The sole difficulty they could see was that the process would take several months to complete - the Army moved slowly in its administrative procedures.
"These are but a dozen, gentlemen. What do we do if another score come home?"
"Hope that they are better intentioned, and endeavour not to irritate them, I think."
Robinson knew that the comment was aimed at him but swallowed his anger and his pride. There was a chance of a knighthood, he had been told, a suitable reward for his successful career. A negative comment from Lord Alton would put an end to the possibility.
Sir Geoffrey Taylor had other weighty matters on his mind.
"What of poaching, Sir Frederick? How do we prevent it? Two score of men with empty bellies can lead to only one end."
Frederick shook his head - he had no solution.
Robinson had.
"Employ more gamekeepers and put them out at night with loaded guns. A dozen of mantraps and spring-guns as well, in likely places. That will bring them to heel, see if it don't!"
Lord Partington did not approve. He did not favour poaching, either. It was a great difficulty for a mild man.
"Do we know how many soldiers might come home, gentlemen?"
They did not, feared it might again be several dozens.
"We must spend our own money, it would seem, gentlemen. The excess of people must be removed because there is nothing for them to do here. There might be jobs in the new manufacturies in the North Country, but that I do not know. What is certain is that there is land in America, and they should be encouraged, by every means we possess, to go there. That will demand that we pay their passages across the ocean, and put a few guineas in their pockets to live on for the first year or two."
Robinson was deeply disapproving - he had not piled up a fortune to dissipate it on wastrels and spendthrifts.
"Can we do nothing else, Sir Frederick?"
"We could pray for an outbreak of the spotted fever, I imagine, sir. Most of them have been vaccinated, so smallpox will not serve our cause."
Lord Partington was shocked. He sincerely trusted his son by marriage was waxing satirical.
Book Five: The Duty and Destiny Series
Chapter Six
They "Sir Frederick, so good of you to invite me, particularly at this time of year!"
"A pleasure to welcome you here, Mr Russell! I have wished for some time to show you my country home - to boast, you know!"
"You have much to boast of, Sir Frederick! A fine old house, truly a country seat. And of course, giving me a perfect excuse to avoid my own parental home in the shooting season. It is a pursuit I cannot enjoy, the killing of tame pheasants, a somewhat repetitive process, and so very noisy! Add to that the evenings of light chat with my dear father and my elder brother. Gentlemen of sterling worth, but tending to be the least fraction earnest in their consideration of the agricultural world. I have no doubt, Sir Frederick, that sheep are, in their own small way, worthy beasts, and there is much to be said for lamb's wool next the skin in cold winter, but I find it difficult to maintain an hour's conversation about them."
"Not a problem to have come my way yet, Mr Russell. We are, fortunately, primarily into wheat in the valley. I know of none of my neighbours capable of attempting to converse about corn."
"I am sure that I am relieved to hear that, Sir Frederick."
They entered the house, were greeted by Elizabeth, swept into the main reception room for a refreshment while Mr Russell's man oversaw the transfer of a mound of valises and bags to his room.
"Reading the newssheets, Sir Frederick - which is something I do when my sense of the comic needs stimulation - I gather that you have spent the last half year with Van Tromp's broom at your masthead, sweeping the Aegean and Ionian Seas clean of the French and all other comers."
"The newssheets tend to publish whatever their political masters offer them, I believe, Mr Russell. It might have been equally possible to suggest that with the largest and probably the most powerful of all of our frigates, I actually achieved very little in terms of lasting change in the Eastern Mediterranean. Tell me, sir - just what is going on in Whitehall?"
"At its simplest, Sir Frederick, Mr Pitt was unable to maintain a majority and a mixture of Whigs and Tories came together to supplant him. He stepped down at his King's request but was able to insist on Addington as his successor, and Addington is wholly unable to look beneath the surface of any event. He is not actively stupid, but he has no perception at all and is incapable of learning anything new, because he already knows everything worthwhile. As a result, nothing is, ah, 'going on' in Whitehall, because there is no leadership at all."
"Then who is governing the country?"
"A very good question, sir! In day to day matters, the functionaries are simply continuing to do all that they always have - which in most cases is very little. Where policy is concerned, they do nothing at all. Thus we find that the navy is to be reduced in size to peacetime levels, but there has been no specification as to what such levels must be, so no action is actually being taken. Ships must be broken up, disrated, de-gunned, sold to the merchant service - but there is no document to state which ships must actually meet this sad fate, so the great bulk are being sent into the dockyards, to be laid up in ordinary. As the dockyards have no other work for their people, and no instructions to dismiss them, they are busily repairing the laid up vessels. A number have actually been sent overseas, thus retaining their full crews, and to be repaired in Halifax or Malta or Gibraltar."
It was possible to see Jervis' hand in this. The upright old gentleman would never have disobeyed a direct order, but he knew exactly how to work the system to the advantage, not of himself, but of the navy as a whole.
"What of the army?"
"Battalions are to return to their home barracks, there to return their numbers to the 'correct proportions'."
"And, of course, there has been no definition of that term."
"None, sir, and Horse Guards have so far neglected to seek enlightenment. One understands that some colonels believe their regiments should actually be larger than they are and so are actively recruiting."
"When will the war start again?"
"As soon as the frost is out of the ground and the troops can march in comfort and the cavalry can let their horses graze in safety on the new grass."
It was a strange sort of peace.
"What was the reason ever to stop fighting, Mr Russell?"
"Commercial, Lady Harris! The Levant Committee has arranged for a pair of massive convoys to sail from Acre and Alexandria. The West Indies Company has chartered every bottom it can lay its hands on and is bringing home a huge quantity of tin and silver as well as its ordinary goods."
"I did not know the Sugar Islands produced either metal, sir."
"The Spanish colonies have been unable to transfer their goods across the Ocean for five years, ma'am. The instant the Peace was known and their navy tied up in port, a great mass of smugglers set sail and landed their goods at Jamaica, mostly purchasing English cottons, I am told. The gold and pearls and other jewels are all in the hands of the Spanish authorities - they did not think, being gentlefolk not merchants, to secure the goods of war."
"I presume the East India Company will sail more ships, Mr Russell?"
"Saltpetre in particular, Sir Frederick. They stockpiled all they could in anticipation of the peace and are to send as much as three normal years of supplies."
It all began to make sense, at last. Bonaparte had been given almost all that he had demanded as a price for peace, a humiliating near-surrender at first sight. England had retained Malta, 'temporarily', but had given back almost every other conquest. But all of those colonies could be taken again, once England's wealth had been replenished and, particularly, her production of gunpowder had been protected.
"I understand as well, Sir Frederick, that treaties have been made with the Emperor of Morocco that will be greatly to England's advantage.
Foodstuffs to a Mediterranean Fleet and to Gibraltar, for example..."
No siege could take the Rock whilst the garrison could be fed from the sea.
"Additionally, gold dust from the mines to the south of the Sahara can be purchased against English manufactures, the trade to pass through the Emperor's friendly hands."
Gold was in increasingly short supply in Europe - supplies from the Gold Coast would be welcome indeed.
"Addington's treaty would seem to be a stroke of genius, in fact, Mr Russell!"
"He believes so, certainly, though one must say that he in fact played no part whatsoever in its negotiation, other than to sign a copy of the document when instructed."
"Who, and how?"
"I cannot discover the answer to that - not one of my informants actually knows!"
"A rare state of affairs, Mr Russell!"
"Unheard of, Sir Frederick!"
"At a guess, then?"
"Mr Pitt's friends, it must be, amongst whom are to be found some of the most powerful banking houses in the world. I have heard a whisper that a number of very important men, mostly of the Jewish persuasion, have decided to migrate to London, assured of protection by the government."
"Is that a good thing, sir?"
"Bonaparte will be defeated by them - their gold and paper notes will be more powerful in the end than all of his armies."
"How can paper money be so powerful?"
"A very good question, Sir Frederick. No doubt Adam Smith, or his successor, Mr Ricardo, could explain simply and clearly, but I cannot. Suffice it to say that there is far too little gold available to continue to use it as money, so it is necessary to find an alternative, and the bankers have come up with this idea of writing paper notes which say that they are as good as gold. Most strangely, people will accept them, and while they do, they are as good as gold, because they do the same work!"
"Very strange!"
"Most!"
"I wonder what would happen if we sent paper warships to sea and told the French they were as good as frigates?"
Mr Russell was not convinced that it would be a wise idea.
"What will happen when the war comes to life again, Mr Russell? Do we know what the government's aims will be?"
"Addington might give an answer to that, but I doubt it, sir. There will be some action in the Sugar Islands, I suspect, the French islands being taken back again. Hayti will be the scene of some sort of activity, due to the French having decided to put down the slaves and return them to their chains. The French may believe in Liberty, but they are taking great pains to ensure that it is not extended to their black population!"
"I heard that an army had sailed, together with members of Bonaparte's family."
"A messy business - he has a sister who is little more than a whore - I am so sorry, she is rich, a courtesan! He has got her out of Paris to lessen the embarrassment she could cause. Altogether, not the sort of affair one might wish to see one's own people involved in. Of course, our Royal Family is by comparison as white as the driven snow - the King hopelessly mad; the Prince of Wales unlawfully wed to a Catholic and bigamously married to a German trollop of a princess; the lesser princes all more or less louche. Court life in London is generally agreed to be interestingly vulgar, but one must not mention that in the newssheets, of course!"
Elizabeth was not pleased, but felt that they could not avoid an appearance in the Little Season. They could not simply go up to town for George's wedding and then retire from public sight again.
"Are you to make your bow again, Frederick?"
"I do not know, my love. That is one of the reasons for begging the company of Mr Russell."
Mr Russell had much to say of Society, knew all of the on-dits and gossip, could guess who was in criminal correspondence with which married lady - a remarkably long list in itself.
"Bow to the Prince, at a levee? Oh, you must, Sir Frederick! In the company of Lord Alton would be best, I think, myself in lesser attendance. You point out then that you have political allies, and I reinforce the statement that I am one of Lord Alton's people. I believe I may be offered a junior post in the next government after Addington's fall, and will be very pleased to accept a position that involves little of work and some of prestige. That could then be parlayed into a place on a Board at Horse Guards, which would lead to a peerage in twenty years, with a specification that my brother might be heir. The family would forgive me all, you see, under such circumstances!"
"What of Mr Critchel?"
"An excellent man as a friend, Sir Frederick! I would beg of him to be present as well. Was he to be seen to greet you then many memories could be awoken. A degree of advantage might well arise..."
"I do not suppose you know of the current location of Sir Iain Farquhar?"
"The Vice-Admiral is in Scotland, in the company of his family, at their ancestral home, visiting with his elder brother. I believe that Sir Iain is in process of purchasing a substantial portion of land - moors and mountain primarily - and a not insignificant mansion, sufficient to transform him into a 'laird'. It is in the highest degree probable that the next government will choose to reward him with a peerage, and employment, though, naturally, the existing First Lord has little to say to him."
That was very good news for Frederick's career.
"You will not be aware that Captain Jackman is ordered to Home Waters? The Cape has been returned to its Dutch masters - most irritatingly, as it will have to be taken again, it is far too useful a location to be left in potentially unfriendly hands. The naval station has been vacated, some ships to India, others to Home. Captain Jackman will be with us in England within another month or two, to his pleasure and that of his prize agents, no doubt!"
"Nothing has been published in the Gazette."
"He made a series of small captures of pirates and slavers off Madagascar and the Mauritius, culminating in the taking of a French privateer, so called, who had herself had a successful cruise. Pearls and ivory and a little of gold and gemstones, together with the payments made for released slaves, no single capture huge but adding up to a very pleasant little fortune in total. He will be very happy when he finally sees his accounts. Five figures, and the first not one or two!"
Elizabeth was especially pleased - she had detected some waning in her young sister's affection for Mr Chalfont, her most ineligible suitor, would be very happy to nudge her into Captain Jackman's orbit.
"There is something about a handsome little fortune, Frederick, that makes a good man even more desirable as a husband. A thousand acres of wheat land and a respectable little house - seven or eight bedrooms, nothing vast - make a fine background for any family man. Ten shillings a day, or more, besides from the navy and one is very well circumstanced!"
Russell, aware, of course, of the context of her comments, nodded his agreement.
"Captain Warren has brought his frigate back to Portsmouth, released from the blockade at last. Again, he has profited to a modest extent, apparently to his great pleasure. His Nantes is in the hands of the yard - you handled her very roughly in the South Seas, it seems, and there are lesions to her hull that are a cause of concern, or something very like that, I am sure. She will be reinforced in parts and rebuilt in others, will be some months in dock. Captain Warren has returned to his parental home, in triumph, and I have no doubt his mama will do her possible to marry him off - he is a great catch now, of course. His nephew, alas, is no more - lost on a sloop off the Biscay coast, much as his own father was. He had been in command of a prize crew, was posted to the small ship as something of a reward, but the storms of winter would seem to have overcome them."
"A pity - he was a good lad and would have made a fine captain."
They proceeded to Town together, in convoy, re-occupying the Town House and announcing their presence.
First business was to see George well-married, making the acquaintance of all of his new relatives at the necessary dinners and receptions preceding and accompanying
the wedding.
"The intellectuals seem to have been thinly and erratically scattered in that family, Elizabeth. Mrs Hackett's cousins, the female ones, appeared to be almost as bright as her, whilst the males seem universally as stupid as her brother."
"Interesting, is it not! Possibly the males inherited other attributes. Those who are wed have sired dozens of offspring between them."
"Ah, yes, a general was recently described to me as 'all balls and no brain' - perhaps he was a member of the family."
Elizabeth chose not to understand that remark.
The happy couple had been persuaded to honeymoon down on the South Coast, near Brighton in a family member's 'country cottage'. It would be more than large enough for them and the six servants in their company. They had considered a visit to Paris but had been formally advised that their family connections made it undesirable that they should be seen in France. Sir Frederick had, it would seem, unwittingly generated a store of ill-feeling.
"Jervis thought I was a fire-eater and the French are convinced I am a man-eater! What next?"
Frederick replenished and refurbished his formal dress uniform; Elizabeth bought hoop and feathers, as demanded of Court Dress; Mr Russell had no need to make good deficiencies in his wardrobe - there could be none.
They took carriages to St James, levees normally held in the court rooms, as if the King might choose to be present. It was a harmless pretence, and there will still hopes that he might be cured, one day.
They entered the Presence, joining the line forming to the side, Lord and Lady Alton greeting them and standing with them. Two minutes later, first civilities dealt with, Mr Critchel made a show of seeing them and begging the honour of their conversation and company.
"The Prince has been made aware that you will be present, Sir Frederick, and you may expect to be held in converse for a short while. Jervis will be at his side and will remind him of your recent doings and there will no doubt be an amount of silliness. There was some consideration given to the Bath, but the Ottomans would be much offended, so it will not happen yet. No doubt there will be some prize, but what had not yet been decided upon as of yesterday."
Fortune And Glory (The Duty and Destiny Series, Book 5) Page 16