Offering him a ‘sweetener’ of one of the new paper bills, he assured the employee there would be an additional note if the boy was found. H was assured the boy would be notified if he did come to the Admiralty. With that settled, he gave the clerk at the desk the address of the family town house and went home to get some sleep.
The next few weeks went by slowly, with no new of any movement in his naval career prospects. One day, a scented letter came by post. It had travelled a long route, having been directed to first HMS Aphrodite, then to the port admiral’s flagship. Next forwarded to the Admiralty, it finally found itself on a silver salver by the front door.
It was from Helen Davis who said she was tortured by the remembrance of their time together. She had been devastated by the necessity of having to leave him but felt she needed to make the effort to locate her uncle. After an exhaustive search, she had been unable to find the relative, and now, with no other ties holding her, she was in a position to show her Charles the depth of her love.
Mullins had learned from his previous experience with the woman and he was not about to allow her to make a fool of him again. He judged she had gone through the money she had taken from him and he was not about to compound his foolishness into giving her more.
After informing the house staff about this woman, he informed them he did not wish to meet with her and she should not be allowed entrance into the house.
Hanigan, their elderly butler, had a very soft heart, especially for a beautiful woman, and he did not trust the man to obey his instructions. Therefore, he sat down with Mrs. Leary, their staff supervisor and over a glass of sherry, to which she was partial, gave her the sordid details. She went into a snit when she learned of the amount of money Mullins had given the woman and assured him that Helen Davis would not enter the house while she was there. It would take a brave woman to brave the ire of Mrs. Leary, a most formidable woman.
That detail taken care of, Mullins felt free of his worries and responsibilities for a few days, until another letter arrived in the post. This had the Admiralty seal and required him to advise them whether he was willing to accept the command of a ship of force in the Royal Navy.
Not wishing to trust this communication to the Royal Mail, Mullins asked what vehicles were presently in the stable. Presently, there was only the light spring wagon Cook used for her shopping expeditions. A pair of elderly mares were kept to draw the affair, and Jason, the stable hand could drive.
This was not exactly the prestigious vehicle a successful ship captain might employ to visit the Admiralty, but it would do for this purpose.
Donning his best uniform jacket and hat, he was ready to go. Jason had been cleaning the stalls when he received the order they were leaving, so he got up on the box with what he had been wearing. The evidence was readily apparent to both eyesight and noses. Mullins asked to be let off a distance before the Admiralty and sent the driver home with the wagon, He decided he would find his own way home.
He had thought he might be called in to see Mister Nepean again, but this did not happen. A lower echelon employee, perhaps a clerk of some sort, called him into his tiny office and explained they had found a ship for him. It was the twenty-two gunned ship-sloop, HMS Aphrodite. Just coming from the dockyard she was now completely outfitted and ready to sail. It seemed her previous commander, a lieutenant that had assumed command before she went into the dockyard, had somehow blotted his copybook and could no longer be considered for promotion.
It had been considered necessary that only an officer of such rank could captain a ship-sloop against the enemy. Mullins was noncommittal, but assured the clerk he wished to accept captaincy of the ship and would expedite his journey to Portsmouth to take command.
He rushed outside to see if Jason had already left. Somehow, a stable hand smelling of horse feces was no longer a matter of importance to him. Jason was indeed gone, but a cabriolet was at this moment dropping off his post captain passenger just a few feet away. Mullins reached it before another officer and commandeered the vehicle.
At the house, he had the staff put to work organizing and packing his clothing for a long spell at sea. Edward, his hat in hand came to the back door and asked to see the captain. Diffidently, he remarked he had heard the captain was going to sea, and wondered if he and William could go too.
Mullins assured him both would be welcome and told them to get their belongings together. While the house was still busy with this turmoil, another caller came to the back door. This one was Mister Raynor. The boy was in rather sad condition. Without funds, he had gone from pillar to post searching for his former captain. Thankfully, the warder at the Admiralty remembered the request to locate the lad and sent him on to the Mullin’s town house. It appeared he had not had much to eat in recent weeks and his clothing was dirty and torn.
Before the boy could get a word out, Mullins told him they were going to sea, and did he wish to go. Upon his assurance he did indeed wish to go, Mullins asked where his kit was. Raynor said some had been pawned and the remainder stolen. Handed money, the boy was ordered to go to a nearby naval outfitter and secure the needed items. Haste was imperative!
With extreme haste by everyone, it was a full two days before the party arrived at the naval yard’s signal station. Aphrodite sat out in the water, newly painted with her new rigging set up. She looked almost abandoned though. Few hands were to be seen on deck, and her mainyard was not parallel with the foreyard. It was evident that something was amiss aboard ship.
As he stood wondering, a familiar figure came to him. The former Mister Goodwin, now Commander Goodwin, was wearing his new uniform coat with authority.
The two shook hands and compared notes. Goodwin bemoaning the amount of work it was taking to get his elderly brig-sloop out of ordinary. He said he had heard Mullins was about to get the Aphrodite back again. The man that had been intended to replace him was not working out. When Mullins asked for details, Goodwin said that would be thirsty work and they must report to the nearby inn to wet their whistles.
With a quart of stout in front of him, Mullins asked for the details.
Goodwin started off, “It seems this Lieutenant Adams had been given temporary command of Aphrodite while she went through the various stages of her repair. Adams had some trouble on a previous ship where he was first officer. As I heard it, the men were about to mutiny before the ship’s captain stepped in and sent Adams ashore. Then, a political family member got him this job working for the dockyard. He was still a lieutenant, on full pay, who would take command of individual ships as they came in and see them through the process.”
“There was controversy over the different ship’s equipment that went missing while he was on this job. Frequently, when a new officer would arrive to take command of a ship the lieutenant had been following through the dockyard, Adams would induce this officer to sign off on a ship, assuring the new captain all of its equipment was present and in good condition.”
“Often, while Adams had the new captain in his cabin, sampling the drinks, his men would be on deck, throwing kit down into the boats to be disposed of later.”
“After the port admiral listened to too many complaints, they set a trap for Adams. While Adams was ashore, some people went aboard the ship about to be released from the dockyard. A team went over it in Adams absence, listing every single piece of equipment the new captain would be expected to sign for. Then Adams was introduced to the prospective new captain who would take command of the ship. Adams took the officer to the cabin and proceeded to get him drunk, while his men carried equipment away.”
Adam’s political relative had thought to get a permanent command for this officer, and Aphrodite was selected. Instead of the officer Adams intended to bilk, Adams himself got the nod. He would be the next captain of Aphrodite;
Sadly however, for Mister Adams, the admiral’s trap sprung before the ship could sail. “Adams, of course, hoped the thefts would not be discovered until the ship was at sea,
when the losses could be blamed on the hands. Instead, the ship was immediately re-inspected before Adams went ashore and the thefts were immediately found. Adams was offered the choice of resigning his commission or standing a court martial. Wisely he resigned.”
“It is too bad. He was about to be promoted to commander and given Aphrodite. The commission just needed to be signed by an Admiralty official. Unfortunately, Mister Nepean was aware of the difficulties and put a stop to the proceeding. Caught red-handed, the political backer had to step away. It was just too bad that Adams could not keep his hands clean.”
When Goodwin learned Mullins wanted to go out to his ship, he offered to deliver him. As they made their way out to the anchorage in his gig, Goodwin remarked. “That was quite a filly you were squiring at Gibraltar. I saw her the other day walking along the quay. It was before I knew you were coming back. When I caught up with her, she asked if I knew where you might be. I told her I did not, but I would be glad to help her in any way she wanted.”
“She needed money, and I loaned her ten pounds, all that I had on me.”
Mullins then explained about the trouble and expense she had put him to. Goodwin was philosophic. “You have to take beautiful women with a grain of salt. Some of them, maybe most, use their beauty to get men to give them what they want. The man needs to understand this so he can enjoy what she is offering without ruining himself.”
Mullins offered, “I hope you do not expect to have your money repaid.”
“Already taken care of, Captain. We spent the night together. I consider the ten pounds well spent.”
Coming up to the ship, when challenged, the cox’n shouted ‘Aphrodite’ and the bowman hooked on. Mullins grabbed the manropes and climbed up. They were slack, not at all what they would have been during his time commanding her. There were no Marines aboard, but Sailing Master Lafferty was standing by the entry port and offered his salute.
Futilely, Mister Lafferty attempted to hide the smile from his face. Mullins asked him to call the hands so he could be read in. When that was accomplished and Mullins was now the official lord and master of the ship, he invited Lafferty to his cabin where he could learn in private what had been occurring in his absence.
Lafferty had little to say except marines from the flag had come aboard last week and taken Mister Adams away. He did mention Adams had been wearing the epaulette of a commander on his left shoulder, but he understood the man was really just a lieutenant. He did volunteer the crew had feared Adams would be taking them to sea right up ‘till their old captain was piped aboard
When asked about a crew, Lafferty said he had heard a complete crew was aboard the receiving ship ready to staff Aphrodite. A few of these men were former Aphrodite’s, but a good half were new catches by the Impress Service. “At any rate, we have gone to sea in worse condition.”
Lafferty had no idea of where they were going, but pointing to a pile of mail on the table, he said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if it were not spelled out somewhere in that stack.”
To be continued:
HMS Aphrodite (Sea Command Book 1) Page 18