A Continuing War_At Home and at Sea, 1803-1804

by John G. Cragg

  Elsie drew the curtains in Daphne’s bedroom at exactly the usual time the next morning even though, as Daphne knew, the music had gone on late into the night. The fire in her room had been lit even earlier. Daphne still basked in the slightly guilty pleasure she felt when she had indulged herself by having the fire lit well before she rose each morning. It was now a pleasure to wash and get dressed without shivering as she used to. When Elsie had finished helping Daphne to dress, the lady’s maid nervously blurted out a request.

  “M’lady, Carstairs and I need to get married before he leaves. May we?”

  “Captain Giles said he would have to leave on Tuesday. He already has somewhat overstayed his time here and needs to get back to his ship. Now, it is already Saturday morning. You will hardly have time to get ready, will you? What is the rush?”

  “Ugh…well, you see, m’lady…I don’t know how to say this.”

  “Oh, just blurt it out, Elsie.”

  “Yes, m’lady…well…ugh… last night… Carstairs and I…ugh…the punch was rather strong…”

  “Elsie, are you trying to tell me that you and Carstairs got too intimate with each other?”

  ‘Yes, m’lady…and…well…I…I might become with child. And if I am not married, you would have to dismiss me…and I don’t know what would happen to me then. So, can we get married?”

  “Certainly. You are right, Mr. Steves and Mrs. Wilson would be horrified if you were pregnant and would be terribly unhappy if I didn’t dismiss you. Yes, if Carstairs is willing, marrying him right away would get rid of any embarrassment. You still do want to marry him, don’t you?”

  “Oh, yes, m’lady. We just didn’t think there would be time, what with Christmas and Twelfth Night and you and Captain Giles being so busy.”

  “Let’s see. The banns have already been published, haven’t they, and for both you and Carstairs in this parish?”

  “Yes, m’lady. Lord David suggested he read them for both of us since Carstairs really doesn’t have a parish, so his residence can be considered to be Dipton Hall when he is ashore.”

  “Then there is no reason that you shouldn’t get married on Monday. I expect that you don’t have your wedding dress ready yet, or the other things you need. In fact, do you actually have a special dress?”

  “Not really, my lady. I have never needed anything special.”

  “Then you had better use one of mine. Maybe the blue silk. It would go nicely with your coloring.”

  “Oh, my lady, I couldn’t.”

  “Of course you could. You’ve been with me a long time and have served me very, very well. You had better take today and tomorrow off, and the wedding and wedding breakfast can be on Monday. Betsy can look after me. I will tell Mrs. Wilson. You will not want to sleep here on your wedding night, I expect. The Dipton Arms should have a very nice room. Here is a guinea to help pay for what you will need.”

  “Oh, thank you, m’lady.”

  “Speaking of the Dipton Arms, has Carstairs made any progress in acquiring it.”

  “I think so, m’lady, but it is still a bit uncertain.”

  At that point, Giles entered the room. “Elsie, I hear that Carstairs has persuaded you to marry him right away.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Very good. You will have to be quick about it. We leave on Tuesday.”

  “Elsie has already told me about it, Richard. They are to be married on Monday.”

  “Are they? Good. We will have the wedding breakfast here, I presume.”

  “Oh, sir, thank you.”

  “I was going to suggest it,” said Daphne, rather huffily.

  “Then we are in agreement, my love.”

  Despite the rush, the wedding went off without any problems. Elsie looked marvelous in the blue dress which she had altered with the addition of some white lace. Steves supported Carstairs and her own father gave Elsie away. The ring appeared at the right time, which made Daphne wonder where and when it had been acquired. The happy couple were pelted with rice as they left the church, and the wedding breakfast continued long after the wedded couple had left the celebration, so that only necessary work was carried out at Dipton Hall that day.

  Giles departed in the coach just after daybreak. Daphne felt strangely listless. She knew that it was a result of the ending of the hectic and intense time she had been having with Giles. It seemed that every time he went away his absence left a larger and larger hole in her life. There weren’t even many tasks of any urgency to occupy her attention. After Giles’s coach had disappeared from sight, she wandered into the library to find a book to read, but discovered that Mr. Edwards’s minion had apparently bought books on the basis of how attractive their bindings were, and not according to the likely interest of their content. For that diversion, she would have to await her recent order of novels to be delivered. She played the piano-forte for a while, but her fingers showed no inspiration in finding the keys. At luncheon the attendance was again reduced to just four women, with no topics of conversation that seemed to interest any of them, not even when the girls tried to revive the subject of the Hunt Ball because it was still months away.

  After lunch, Daphne decided that she must get some fresh air. She would choose Moonbeam as her steed, for she would ride to some of the tenants’ homes whom she had not seen since before Christmas. She had Steves arrange for a hamper that she had meant to take to one farmer whose mother was poorly, and then went upstairs to change.

  Elsie was back at the Hall and immediately appeared to help with the change of clothes. She was bubbling with delight at her wedding night though she was quite unable to say what had been so pleasant. Daphne did realize that Elsie’s delight at being married to Carstairs was tinged with sadness that he was away again. That was a feeling Daphne could share, but she also realized that she could share Elsie’s joy at a very successful wedding night.

  The third of Daphne’s visits was to one of Dipton Hall’s tenants who had let the thatch on his barn deteriorate to the extent that it no longer kept the winter rains out. Daphne was adopting the same direct interest in the Dipton Hall tenancies that she had taken in those of Dipton Manor. Those tenants had found that Daphne was not just interfering, but had good, modern ideas that led to better yields. They had also discovered that, unlike some landlords who did everything in their power to recapture any increases in income coming from improvements, Daphne made sure that the lion’s share remained with the tenants. The word had spread about the nature of the landlord of the tenants of Dipton Manor, but that information had not always been taken to heart by the tenants of Dipton Hall. That was the case here. Daphne had to make it quite clear that there would be dire consequences if the thatch was not renewed immediately and other changes whose need she had observed were not made by Lady Day, the next quarter day*. Daphne rode away somewhat perturbed. She suspected that drink was as much to blame as sloth for the condition of the farm, and feared for what would happen to the man’s wife and their already threadbare children if he lost his tenancy. But lose it he would if he did not make the required changes.

  Daphne’s other visits went more happily, with tenants reporting problems they were encountering and wanting to discuss their plans for the spring. She arrived home in a much less gloomy mood than she had started the day. Yes, Giles had returned to his ship and that would leave a large hole in her life until he returned, but she would continue to make her life full of other interests. And she much preferred her existence now to what she had experienced before Giles had entered her life

  Chapter XVI

  Giles and Carstairs boarded Impetuous just as the sun was sinking from sight in the west. Giles found a perturbed Lieutenant Milton when the ceremony for boarding his ship had concluded.

  “What is the trouble, Mr. Milton?” he enquired when they were alone.

  “Sir, progress on the repairs has slowed completely in the past week.”

  “Why is that?”

  “I am not sure, sir. Sometimes the
Dockyard makes the excuse that needed supplies, especially timbers, are not available. Other times, I just get a shrug and no excuse even. Mr. Cornwall also seems embarrassed by the delay, since he had promised more prompt attention as had the Superintendent. Mr. Cornwall let slip that the information that other, very senior, captains are using their influence to take men away from us, even though there is less urgency to get their ships back on station.”

  “I was afraid of this. I will see what I can do when I go ashore tomorrow. Otherwise, how are things, Mr. Milton?”

  “Very well, sir. The larboard watch was given leave first, despite some objections from the port captain. They all returned on time except for one able seaman, Rathers. He turned up the next day, still drunk as could be. He claimed he had mixed up the port where Impetuous was anchored.”

  “How did you deal with it?”

  “Threw him in the brig until he sobered up, sir. Then stopped his rum ration for a month. That I thought was punishment enough. Mr. Dunsmuir was afraid that I would have him flogged when you returned, but I pointed out to him that the important thing was that he had rejoined before we needed to sail.”

  “Quite right, Mr. Milton. It is what I would have done.”

  “I am afraid we were not really ready for you, sir, tonight, and your servant is in the starboard watch which is gone now. The wardroom servants can probably find something for your supper, sir. Or dinner, if you have missed that meal.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Milton. It is more than I could expect. Carry on.”

  Giles got no satisfaction when he visited the Superintendent’s office the next day. The good effect of the Admiral’s letter seemed to have worn off and the other names Giles had cited no longer seemed to carry weight. As he contemplated this sad state of affairs when he returned to his cabin, Giles wondered if gold had changed hands to account for why the needs of other captains had suddenly jumped ahead of his. He also wondered how he could broach the subject to suggest that he might well make a contribution to the Superintendent’s needs. He was pondering this question when he heard a voice hailing Impetuous, “Ahoy, Impetuous, Sir David McDougall wishes to come aboard.”

  “Welcome him aboard, Mr. Milton,” Giles bellowed in a voice that he knew would be heard clearly on the quarterdeck. Sir David was the special friend of the Warden of the Cinque Ports, had held a major position in the previous government, and probably would hold such a position again if the present government fell.

  Giles went on deck immediately to welcome his guest.

  “May we speak somewhere privately, Captain Giles,” said the visitor in his low Scottish burr.

  They retreated to Giles cabin where the guest gladly accepted a glass of Madeira.

  “You made quite an impression on the Warden and myself, Captain Giles. He thought I should come and see you.”

  “Oh, why? I don’t see how I could make much of an impression, I only saw you for a few minutes, and just to bring the Comte de Fourcoup to you.”

  “Not quite, Captain. The way you captured the Comte, the way you had captured that pirate and recognized the importance of what you saw when you searched his ship, the way you performed the raid on Boulogne, successfully extracting an important document from the French, even the way you conveniently got rid of that Hoxley creature. All these actions speak most highly of you.”

  “But, sir, the end of Captain Hoxley was pure chance. It could just as well have been me whose head was blown off.”

  “But it wasn’t. I would rather have someone who is lucky rather than intelligent, any day. Not that you are not intelligent. I find luck seems to come to people who prepare and think out the alternatives first. However, I didn’t really come to tell you how highly we think of you, but with a proposition for you to consider.”

  “Yes?”

  “You may know that things are not completely smooth in the House right now. The Prime Minister is on shaky ground over the war and finances and other matters. He is likely to fall before too long, and pressure will be put on the Warden to form the next government. We need stable chaps, right-thinking chaps, in the House, ones who think about more than feathering their own nests. You are such a man, we feel.”

  “I don’t know about that. But I don’t see the relevance. It is not much more than a year since the last general election.”

  “Ah, true, but there are by-elections. And there is a vacancy at Dipton.”

  “Is there?”

  “Yes, Mr. Gramley, who owned Dipton Hall before you, was one of the two members from Dipton Borough. He was elected just before he died and his seat still is not filled. He was not much of a member. He used the position mainly to pedal influence, but he couldn’t be counted on. For sale to the highest bidder. No great loss, I can assure you. No one has got around to moving the writ* for the by election so the seat is still vacant. We were thinking that you would be a very suitable replacement. Most of the electors are either your tenants or those of your father-in-law, so you should have no trouble winning. A barrel of ale to celebrate, announced ahead of time of course, should be all it will take.”

  “I don’t know anything about politics, and I am away at sea much of the time.”

  “That hasn’t stopped many other naval captains from being members of parliament. They are either assigned to home waters or get jobbing captains*. Anyway, there is no hurry, things are not likely to come to a head for some time. Now, is there anything I can do for you?”

  “Not that I can think of. I am rather trapped here because the Dockyard thinks it has more important things to do. I was expecting them to be finished in two more weeks, as they promised, but now the Superintendent claims he has other priorities.”

  “Does he? I may be able to help there.”

  Sir David, his business finished, left without further pleasantries. Giles hardly considered the approach that Sir David had made to him about becoming a member of parliament. He was not the sort to take on a position to which he had no intention of devoting himself, and he had no desire to spend much time in London for the Season. He did wonder whether Daphne would like to take part in the London Season. He would ask her in his next letter. He also wondered if he did not have a responsibility for selecting the second member from Dipton. For that matter, he didn’t even know who the first member might be. Daphne would know, of course.

  Giles’s musings were interrupted by the arrival of Mr. Cornwell with a large gang of shipwrights and laborers. “I am afraid that the Superintendent placed your schedule in the wrong month, Captain Giles,” Mr. Cornwell lied with a straight face. “We are here to see that the work progresses as quickly as possible.”

  Giles made no remark except to express satisfaction that the work should be executed as quickly as possible. That was the case. Indeed, it was only nine days later that Mr. Cornwell declared the work completed, and it all received the approval of the relevant petty officers. The basic quality of Impetuous had not been improved, however, a point made clear when Mr. Cornwell expressed the hope that the carpenter would have large quantities of tar and oakum* on hand for caulking the leaks that were likely to develop.

  The starboard watch had reported for duty a couple of days before the repairs were complete. Almost everyone had returned on time, the one exception being an able seaman named Baten. His absence was all the more surprising since he was from Chatham and was said to have been intending to spend his leave close at hand. The consequences for Baten could be very serious if he missed their sailing for he would be presumed to have deserted. Giles sent Lieutenant Macauley with a file of marines to see if they could find the missing seaman. They returned empty handed with the news that Baten had been taken by a press gang while he was too drunk to explain coherently that he was one of Impetuous’s crew. The fact that someone in the press gang had hit him over the head with a belaying pin when he started to protest his seizure may have played a role in his not clearly expressing why he should be exempt from being pressed. The press gang had been from Medusa, a s
eventy-four, which was said to have sailed from the Nore to join Admiral Gardner.

  Impetuous weighed anchor the following day and found the North Sea Fleet just where Mr. Brooks had expected it to be, off the Goodwin Sands. Giles saw that Medusa was sailing immediately behind Penelope. Giles did not care how lofty or influential Medusa’s captain might be, he wasn’t going to let him get away with stealing one of Impetuous’s crew members. Following orders signaled from the flagship, Giles brought Impetuous into position off Penelope’s quarter, and had himself rowed across to the flagship immediately.

  The flag captain greeted Giles warmly, but when the flag lieutenant observed Giles’s angry expression, he ushered him quickly into the Admiral’s cabin.

  “Captain Giles, welcome back. What is the trouble?” asked Admiral Gardner.

  “Medusa pressed one of my men.”

  “Oh, dear. We cannot have that, can we? I’ve had trouble with Captain Brown before this. Mr. Arbuckle, signal to Medusa: ‘Captain to repair on board’. Oh, and add, ‘Bring muster roll*’.”

  “I expect to get him back immediately,” Giles said.

  “So you will if Medusa actually has him. Now tell me, how did the repairs go? I am surprised to see you back so soon.”

  “The repairs were completed on time, though the Dockyard did warn me that Impetuous is not the best-built ship in the fleet. Your letter did wonders, and when its influence waned, Sir David McDougall lit a fire under them again.”

  “How was he involved?”

  Giles explained how he had been visited and the effect of remarking to Sir David the delays he was encountering.

  “You are obviously becoming a man of influence, Captain Giles. I would be delighted to have more men in the Commons reliably in favor of the Navy. We in the Lords may believe that we run the country, but the Commons still controls the purse strings. Now, while we await Captain Brown, let’s talk about your next cruise.”