'I admit that there was some misdirection in the early stages,' the General agreed, 'but Cornwallis out- generalled and defeated Washington on numerous occasions; and you have ill-served your case by referring to the surrender that was forced upon him. He deployed his Army in the Yorktown peninsular for the sound purpose of being able readily to reinforce New York. Had the British Fleet not dallied in the Indies, no French battle squadron could have occupied Chesapeake Bay, and enabled Washington's Army to achieve a junction with General Lafayette by landing on the neck of the peninsular.'
'The Fleet cannot be everywhere at once, Sir,' protested the Captain.
'No, Sir,' the General rapped back, 'but it should be at the right place at the right time; and its first duty in war is to protect the lines of communication of the Army.'
'Would you have had us then let the French have the Indies for the taking and leave the shores of Britain unprotected? We had to contend with the fleets of no less than four enemy powers, remember, and in that year we both hammered the Dutch off the Dogger Bank and relieved General Elliot at Gibraltar.'
'God forbid that I should impugn the Navy's gallantry, Captain. I contend only that its strategy was ill- designed. Our Admirals followed a policy of dealing with local attacks as and when they occurred instead of seeking out the enemy fleets to destroy them, and the dispersion of our sea forces proved our undoing.'
'I am with General Cleveland in that,' declared Mr. Gibbon. 'Our Army made no great showing, yet it would not have been reduced to asking for terms had not the Navy failed it at a critical time. Nevertheless our host's excuse is valid, in that our preoccupation in Europe and particularly with Gibraltar, were given first place by the Government. It has been very truly said that 'to save a rock we lost a continent,' but no blame for that can be laid to either service.'
Mr. Gibbon's diplomatic summary saved the faces of both protagonists. The tension eased and the Captain laughed. 'I am well content to leave it at that; and at least we can all agree that Lord Rodney's victory at Saints, by restoring our supremacy at sea, enabled us to make none too bad a peace.'
'Indeed, without it, we would have been hard put to it to obtain terms at all,' said Sam Oviatt. 'As it is we have come off monstrous well. The loss of the Colonies is a thing apart, but giving up St. Lucia,
Tobago and Goree to France, and Minorca and Florida to Spain, is little enough to pay for the consolidation of our position in Canada and India and all our other gains.'
'For that a good share of thanks are due to Lord Shelburne's fine diplomacy,' remarked Sir Harry.
Captain Brook turned quickly to him. 'Yet he was forced from office after only a few months, and when I was in London I heard it said that the Coalition is far from secure.'
'Its fall at any time would not surprise me,' Sir Harry answered. 'The King is still determined to rule the roost. After twelve years of virtual dictatorship, through Lord North, he can hardly be resigned to allowing power to slip from his grasp; and since the country demanded North's dismissal the fleeting Ministries of the past seventeen months have been little more than experiments. The Marquess of Rockingham's death last summer alone made way for Shelburne, whom the King neither liked or trusted, and he likes the Coalition even less. He shares the national disgust at his old minister having entered into this unnatural partnership with the man who has been his bitterest critic for so many years and will, I am convinced, have them both out of office as soon as a suitable pretext presents itself. His real problem is to find a man malleable to his own interest who will yet prove of sufficient stature to dominate the House. 'Tis reported that with this in mind he even offered young Billy Pitt the Treasury before reconciling himself to accepting Mr. Fox. That Pitt refused the offer is to his credit. At least he had the sense to see that the House would give short shift to anyone so lacking in experience.'
'I consider it more likely that it was not lack of self-confidence but astuteness that caused Pitt to reject office for a time,' remarked Mr. Gibbon. 'From all I have seen of him he shows exceptional promise. His grasp of business is at times uncanny for one of his years, his repartee is scathing and his oratory is superb.'
Sir Harry nodded. 'He speaks monstrous well, I grant you, and in that he is my Lord Chatham's son without a doubt. I recall his maiden speech when he first took his seat in the House at the age of twenty-one. One of our oldest members said of it 'There was not a word or a gesture that one would have sought to correct' and Mr. Burke, seated nearby me, remarked, 'He is not a chip of the old block, but the old block itself.''
'Then, should we be forced to take up arms against the French, may he play as glorious a part as did his great father,' said Captain Brook. 'But come, gentlemen, 'tis time we joined the ladies.'
They had been sitting over their wine for the best part of an hour and a half, so it was now close on half-past eight and dusk was falling. Squire Robbins and Harry Darby, who were a little unsteady on their pins, excused themselves, but the others trooped into Lady Marie's cool green and white drawing-room, where the conversation took a lighter tone and local gossip was mingled with talk of charities and entertainments.
Soon after nine, Mrs. Sutherland declared for home, and her leaving was the signal for the breaking up of the party. The Sutherland walked back across the meadow to their house up in the High Street, and the Vicar went with them, while old Ben, now flushed from his exertions as host these past two hours to a dozen visiting servants in the kitchen, summoned the carriages and horses of their masters. Invitations were poured upon the Brooks from all sides, then with a cheerful shouting of good-byes, their guests drove or rode away.
By a quarter to ten, father, mother and son were at last alone and reassembled in Lady Marie's drawing- room.
'It's been a great homecoming, Chris,' she smiled, 'and you can see now how your friends have missed you.'
The Captain swayed slightly on his feet. He was not drunk but his long years at sea had left him out of training for such heavy drinking, and he had had a little more than he could carry comfortably. He was smiling broadly, and declared with a laugh:
'The best is yet to come, m'dear. I've two fine surprises for you.'
'Oh, tell us, do,' she leaned eagerly forward in her chair, and Roger added his urging.
'You'd never guess,' the Captain grinned. ' 'Tis far more than I hoped for, as I thought myself forgot after my long absence from home, and I said nothing of it to the company as it may be a month or more before it appears in the
'Chris! Is it really true? Oh, how prodigious fine!' Lady Marie jumped up and kissed him on his flushed cheek.
'Hurrah!' cried Roger, 'Three cheers for Admiral Brook! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!'
Not wishing to make a fool of himself he had gone as carefully as he could with the wine, but having been granted the status of a man, he had also not liked to appear less than one by passing the port untouched too frequently. So he too, had had as much as he could carry, as was evident from his flushed face and unnaturally bright eyes.
'But you said you had two surprises for us,' Lady Marie went on. 'I can scarce bear the suspense to hear the other. Is it that they've given you a ship of ninety-eight guns to fly your flag in?'
'Nay,' replied the Captain. 'Tis something that I value more. With me I brought despatches from the Indies and the First Lord did me the honour to instruct me to lay them personally before His Majesty.'
'What! You actually talked with the King?' exclaimed Roger.
His father put an arm affectionately round the boy's shoulders. 'Aye, lad, and he was mighty civil to me; so I took the bull by the horns and went in to the attack. I asked him for a commission for you, and, praise God, he was graciously pleased to grant it to me there and then.'
The blood drained from Roger's face. In the excitement of the last few hours he had temporarily forgotten his own anxiety, and the bomb now exploded beneath his feet with startling suddenness.
Lady Marie too, paled a little, but for a different reason. She knew that Roger was averse to the sea as a career, but thought his attitude no more than the unreasoning prejudice of a boy, that could soon be overcome; and her husband's wishes were to her the law. Yet Roger was her only child and she was most loath to part with him at such an early age and see him in future only at long intervals.
'So Roger will not be returning to Sherborne next term?' she said slowly.
The Captain gave him a hearty slap on the back. 'Nay. His school days are over, and he'll be posted as a midshipman on the recommissioning of one of our ships now in dock within the next month or two. Well, Roger, hast thou naught to say?'
'Indeed, I'm very grateful, Sir—both to you and to His Majesty,' Roger managed to stammer.
Captain Brook's perceptions were too blunted by the wine he had consumed to note the lack of enthusiasm in Roger's tone, and he hurried on: 'Next week we'll go into Portsmouth and see to the ordering of your kit. You'll cut a
