by James McGee
Hawkwood tried to find words, but none were forthcoming. He wondered about the Chief Magistrate’s use of the word civilized. Had it been civilized, he wondered, to sacrifice the French prisoners or the imbecile Eli Gant? This was a side to James Read that was new to him. Beneath the Chief Magistrate’s cultured exterior, there existed a ruthlessness that would have done justice to some of the guerrilleros that Hawkwood had fought with in the Spanish mountains.
In the defence of the realm, it was now clear that any rule could be broken. All methods could be justified in the pursuit of a goal. Then Hawkwood remembered the unfinished conversation in the bedroom at the commissioner’s house and knew instinctively there was more to follow.
“We knew from Lieutenant Ramillies’ reports that improvements had been made to the submersible boat.” It was Colonel Congreve who spoke. The colonel had stopped pacing and was standing next to the fireplace. “We needed to find out what they were and whether they had made the device a more viable proposition. William Lee’s mission to attack Thetis gave us that opportunity. It meant we could observe the efficiency of the vessel first hand.”
“What if I’d been able to destroy it?” Hawkwood asked.
“We still had the drawings the clockmaker gave to Officer Warlock. Those and the intelligence gleaned by Lieutenant Ramillies in France would have provided us with a basis for our own plans.”
“Own plans for what?” Hawkwood said. Though he had begun to suspect what they might be.
“To build our own submersible boat, of course.”
Hawkwood felt a swirl of nausea.
“And I have to confess,” the colonel beamed, “we were damned impressed with the result. Tell me, is it true Lee had constructed a means by which you can see above the water when the vessel’s submerged?”
“He called it the eye,” Hawkwood said woodenly, wondering what madness was about to be unleashed.
“Splendid!” the colonel beamed. “I look forward to examining it in detail.”
Hawkwood stared at him.
“Well, you didn’t think we were going to leave the damned thing on the bottom of the river, did you?”
“That thing,” Hawkwood said, “is a bloody death-trap. It blew up.”
“That’s right.” Congreve nodded. There was a pause. “It was supposed to.”
James Read ignored the look of bewilderment on Hawkwood’s face. “Master Woodburn made it happen. When we retrieved his body from the warehouse, we also discovered his journal. He had been composing it in secret, using scraps of paper he managed to secrete during his incarceration. He describes the repairs he was forced to make to the submarine bomb’s timing device. He also describes his own sabotage attempt. It seems he used to let himself out of his cell at night. His guard, Seaman Sparrow, had a habit of leaving the premises to frequent the local gin shop. He obviously thought the old man was securely locked up. Master Woodburn took advantage of his jailer’s absence to make his own modifications to the submersible. Apparently, he was able to conceal a small amount of explosive and equipment to fashion a bomb of his own. Triggered by a clockwork mechanism, it seems, set in motion and timed to detonate once the torpedo had been released from the submersible’s stern.”
Hawkwood recalled the old man’s manner in the cell. Josiah Woodburn had been about to tell him something when Lee had walked in with the woman. Presumably it was the other reason why he hadn’t escaped with Warlock. It hadn’t only been fear for his granddaughter’s safety that had held the clockmaker back, but also his plan to turn the tables on William Lee’s assassination plot. Again, there had been the expression on the old man’s face as Hawkwood had boarded the submersible. Not only the knowledge that his own life had become forfeit but that Hawkwood was being forced on to what was, in effect, a doomed vessel.
“You’re planning to salvage the submersible?” Hawkwood said, still not believing it.
Congreve nodded. “That’s right. And we’ve got our own man to operate it.”
And it all began to fall into place. “Captain Johnstone.”
“Correct. The man’s an indisputable rogue, of course. Talented, I grant you, but a rogue nonetheless. He worked with Fulton when he brought the Nautilus to England. A jack of all trades, you might call him. Been a Channel pilot, privateer, smuggler, even spent a time or two in a debtors’ prison. Not the sort of fellow you’d invite to a soiree, but he’s the best man for the job. No doubt about that.”
Hence the colonel’s less than benevolent expression earlier, Hawkwood thought.
“So, now it’s our turn,” Hawkwood said, unable to keep his anger in check. “What’s it to be? Boney’s barge on the Seine? We’re no bloody better than they are! What the hell’s it all been for?”
James Read looked at him. “Why, victory, Hawkwood—what else?”
Runner Jeremiah Lightfoot was thinking of his bed. He was also thinking about his plump wife, Ettie, and how much he’d like her to be in the bed with him. They had not seen much of each other of late, what with his duties at the bank and his journey north in pursuit of Lord Mandrake; a wasted journey, as he kept reminding himself. He had been looking forward to spending an evening at home, with his loving wife cuddled at his side. But it was not to be. Instead, here he was, loitering on a dark quayside with nothing to keep him company save for the ship’s cat and a small flask of brandy.
The cat was a friendly enough creature, rubbing up against his legs, purring whenever he reached down to stroke it, but he suspected the animal was more interested in the prospect of food than the force of his personality. Sadly, Lightfoot did not have any food, and if he had he sure as hell wouldn’t have shared it with any flea-ridden moggy.
Apart from a watchman dozing in a hammock on the foredeck, Lightfoot was the only man on board. The rest of the crew were ashore, spending their last night enjoying the delights of the local taverns. The ship—a Portuguese owned vessel called the Madrilena—was due to sail with the morning tide, and Runner Lightfoot’s duty was to see that the woman sailed with her. The woman had been escorted to the ship late that afternoon by a brace of constables. She was currently occupying the main cabin.
The woman was beautiful and it had been no hardship watching her as she walked around the deck, taking the air, prior to going below. He knew she was aware of his attention. She had smiled at him several times with her dark eyes and Lightfoot had wondered what it would be like to be with someone like her. But Jeremiah Lightfoot loved his wife, so all he did was wonder.
Dusk was falling as the small, fleet-footed figure made his way along the quayside. Lightfoot watched the boy approach and drew himself up straight.
At the top of the gangplank the boy reached into his pocket and held up a folded piece of paper. “Got a message for the lady.”
“Is that right? And what might your name be?”
“They call me Tooler.”
Lightfoot stiffened and looked around. The watchman was still asleep in his hammock, dead to the world, and taking no notice of the visitor. “Wait here.”
Lightfoot made his way down the companionway. There was a light burning behind the cabin door. He knocked softly.
“Enter.”
She was seated at the small table, reading a book. Lightfoot glanced at the leather binding. Something in French; he could not make out the title.
She looked up. “Yes?”
Her hair was unfastened and hung to her shoulders. She was wearing a low bodice. Lightfoot could see the tops of her breasts. Her skin glowed in the lantern light. Lightfoot swallowed. “There’s a boy. He says he has a message for you.”
“A message?” She frowned. It didn’t make her any less beautiful.
“A note. Says he didn’t want to come below, but he has to give it to you personally. Says it’s important.”
A small lie wouldn’t hurt, Lightfoot thought. Not in the long run.
“Here,” Lightfoot said, “let me get your shawl.” He found his hands were shaking.
; The woman rose, accepted the shawl with a nod, and preceded Lightfoot out of the cabin.
The boy was waiting for her under the mast lantern. He watched her, thinking to himself that she was a looker all right.
“You have a message?” she said, drawing the shawl around her.
The boy held up the note, but did not move. “Told ter give you this—”
She stepped forward, held out her hand and the boy placed the note in it and moved away.
She unfolded the paper and held it up to the lantern glass. There was a single sentence.
Welcome to hell.
The rifle ball took Gabrielle Marceau through the right eye, snapping her head back and exiting her skull in a spray of blood and brain matter. As her body collapsed, the note slid from her hand and fluttered like a butterfly to the deck.
Lightfoot and the boy stood over her and watched as she died. Bending down, Lightfoot retrieved the note and placed it unhurriedly in his pocket. He turned to the boy. “Leave now. Forget what you have seen.”
Wordlessly, Tooler turned and hurried back down the gangplank to the dock. Lightfoot stared dispassionately at the woman. The blood was spreading out beneath her, staining the planking. In the lantern light it looked as black as tar.
Lightfoot straightened and ran towards the foredeck. The watchman was still slumbering, undisturbed by the crack of the gunshot which was already fading into the night.
Lightfoot took a deep breath, went forward, shook the man awake, and began to yell.
“Murder! Murder!”
The cry rose over the moon-flecked quayside.
Two hundred yards away, on the second floor of a disused warehouse, Nathaniel Jago, kneeling in front of an open window, the Baker rifle barrel resting on his shoulder, clicked his tongue in admiration. Smoke from the rifle’s discharge drifted around his head like dissipating tobacco fumes.
“Nice shot.”
Hawkwood lowered the rifle. His shoulder was still tender. The muscles had not recovered their full strength so he had used Jago as a rest. He laid the rifle on the oilcloth and began to wrap it up.
“The boy did well,” Jago murmured.
“So did Jeremiah,” Hawkwood said.
The rifle concealed inside the oilcloth bundle, the two men made their way downstairs and out of the building. The sound of running feet could be heard. Backing into the shadows, they watched as a figure ran past: the crewman, off to fetch the constables. Only when he had disappeared did they step out on to the dockside.
“They’ll know it was you,” Jago said, as they fell into step.
“They’ll suspect it was me,” Hawkwood said. “But it won’t matter. The bitch is dead, that’s the main thing. Besides, I’ll have an alibi.”
“That’s right: you were with me, enjoyin’ a wet over at the Dog and Goat. You think they’ll believe it, me being a notorious villain an’ all?”
“What do you mean, villain? Magistrate Read’s spoken with his contacts at Horse Guards. You’ve been granted a full pardon. You’re no longer a deserter, you’re a pillar of society. It’s official.”
“Right,” Jago said, grinning. “And you’re the Emperor of China.”
Hawkwood smiled at his friend. “It’s true, Nathaniel, No more worrying about the provost, no more hiding.”
“Sounds boring,” Jago said. “Not sure I could ’andle that.”
“You could always join me,” Hawkwood said. “With Henry Warlock’s death, there’s an opening for a special constable.”
Jago stopped in his tracks. “Bloody hell! Me a Runner? You ain’t serious? Is this ’is honour’s idea?”
“He suggested I ask you.”
“Did ’e indeed? Suffered a crack on the ’ead recently, has ’e? Been struck by lightning, maybe?”
“It’s a genuine offer.”
Jago shook his head in disbelief, then looked up. “What’s it pay?”
Hawkwood told him, and Jago started to laugh. Hawkwood grinned and began to laugh too.
They were still laughing as they reached the end of the quayside. The sound carried in the darkness as the night closed over them like a cloak.
HISTORICAL NOTE
On 9th December 1799, following Bonaparte’s coup d’état, the American inventor and scientist Robert Fulton submitted a proposal to the French government advocating the construction of an undersea boat to be used to annihilate the British Navy. The response was favourable. The vessel, which Fulton called Nautilus, was built at the Perrier workshop, and was successfully tested on the Seine in June 1800.
The French, however, ceased their funding of the project on the grounds that it was too terrible a device to be used against an unsuspecting enemy. Meanwhile, word of a weapon capable of destroying entire fleets at a stroke began to reach the British government and agents were dispatched to entice Fulton to England. Fulton, frustrated and angered by the French rejection, arrived in England in April 1804. A special commission was appointed to examine the feasibility of his submersible and his submarine bombs, which he called torpedoes. Tests were successful, culminating in the destruction of the brig Dorothea off the coast at Walmer Roads, near Dover.
Following Nelson’s victory at Trafalgar, however, the British lost interest in the idea and Fulton, in high dudgeon, returned to the United States.
In 1811, Fulton sent his own agent to France in a second attempt to interest Emperor Bonaparte in to using his weapon against the British.
Many of the individuals in the story did exist. The members of the Admiralty Board were as stated—with the exception of the fictional Admiral Dalryde—along with the individuals who made up the Commission convened to examine Fulton’s invention. James Read did hold the post of Chief Magistrate, though I confess to having taken some liberties with his description.
The mysterious Captain Johnstone was also a real character and did work with Fulton. He went on to design his own undersea boats and was rumoured to have completed a working model powered by clockwork. The then British government, however, had second thoughts and withdrew support for the design, whereupon Johnstone was approached by both French and American agents who expressed interest in his work.
The final victory over Napoleon, at Waterloo in 1815, ended serious British interest in submarine warfare, though a rumour did begin to circulate that Bonapartists had contacted Captain Johnstone with a view to rescuing the Emperor from exile on St Helena using a submersible. History informs us no such rescue took place.
However, several of the minor events depicted in the novel did happen. British riflemen did shoot the Spanish general on the ramparts at Montevideo and Captain Renny was killed leading the forlorn hope through the gap in the wall at Montevideo, thus gaining Lieutenant Lawrence his captaincy.
The bounty that William Lee was to be paid for the destruction of each British ship is also accurate, reflecting the reward the French were prepared to offer Fulton for the use of his submersible. Even at the time this was an astronomical amount, the equivalent of several million pounds in today’s money. Hawkwood’s astonishment at the fee is, therefore, perfectly understandable. Documents detailing the monies that Fulton commanded upon his arrival in England, such as the £40,000 contract signed by Prime Minister William Pitt, are available for perusal at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Gosport.
HMS Thetis was a British warship, though she is not the one portrayed in the story. I merely took advantage of her name.
Fulton’s place in history and his importance to submarine warfare cannot be over estimated, neither, inevitably, can his contribution to classic literature. Jules Verne clearly took inspiration from Fulton’s Nautilus—as well as Fulton’s own views on liberty of the seas and free trade—for his great adventure story, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
Bonaparte’s liaison with William Lee and their failure to frighten the British Navy into submission and thus disrupt Wellington’s supply routes was just one reason why France suffered defeat in the Peninsula. A hostile populat
ion, heavy military losses and the need to withdraw troops to fight on other fronts all contributed to a disastrous campaign. The Emperor’s fear that the Tsar’s resolve was weakening came to a head when Alexander reopened trade with Great Britain, in direct opposition to Bonaparte’s “Continental System”. It was the final straw. On 24th June 1812, Bonaparte’s invasion force crossed the River Nieman into Russia. It was Bonaparte’s greatest military enterprise, and it ended in catastrophic failure.
As for Matthew Hawkwood, London at the beginning of the 19th century was a very dangerous city. Crime had reached epidemic proportions and police officers like Hawkwood had to be tough in order to survive in their chosen profession. The Bow Street Runners were an elite force. They were few in number, between seven and ten officers in total, and their work took them all over the country. There is evidence to suggest that officers carried out assignments as far afield as Russia and the United States.
The war with France brought added intrigue and, given Hawkwood’s links with Colquhoun Grant, who was acknowledged to be Wellington’s most effective exploring officer, it would not be beyond the bounds of credibility that an officer of Hawkwood’s capabilities would be called upon to perform intelligence duties abroad.
Whether that proves to be the case, or not, remains to be seen…
Copyright
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
HarperCollinsPublishers
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Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2006
FIRST EDITION
Copyright © James McGee 2006
James McGee asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work