Ramage was thankful the large waiting-room at Admiralty House was cool and comfortably furnished; probably one of the coolest spots in Kingston since Jamaica was already sweltering in what promised to be the hurricane season's hottest day so far. There was hardly a breath of wind, and Ramage pitied any captain under orders to sail - it would be a case of out boats and tow...
The white-painted jalousies over the windows let in sufficient light while their slats threw striped shadows on the walls and kept out the sun's harsh glare. The floors were cool marble and four rattan armchairs were grouped in the middle of the room round a small, highly polished baywood table whose legs stood incongruously in shallow, metal trays of water: part of the constant war waged against white ants in the Tropics.
The ceiling was high, adding to the sense of coolness, and there was a large portrait in a wide, matching gilt frame, carefully hung in the precise centre of each of three walls. Ramage saw that the one opposite the window, like the centre panel of a triptych, was of Sir Pilcher Skinner, with - presumably - his plump wife on the wall to his right. Was the young woman on the other wall a daughter?
All the artist's skill with brush and pigments could not conceal the fact that Sir Pilcher's legs and neck were too short for his plump body, nor disguise the fat and sagging cheeks eventually tapering and merging into several chins which sat on his lace stock like slices of wet bread. He was depicted standing four-square on the quarterdeck, his uniform a splendid array of blue, white and gold, left hand resting on the hilt of his sword and right hand holding a telescope tucked under his arm. Few people, however, would think the pinkness of the cheeks came from the rays of a setting sun; that colour and texture of watered silk came only from owning a good cellar and employing a chef who took a pride in his work.
Yet the face was curiously cheerful; Sir Pilcher looked like a man who could enjoy a good joke almost as much as a well-roasted saddle of lamb or a fine claret. The artist had been clever (and for Ramage it redeemed an otherwise undistinguished portrait) in catching the Admiral's eyes.
Although the eyes could be humorous on occasion, Ramage guessed that they could also be as shifty as a dishonest moneylender's when Sir Pilcher was being forced into making a decision or taking responsibility. Yet with no fleet in the Caribbean, making minor and mostly administrative decisions was his only major task.
Ramage touched the letter in his pocket, as if seeking some link between the paper and the portrait staring fixedly at him. If he accepted, his orders would be drawn up with extreme care by a man who wanted to get the most done while assuming the least responsibility. Sir Pilcher wanted a lowly lieutenant to find an answer (which had presumably eluded the resources of the Post Office and several ministers of state in Whitehall) but at the same time was giving him no authority. The Admiral was no fool, and Ramage guessed that the letter represented the first time he had ever given a mere lieutenant the option of backing out; of politely declining. If Sir Pilcher thought he was being magnanimous (which was unlikely) to the mere lieutenant it was rather like staring cross-eyed into the muzzle of a highwayman's pistol on Blackheath and being given the option of "Your money or your life!"
The rattan of the chair squeaked in protest as Ramage stretched back. The captain, who had been the sole occupant of the waiting-room when Ramage arrived, was now with the Admiral, and since he commanded the Hydra frigate, which had arrived from England only a day or two ago and was about to sail again, Ramage was going to have a long wait.
He wriggled his feet: the heat made them swell so that his long boots were tight and uncomfortable. He noticed the Royal Albion Hotel's shoeblack had expended a lot of energy on them, but not much skill; the leather was lacklustre - the fellow had not learned to use the minimum of polish and a bit of spit.
Let's sit comfortably in Admiralty House and look at everything from Sir Pilcher's point of view, Ramage thought to himself. Sir Pilcher owed absolutely nothing to Lieutenant Ramage; on the contrary. From Sir Pilcher's point of view...
"Ramage," a smooth voice said at the door, and he turned to see Henderson, a thin man wearing a clerical collar who seemed to combine the roles of Sir Pilcher's chaplain and secretary. "The Admiral will see you now."
The chair creaked as if in relief as Ramage stood, straightened his stock, gave the scabbard of his sword a tug and wished he had drunk less coffee: it was swilling around in his stomach, now unpleasantly chilly and uncomfortable. He was nervous; there was no denying that. For all his offhand talk to Sidney Yorke, the fact remained that the word of a British admiral could end a young lieutenant's career as effectively as a whole broadside from a French ship of the line.
Clack, clack, clack - he found himself treading heavily on the marble floor. Whistling in the dark, Ramage? Trying to keep your spirits up? Don't forget, Sir Pilcher may simply be putting out an anchor to windward: he knows a great deal about the working of the collective mind of Their Lordships ...
The portrait was good: as he looked at the subject again Ramage realized that he had underrated the artist, who had been as subtle as he dare while still being sure of getting his fee. The Admiral rose from behind his desk in a movement halfway between the majestic and the ponderous, and pointed to rattan armchairs grouped round another small table, a replica of the arrangement in the waiting-room.
"Ah, my boy, let's sit here and be comfortable," he said affably.
He motioned Ramage to one side of the table and sat down opposite in a chair which groaned loudly in protest.
"I've been giving Captain Jeffries of the Hydra frigate his orders: he sails for Antigua in a couple of days, lucky fellow."
"Indeed, sir?" Ramage said politely. The Admiral's voice was curiously squeaky considering the bulk from which it emerged.
"Taking Admiralty orders and all the routine paperwork. Absurd not being able to entrust anything to the Post Office. There's talk of the Admiralty having to use the King's ships instead ... and I'm so short of frigates. Damnably short."
Ramage nodded, guessing that most of Sir Pilcher's frigates were out cruising, combining the hunt for privateers with the hunt for prizes, to bring a double profit to Sir Pilcher: a tactical profit of fewer enemy ships, and a cash profit since he received an eighth of all prize money. Jamaica was the biggest money prize the Admiralty had to offer: two years in command of the station in wartime made an admiral as rich as a nabob who had spent a lifetime in India.
"Mr Dundas," Sir Pilcher said, as though thinking aloud. "An impetuous man."
But a powerful one, a startled Ramage thought to himself. As His Majesty's Secretary of State for the War Department and one of Mr Pitt's closest friends, Henry Dundas can afford to be impetuous since his drinking partner is the Prime Minister.
"Yes, an impetuous man. He has just ordered all his general officers out here to send duplicate and triplicate - triplicate - copies of dispatches and routine reports by merchantmen sailing home in different convoys. He passed a duplicate of this order to the Prime Minister, who sent copies to both Lord Auckland and Lord Gower. Never could understand why they have Joint Postmasters-General," he sniffed. "And a copy to the First Lord of the Admiralty. Most uncalled for, in my opinion."
But most effective, Ramage noted, guessing that Sir Pilcher's soliloquy was an oblique way of leading up to the letter. After staring at the empty chair next to Ramage for a minute or two without speaking, Sir Pilcher focused his shifty eyes on him.
"Well," he asked, "you've read my letter?"
"Yes, sir."
Ramage realized that he still had not finally made up his mind how to answer the inevitable question: now he was facing the Admiral the decision that he thought he had reached with Yorke at breakfast seemed wrong.
"Think you stand a good chance of finding out what's happening?"
"No, sir," Ramage said lamely.
Sir Pilcher's jaw dropped into the folds of his many chins. "No?"
Obviously it was not the answer Sir Pilcher had expected, and he groped in his pocket as he recovered from his surprise. Eventually he extricated a blue-enamelled snuffbox and snapped open the lid.
"Why not?" the Admiral demanded, glowering at the brown powder in the box, a podgy finger and thumb poised ready to take a pinch.
"There's not enough information to go on, sir: the packets are disappearing somewhere in scores of thousands of square miles of ocean."
"They can't just vanish."
"So many privateers, sir," Ramage said vaguely, deliberately trying to avoid being put on the defensive and making specific objections which the Admiral could pin down and dismiss with an airy wave of the hand.
Sir Pilcher shook his head violently, the flesh of his face swinging from side to side as if about to break loose from the bone. "There might be more to it than privateers," he said mysteriously.
Ramage remained silent, realizing that his refusal had fallen flat.
"Much more," the Admiral said, his voice dropping conspiratorially.
"I had no idea, sir; you didn't mention it in your letter."
"Secrecy, my dear boy: you realize what all this means, don't you?"
Unsure if the question was rhetorical and wary of the querulous note in Sir Pilcher's voice, Ramage said nothing.
"It means, my dear Ramage, that because so many packets are being captured, London is cut off from the rest of the western hemisphere. Completely cut off! Can you imagine it? In the middle of a war, Whitehall can't send a single order to any admiral or general overseas - let alone to Governors and those sort of people - and be sure it'll be received unless it's sent in a ship of war. The War Office is cut off from the Army out here, the Admiralty isn't receiving my dispatches and I'm not getting their orders; and not a single merchant in England or the West Indies can send or receive an order or a remittance. Both war and trade are at a standstill - and have been for months..."
"I see, sir," Ramage said, feeling some comment was necessary.
"Just think of the Admiralty and War Office not receiving regular dispatches from their commanders-in-chief for weeks and months. Imagine the confusion when they finally get one and find it refers to matters raised in three preceding dispatches they've never received. And the dreadful position commanders-in-chief are in when they suddenly get instructions referring to previous orders and plans which never reached them. The Hydra brought out triplicate copies - triplicate," he repeated pettishly, "of all Admiralty and War Office orders going back five months. It doesn't do to think of what's happening at the Navy Board and all the other offices: it'll take months to find out which reports and requests of mine they've received and which have been lost..."
Sir Pilcher broke off and shuddered, apparently overcome by the enormity of scores of clerks being deprived of the hundreds of reports and forms which might have been sunk in the Atlantic in weighted mailbags to avoid them falling into enemy hands.
Ramage conjured up a picture of London as the head of a body deprived of most of its limbs: an order from the head in London was incapable of provoking even a twitch of a muscle in the limbs of Jamaica or Martinique, Barbados or Antigua ... if the losses spread, what of Canada and Gibraltar, the Peninsular and the Mediterranean? Every frigate and smaller vessel in the Navy would have to be clapped into service just delivering and collecting official mail, let alone dealing with the correspondence of merchants all over the world. Cargoes not shipped until they were paid for; urgently needed provisions, cordage, sails, powder and shot for the King’s ships not sent because the Navy Board, Ordnance Board and the dozen other offices never received requests and reports ... He felt something approaching sympathy for the portly admiral sitting opposite him and staring fixedly at a snuffbox. The French had (perhaps accidentally) suddenly discovered a way of paralysing Britain. True, the opportunity had always been there, but surely the French didn't have enough ships to comb the oceans picking out Post Office packets?
As if reading Ramage's thoughts, Sir Pilcher tapped his nose knowingly. "You know the only thing that's going to stop the losses?"
When Ramage shook his head the Admiral said, with the air of a man revealing a great secret, "We've got to use our brains: we have to out-think those French rascals!"
"Surely having some frigates would help," Ramage said lamely.
"Not at this stage. Later, perhaps, when we know what's going on. No, my boy, we - I mean the Admiralty, the Post Office and myself - can't act until we get the answer to one particular question." He paused, and Ramage was reminded of an actor savouring the climax of his best role.
"Do you know what that question is?" Sir Pilcher asked, and his face fell when Ramage nodded. "I think so, sir."
"Oh, you do, eh? Out with it then; out with it!"
"Well, sir, I understand there are fewer French privateers at sea now than last year, and they're capturing fewer merchantmen. So why are fewer privateers capturing more packets? If that is what is happening."
The look of admiration on Sir Pilcher's face was quickly replaced by one of irritation. "Exactly. That's the question, and what's the answer, eh?"
Ramage shrugged his shoulders; the tone of the Admiral's voice told him that no one else had found it, either. "Any officer investigating the losses is going to need a great deal of information before he'd even dare to make a guess, sir. He'd almost need to be able to see into the mind of the enemy."
Sir Pilcher gave a deep sigh, as if relieved to find someone who agreed with him. "Between you and me, Ramage, that's just what I've hinted in my dispatches to the First Lord. Still, can't say it aloud, can we!" His fingers were still poised over the snuffbox but his earlier agitation had vanished. "Well, Ramage, what about it?"
"Information about losses so far, the way the packets operate...?"
"All taken care of," Sir Pilcher said airily. "The Deputy Postmaster-General here in Kingston has all those sort of details."
His tone implied that they were trivial but that - well, Ramage wondered, that what? He was probably being stubborn (Sir Pilcher would call it mulish), but he felt he was being led along blindfolded. And why had he been chosen? If the situation was as desperate as Sir Pilcher said (and he was certain the Admiral was not exaggerating) surely it was a job for a senior captain on the Jamaica station: someone like Captain Napier of the 74-gun Arrogant, who could ask for three or four frigates if he found he needed a small squadron to root out privateers.
Yet Sir Pilcher had made great play of that "one particular question", as though the real job of destroying the privateers, whatever it was, could not be done until someone had served up the answer on a plate. It made sense - providing the losses conformed to some special plan. Find out what the plan was, and then move quickly to wreck it. Supposing the losses were pure chance; privateers encountering the packets at random? Then no answer existed, and a lot of time would be wasted looking for it.
Ramage was deliberately avoiding looking squarely at his own particular question, but it was nagging at him like toothache. All right, he thought grimly, take a good look at it this time: Why has Sir Pilcher chosen me? He dislikes me - no one makes a secret of that. He has a couple of dozen favourite lieutenants he wants to get promoted and given their own commands, yet none of them was given the job. He has at least a dozen young frigate commanders, low on the list of post-captains but high on his patronage list, any one of whom he would like to single out for special praise in a dispatch to the First Lord.
The Cabinet has told the Admiralty to halt the losses, the First Lord passed the word to Sir Pilcher, and Sir Pilcher has picked Lieutenant Ramage. It was a damned odd sequence, because if Ramage succeeded, the process reversed itself: Sir Pilcher would have to give him the credit in a dispatch to the First Lord, and the First Lord would probably mention his name to the Cabinet. All of which, he thought cynically, would be most gratifying to an admiral, let alone a mere lieutenant, since it would probably result in the lieutenant getting instant promotion.
He looked across at Sir Pilcher, who was still staring fixedly at the enamel snuffbox. You're up to something; there's not the slightest doubt about it. Why haven't you chosen your favourite lieutenant to reap this golden harvest? Or your favourite young frigate captain? Is it because you know there'll be no harvest to reap? That all you will be able to report to the First Lord, and the First Lord to the Cabinet, is abysmal failure? Ramage watched Sir Pilcher's hands for a few moments, saw their slight trembling, and was sure that the Admiral believed the mission was impossible.
Still, it was worth fishing around a bit more to try to be sure why Sir Pilcher had chosen him before he finally refused the job. Ramage decided to bait a hook and lower it gently over the side into what were palpably deep waters.
"The Hydra frigate, sir," Ramage said tentatively, "she brought out the latest news from London about the packet losses?"
"Of course - Lord Spencer sent her because that's the only secure way of passing orders these days."
"Did the First Lord make any suggestions, sir?" Ramage congratulated himself: the diffident note in his voice was perfectly pitched.
"Suggestions? My dear boy, the First Lord doesn't suggest things; he gives orders."
Gently does it, Ramage told himself, the hook is baited and the fish is swimming close to it. Just a little twitch should be enough.
"I hope I'm not being impertinent, sir, but did the First Lord specify a particular officer for this - ah, this task?"
"A particular person? I have my orders from him, naturally," Sir Pilcher said, his eyes never moving from the snuffbox, into which he was peering with all the absorption of a fortuneteller gazing at a crystal ball. Was he being evasive?
"But no particular officer was named...?"
"His orders to me cover the point."
As soon as he saw Sir Pilcher was not taking the bait, Ramage found himself losing both patience and interest. Sir Pilcher's reasons for choosing him were still far from clear and Ramage was damned if he was going to get mixed up in the old man's chicanery. Now's the time to withdraw gracefully, he told himself.
"Well, sir, since you've been kind enough to give me the option of - well, travelling home as a private individual instead of ... ah, receiving fresh orders..." He patted the letter in his pocket as if overcome with nervousness.
It took Sir Pilcher two or three seconds to realize that Ramage was declining. Instead of glaring at him, the Admiral's eyes flickered up for a moment and then resumed their watch on the open snuffbox, as though a solution would crawl out of the brown powder and nestle in the palm of his hand if only he waited long enough.
"Great pity, Ramage, a great pity. You've thrown away a splendid opportunity to distinguish yourself."
"May I ask, sir-"
"Damnation, boy, you're turning it down, aren't you?" Sir Pilcher interrupted angrily, finally snapping the snuffbox shut without using it. "Do you expect me to let you read the First Lord's orders to me?"
Since he had nothing to lose, Ramage could not resist saying, "If you would be so kind, sir."
The Admiral's eyes swung round and focused on Ramage in shocked surprise, his face blotching and his Adam's apple bobbing like a buoy breasting a flood tide. Suddenly he took a deep breath and abruptly stood up, waddling over to his desk. Assuming he had been dismissed, Ramage had grasped the arms of his chair to get up when he saw the Admiral open a drawer and take out some papers. He turned and came back, handing them to Ramage.
"Second page," he growled as he sat down heavily. "Third paragraph. Read from there, and be quick about it."
Ramage hurriedly skimmed the words, half expecting the Admiral to change his mind and snatch the letter back.
"... losses of packets became so heavy..." Lord Spencer had written. "... Cabinet ordered a new investigation at Falmouth ... but the Inspector of Packets appears a stupid man ... his report reached no conclusions and is useless ... Lord Auckland has sent all details of the losses on the Lisbon and West Indies routes to the Deputy Postmaster-General at Jamaica ...
"... I have no need to impress upon you the seriousness and urgency of the situation ... Cabinet has instructed the Admiralty to investigate and halt the losses ... I must entrust this to an energetic, young officer with an alert and questioning mind who is unafraid of taking risks or responsibility ... urge upon you to give him the widest latitude and suitable cooperation ... My choice would be Lieutenant Ramage of the Triton brig, who will by now have arrived at Jamaica with Rear-Admiral Goddard's convoy ... He has an unfortunate penchant for acting on his own initiative ... but in no way do I insist if your choice of an officer differs from mine ... In London we find the circumstances of the losses so puzzling, I can give you no guidance of how the investigation should be carried out... But it must succeed..."
Sir Pilcher's hand was outstretched and Ramage gave him back the letter. While the Admiral folded the pages along their original creases he said crossly, almost pettishly, "It so happens that my choice does differ from his Lordship's."
At once Ramage guessed what Sir Pilcher had intended. By offering Ramage the job in writing and making it seem impossible of achievement, he had hoped Ramage would refuse. Lord Spencer would eventually be told that Ramage had declined the appointment - which would be the truth, though far from the whole truth - and it would then go to whichever favourite Sir Pilcher had in mind. He would have effectively covered himself against Lord Spencer's phrase, "but in no way do I insist if your choice of an officer differs from mine ..."
Ramage knew only too well that such a remark from the First Lord was little more than politeness, put in almost routinely, so that a commander-in-chief would not complain about undue interference from the Admiralty. Yet it would be a brave - and foolhardy - commander-in-chief that ignored it even if his own choice did differ. If the commander-in-chief's man failed, the First Lord would listen to no excuses, pointing out that his own recommendation had been ignored...
Sir Pilcher was well aware of all that; indeed, he was already one step ahead, since the whole difficulty would be removed if the wretched Lieutenant Ramage could be manoeuvred into refusing the appointment. Every officer could refuse an appointment; it was a vastly different thing from refusing to carry out an order. But Ramage knew he must step warily in dealing with someone like Sir Pilcher.
Then Ramage suddenly remembered Sir Pilcher's obvious disappointment when he had declined - when he'd done what he assumed the Admiral hoped. No, Sir Pilcher was not trying to manoeuvre him into refusing. Hell, it simply did not make sense.
"If your choice differs, sir, I would naturally much prefer ..."
"There are other factors," the Admiral said, waving away objections with a flabby hand.
"I'm afraid that quite unwittingly I've put you in a difficult situation, sir," Ramage said smoothly. "Obviously you would prefer to give these orders to an officer you know, and in whom you have trust - and for whom," he said with a slight emphasis, "you can ensure the cooperation of everyone on the station."
As the Admiral's hooded eyes lifted to stare at him, Ramage realized the advantage of dealing with someone like Sir Pilcher: he was so ruthlessly determined to look after his own interests - which ultimately meant keeping in with the First Lord - that, after a certain point, tact and circumlocution were quite unnecessary. Once it was clear what was being bought and sold, Sir Pilcher was quite happy to sit down and drive a hard bargain.
"Well?" the Admiral snapped. "What about my letter?"
"It's in my pocket, sir," Ramage said innocently.
"Indeed? Ramage, I don't give a damn where it is: you know what I mean!"
Now for the bargaining, Ramage told himself, suddenly realizing that, irrationally, he now wanted the job of solving the mystery of the vanishing Post Office packets.
"Lord Spencer mentions 'widest latitude and suitable cooperation ...', sir."
"Well?" the Admiral growled suspiciously. "It doesn't mean giving you a ship o' the line and half a dozen frigates, you know."
Ramage was thankful for the Admiral's angry exaggeration, since it made his next request sound trivial. "Although obviously I don't know how the investigation will proceed, sir, I'd like to count on having some of my officers and men."
"What officers and men?" Sir Pilcher snapped. "You don't have a ship now."
"Some of those who were with me in the Triton, sir."
"They've already gone to the Arrogant. She's very short."
"I'd need only a dozen or so."
"Oh, very well."
"When does the Arrogant sail, sir?"
"Not for a week or so. Give me a list and I'll warn Captain Napier."
"Thank you, sir."
"So you'll do your best to catch these beggars?"
Sir Pilcher was suddenly anxious, almost pleading, as if he'd taken off a grim mask he'd worn for bargaining. Ramage was immediately puzzled again, and felt a chill of fear. Had he fallen into some trap? At first the Admiral had seemed disappointed that he'd declined the job; then the moment Ramage discovered that Lord Spencer had recommended him, the Admiral had apparently contradicted himself by making it abundantly clear he would have chosen another officer. Now, he was anxious for Ramage to succeed.
To give himself time to think, Ramage took his hat from his lap, carefully placed it on the chair beside him, and then tugged at his coat, as though feeling too hot. Quickly he tried to think of all Sir Pilcher's possible motives, but only two factors stood out.
First, it's an almost impossible job, and for all his protest that "my choice does differ", Sir Pilcher obviously wants to avoid giving it to one of his favourites, who would then be saddled with failure. Second, the wily old man can see in the uncertain mist of the future an angry Cabinet blaming the Admiralty for the failure, and an equally angry Admiralty blaming Sir Pilcher.
While the Admiral would not be able to avoid all the blame, Ramage realized Sir Pilcher was neatly covering himself: he had just told Ramage - and presumably would hint at it in a subsequent dispatch to Lord Spencer - that he personally would have chosen someone else, but since the First Lord had suggested Ramage, he had felt himself bound to accept the recommendation. That left the Admiral in a happy position whether Ramage eventually reported success or failure.
Oh yes, he thought wryly, in a way it is a trap; but the job presented a challenge he found himself increasingly reluctant to ignore.
"I don't know about 'catch them', sir," he said warily. "I can't do much with a dozen men and no ship. Your letter mentions only 'inquiry', though I noticed Lord Spencer refers to 'halting' the losses."
"But I haven't a suitable ship to give you, blast it," Sir Pilcher protested, the earlier querulous note creeping back into his voice. "Absolutely nothing. If I had, you'd be welcome to her. You need something as slippery as these packets - or as slippery as they're supposed to be."\
Now Sir Pilcher was speaking the truth: there was no suitable ship on the station. At least, since Ramage had not the faintest idea what he was going to do, he did not know what type of ship he would need: fast and lightly-armed or slower and heavily-armed.
"Very well, sir. If you'll excuse me, I'll start off by seeing what I can find out from the Postmaster."
Sir Pilcher did not bother to hide his relief.
"Fine, my boy, fine. You have a splendid opportunity to distinguish yourself; quite splendid. Every one of my lieutenants will envy you," he said heartily, confirming Ramage's suspicions. "If you can put a stop to all this wretched business, the Cabinet will hear about you, I assure you."
And if I don't, Ramage thought sourly, they'll still hear about me.
The Admiral stood up. "Now, I have your final orders here ready - just give me a moment to sign and date them." He waddled to the desk, scribbled and then handed them to Ramage. "You'd better glance through them before you leave."
Ramage read the few lines.
"You are hereby required and directed to inquire fully into the recent heavy losses among Post Office packet vessels between the West Indies and the United Kingdom, the details of which you have already been apprised, and having determined beyond any manner of doubt the reason for these losses, and if possible halted them, you are at once to deliver a written report, to me if the conclusion of your inquiries is reached within the limits of this station, or to my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty if in Home or distant waters..."