‘For reasons not unconnected to the duty of
‘Belay that catblash! I want an explanation o’ your conduct, sir.’
‘- until now I’ve refrained from mentioning certain facts, not necessarily to the credit of your commodore.’
‘Which are?’
‘Understand that I tell you with the utmost reluctance, it not being the act of a gentleman to delate upon another, still less in an atmosphere of blind loyalty.’
‘This had better be good,’ Kydd said dangerously.
‘Then this is the substance. While you were closely engaged with him on the American’s submarine boat I had occasion to visit Count Rumford in London. Both he and Fulton being American, both being fellows of the Royal Society, I pressed the count as to Popham’s character and he laid before me this: that in fashionable society he presents as a money-getter, a restless man of insinuating manners and too sharp by half – an excess of cleverality, as I remember the term.’
‘This is worthless! Society gossip and jabberknowl! You’ll need to do better than this, sir.’
‘I did not accept this alone. I determined to investigate for myself. And confirmed that unhappily there were good reasons for this view. A hydrographer of the first rank, inventor of the first telegraphic signal code and other matters – how do you believe he’d be received at the Admiralty?’
‘Honoured for it, o’ course.’
‘I found the first lord, St Vincent, in utter loathing of the man. The same with his secretary. Why? It seems that by personal manipulations he went from being a lieutenant on half pay through to commander and then to full post-captain – without once commanding a naval vessel, let alone a ship-of-the-line in battle.’
‘Be damned to it, that’s because he was too busy with his inventions and things. I heard he was the only man who could persuade the Russians to come in with us in Flanders – knew Tsar Paul himself. No mystery there. And manipulations? How can he-’
‘He has himself elected to a rotten borough in the Tory cause so he has the ear of the highest, Pitt himself. This he’s used on many occasions – the most favourable description I’ve heard of him is “incurably plausible” in his schemes. Are you aware that he’s deep in litigation with the Admiralty Court in respect of a personal venture, a ship whose master was none other than himself, trading under the Tuscan flag illegally with Bengal? He was caught by a British frigate trying to land smuggled goods in Ostend and his
‘Any naval officer on half pay may with Admiralty permission trade to his own account,’ Kydd said hotly.
Renzi smiled thinly. ‘His first and only command before his present,
‘So?’
‘On his return a committee of inquiry in Chatham found that he’d overstated the real costs by many thousands. Proceedings against him are even now under way. And you’ll find there’s every kind of pamphlet in public circulation that accuses him of other defalcations and defects of moral character that would make you stare.’
‘Jealousy! And I’ve never heard any o’ this before – why should I believe it now?’
Renzi went on, ‘You might this hour determine the truth of it all, merely by interrogating Curzon closely. His family is tolerably well placed to know the matter.’
‘He’s not-’
‘I’ve spoken to him sharply in private that this is not a matter for public debate in the gunroom, which he’s honoured since.’
Kydd glowered but said nothing.
‘Dear fellow,’ Renzi said, ‘why do you think I should risk our friendship by this talk?’
‘You tell me, Nicholas – why?’
‘For the sake of your future. The man is in debt to his eyebrows, no prize money for him, of course, and no prospects of it on this remote station. He sees the immense fortunes won by captains who’ve seized the Spanish treasure ships and has a cunning idea. Why not make a descent on the source of the wealth itself – in effect, to sack the River Plate and carry off the silver?’
‘You’re out of your mind!’
‘I don’t think so. Why the haste to move on the Spaniards unless it’s to preserve a position of commanding authority that will ensure his direction of events and ultimately the greater share in the plunder? Any proper expedition from England will, of course, displace him as commander and no doubt change its object entirely.’
‘And you tell me all this for my sake?’ Kydd snorted. ‘Guesswork and envy! Why should I-’
‘I cannot stand by and watch you destroy your career when the world believes that you’ve put yourself in league with such a one. Can’t you see? The expedition will end in disaster and a vengeful government will want to find villains to put to the stake and you’ll be up there with him. He’s quitting station without leave – that’s a certain court-martial for a start, let alone-’
Kydd cut him short: ‘Yes, yes. I hear what you’re saying, for God’s sake.’
‘It’s – it’s only my regard for you, brother, that makes me speak in this way.’
‘So I’m to be beholden to you for your concern?’
Renzi remained silent as familiar shipboard sounds slowly asserted a degree of calm on the charged atmosphere.
Kydd finally spoke again: ‘I’ve much to think on, I believe.’ He stared blankly out of the stern windows. Then his expression softened. ‘I spoke hastily and out of order to my friend, and I’m truly sorry for it, Nicholas.’
He rose, went to the side cabinet and found glasses, poured a generous measure into each and handed one to Renzi. ‘Thank you for your candour, but there’s one thing you must accept in me: whatever you think his motives, a higher purpose is being served. I still honour him for his vision of seeing the Spanish humbled and His Majesty’s arms glorious, and while he leads I will think it my duty to follow.’
‘In hazard of your reputation?’
‘If so be it.’
Renzi nodded gravely. ‘Very well. Then although I must beg to differ in my views, I shall say no more.’
‘Handsomely, y’ bastards!’ The boatswain’s ire was directed to the party swaying aboard stores, who had good reason for their impatience – hazing from the first lieutenant and their knowledge that at last
Kydd watched the loading for some moments. Preparation for the expedition had raced ahead and Cape Town seethed with rumours, but with the Navy as one behind Popham and with the military in high feather at the expectation of a strategic master-stroke there was no stopping the momentum. But what if-
He forced the thought away but it kept returning. What if he and all the others had been gulled into supporting a private dash for plunder? What if he was unwittingly being used in adding his name to a scheme to give it credibility?
And Renzi’s prediction of disaster? Success was based on one central belief: that the inhabitants were so disaffected by Spanish rule that at the appearance of the expedition they could be relied on to rise in rebellion and together they would prevail. A dangerously simple presumption – and the only word they had to back it was that of Popham’s shadowy Miranda, and Waine, the American trader.
Were they sailing to catastrophe? The more he considered the possibility the more uneasy he became. How, a world away from the South American continent, would it be possible to gauge the mood of that population? It had to be a risk that-
A thought came to him. The artist up on Table Mountain. What was his name? Serrano, yes. He was some sort of recent exile from the region and no doubt he could tell him the truth of how the people felt.
‘I’m stepping ashore for a space, Mr Gilbey. Call away my barge, if you will.’
In the autumn greyness there was no likelihood that the artist would be up Table Mountain but he had the man’s card. ‘Vicente Serrano’ at ‘150 Buitengracht’ – not a smart address: he seemed to remember it was the area at the edge of the old part of the town.
The artist’s place of work was a shop with a powerful odour of pigment and oils, dust and canvas and a diverting array of finished works around the walls. ‘Mr Serrano?’
He appeared from behind an easel, wiping a brush. ‘
