The Perils of Command (26 page)

‘It is a sobering thought, Henry, that the man I despise has lost two battles and forfeited two ships in a very short time.’

Digby did not reply immediately, given he was really seeking to hide his anathema to the whole idea of the illicit liaison. Nor had he looked forward to seeing Pearce alone in
his cabin, which was why he had not greeted him when he came aboard, happy to let him hear the bad news from his Irishman.

‘Given the navy often seem to value gallantry as much as success, John, he could be praised for his latest loss. Even you had to report that
Semele
fought long and hard. And remember Barclay commanded her at the Glorious First under Howe, so his reputation must stand pretty high.’

‘Of a man who violently abducts a woman.’

‘She is his wife!’

Pearce had to clam up then; Digby, quite apart from his obvious prejudices, knew nothing of the offer Emily had made to return to the marital fold on certain conditions. Best he change the subject and in thinking on that he hit on an idea, not that he was open with Henry Digby.

‘We must discuss how we are going to make Hotham sweat.’

‘Ah!’ That stalling expression got Digby a keen look, one that insisted he elaborate. ‘I had a great deal of time to think in my convalescence, John.’

‘And?’

‘For all my anger I cannot see how to make the admiral admit that he took part in a conspiracy deliberately designed to bring about harm.’

‘Toomey was as much a part of things as Hotham and he is shocked that we have returned successful, much as he tried to bluff it out. I’m sure I scared the creature enough to make him wonder for his future.’

‘That, if I may say so, is a very tenuous basis on which to proceed, besides which, you have not even alluded to how you might accomplish anything.’

‘My notion was to force a court martial in which the matter would have to be aired.’

Digby frowned. ‘For you or for me?’

‘I admit you would be better than I, given my reputation does not stand very high. But if it has to be me, well, let us do it. If we both make the same accusation, one as a defendant, the other as a witness—’

The hand held up to stop his talking achieved its purpose, but it was the palpable look of doubt on Digby’s face that really struck Pearce most.

‘We are together in this, Henry.’

‘Ah!’

‘That is the second time you have used that expression, though I fear this time it does not lack much in the way of clarity.’

‘Hotham is the C-in-C, John, akin to God in this part of the world.’

‘Devil more like, a devious sod who hoped we would all be killed.’

‘You cannot know that with absolute certainty.’

‘I admit my demise would have served, so you will forgive me if I look upon matters with a little more cynicism than you seem to now display. You saw the orders we were given and you were as party to the verbal lies as I was.’

‘Which will be denied.’

‘Meaning?’

Digby shifted uncomfortably and the lack of eye contact was telling. ‘I cannot go against the service, John.’

‘And that is the result of lying in a bed and thinking for near a month?’

‘It is the result of a long and hard look at the problem,
which I see as intractable. I do wish to assure you that I will hold to my promise of financial aid, so you may pursue the case upon which you are so set, but on the other matter I must remain aloof.’

Pearce’s response was sour, both in the words and the taste it produced in his mouth. ‘And what will you say if you are called as a witness in that?’

‘You must understand, John, I cannot actually take part in any action you bring against a fellow officer, post-captain or vice admiral, and that extends to giving you possession of the written orders I received.’

‘It would risk your career?’

If Digby was stung, and he should have been, he hid it well, coming out with a strong rebuttal. ‘I have to tell you that is as important to me as your causes are to you.’

‘Which is why you declined to keep a promise I made regarding the distribution of prize money?’

‘It seemed politic to let the C-in-C oversee that if he thought it wise, so I passed over the draft given to me by the Brindisi traders, to be drawn on a Genoese banking house.’

‘And will he?’ Pearce asked, adding, ‘I do have a personal interest in this.’

‘He did not favour me with an opinion.’

‘And you did not demand one?’

‘No.’

‘How many solemn undertakings broken does that add up to? I know you are given to nightly prayers, Henry. I hope this evening you can do so without examining and finding wanting your conscience.’

‘I will not have you speak to me in that fashion. Please recall I am your superior officer.’

Pearce stood up; even being bent near double under the low deck beams did nothing to dent his venom.

‘I shall speak to you in any fashion I wish, even in public, and invite you to court martial me. If I know one thing about you, Henry, it is that you will not tell a lie having sworn on the Bible, for you fear God more than you fear the likes of Hotham. And do not doubt that the questions you will be asked will force from you that which you should be providing voluntarily. Now, if you will forgive me I have to go and see the man you cannot stand to bring to justice.’

‘I have not given you permission to leave the ship.’

‘What would you have me do, stay and breathe in the stench of hypocrisy? Say your prayers and ask God for forgiveness, just don’t ever ask me for the same.’

Pearce was fuming as he boated across to HMS
Britannia
. If Digby would not even pass over the orders he had been given regarding Mehmet Pasha he had little with which to proceed. The lack of the written evidence was as much a dent to his hopes as the man’s reneging on their agreement to bring Hotham down.

The notion of continuing to serve on HMS
Flirt
was impossible; he knew he had a temper uncontrollable enough to strike Digby and he had been close to that in his cabin. Do that and he would get a court martial all right, it would just be one in which he would be unable to make a case that would expose any wrongdoing.

The time the crossing took allowed him to calm down somewhat and then to examine his recent actions, not least the harsh words he had employed. On reflection he was unsure that had been wise for he had probably turned someone possibly biddable into an outright antagonist. Digby would avoid trouble by refusing to appear if there was a court martial, and the only one who could force him
to do so had every reason to avoid his presence.

He was outside Hotham’s cabin once more, still being denied entry, as a steady stream of senior officers came and went, which gave him time to examine what it was he needed to do next and that naturally centred on Emily Barclay. It was little comfort to think that she would now be incarcerated with her husband and that quite possibly they were now reconciled.

Could he do the same as Ralph Barclay and abduct her, or at least persuade her that her future lay with him so she would leave voluntarily? There were two ways of looking at what he could only presume to be her present circumstances and his hopes might be the complete opposite of what she was feeling.

Would exposure to the habits of Ralph Barclay horrify her as much as they had done in the past? He could not believe the man would change his ways and nothing proved that more than the way he had kidnapped her. Not that such imaginings produced a solution as to what he was going to do about it. She was in Toulon, he was on the deck of Hotham’s flagship and if the great cabin door opened and shut, and it did frequently, it was not to admit him.

‘Mr Pearce,’ Nelson had exited the cabin, the door promptly shut once he was through. ‘Am I to assume that you are waiting to see Admiral Hotham?’

‘I’m very much at the back of the queue, sir.’

Nelson dropped his voice. ‘Take it as a blessing, for the atmosphere within is far from rosy. I have just had to deny a request from our commander to make certain changes to my log.’

‘To what purpose?’

Nelson indicated they were too close for comfort and that they should walk away.

‘Sir William feels that I have not given enough appreciation to the damage sustained by both
Victory
and
Culloden
in the recent action.’

‘Or lack of action, if I recall your mood on the day, sir.’

‘Aye, I felt it wanting and was unwise enough to let that be overheard by my officers and no doubt half the crew.’ Nelson looked slightly downcast as he continued. ‘Shows a want of proper behaviour.’

‘I am inclined to believe you voiced a common view. Even I reckoned the order not to pursue to be mistaken.’

A sharp jerk of the head indicated the place from which he had just emerged.

‘I had to be circumspect in there, but how I was tempted to back up Admiral Goodall.’

Now it was Pearce’s turn to glance at the same doorway before giving Nelson a look riddled with curiosity. The voice dropped even more, obliging Pearce to lean forward and bend his head to hear.

‘Got quite heated between them, I am given to understand.’ That could only have come from Sam Goodall; Hotham would never have told Nelson of anything that had occurred with another flag officer. ‘Damn near told our C-in-C he was not fit to command the fleet.’

‘And your opinion, sir?’

‘Counts for little, but it is a rum do when Sir William feels the need to seek that my logs back up his version of events. And in that I suspect I am not alone.’

‘It does sound fairly desperate.’

‘I think you know I do not stand very high in his favour.’

‘Which to my mind shows a lack of sound judgement.’

Nelson took the compliment without a blush; Pearce reckoned it was because he thought it the plain truth. He was a man sure of his abilities and equally convinced that destiny held in store for him something remarkable.

‘He invited his flag officers to dine, Pearce, and they all declined– Hyde Parker, Linzee, Goodall and Mann. What does that tell you?’

‘They have lost confidence in him, perhaps.’

‘There can be no other explanation and they will have penned that opinion to be sent back to London, of which Sir William must be aware. Even those captains he reckons his supporters are seeking to distance themselves from him now.’

He’s finished, thought Pearce, which was what Nelson was telling him, not plainly, but in so many words and that took him back immediately to his own concerns. Hotham diminished might be easier to deal with than the same man flushed with fighting success.

‘Remarkable thing is, he does not seem to be able to see where he failed.’ Nelson sighed, as if he had some sympathy for Hotham, and perhaps he did for he was not of a malicious nature. ‘Either that or he is capable of deep artifice.’

Pearce replied in a mordant tone, ‘That I can attest to.’

Given he added no more, Nelson was left to wonder, but not for long. ‘Well, I must be off, but I did not enquire of you. What is it you seek from Sir William?’

‘To talk to him, no more.’

‘Well, when you do—’

‘
If
I do, sir. He has shown a remarkable reluctance to indulge me.’

‘I was about to say you may find him somewhat diminished.’

Pearce raised his hat as Nelson made his farewells but those last words left him thinking. From the gist of what he had just heard Hotham’s tenure of command could not last. If his inferior admirals told London they had lost faith in him he would be replaced and no amount of political pressure from his patron, the Duke of Portland, would be able to gainsay that.

To Pearce it was nothing more than just deserts and that had nothing to do with his own relations with the man. He had been gifted two opportunities to destroy the French Mediterranean Fleet, or at least inflict serious damage, and it mattered not that he had failed, it mattered he had not tried and that would be what his peers held in contempt.

The people of Britain had an almost biblical faith in their navy and none were more convinced of its merits than those who served within its vessels. They had a tradition of victory going back to the Armada and if they had lost the odd battle they had never lost a war. Mention the American colonies and they would point the finger at redcoats, not themselves for they had trounced the French allies of the insurgent Americans at the Battle of the Saintes.

Because of that, the officers of the service lived in fear of disgrace and the fate of Admiral Byng loomed large, Pearce suspected, in their imaginings. He had been shot by firing squad on his own flagship’s quarterdeck a year after his perceived failure off Minorca in the year ’56.

That must serve as a stark warning to the ambitious men who now commanded the nation’s fleets and sought glory. All would have been serving in a junior capacity, as lieutenants
and newly promoted captains possibly, when Byng was executed. The question suddenly exercising John Pearce was obvious: did Hotham have cause to fear a similar fate now?

His mind in something of a ferment he made his way to the wardroom and requested paper, ink and a quill, writing quickly and then sealing that which he had composed before making his way back to Hotham’s doorway, where without ceremony he barged in on Toomey. The clerk was about to protest when Pearce spoke to shut him up.

‘Feeling secure, Toomey, are you? Can’t be comfortable serving a fellow whose tenure of command is hanging by a thread?’ Toomey waved a dismissive hand, but Pearce was not to be put off. ‘How long do you give him, six weeks? Time for the reports to get back to Whitehall and be acted upon. Then he will be out of a job and so, my friend, will you.’

‘Have you been drinking?’

‘No, but you might want to take a glass to steady your nerves. I have just come from HMS
Flirt
, where Lieutenant Digby and I have been exchanging notes. While I was there we examined the orders given to us prior to our voyage to confront Mehmet Pasha.’

‘If you wish to question those you must ask the man who wrote them out.’

‘Digby will say at the court martial they bear no relation to what he was told verbally.’

‘What court martial?’ Toomey hooted. ‘For that, Admiral Hotham would have to agree to let one sit.’

‘And no doubt he would choose the men to pass judgement.’

‘He would appoint competent officers, certainly.’

‘Who would not be the same officers chosen by the man who will succeed him.’

That struck a chord. Pearce was working on the assumption that Toomey was no fool. If anyone knew the mood of the fleet it would be he, and that would also tell him how tenuous his master’s hold on this command might be. The clerk would be loyal, that was to be expected, but right of this moment he would be a dunce not to be examining the possibility of shifting his seat to another berth, which, if not simple, was possible given the depth of his experience.

The point Pearce was making did not have to be elaborated upon; any C-in-C succeeding Hotham would have no wish to defend his reputation, quite the reverse in fact. It would be in the man’s interest to make his predecessor look incompetent and that would be true even if there was no personal animus involved.

‘I have here in my hand a letter to Mr Lucknor, my lawyer.’

‘The name is unknown to me,’ Toomey protested, with a lack of conviction that encouraged John Pearce; the man was getting uncomfortable.

‘Odd, given he will have in his files a communication from you, which I suspect might be in a hand identifiable as your own, supposedly from Toby Burns.’

‘Stuff and nonsense.’

‘I wonder what Toby Burns will say at this court martial. Digby shall certainly ensure he is called to explain a series of matters in order to clarify how far Admiral Hotham is prepared to go in certain areas. Indeed, he may be shown the letter he is purported to have written, to then be asked if he recognises it.’

There was so much supposition and bluff in what Pearce
was accusing Toomey of to make him nervous. He had no proof that what he had just implied was true and now he was about to wander into the realms of pure fantasy but, looking at Toomey, he could see the sweat slipping out from underneath his clerk’s wig, so felt encouraged.

‘Such evidence, combined with what I shall say about the mission to the Gulf of Ambracia, especially regarding your part in the inventions by which I was seduced into participating, will make interesting listening to a board of enquiry staffed by officers with no need to protect certain reputations. Or, I might add, certain accomplices.’

Pearce waved the letter. ‘You may wonder what this says.’

‘Why would I?’

‘You sound a trifle short of breath, Mr Toomey. Perhaps a glass of wine will settle you. No? Then let me tell you what I have said to Mr Lucknor. I require that he hand over to anyone sent by Sir William Hotham the fair copy of Captain Barclay’s court martial. I have also agreed with Mr Digby that he will destroy the orders he received for the Gulf of Ambracia as well as the copy we made. He undertakes to bring no case on that matter and neither will I.’

Toomey sat in silence, but he did take off his wig and produce a handkerchief with which he wiped his head. Next he sought to loosen his stock, given his neck was damp as well.

‘What do you want, Pearce?’

‘I want to talk to Hotham and you are the man to tell him that to do so makes sense.’

‘You overrate my importance.’

‘If I do, I have no doubt of your ability to lay out in plain terms the threat Digby, Burns and I present to his future
well-being. Odd that I was thinking of Admiral Byng only a short while ago and the fact that he suffered, for what? A failure to press home an attack on Minorca, was it not?’

The handkerchief was employed again, though Pearce reckoned Toomey was cogitating on his own fate, not that of Hotham.

‘I will be in the wardroom, Mr Toomey. Might I suggest you appraise Admiral Hotham of my desire to see him?’

The desire to be a fly on the bulkhead wall was strong. Pearce had no doubt Toomey would pass on what he had said, albeit in a manner more soothing than that which he had employed. He could hardly be said to know Hotham intimately but he came across as man who would not welcome bad news, and what his clerk would have to get across to him was very bad indeed.

Of course, if Hotham sent for Digby he was sunk; that particular bit of bluff was a very fragile thread indeed. He had to hope the whole added up to a scenario the admiral would reckon he would be well advised to avoid. As of this moment he must know he had troubles enough to contend with.

To add to that, what was being threatened made no sense, for the only purpose of the letter from Pearce to Lucknor had to be in search of some compromise and one only Hotham could grant. In possession of those court martial papers, as well as Digby’s orders, the man was safe on that flank.

‘A request from the admiral’s clerk, Mr Pearce. He would be obliged if you would join him on the forepeak.’

‘Thank you,’ Pearce said, as the midshipman’s head disappeared.

Toomey was waiting for him and given the direction of the wind it seemed an appropriate spot, given it was not far from the heads and the odour of their use.

‘I have arranged for you to see Sir William.’

‘Splendid.’

‘However, I must warn you against addressing him in a like manner to the way you spoke with me. He is a man of some position and deserves to be treated as such.’

Pearce was tempted to take issue with the word ‘deserves’ but decided to let it pass.

‘I have pointed out to the admiral that you want something from him in return for the letter you spoke of.’