'Indeed, sir, may I ask what?'

Drinkwater ignored Metcalfe, addressing Frey directly, over the head of his first lieutenant. 'The launch has, in addition to Mr Vansittart's personal effects and two servants, a large quantity of cabbages, Mr Frey. See they are got aboard and stowed carefully in nets. I want them exposed to the air.'

'Cabbages, sir?' said the first lieutenant, his face registering exaggerated astonishment, 'Are they your personal stores?'

'No, Mister,' Drinkwater said, a note of asperity creeping into his voice, 'they are for the ship's company.'

The captain swung on his heel; Metcalfe stared after him until he was out of earshot.

'Rum old devil, ain't he, Mr Frey?' and the remark shocked Frey for its shift of ground, betraying the inconsistency he had already noted in Metcalfe, but striking him now as deeper than mere pig-headedness.

Frey did his best to keep his voice non-committal. 'Excuse me, sir, I've my duty to attend to.'

'Ah, yes, the cabbages,' Metcalfe said, as though the earlier invitation to complicity had never passed his lips. Lapsing into an almost absent tone he muttered, 'Two servants, damme,' then, raising his voice he bellowed, 'Mr Belchambers! Lay aft here at the double!'

CHAPTER 1

The King's Messenger

August 1811

Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater hauled himself up the companionway against the heel of the ship and stepped on to the quarterdeck. Clapping one hand to his hat he took a quick reef in his billowing cloak with the other and made his way into the partial shelter of the mizen rigging.

'Morning, sir.' The third lieutenant approached, touched the fore-cock of his hat and added, quite unnecessarily, 'A stiff breeze, sir.'

'Indeed, Mr Frey.' Drinkwater stared aloft, at the whip of the topgallant masts and the flexing of the yards. The wind had veered a touch during the night and had hauled round into the north-west quarter. He knew from the tell-tale compass in his cabin that they were making a good course, but he knew also that the shift of wind would bring bright, squally weather. The first rays of the sun breaking above the cloud banks astern of them promised just such a day.