HMS Aurora: A Charles Mullins Novel (Sea Command Book 3) (9 page)

Time went by faster than he realized and it was three days before he made it back to the town house. He knew he must face some stormy weather. His mare was thoroughly disquieted from those days spent in a strange stable and Mrs. Cooper was exceedingly irate. It seemed Doris’ young man had gone on his way and the maid now recounted some suspicious changes in her body to the housekeeper. Of course, it would never do to explain these troubles to Master Charles.

Mullins resolved to spend time in the town house to mollify Mrs. Cooper, and in the process, resumed his friendship with Doris. She had been outraged when her young lover had decamped, but remembered Mrs. Cooper’s warnings this might happen. Resolving to forget about the scoundrel, she remembered she had a much better man in this house to care for. Actually, she had not been in love with the young rascal. It was mere young love becoming apparent to her.

For his part, Mullins mind was still occupied by the unnecessary deaths of his former crew and found it difficult to become involved with the mindless antics of a foolish girl. He was inundated with reports of the rumored affairs by the new maid.

More important to him was the resumption of his excursions about town. Ignoring the rumors, he decided he had enough problems himself to keep his mind on. His mare was back in her stable, with her stablemate friend, the cook’s cob.

Although grown fat from inactivity, Mullins began taking the mare out for daily drives, short distances at first, then longer trips as she regained condition.

Doris most pressing problems were the new ways of enjoying herself her scoundrel had taught her. He had been an excellent instructor and with him gone, she missed the nightly activities. She wondered whether young Master Charles might be interested in showing her what he might know about loving. She had heard reports in the servant’s room about Charles and his mistress downtown. Doris knew she should be outraged, but found she was very curious.

One evening, Mrs. Cooper left the house to visit her sister, telling the staff she might be gone for two days. Mullins had stayed away from Jane’s rooms for the past few days, in order to placate Mrs. Cooper, but now he was feeling the need to find relief. It was too late to take the mare out to visit Jane, but he resolved to do just that in the morning.

He tried to interest himself in a book, but visions of Jane’s body kept interfering with the story. Giving up on the book, he blew out the lamp and tried to go to sleep. After tossing and turning for some time, he thought he heard someone scratching at his door. Thinking it was probably the old woman who did the rooms, returning to collect something she had forgotten, he quietly said, “Come in.”

It was Doris who entered, carrying a lantern, with the wick turned right down. He could hardly see her in the dim light. She was clad in a night shift, and what he could see of her looked very well indeed. Surprised, he could hardly articulate his question. She was not so shy, however, explaining she could not sleep and she wondered if she could sit with him for a while.

Somehow, his voice was not functioning properly and all he could do was nod. She sat demurely on the side of his bed while they talked of subjects he could hardly recall. Somehow, she had taken hold of his hand and while expressing her delight concerning a new puppy in the house, perhaps inadvertently pressed his hand against her breast. Frozen, he sat motionless for a moment, then went into action. Her gown opened without any trouble and soon she was under the covers with him. Afterwards, as he was running his hands over her body, he wondered at the slight swelling in her abdomen. Not being all that familiar with young women’s bodies, he passed it off and soon they were back at their activities again.

They were busy for most of the night and he had not the energy to drive over to Jane’s next morning. Doris made time to visit his room several times during the day. Mullins was becoming rather spent, but he was not about to admit to any disability so managed to do his duty. He had to admit to himself to being relieved when Mrs. Cooper returned.

It was Doris now that he began taking for rides. Mrs. Cooper had no objection to the excursions. She liked this young woman and thought she would be good for Master Charles. The main problem was, she was certain Doris had been impregnated by her former lover. She knew Master Charles was not the most observant of males and might never realize the forthcoming child was not his own.

While the housekeeper had the utmost affection for Master Charles, she was concerned about his continuing adventures with women. She was certain the officer needed to be married off to some strong young woman who could keep him at home.

She also had a tendre for Doris, even though she did not approve of the woman’s adventuring ways.  She had a fixed idea the pair would be better off if they could bond together, regardless of the past.

Mrs. Cooper had realized early on, the two were sleeping together, and the thought occurred to her if Charles could only be sent back to sea very soon, the child’s public birth announcement could perhaps be delayed for a few months. If all went well, any discrepancies in dates might very well never be noticed. If it could be demonstrated to Charles that the baby was indeed his, perhaps Mrs. Cooper’s hopes for the pair might come to pass.

At first, Mullins continued to pleasure Doris nearly every evening, while continuing to meet with Jane during the day. Soon, he found he could not keep up with both women. Jane, with more experience than Doris, realized she had competition and when a country squire, young, wealthy and inexperienced, came to town, she moved in with him and said goodbye to Charles.

Mullins was not the least bit sad when Jane sent him on his way, and glad to have a chance to rest his body from his nightly activities, coached down to Portsmouth to look at Aurora. He explained to Doris, as a professional naval officer, he must keep current on such matters. Doris was upset to see him leave, but Mrs. Cooper had had a long discussion with the girl explaining the options.

Doris was a pragmatic woman. After discussing her symptoms, she knew very well she had an infant developing in her body. She also knew, she could not keep the fact hidden for long.

Mrs. Cooper explained to her, the very best option would be for Mullins to go to sea before he knew about this baby. Doris must be positive in her discussions with Charles. She should encourage his going back to sea. Several months after he departed, she could begin writing to him about her suspected pregnancy. Only, of course, if he was in far distant waters, unable to return home immediately.

Ideally, Charles would remain absent until the baby had been born and was a few months old. Mrs. Cooper assured Doris the naïve young man would never suspect the infant was not his.

Arriving in Portsmouth, Mullins found Aurora. She had left the dockyard and was being fitted out for sea. Not too long before, as a deeply depressed captain. he had almost decided to give up the navy. Now, having had more loving than a man might ever expect, he felt rejuvenated. Aurora had been perfectly repaired and even given a new coat of paint. All she needed was a crew and her stores and she would be ready to go to sea.

Of course, he had no claim on the ship. In any event, any orders assigning him to a ship would come from the Admiralty, not the Portsmouth Port Admiral. As long as he was here though, he felt he might as well call on that worthy.

Sir Thomas Pasley had his offices aboard an old, hulked second rate. Deciding to take a chance to meet with the vice-admiral, he hired a shore boat to carry him out. Met at the entry port by the duty officer, he was taken to the wardroom while it was determined whether he would be able to see the admiral.

In less than an hour, a Marine came below and collected him. In the ship’s great cabin, the same lieutenant he had met earlier, poured him a drink and told him to sit. Advised the admiral would be with him shortly, as soon as he dealt with a problem, he was to wait. Sitting there, sipping his wine, he soon gathered what the problem might be. In the next office, he could plainly hear the vice admiral tearing a strip off someone for being an undisciplined, drunken, woman-chasing hound. Reflecting that all these appellations could easily describe him, Mullins decided he had better watch very carefully what he had to say. In due course, the admiral appeared, seemingly in the best of moods, wondering how he liked the wine.

Mullins replied that he had never learned how to find good wine. Every time he thought he had discovered a good source, and bought a few dozens, he found he had purchased vinegar or some low quality fluid not fit for the lower deck. Vice-Admiral Pasley chuckled and said he would have his clerk give him the name of his supplier and suggested Mullins visit his establishment.

“Now then Commander, I wonder what you have come to me for?”

“Sir, I must confess I have no real purpose. I have been on the beach for some time and was wondering if there might be some opportunity for employment soon.”

“As you know Commander, you really must see those people at the Admiralty about that. Your name is familiar to me though. Do I know you?”

“Sir Thomas, I commanded the ship-sloop Aurora for some time. My reason for leaving her was somewhat infamous. My crew mutinied just out of Gibraltar.”

“Ah yes, I have it now. I read the court-martial papers. Why did the men revolt, would you say?”

“Sir, we had been patrolling off Egypt, hoping to find out what the French were up to. After the convention to return the enemy troops back to France was decided upon, Aurora was given dispatches to be sent on home. We stopped off at Gibraltar where a mail packet was preparing to sail for home and it was decided to send the dispatches home on her. I was given orders to return to the Med to assist in the blockade of Toulon.”

“We had a large proportion of pressed hands who had come to us from gaol cells, having been convicted of various crimes. Many of these men objected to our returning to the Med. They apparently thought they were entitled to return home. Finding they could not, some of the worst hands staged a mutiny. The old hands did not actively join in, but they would not obey orders, either. Eventually, the men voted to take the ship to America. The few that were loyal were confined to the wardroom with us. When we saw a pair of Navy ships from the stern windows, we hung a signal from the windows and fired a carronade in the wardroom. We were boarded and the mutiny put down.”

“Ah yes, I recall, quite a large number of men were hung, if I recall.”

“Yes sir, and many more sent to Australia on a convict ship.” Mullins remembered.

“You sound saddened. Do you regret any of your actions?”

“No sir, only the needless waste of so many men. I very carefully explained to the men what they were getting into, when they first refused to obey orders. I tried to give them every chance, but was ignored.”

“Captain Mullins, I have to admit that I read every word in the logs concerning the mutiny. I also paid attention to the minutes of the trials. Had I thought you were in any way the cause of this mutiny, you would have been standing for trial, yourself. As it is, I find your conduct and that of your officers unobjectionable.”

“Your former ship has now been released by the dockyard, and men will be soon reporting aboard. I have asked for a captain for her, but expect it may be a long delay while the matter is discussed in the halls of the Admiralty.”

“I propose to speed matters by proposing a captain myself. Would you be interested?”

Mullins had to think the matter through speedily. He had not expected the offer, but realized if he did not accept, his naval career might be at an end. Making his decision, he told Vice-Admiral Pasley he would be proud to command Aurora again.

Told there would be some delay while the matter was discussed with Admiralty officials, he learned he might as well return to London to clear up his affairs there. In view of the budding relationship with Doris, he felt he should break the news to her as gently as he could. Of course, he needed to collect Midshipman Archer and his clerk, Hudson. Hudson had reported that the mid was now capable of reading a watch roster and was now able to puzzle his way through simple documents. The clerk was now instructing the youth how to keep a daily log of events on the ship

Mullins had expected Doris to be upset by his announcement he might be going back to sea, but she was surprisingly calm. She came to him in his room that same afternoon, despite the danger of Mrs. Cooper noticing the door was closed. She was fervently passionate with him in his short stay at the London house, assuring him she would wait for his return.

By the time Mullins had returned to the Admiralty to find more about the possible command of Aurora, the matter was settled. Given his commission to assume command, he found that further orders would be furnished soon.

Mrs. Cooper was satisfied with his return to duty and even Doris seemed nonchalant over the coming separation. Puzzled at the women’s attitude, Mullins spoke with his men. Archer and Hudson were ready to return to duty. Since Archer had originally come aboard as a lower deck hand, he had none of the kit usually considered necessary for a well-appointed midshipman.

Taking him to a naval outfitter, Mullins purchased uniforms, sextant and a dirk. Some young feminine heads turned when Archer boarded the coach dressed in his new uniform.