Read Online The Perils of Command by David Donachie - Free Book Online Page B

of it; Pearce had engaged a London lawyer to probe those very same people Hotham had sent away. If the likes of Digby and Farmiloe would be cautious, valuing as they did their careers, the same could not be said of Toby Burns, who would crack under pressure for certain.
    There was one other problem not known to Hotham: John Pearce was not whistling in the dark as Hotham thought. He had a full transcript of the court martial, and if that ever saw the light of day in a civil court Hotham would be finished, it being small comfort that Barclay would go down with him.
    The admiral, who had been lost in thought, raised his gaze from his red wine as Toomey entered the cabin, bearing in his hand a sheaf of papers. ‘Well?’
    ‘Captain Barclay is seriously low on water, sir. I would say that his need to replenish is acute. He is not well found in pork and beef either, due to the need to condemn.’
    ‘Dammit, Barclay, how has this come about?’
    ‘You know the dockyard as well as I do, sir. The provision of rotten stores is no rare event.’
    ‘But to this extent?’
    ‘I admit that carelessness on the behalf of some of my crew has made worse what was merely bad.’
    ‘Which you let pass?’
    ‘In no way, sir. You will see from my logs, if you care to examine them, that the miscreants have been punished.’
    Men had been flogged, that was true; all Ralph Barclay had done was record the reasons as other than the truth, which was punishments for insubordination, drunkenness or gambling.
    Hotham allowed himself a deep sigh as he indicated Toomey should depart and then he was back into his reverie, no doubt weighing up the pros and cons of what he was being asked for. He was no more to be fooled than his clerk and what he had to consider was how others, as much client officers to him as Ralph Barclay, would react to what would be seen as a blatant piece of favouritism.
    ‘I have to say, Barclay, the temptation to issue a public reprimand is very strong. You may say there are men responsible for this, but—’
    ‘I know, Sir William,’ Barclay replied, with mock humility, the space being left for him to do so, ‘that the responsibility lies with me as the captain.’
    Looking directly into Hotham’s rather weak blue eyes Ralph Barclay reckoned Hotham was working up to a refusal. He would do that by taking stores from other ships and employing the boats of the entire fleet for water, which brought matters to the crunch as far as he was concerned; he had to be granted the independence to cruise and Leghornwas only the first step. Barclay wanted to go to Naples and possibly Palermo. Time to muddy the waters.
    ‘I wonder, Sir William, if there is any activity at all in our area of operations?’
    ‘A certain amount of piracy and the odd roaming French frigate.’
    ‘I believe our ambassador in Naples, Sir William Hamilton, has asked for a show of force in the Straits of Messina.’
    ‘Which is a damned insult to our Neapolitan allies. The waters between Naples and Sicily are their bailiwick. We cannot just go sending in vessels without upsetting them.’
    ‘I believe the excuse would be the delivery of despatches. Perhaps, instead of a sloop, a seventy-four would serve a dual purpose? Given permission to revictual in Leghorn, I could then sail south and show the flag, your flag.’ The voice dropped to a low growl. ‘It pains me to allude to the fact that we have a common interest but that is so, is it not?’
    That made Hotham sit up as he suddenly realised he was being coerced; if the Pearce name was unmentioned it was as clear as Banquo’s ghost. Ralph Barclay was engaged in a risky business; to upset this man could rebound badly. Would the admiral smoke that it was not only John Pearce and his doings that could sink him, nor Toby Burns? This captain before him was better placed than any to achieve that, even if he would likewise go down and might even hang, perjury – which he too had committed – being a capital