Honour This Day by Kent Alexander & Reeman Douglas

Author:Kent, Alexander & Reeman, Douglas [Kent, Alexander & Reeman, Douglas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Naval Battles - History - 18th Century, Action & Adventure, Historical, Napoleonic Wars; 1800-1815, Fiction, _rt_yes, __Fixed
ISBN: 9781590132920
Publisher: McBooks Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

GIBRALTAR 1805

11 THE LETTER

HIS BRITANNIC Majesty’s Ship Hyperion heeled only very slightly as she changed tack yet again, her tapering jib boom pointing almost due east.

Bolitho stood by the quarterdeck nettings and watched the great looming slab of Gibraltar rise above the larboard bow, misty-blue in the afternoon glare. It was mid-April.

Men moved purposefully about the decks, the lieutenants checking the set of each sail, conscious perhaps of this spectacular landfall. They had not touched land for six weeks, not since the squadron had quit English Harbour for the last time.

Bolitho took a telescope from the rack and trained it on the Rock. If the Spaniards ever succeeded in retaking this natural fortress, they could close the Mediterranean with the ease of slamming a giant door.

He focused the glass on the litter of shipping which seemed to rest at the foot of the Rock itself. More like a cluster of fallen moths than ships-of-war. It was only then that a newcomer could realise the size of it, the distance it still stood away from the slow-moving squadron.

He looked abeam. They were sailing as close as was prudently safe to the coast of Spain. Sunlight made diamond-bright reflections through the haze. He could imagine just how many telescopes were causing them as unseen eyes watched the small procession of ships. Where bound? For what purpose? Riders would be carrying intelligence to senior officers and lookout stations. The Dons could study the comings and goings with ease here at the narrowest part of the Strait of Gibraltar.

As if to give weight to his thoughts he heard Parris say to one of the midshipmen on the quarterdeck, “Take a good look, Mr Blessed. Yonder lies the enemy.”

Bolitho tucked his hands behind him and thought over the past four months, since his new squadron had finally assembled at Antigua. Since Catherine had taken passage for England. The parting had been harder than he had expected, and still hurt like a raw wound.

She had sent one letter in that time. A warm, passionate letter, part of herself. He was not to worry. They would meet again soon. There must be no scandal. She was, as usual, thinking of him.

Bolitho had written back, and had also sent a letter to Belinda. The secret would soon be out, if not already; it was right if not honourable that she should hear it from him.

He moved across the quarterdeck and saw the helmsmen drop their eyes as his glance passed over them. He climbed a poop ladder and raised the glass again to study the ships which followed astern. It had kept his mind busy enough while the squadron had worked up together, had got used to one another’s ways and peculiarities. There were four ships of the line, all third-rates which to an ignorant landsman would look exactly like Hyperion in the van. Apart from Obdurate, the others had been new to Bolitho’s standards, but watching them now he could feel pride instead of impatience.

Holding up to

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