Betrayal

They joined the others in a waiting calesa, which ground off down the steep road. Cheerful conversations started up, but Kydd was disturbed to see Popham’s set face and to note his unusual quiet. At the seafront the captains took boat for their commands but Kydd was ushered into Diadem’s barge, Popham still serious and thoughtful.

Kydd kept his silence until they were alone in the great cabin, then said, ‘A good day’s work, if I might remark it. But Ocean is “mislaid”?’

‘Never mind Ocean, we’ve more pressing concerns, damn it.’

This was not like Popham. Hardly believing his ears, Kydd blurted, ‘Lost at sea, three hundred souls! How can you possibly-’

‘I said forget it. There’s a pretty moil we must deal with right at this time.’

‘Forget it? How, in God’s name, can you-’

‘Ocean’s safe,’ Popham snapped irritably. ‘I told Audley to take her direct to the River Plate. Now let’s-’

‘Safe? You knew all the time?’

‘What better can you think of to prise troops from Patton?’

‘A trick – a ploy!’

Popham sighed. ‘Dear fellow, we’ve secured four hundred more troops in the assault. Nearly a third of our force. Don’t you think it worth the harmless subterfuge? The higher cause is our expedition, and for that I’m prepared to use anything that presents itself as a means. Wouldn’t you?’

Kydd was unable to reply. There was no illegality, no moral issue at stake – but was this the action of a noble commander?

‘I’m sure you would if you’d given it thought. Now, down to more serious business. Much more serious – and I don’t mind confessing that the services of a friend would be of infinite value to me at this time.’

Kydd stiffened awkwardly, still unsure.

‘A friend. As will hear me and test my words,’ Popham pressed, his features tight with worry.

Kydd made up his mind and replied stoutly, ‘As I can help, Dasher.’

Popham hesitated, then brought out the newspaper. ‘Pitt’s dead,’ he said simply.

Kydd reeled. This was the prime minister who’d been at the helm of state since the very first day of the war, when Kydd had still been a perruquier of Guildford. The man who’d scorned the slaughter of the French Revolution while Spain and most of Europe had allied against him. And until now had been locked in a lethal struggle with Napoleon Bonaparte, who stood astride his conquests like a colossus.

‘There’s a new government – Grenville,’ Popham added.

Kydd remembered dimly that he was a statesman of the Whig Party, implying an administration radically different from Pitt’s Tory government. Then he understood. Popham’s expedition was a resumption of a plan agreed with Pitt and his ministers, especially the first lord of the Admiralty, Melville, and then Barham. These now being out of office, he could count on no supporters in high places, and conceivably there would be those who might see it in their political interest to oppose any Pitt-inspired operation.

‘Of all times to choose to leave this world . . .’ Popham said bitterly.

‘We’ll have to turn back, of course.’

Popham looked up sharply. ‘That is not in my thinking.’

‘The Grenville government might act differently about the strategics, Dasher. We must wait for new orders.’

‘I’d have thought you of stronger mettle, Kydd.’ He forced a smile. ‘I didn’t mean it to come out like that, but you must agree that nothing has changed. Not a single iota. The Spanish are occupied in the north, their navy is reeling in defeat after Trafalgar, we still have surprise – and our armada is gathered and ready. If we turn back now, all this is wasted. Any new orders will only confirm the preparations, but we will have lost our moment.’

Kydd was torn. All that Popham had said was true, but where did their higher duty really lie? A change of political alignment to be allowed to destroy a daring initiative that could alter the entire direction of the war, or the prudent awaiting of instructions before proceeding any further?

Damn it, here was a man who was willing to risk everything for the sake of his country’s future. ‘For what it’s worth, Dasher, this is what I feel. As a patriot and an Englishman, I can think of no greater cause before me at this moment than South America. But as a professional naval officer I find that we’re sailing a mort close to the wind, at peril of disobedience to the wishes of their lordships.

‘As a man – why, with all there is to be gained, I’d a hundred times be hanged for doing something as doing nothing at all.’

‘Bravo, my friend!’ Popham cried, the worry melting away. ‘As I’d hoped you’d say! It’s my decision – and it’s to go forward with the enterprise.’

Kydd grinned. ‘And we’ll see those politicking trimmers in Parliament change tack at the run, once they see what we’ve achieved for ’em.’

‘Damn them all for a parcel o’ rogues. They’ll see their way clear to consolidating us once we’ve done the initial hard work, of course. Now, there’s much we’ve to do, the chief of which is to find berths for our reinforcements.’ There was not a prayer of cramming any more men into their ships but it would be doubly ironic if they and their guns had to be left behind for lack of room.

‘It’s by way of a puzzler, Dasher,’ Kydd said cautiously.

‘Yes. But I’m leaving it entirely to you, old chap. I’m bound up for the next few hours in working up dispatches as will persuade the Admiralty that it’s to be their first duty to get those consolidating reinforcements to us as soon as they may. It has to go off before we sail.’

Kydd gave a rueful grin. ‘So it’s my own good self who must conjure a way to get four hundred more men to Montevideo, it seems.’

‘As you can. And, by the way, we’ll keep it to ourselves, Mr Pitt’s untimely demise. Morale, of course.’

‘From the officers as well?’

‘I would think so.’

Four hundred men. Close to double the number of a frigate’s entire complement. And their guns and impedimenta. It simply couldn’t be done – the ships had already been loaded to safe limits and, with every conceivable space taken up, they would be hard pressed to fight in such crowded conditions if confronted by an enemy.

No – there was only one possible course: to find another ship. There were no naval vessels available but a co- opted merchant ship – if any could be found – would demand hire as a transport to compensate for lack of a commercial cargo, which would necessarily be at considerable cost as there was an empty return voyage to include. And where was the ready cash to come from? And what would they do with her existing cargo?

There was no question of the Crown taking over a merchantman for the task. While the law looked on impassively as ships were stripped of their crews by a press gang, if a ship itself were taken it would be deemed nothing less than an act of piracy. In fact, in these matters there was an entire Board of Transport department of the Admiralty to deal with the intricate details. That the Board was hopelessly distant was no excuse.

It was one of those unwritten naval laws: at the end of everything, and even to the end of time, there was always to be a due accounting.

No ship, no precious troops. In despair Kydd looked about the James Bay roadstead. There was shipping a- plenty but only one of size. What were the chances that it was going to South America? Or could be persuaded to render a loyal service to its country? There was only one way to find out and time was crucial.

In the boat out there were only himself and the purser, Owen, with Curzon as a counter-signatory if they achieved a miracle. As to Kydd’s exact authority to incur expenditure, whether as ship’s captain or proxy for the commodore, the purser was hard put to establish a clear line and had wrung his hands in dismay: without the requisite form or written order from above there was no source of credit against which to issue a note.

Kydd noticed that the ship was high in the water, then spotted a lighter leaving from the opposite side. Transshipping cargo – was that a good or bad sign? But she was a sturdy, ship-rigged vessel that would not need nursing in the ocean crossing.

‘Go about her stern,’ he ordered. He saw that Justina was of British registry, a considerable advantage.

The three boarded amidships by the wooden-runged pilot ladder. The hold was open, displaying a nearly empty