Read The Corvette for Free Online Page B

duty men and you have nothing to fear.’ It was an old formula, hack words but good enough for the moment. And if it lacked inspiration it at least encapsulated all that was required of them.
     
    ‘Pray take a seat, Mr Germaney.’ Drinkwater hung his hat and turned to his first lieutenant. Captain Palgrave’s hurried departure had made Drinkwater temporary heir to some handsome cabin furniture and a full decanter of rich malmsey.
    He poured a glass for himself and the first lieutenant, aware that they had just inspected parts of the ship that he doubted Mr Germaney even knew existed.
    ‘That cockpit, Mr Germaney, is an ill-ventilated spot at best. I want it white-washed as soon as possible. There are marks there, and in the demeanour of the young gentlemen, of a slackness that I do not like. Now, your good health.’ They drank and Drinkwater looked shrewdly at the lieutenant. He was on edge, yet displayed a certain lassitude to the task of showing the captain round the ship. An officer intent on creating a good impression would have shown off some of Melusine’s good points rather than ignoring them. Well, it was no matter. For the present there were more urgent considerations.
    ‘The ship is well enough, Mr Germaney, although I withhold my full approbation until I see how her people make sail and work the guns. What I am not happy about is the surgeon.’
    A surprising and noticeable interest stirred Germaney.
    ‘Tell me,’ Drinkwater continued, ‘how was such a slovenly officer able to hold his position under an officer as, er, punctilious as Captain Palgrave?’
    ‘I am not certain, sir. It seemed Sir James owed him some service or other.’
    ‘Is the man perpetually drunk?’
    Germaney brightened. Things were turning a little in his favour. ‘I regret to say that that is most usually the case, sir. There is no confidence in him among the people.’
    ‘That dees not surprise me. His instruments were filthy with rust and his loblolly boys looked perilous close to being gangrenous themselves. Come, another glass of this excellent malmsey
    ‘ Drinkwater watched the first lieutenant shrewdly. In the few hours he had been aboard much had already been made clear. He did not find the weakness of his three lieutenants comforting.
    ‘What made your late captain leave such a taut ship, Mr Germaney?’
    Germaney was beginning to relax. Captain Drinkwater seemed amiable enough: a trifle of a democrat, he suspected, and he had a few bees in his bonnet, to which his rank entitled him. But there was little to mark him as special, as Templeton had intimated. If anything he seemed inclined to tipple. Germaney drained his glass and Drinkwater refilled it.
    ‘Oh, er, he resigned, sir. He was a man of some wealth as you see,’ Germaney indicated the richness of the cabin furnishings and the french-polished panels of the forward bulkhead.
    ‘An odd circumstance, wouldn’t you say, to resign command of such a ship on the outbreak of war?’
    Germaney shrugged, aware of the imputed slight. ‘I was not a party to Sir James’s affairs, sir.’
    ‘Not even those most touching his honour, Mr Germaney?’
    Germaney moved uneasily. ‘I
    I do not understand what you mean, sir.’
    ‘I mean that I doubt if Captain Palgrave engaged in an affair of honour without the support of yourself as his second.’
    ‘Oh, you know of that
    some damned gossip hereabouts I
    ‘
    ‘I learned at the Admiralty, Mr Germaney, and I do not need to tell you that the news was not well received.’ The implication went home. It was fairly logical to suppose that Germaney would have served as Palgrave’s second in the duel. Often a first lieutenant was bound to his commander by greater ties than mere professional loyalty. It was inconceivable that a peacetime captain like Palgrave would not have had such a first lieutenant.
    Germaney regretted his gossiping letter to Templeton and swore to have his cousin answer for this indiscretion. ‘Was my