was, Ramage knew, as good a first lieutenant as a captain could hope to find. But a good first lieutenant deserved a good captain, and a good captain did not stand in the way of promotion which was both deserved and overdue. 'Aitken, eh? A Scot? And you recommend him?'
'Most highly, sir, although I'll be very sorry to lose him.'
'Well, that's settled then: I'll make him post and give him the ship. It'll all have to be confirmed by the Admiralty, but that'll only be a formality. How does that leave you in the Dido?'
'I'll just move everyone up a place, sir. My second lieutenant, Kenton, will make a good first lieutenant. My third, Martin, will be a good second. My fourth lieutenant, Hill, whom you met when he brought in the prizes, will make a good third. I'd like to make a master's mate the acting fourth lieutenant, sir. Indeed, will you be assembling a board for examining lieutenants? This master's mate, by the name of Orsini, is about ready to take the examination.'
Cameron grunted and made a note on a sheet of paper. 'Yes, I have three or four midshipmen ready for the examination too: your youngster can take it with them. I'll call the board for next Wednesday - you won't be sailing before then.'
The admiral leaned forward and handed Ramage a folded sheet of paper which was covered in neat, copperplate handwriting. 'Read this. My clerk has just finished copying it out. It is my letter to their Lordships about your Martinique operation.'
Ramage took the letter and read it quickly, conscious that the admiral was watching him keenly. It was very flattering; quite the most flattering despatch he had ever read, in fact.
'I'll be enclosing your letter as well, of course,' the admiral said, 'which means it will be a Gazette letter. Not your first, I know, but it all helps!'
'Thank you, sir: I appreciate it,' Ramage said, and thought to himself, this has been quite an eventful quarter of an hour: I've lost my first lieutenant, started Paolo off on the first steps to being a lieutenant, and had my despatch to the admiral almost certainly made into a Gazette letter, which will please Father, who has saved all my Gazette letters so far. And it will please Sarah, too: Father will make sure she gets a copy and appreciates the significance.
But the fact is, Ramage thought grimly, I still don't know what the admiral has in store for me.
