The oars rose as one while the bowman hooked on to the main chains.

Bolitho handed his cloak to Allday and jammed his hat firmly athwartships across his head.

Everything had gone very quiet, and apart from the surge of the tide between the ship and the swaying barge it seemed almost peaceful.

Allday was standing, too, and had removed his hat while he watched and waited to lend a hand should Bolitho miss his footing.

Then Bolitho stepped out and upwards and hauled himself swiftly towards the entry port.

He was aware of the sudden bark of orders, the slap and stamp of marines presenting arms simultaneously with the fifers breaking into Heart o f Oak.

Faces, blurred and vague, loomed to meet him as he stepped on to the deck, and as the calls shrilled and died in salute, Bolitho removed his hat to the quarterdeck and to the ship's captain as he strode to greet him.

Herrick removed his hat 'and swallowed hard. 'Welcome aboard, sir.'

They both stared up as some halliards were jerked taut by the signal party.

There it was, a symbol and a statement, Bolitho's own flag streaming from the mizzen like a banner.

The nearest onlookers would have watched for some extra sign as the youthful-looking rear-admiral replaced his hat and shook hands with their captain.

But that was all they saw, for what Bolitho.and Herrick shared at that moment was invisible but to each other.

2. Flagship

By dawn the following day the wind had backed considerably, and once again the Solent was alive with angry wavecrests. Aboard the flagship, and all the rest of Bolitho's small squadron, the motion was uncomfortable as each vessel tugged at her anchor as if determined to drive aground.

When the first dull light gave colour to the glistening ships, Bolitho sat in his stern cabin re-reading his carefully worded instructions and trying at the same time to detach his mind from the sounds of a ship preparing for a new day. He knew Herrick had been on deck since dawn, and that if he went up to join him it would only hamper the business of getting Benbow and the rest of his command ready to weigh.