Far Foreign (The Duty and Destiny Series, Book 9)

by Andrew Wareham

  Book Nine: The Duty

  and Destiny Series

  From the author of the acclaimed,

  ‘A Poor Man at the Gate’ Series

  Andrew Wareham

  Digital edition published in 2016 by

  The Electronic Book Company

  A New York Times Best-seller

  Listed Publisher

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  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this ebook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This ebook contains detailed research material, combined with the author's own subjective opinions, which are open to debate. Any offence caused to persons either living or dead is purely unintentional. Factual references may include or present the author's own interpretation, based on research and study.

  Far Foreign

  Copyright © 2016 by Andrew Wareham

  All Rights Reserved

  Contents:

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Introduction

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  By the Same Author

  Introduction

  Far Foreign: Frederick is given worryingly vague orders to seek out pirates off the coast of Madagascar and then to escort pilgrim ships in the Red Sea. Suspecting ulterior motives from London, his squadron of aging ships are then despatched to South America to assist an unofficial British expedition that is expecting the imminent arrival of powerful Spanish relieving forces.

  Best read in series order

  Author’s Note: I have written and punctuated Far Foreign in a style reflecting English usage in novels of the Georgian period, when typically, sentences were much longer than they are in modern English. Editor’s Note: Andrew’s book was written, produced and edited in the UK where some of the spellings and word usage vary slightly from U.S. English.

  Book Nine: The Duty

  and Destiny Series

  Chapter One

  “Should we not appear in London, Frederick? Is it not our duty to be seen at the funeral?”

  “I doubt I could obtain a ticket to St Paul’s, my dear. I am not sufficiently advanced in the hierarchy of the great to be thus favoured, and I have no wish to queue before dawn in the hope of getting one of the free seats at the back of the cathedral. I shall rely upon my wounds to provide an excuse for my absence, and, indeed, never having met Lord Nelson in life it seems ill-mannered to claim his acquaintance in death. As well, it would not be easy to go to London and then return in the same week, as we must if we are to attend the wedding.”

  Elizabeth was forced to be content, for she could not be absent from her sister’s nuptials, as went without saying.

  Lord Partington agreed with their decision; he was not at all sure that the hero-worship of Nelson, great man though he was, might not smack of the unholy.

  “I rather fear, Frederick, that Lord Nelson had become a talisman to the ordinary folk of the land. Many a humble man felt that all must go well at sea while Lord Nelson was there. I wonder if there may not be an excessive trepidation in those same minds now?”

  Frederick thought it not unlikely, but the reality was that invasion was dead – it would not happen now. Such being the case, the fears and follies of ordinary folk might be reasonably ignored.

  “Perhaps you are right. I hope you may be. What of the wedding, Frederick? Is it right for Charlotte to marry Sir Iain within the week of the funeral?”

  “Wholly, sir. Entirely so, life must continue. I am pleased to discover that Admiral Sir Iain Farquhar will be able to attend, my lord."

  Frederick did not choose to explain to Lord Partington that the Admiral had any specific interest in Sir Iain, let him vaguely think that he was his patron in the service as a result of his natural merit and that the names were merest coincidence. Lord Partington, very conventional in habits and beliefs, might well have problems with the concept that his daughter might marry any man’s natural son.

  "He had not known whether he could come to the South Country, but he has made the journey to London and will now travel the extra two days. I believe he is seeking a command or a posting ashore, having been on half-pay while he established himself in his Scottish lairdship. He, of course, wishes to strengthen his grip upon a peerage, which might come his way on the back of his past successes but must become real at the end of another appointment. He would probably like to take Malta, being an active sort of place where he could make an addition to his glory, as well as send out some very profitable cruising ships. The word I have heard is that Admiral Fortescue has gained as much as the Sugar Islands might offer, the better part of one hundred thousand.”

  It was an enormous sum, almost beyond the comprehension of a backwoods peer.

  “May I make so bold as to enquire of your finances, Frederick? The newssheets talk of great mountains of gold accruing to our captains, and I believe you made some notable captures again in your last command.”

  Lord Partington was to act as a guardian to Elizabeth’s children was Frederick to fall while they were in their nonage; he had the right to be informed.

  “I was able to place some twelve thousands into Consols in October, my lord. They were at a very low price for fear of invasion and the news of Trafalgar turned those twelve thousands into eighteen. I know, by the way, that Sir Iain was able to place a substantially larger sum into the speculation, with an equivalent rate of profit. There was no risk, as goes without saying, for we knew that Lord Nelson would not fail.”

  Lord Partington was amazed, and very pleasantly surprised; he could not object to both of his daughters being wed to wealth greater than his.

  “The Moroccan gift is still to be realised, of course, but I rather suspect it will amount to much in excess of ten thousands of guineas, after commissions paid to the prize agents. I know that John Company begged to buy in the Maria Theresa dollars at a significant premium on their face; they are a trading currency for more than one half of the world. The opium has been snapped up already – there is no end to the call for the substance in England. They tell me that forty thousand pounds weight of Indian opium comes into London alone every year, and Bristol trades greatly with the Levant and so will quite possibly bring in nearly as much of the Persian, while some will enter Liverpool and Glasgow as well. The hemp also has gone to the apothecaries, the substance being a luxury that sells very well. The leathers are a small problem, it seems, no such quantity of the finest having been seen in London for many a year. They will go to tender and then if any remain unsold there will be an auction, but that will take time.”

  Lord Partington was amazed again; he was unsure that he approved of the smoking of hemp – it smacked of intoxication - and wondered that there should be such a need for medicines as to use up so much of opium.

  Frederick was surprised as well, he said; he could offer his innocent relative no enlightenment at all.

  “I wonder, my lord, if I could trespass upon your good offices so far as to make some contact with the Kearton family? In part to reassure them that their boy will be in very good hands in his new ship, and he is a good lad, sir, will do well if he does not die. Mostly though, I would wish, if it be possible, to make some
little investment in their coal mines. Might they perhaps welcome a sleeping partner who bought a steam engine or paid for a new seam to be opened, or whatever it is one does in such places?”

  Lord Partington knew very little of the mechanics of mining coal – he had never felt it his place to become involved – but he would be very happy to act as the middleman, to bring them together.

  “They are my lady’s family, of course, and are very worthy people. Good yeoman stock, the heart of Old England, owning a few hundred acres apiece since forever, and now like to far outstrip me in wealth.”

  “Probably, my lord. The money of this country will be found in the mines and in the cotton mills in future, or so I am told. That is why I desire to become involved of course – I wish Iain and Robert and Jane and my next-born to live the most comfortable of lives. Iain will have Abbey and can never be poor, but Robert is to inherit the far smaller Boorley Green and the house at Long Common and will be much the better for a few thousands in Consols besides.”

  “I have been giving thought to the matter of inheritance myself, of course, Frederick. Now that my heir George is father to a fine son, I am certain that I should do more for both.”

  There was very little to be recommended to the owner of Dorsetshire farmlands – his income must derive from his rents and there was not much he could do to increase those, enclosure being complete.

  “I cannot recommend you to speculate on the Exchange, sir. Sir Iain and I were able to profit from the extraordinary circumstances of the last few months, but those will hardly occur again. Even then, sir, I did not feel it right to venture anything other the most recent prize monies. It would not have been right to put the boys’ patrimony at risk.”

  “Perhaps you are right, Frederick. I have in fact a share in one of the Kearton mines myself, and the annual profit from that has doubled to some eight hundred pounds in the last three years. If you are to invest then I shall be a gainer too. George, of course, has a substantial income of his own since his marriage, Bridlington having been very generous to his daughter; he might perhaps consider an investment as well.”

  Frederick promised to speak to George and did so at the earliest moment.

  “Your father is worried about money, George. He believes he should seek to increase his income, for the sake of the inheritance and the entail.”

  George had become more seriously minded since achieving fatherhood; money seemed important to him now.

  “Well, obviously, Frederick, one has a duty to one’s capital…”

  “Quite! That goes without saying. I fear, however, that he might be tempted towards speculative investments, some of which are of the most dubious sort. You may see them sometimes in the columns of the newspapers – ‘a gentleman has invented a certain means of making finest steel for gun barrels and requires but a small investment to perfect his process. One hundred pounds now will infallibly return one thousand within the calendar year’. I spotted that one only last week.”

  “Did you not seize the opportunity? It sounds an excellent piece of business, Frederick.”

  “It sounds like highway robbery, George! Do you really believe that a man with such an invention could not interest a local smithy or a wheelwright or some such to come up with a mere one hundred? Every town has its own gunsmith, and he will often have access to more than one hundred pounds. That is a piece of sheer effrontery, George!”

  George was in some respects as innocent as his father; he had never been exposed to the wiles of, for example, a ship's purser.

  “But, are there such people about, Frederick? Are there men who will cheat so openly?”

  “Many and many, George! They often come to sea; in chains and with a sheriff’s officer standing over them!”

  “I will speak to my father, Frederick. I shall try to tactfully offer a warning.”

  “Excellent! I must go to Long Common for a few days but shall be back by the beginning of next week, well in time to play my part in the chaos of the wedding!”

  “How goes it with you, Ablett?”

  "Fine, sir. A daughter, sir, and the wife well and with milk aplenty!”

  “Good. What of the firm you were to establish? With Dick Makepeace, over at Bishop’s Waltham, was it not?”

  "He was unwilling to take the risk of expansion, sir. He makes a steady two hundred a year, he told me, and that does very well for him, so I was at a stand there. That might have changed though, sir. Possibly."

  Ablett drew a deep breath and became very tentative in his manner.

  “You remember Wheatley of Winchester, sir? Where we bought the rifles? He went and died two months since and his son has no turn for gunsmithing and wishes for to sell his shop and the premises behind, sir. Six thousand pounds buys his house, the workshops and tools and the shop itself and all of his stock, sir. I can find two thousand, sir, and will have enough besides to live on for a year and pay the journeyman and keep the apprentice as well…”

  Frederick shook his head impatiently; there should have been no doubts!

  “Close the deal, Ablett. I will cough up all six and you will repay me over the years as is convenient to you. You will do better for having cash in hand to buy all you need in the first year or two. All is to be in your name, of course. I shall expect to see the sign on your window, Ablett – ‘suppliers of small arms to the notable Naval Captains, Sir Frederick Harris and Sir Iain Jackman’ – that should bring some of the worthies in!”

  “So it should, sir. I was right glad to hear of Sir Iain picking up a knighthood, sir. May I make so bold as to beg you to pass my regards to him, sir, and on his marriage as well. He is a fine man, sir.”

  “He is. I have a great regard for him and am glad he is to be my wife’s brother. He is a rare sort of man. I shall speak to Stainer today, Ablett, and arrange for the money to be available. He will deal with the legalities of the purchase for you.”

  “Thank’ee, sir. I am obliged to you, sir.”

  “Be damned for a tale, man! How many times did you save my neck at sea? Obligation indeed!”

  "Even so, sir..."

  "Even so, Ablett! How are Marc and Jean’s widows getting on?"

  "Their houses are part way built, sir, and they are looking forward to moving in. They've been talking about buying just a few acres between 'em, enough for a market garden, because they don't reckon on being ladies of leisure, sir - it ain't their way."

  "How many?"

  "There's two women and three boys and a girl. Two of the boys want for to go to the big school, from all I hear, but Marc's eldest don't. Dame school will do for him, and no more."

  "And the girl?"

  "She's getting her reading and writing the same, sir, but there ain't no big school for girls in these parts. The boys can go over to Fareham or into Southampton, five days a week, coming home at the weekends, but there ain't nothing for her."

  It was the normal way of things and little to be done about it.

  "So, how many acres would they want for their market garden?"

  "They might just be able to handle twenty between them, sir, so long as they had a donkey and a cart. They could hire the ploughing done, no sense to having a horse of their own. Cabbages and beans and spuds, and maybe they beets as well and onions, and an acre or two of peas each year, for the good of the ground. Maybe pigs, or a milch cow or two, to feed themselves as much as the market. Hard work, but they could make two pound a week from it, and that's not to be sniffed at, not as an extra on top of the pensions what you are giving 'em."

  "So be it. Is there land close to Long Common?"

  "Down by the river, sir, towards Cancers Lane, a good enough little stretch."

  "I will tell Mr Stainer to lay his hands on it."

  There was no choice; he was indebted to the families and must meet the unavoidable obligations. Thinking on the matter, he did not wish to avoid the responsibility. They were his.

  Towards the end of winter the word came that Lord Barham was to vaca
te his office; there was to be a new First Lord.

  "Howick? Never heard of him! What is he?"

  Elizabeth believed him to be a Whig; Grey the family name, an earldom, Viscount Howick the courtesy title of the heir.

  "What does he know of the Navy?"

  Nothing, as far as she was aware.

  "What else has he been?"

  "Nothing, Frederick, other than lover of the Duchess of Devonshire. She has a daughter by him."

  Letters arrived from Mr Russell and Lord Alton; both said the man was the merest stopgap, appointed mostly because it was obvious that Lord Barham was overtaxed, unable at his advanced age to remain in so busy a position. Howick was an able enough fellow but had no interest in the Navy. They said as well that there was pressure upon Howick to give Frederick a squadron but that he was far more inclined to favour sailors who leaned towards his own party. It would be wise for Frederick to knock upon the First Lord's door, to reinforce his claim - the Whig influence in Downing Street would be no more than short-lived and it would be as well to have the right sort of commanders at sea for the next three years.

  “Mr Russell tells me that the Ministry of All the Talents has so many men of genius in it that it cannot possibly survive. They are such able, intellectual sorts of fellows that they can agree on nothing – each of them knows better! Howick’s chief talent lies in keeping his wife pregnant, it would seem – he must have a dozen children, and that of course is only counting those conceived in wedlock!”

  Elizabeth patted the lump in front of her and raised an eyebrow.

  “There are worse habits, of course,” Frederick hastily amended, thinking of Admiral Clerke’s lady.

  It was all too political for Frederick's taste, but if he was obedient to Lord Alton now, then when the war ended there would be a place made for him on one of the Boards. Five or ten years without scandal and he would receive his peerage, and the boys would be made, the family secure.