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The Devil to Pay

Page 29

by David Donachie


  ‘A judgement for a court, John. If it discomfits Hotham you have my full support.’

  ‘Then let us make is so. We can get you proper medical aid and I would suggest a place to convalesce until you are fully recovered.’

  ‘What about the French sailors?’

  ‘They won’t be the only men of their nation to serve King George. I will swear them in. The good ones will accept, the others will desert and if they do we will be well shot of them.’

  ‘They’ll fetch a tidy sum, I reckon, our captures.’

  ‘True and if my share is scarce enough to match the wealth of Ralph Barclay it will go a long way to aiding my cause.’

  Digby became so animated that Pearce had to gently stop him from trying to rise and if his voice was weak there was no denying the vehemence of the words he uttered.

  ‘If you need more, you may call upon my quarter share. If the only way to bring punishment down on Hotham is through Barclay then I am your supporter.’

  ‘Rest, Henry and I will come again.’

  ‘Grey, did he do well?’

  ‘He did magnificently, even our tars are praising the Lobsters.’

  ‘That is the world turned upside down indeed.’

  ‘How much do you reckon they’re worth?’ Grey asked, when told of the intention as well as the fact that if he did not mind a soaking he could visit his ailing superior.

  ‘I looked at the manifests and had a word with the one surviving mate. It’s all spices and silks, with oils for perfumes too. I would be disappointed by less than thirty thousand.’

  ‘Which means …?

  ‘A round thousand for us and the warrants at least.’

  Grey swelled with anticipated wealth but Pearce had a fly in the ointment. He had avoided reminding Digby of an upsetting fact; if Lord Hood had been superseded, Hotham would be entitled to an eighth of the prize value.

  ‘Land ho,’ came the cry, which meant they were close to closing Brindisi. John Pearce was less concerned about that: he was wondering which was the quickest way to get to Naples: by land or sea?

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  About the Author

  DAVID DONACHIE was born in Edinburgh in 1944. He has always had an abiding interest in the naval history of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as well as the Roman Republic, and, under the pen-name of Jack Ludlow, has published a number of historical adventure novels. David lives in Deal with his partner, the novelist Sarah Grazebrook.

  By David Donachie

  THE JOHN PEARCE SERIES

  By the Mast Divided • A Shot Rolling Ship

  An Awkward Commission • A Flag of Truce

  The Admirals’ Game • An Ill Wind

  Blown Off Course • Enemies at Every Turn

  A Sea of Troubles • A Divided Command

  The Devil to Pay

  Written as Jack Ludlow

  THE LAST ROMAN SERIES

  Vengeance

  Honour

  THE REPUBLIC SERIES

  The Pillars of Rome

  The Sword of Revenge

  The Gods of War

  THE CONQUEST SERIES

  Mercenaries

  Warriors

  Conquest

  THE ROADS TO WAR SERIES

  The Burning Sky

  A Broken Land

  A Bitter Field

  THE CRUSADES SERIES

  Son of Blood

  Soldier of Crusade

  Prince of Legend

  Copyright

  Allison & Busby Limited

  12 Fitzroy Mews

  London W1T 6DW

  www.allisonandbusby.com

  First published in 2014.

  This ebook edition first published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2014.

  Copyright © 2014 by DAVID DONACHIE

  All characters and events in this publication,

  other than those clearly in the public domain,

  are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons,

  living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  The moral right of the author is hereby asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent buyer.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  ISBN 978–0–7490–1658–6

 

 

 


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