Ahh. That is your objection.'

  'It is an honourable one.'

  'James, you came to see me here at Norfolk to ask for my advice, did y'not? What did you hope for? What did you hope that I would tell you?'

  'Well, sir – '

  'Did you hope that I would aid you in your dispute with Their Lordships? Take up your case, like some damned lawyer? – I beg your pardon, your brother is a lawyer, I had forgot.'

  'I do not know quite what I had hoped for, to say the truth. I was in a muddle. I wished – I wished to talk to a fellow sea officer, and discover another opinion, I suppose.' He shrugged, and sighed, and looked at Captain Rennie. 'I see now that I must make my own way in this. I had no right to expect – '

  'Oh, now, what's this?' Gravely, kindly, changing tack. 'You may not ask anything of an old friend? Pish pish, James. That is nonsense.' He turned away a moment to the window, then:

  'How much is the debt?'

  'Eh?'

  'You said that you had put up five thousand. Was all of it your own capital – or did you borrow against future profit? You spoke of a debt.'

  'I borrowed two thousand pound.'

  'And the interest on that amount, for one year?'

  'Two hundred, I think. Why do you ask?'

  'I will let you have it.'

  'Good heaven, that is quite out of the question! I could not possibly accept! I did not come here to beg, and I could not possibly accept!' Agitated, very red in the face.

  'I will let you have it, on one condition. That you go at once to London, accept your commission, then take the mail coach to Portsmouth direct, and assume command of your cutter.'

  James drew a breath, and was about to speak, but instead held the breath in, and strode away down the room. Angrily strode, and stood with his hands clasped behind. Captain Rennie waited, perfectly at his ease. At last:

  'I will pay you back. I will pay back every penny, with interest.' James, returning. 'I wish it to be absolutely understood between us.'

  'In course, James.' Rennie, mildly. 'It is understood.' He shook James's hand, smiled, and:

  'Jenny! Jenny! My guest is in a hurry to be away! Pack his valise and bring it down, then tell the boy to bring his horse! Lively now! He has not a moment to lose!'

  'Captain Rennie!'

  'Good God – Sir Robert.' Rennie stopped in his tracks.

  'You are surprised? You had not expected to see me?' Sir Robert Greer brushed the grass with the ferrule of his ebony cane.

  'I – I am surprised, I confess.' Rennie looked round for a carriage, and could not see it.

  'In course I had never meant to catch you inadvertent. I had never meant to startle nor disconcert you. Nay, my purpose in coming here was merely to reacquaint myself with Norfolk, a county I have found charming on earlier occasions.'

  'You know this part of the county?'

  'You may imagine my surprise when I discovered that you had taken a house in this very district. I could scarce contain my curiosity to see it.'

  'Indeed?'

  'A handsome house.' Nodding at it, then: 'I have been unwell. You may have heard something about it?'

  'I had not, Sir Robert.'

  'Ah. Had you not? I was, though. I was very ill for a time. But now I am quite recovered.'

  'I – I am glad.' Politely, his hat off and a little bow.

  'Not nearly so glad as am I, I assure you. Yes, I was much cast down, for a time.'

  'Indeed?' 'Yes, I had a stone.' A black, menacing stare. 'It had to be cut out of me.'

  'Very painful, I should think.'

  'The surgeon was quick, very quick. Sir Wakefield Bennett, a most remarkable man, the King's own physician.'

  'I have heard the name.'

  'So swift was his incision, so quick his removal of the stone, that I scarce felt anything. In course I was given paregoric before, and after too. Within a day or two I was a new man, and now I am strong.' Another black stare. 'Very strong, now.'

  'I am glad.' Again politely.

  'Are you? I wonder if you are, Captain Rennie. I think that you cannot be glad, altogether. Hey?'

  'I do not take your meaning, Sir Robert.' Stiffly.

  'Do not you? Ah.' The bloodless lids masked the eyes a moment, then slid back. 'You will discover my meaning before long, I think.' The black stare seemed to penetrate Rennie's skin. 'Since I am staying hereabouts, we may very probably meet again.' He made to turn and depart, then as if on an afterthought: 'In truth, you would aid me in my enquiries by granting me an interview – very soon.'

  'If you mean, Sir Robert, that you wish to pursue me in the offence of treason, of which you had wrongly accused me – '

  'You had not forgot, then?' Over him, then a glance at Rennie's house. 'Perhaps, however, you had persuaded yourself that I would forget. Yes?' The black eyes returned to Rennie.

  'I had not thought anything about it, Sir Robert, until this moment. Living quiet here in Norfolk as I do, my thoughts in usual are bent on gentler things, rural and bucolic things.'

  'Had persuaded yourself', continued Sir Robert, 'that I would forget, when I was took ill. Yes, I think that is likely so.'

  'Sir Robert, I did not know you was ill. How could I, therefore, have persuaded myself of anything of the kind?' With an effort of will Rennie kept his tone conversational, and mild.

  'Ah, yes, yes. You did say that you had heard nothing of my affliction, yes. Hm. I do not like to doubt the word of an officer' – he did not say gentleman – 'but again I ask myself, can this be quite true?'

  Rennie sniffed in a deep breath. 'Sir Robert, I am in course duty-bound to talk to you at any time that is convenient, except the present. I am to dine nearby, and I will not like to keep my host waiting.' Briskly putting on his hat.

  'Dine? Ah, then I must not keep you. – You do not ride there, to your host's house?'

  'I am going to walk there.'

  'Is it far?'

  'Middingham.'

  'The village? Why, that is where I am staying, myself. Let us walk there together.'

  'Sir Robert, I have no wish to be rude, but you oblige me to be blunt. Months since, you accused me of treason, wrongly accused me, and made clear your object – to see me hanged. And yet you propose that we walk amiable across the fields, as if we was bosom friends?'

  'If not quite that, then civilized men, in least. Conversable men.'

  'You think it a matter for jest? To threaten a man with execution, and then to pretend – '

  'Jesting was the furthest thing from my mind, Captain Rennie.' Over him, and his gaze again grew menacing. He tapped the ground tw
ice with the ferrule of his cane, and: 'Will tomorrow suit? In the forenoon?'

  'As you wish, Sir Robert.' Icily polite.

  'Very good. Pray come to me at Middingham Court. You know it?'

  'I know the house.'

  'Eleven o'clock.' Sir Robert turned away without another word, lifted his cane, and a sociable and pair emerged from behind trees in the middle distance, driven forward by a man in livery.

  On the morrow Rennie did go to Middingham Court, even though he had decided in the night to defy Sir Robert – and then abandoned the idea when he rose at first light, having lain sleepless from midnight when he returned from Mr Rountree's dinner.

  To reach Middingham Court he was obliged to walk through the village. He made his way along the main street, known as Borrow Walk, a narrow thoroughfare of uneven cobbles winding between little flint-and-brick dwellings and half-timbered houses with leaded windows, and two inns. One of these inns, the Plough, was known to Rennie as an hostelry where uncommonly good cooking could be had, and well-kept ale, for a few pennies. He did not think of that cooking now as he passed the inn, nor did he answer the good morning of the innkeeper, who stood in his leather apron in the square arched gateway to the stable yard. Rennie did not see him. He did not hear him. His mind and senses were closed to all things except what lay ahead at the great house.

  Today Rennie was wearing his dress coat and hat, and his tasselled dress sword. Jenny the maid had brushed and polished and pressed, and Rennie was confident that he looked his best. He would be damned if he would allow Sir Robert Greer to humiliate him. He would remind Sir Robert that in accusing him he accused a sea officer serving His Majesty, a senior post captain with an entirely honourable record of service. He would not be pompous, nor arrogant, nor harsh and strident in his assertion of these things, but by God he would be forthright and firm. He would remind Sir Robert, the bloody fellow, that the Royal Navy was a plainspeaking service, and that all officers were obliged to . . . but was this verging on pomposity?

  'I will not allow him the satisfaction of finding me ridiculous. I must be brief in my objections, brief and clear, and leave it at that.'