Thank you, My Lord. He has been rated before and disrated.
Drink? Is that why he was denied shore leave?
Im afraid so, My Lord.
Then what do you recommend?
Harcourt was at a loss.
You could say to his face what youve already said to me, My Lord. You could shake his hand
Hornblower laughed.
And be known through the Navy as the meanest Admiral who ever flew a flag? No. A golden guinea at least. Two guineas. Ill give them to him myself, and I shall request you to give him three days leave as soon as we see Kingston again. Let him have his debauch, if that is the only way in which we can reward him. I have to consider the feelings of the whole squadron.
Aye aye, My Lord.
Now, Mr. Gerard, Ill begin the writing of those orders.
It was indeed noon before Crab cast off and was taken in tow by the tug Temeraire; it was significant of Hornblowers state of mind that he never gave a thought to the implication of that glorious name. The interval before sailing, all the long, stifling morning, was taken up by the dictation of orders, to be dispersed to every ship of his squadron. An infinity of copies was necessary. Sharpe would send them under seal by every British ship leaving New Orleans for the West Indies, in the hope that should one of them encounter a Kings ship his orders would be passed on without the delay of being sent to Kingston and then transmitted through official channels. Every ship of the West India squadron was to keep a sharp lookout for the American ship Daring. Every ship was to enquire her business, and was to ascertain, if possible, whether Daring had troops on board; but (Hornblower sweated more feverishly than
ever as he worded this) captains of HMs vessels were reminded of that passage in the Commander-in-Chiefs original instructions regarding behaviour towards the American flag. If troops were not on board an effort was to be made to ascertain where they had been landed; if they were, Daring was to be kept in sight until they should be landed. Captains were to exercise a wide discretion regarding any interference with Daring s operations.
Seeing that these orders would not leave New Orleans until tomorrow, and would travel by slow merchant ship, it was hardly likely that they would reach any ship of the squadron before Daring had done whatever she planned to do. Yet it was necessary to take every possible precaution.
Hornblower signed twenty copies of his orders with a sweating hand, saw them sealed, and handed them over to Sharpe. They shook hands before Sharpe went down the gangway.
Cambronne will head for Port au Prince or Havana, in my opinion, My Lord, said Sharpe.
The two places were not more than a thousand miles apart.
Might it not be Cartagena or La Guayra? asked Hornblower with elaborate irony. Those places were about a thousand miles apart as well, and more than a thousand miles from Havana.
It well might be, said Sharpe, the irony quite wasted on him. Yet it could not be said that he was unsympathetic regarding Hornblowers difficulties, for he went onThe very best of good fortune, My Lord, in any case. I am certain Your Lordship will command success.
Crab cast off, and Temeraire had her in tow, smoke and sparks belching from her chimneys, much to Harcourts indignation. He was afraid not only of fire but of stains on his spotless deck; he had the hands at work pumping up water from overside continuously soaking deck and rigging.
Breakfast, My Lord? said Gerard at Hornblowers elbow.
Breakfast? It was one oclock in the afternoon. He had not been to bed. He had drunk far too much last night, and he had had a busy morning, an anxious morning, and he was as desperately anxious at this moment. His first reaction was to say no; then he remembered how he had complained yesterday (only yesterday? It seemed more like a week ago) about his delayed breakfast. He would not allow his agitation to be so obvious.
Of course. It could have been served more promptly, Mr. Gerard, he said, hoping he was displaying the irascibility of a man who had not broken his fast.
Aye aye, My Lord, said Gerard. He had been Hornblowers flag-lieutenant for several months now, and knew nearly as much about Hornblowers moods as a wife might have done. He knew, too, of Hornblowers kindly interior. He had received his appointment as the son of an old friend, at a moment when admirals sons and dukes sons had yearned to serve as flag-lieutenant to the fabulous Hornblower.
Hornblower forced himself to eat his fruit and his boiled eggs, to drink his coffee despite the heat. He whiled away a considerable time before he came on deck again, and during that period he had actually contrived to forget his problemsat least nearly to forget them. But they returned in full force as soon as he came on deck again. So harassing were they that he could feel no interest in this still unusual method of navigating a river, no interest in the low banks that were going by so fast alongside. This hurried departure from New Orleans was only a gesture of despair, after all. He could not hope to catch the Daring. She would bring off whatever coup she had in mind almost under his very nose and leave him the laughing-stock of the worldof his world, at least. This would be the last command he would ever hold. Hornblower looked back over the years of half pay he had endured since Waterloo. They had been dignified and happy years, one would think, with a seat in the Lords and a position of influence in the County, a loving wife and a growing son, but he had not been living the right life, even so. The five years after Waterloo until at last the course of nature brought his promotion to flag rank had been fretful years; he had only realised it when he knew the intense joy of his appointment to the West Indies. Now all the years to come until he went down into the grave would be as dreary as those five, more dreary, because they would be unrelieved by the hope of future employment at sea.