The Hawk (3 page)

'What was his profession, the fellow?' Rennie, a frown.

'Undertaker.'

'Undertaker! Ha-ha-ha!' Rennie's sudden delighted laugh
made him cough.

'That was why he was ever fearful,' said Mr Rountree. 'His
duties obliged him, after all, so continually to dwell on the
mortality of others that he could not help but reflect on his
own, and that became the habit of dread.'

'And did it kill him?' James, again with raised eyebrow.

'Hhhhh – did it kill him!' Rennie coughed and wheezed
with laughter. 'Ha-ha-ha, James, ye've always had a way of
seeing the absurd side of things. Did it kill him-hhh-hhhhhh!'

Later, after they had eaten their supper – of fish, and
wildfowl, and syllabub, and cheese – and drunk their wine,
Rennie became reflective, and talked of his youth:

'Where is that unfeathered boy now, hey? Where his
hungry, undiscriminating mind, his wonder and astonishment
at the world and all its workings? Where his romantic notions,
his ardent fancies? – He is lost. They are gone.' A vinous sigh,
and he refilled his glass.

'His heart remains, does it not, sir? In the older, wiser self?'

'Heart, James?'

'A man dare not lose that, else he is lost altogether.'

'Softness, d'y'mean?' Growing severe. 'What business has
a sea officer with softness of heart? He makes his decisions
out of hard experience and hard instruction. His eye is on his
canvas, and his mind on the design of his commission. His
heart don't come into it.'

'I didn't mean – '

'He must govern everything of emotion with sound
judgement, and practical sense. That is his proper work when
he wears a blue coat, and serves the King.'

'Indeed, sir, I would not quarrel with – '

'You above all men should know that, James, good heaven.'
A sniff, and he drank off his wine.

Later still Mr Rountree became philosophical, and
touched on politics, and the great advances in the present age
of enlightenment:

'Who are the great thinkers that have informed the
modern scene?'

'Eh?' Rennie, again refilling his glass. 'Who?'

'Hobbes? Locke? Burke? Are not these the men that have
taught us to – '

'Burke!' Rennie was now well flown. 'A very dangerous
fellow, ain't he? He presumes to know everything about
everything. He knows all about the insurrection in France,
and approves it!'

'On the contrary, sir, he does not,' began James. 'His views
are entirely – '

'Y'find his views congenial?' Rennie turned his fuddled
glare on James, and was inclined to be fierce. 'A damned
radical Irishman, ain't he?' Mr Rountree perceived his error
in having raised the subject, and intervened:

'Ah! Is that the hour?' Making a show of consulting his
watch. 'My dear William, I must beg your pardon for having
lingered so unconscionable long, and kept you from your
bed.'

'Bed? What?' Swinging his head to squint at his other
guest.

'It is very late, and I must away.' Pushing his glass from
him, and rising.

'Away? Nonsense, it ain't late, not at all.'

'Eleven, you know, eleven o'clock, and I must get to my
own bed. It is a mile and more to walk, and I must make an
early start tomorrow. I go to Norwich.'

'Ah. Norwich. Ah.' Rennie nodded his head, fuddled but
placated. An early start took precedence, always, in a sea
officer's mind. When Mr Rountree had put on his cloak and
departed with a bow, James too excused himself, knowing
that to attempt to introduce the topic on which he wished to
consult Captain Rennie was unwise, tonight. It had better
wait until morning. And the two sea officers retired.

On the morrow, when James came down to breakfast, he
found Rennie already seated at the table in the dining room.
Breakfast had been laid out, and a place for the guest. Rennie
was drinking hot water, and a whiff of vinegar rose with the
steam from his cup. There was no teapot on the table.

'Good morning, sir. You do not drink tea?' James,
surprised.

'Ah, good morning, James.' No hint of last night's excess.
'Nay, I am advised by my physician Dr Noble that hot water,
with a teaspoon of cider vinegar, is quite the best thing for the
digestion in the morning.'

'Ah.' Sitting down. 'And is it?'

'Is it what?'

'The best thing. In the morning.'

'Certainly it is. Certainly. You know that I have always
took tea, that I have always drunk it, at any hour. Well well,
since I have took up hot water and vinegar, months since, I
am altogether improved, and hale.'

'I am glad.' A smile.

'You ought to take it up yourself, James. It purifies the
urine, and aids the bowels, it cleanses the mouth, and – ' But
now he saw James's smile become a dismayed frown, and
relented. 'In course there is coffee, if you will like that instead.'

'Thank you, sir, I would prefer coffee.' Relieved. 'But I did
not know that you ever liked it . . .'

'I do not. I never drink the dark troublesome liquor, never.
But I know that a gentleman's house ain't quite civilized
without it. Jenny! Jenny! Coffee for Mr Hayter, right quick!'
When the maid had brought a tall pot of coffee for James,
and filled his cup, Rennie said as she quit the room:

'She would like it if I rang this table bell, you know.' He
lifted the little bell, and put it down with a muffled clink. 'She
would like me to modify my sea manners, talk quieter and so
forth. I fear that I always forget.'

James drank the grateful dark reviving brew, felt its
aromatic power clear his head, and presently, as Rennie
chopped into a boiled egg:

'Sir, I wonder if I may consult your opinion on an
important matter, very important to me? Will you give me
some advice?'

'If I can, James.' Digging yolk from the shell. 'Gladly, if I
am able.' A benign glance, with slightly bloodshot eyes.

James told him about the
Hawk
. About having been offered
her, his first command. About having gone to Portsmouth to
look at her. And about his – doubts.

'Doubts!' Rennie dropped his spoon with a clatter. A blob
of yolk on the cloth. 'Doubts!'

'Well, I do not like to take her when you are on the beach.
It don't seem quite right to accept – '

'Not take her! When I am on the beach! What has my
present circumstances to do with it? Christ's blood, James,
you damn' fool! You astonish me, altogether astonish me!'

'Please hear me out, will you, sir?'

'Not
accept
!' Shaking his head. 'Not
accept
!'

'I thought that I could not desert you in the question of Sir
Robert Greer's pursuit of us – of us, that is to say – concerning
our last commission, and the loss of Rabhet.'

'Damnation to that blackguard, James. I am equal to any
challenge of his. As are you, yourself. But that is of no
importance when ye've been offered your first command. Do
not you grasp what it means? Do not you see what honour has
been bestowed? You are to be given one of His Majesty's
fighting ships! The greatest reward a junior sea officer can
hope for! Why, the entire Lieutenants' List yearns, and sighs,
and prays for this!' A sniffing breath, and he banged his palms
down on the table. 'You must pack your valise, and be on your
way. I do not mean to be inhospitable, but there ain't a
moment to lose. You must go to London at once, and at once
accept. To throw this chance away would be pure folly.'
Rising, pushing back his chair. 'Jenny!'

'Sir?' Earnestly, remaining in his seat. 'You did not hear me
out.'

'What?' Distractedly. 'Jenny!'

'It is not just a question of the honour, d'y'see. There is –
something else.'

'Something else . . . ?' Looking at him.

'I am – I am short of funds.'

'Short of – ' Staring at him now. 'You, James? How so?'

'Well, sir – I have had considerable expenses since we paid
off. Heavy outgoings.'

'Had not you saved anything, though, from our earlier
little episode?' Rennie was referring to their joint acquisition
of several thousands of French money, by an action at sea
during their second commission, in the West Indies. 'That is
how I am able to afford this house, renting it, you know.

Certainly I have not the expense of a family since I – since I
lost my dear wife.' He cleared his throat. 'But surely you had
some of that gold put aside?'

James, reluctantly and miserably:

'I had indeed. I had put a thousand pound aside for my son,
and husbanded the remainder. However – however – I have
been obliged to find moneys to pay for a venture.' Lifting his
head.

'Venture?' Frowning, waving away the maid, who had
come in response to his call. 'Venture? I hope y'do not mean
– a
speculation
?'

'Alas. I do.'

'In what?'

'In something of Tom Makepeace's. Not that I blame
Tom.' Hastily added. Tom Makepeace had been Second
Lieutenant in two of their previous commissions. 'No, I must
not blame him. It was my own folly, as much as his.'

'But, good God, what was it that has lost you everything? I
take it you have lost everything?'

'All but my house. I have nothing to live on but my pay, and
even that must go to pay off the residual debt.'

'James, James . . .' A deep, sniffing sigh. 'It matters little
now, I suppose, what the venture was, but y'may as well tell it
to me.' He sat down.

'It is a new kind of paint, to protect the hulls of ships
against worm, replacing copper sheath.'

'Replacing copper?'

'We thought – that is, Tom thought and so did I, that this
new paint would save the Admiralty, and John Company too,
tens of thousands a year in copper, and that it could not fail
therefore to gain favourable attention.'

'You mean, it is like white lead?' Frowning.

'No, sir, it is a preparation made from coal tar, mixed with
mineral oils, and fixed. It forms into a thick coating that will
endure for years at sea. It is quite impervious to corruption,
impervious to worm, and repels weed. And it is less than one
third the cost of copper sheath.' In spite of himself James's
eyes had lit up as he spoke, and he found himself leaning
forward in his enthusiasm.

'Ah. Ah.' Rennie nodded, made a face, and: 'May I venture
to ask, then, why your venture has failed?' With irony.

'Well – the Navy Board could not be persuaded to conduct
fair tests, d'y'see. They –'

Rennie held up a hand. 'When you say "fair tests", what
d'y'mean, exact?'

'We – that is, Tom and myself, and the others in the
syndicate, we – '

'Syndicate!'

'Naturally, you know, we needed sound investment to
begin. We needed ten thousand pound, and formed a
syndicate. Well, it was already formed, to say the truth, and
Tom and I had an opportunity to come in. We needed ten
thousand, and were all obliged to dig deep. And so the money
was found. Then we – '

'Again, may I venture to ask: how much did you invest?
You yourself?'

'I put up five thousand.'

'Five! – And Tom?'

'He put up five, that came from his late father's estate, but
that – '

'So between you, you have put up the entire capital of this
venture
, this
speculation
, and the other members of your
syndicate have put up nothing. Hey?'

'When you say it like that, you make it sound a very foolish
thing. With respect, sir, the paint itself was anything but
foolish. The paint is a wonder, a miraculous invention, and
our investment in it was sound, and wholly in the nation's
interest.'

'You wished to take no profit yourselves?'

'I did not say that. In course we did wish for a profit. I have
a young family, and must look to their welfare.'

'Welfare! How have you assisted their welfare in this,
James?'

James bit his tongue, and made himself count to five. 'I
admit – that I have been guilty of folly. Our folly, mine and
Tom's, was our belief in the good sense and honourable
dealings of Their Lordships and the Navy Board. They have
behaved with the direst stupidity and bad faith. They have – '

'You had better say no more, James, along those lines. Not
to me. I am a senior post captain, whose every action must
display loyalty to Their Lordships, and obedience to their
wishes and commands.'

'Oh, very well, sir. As you like. – But you cannot deny that
Tom and I have lost all of our money through their reckless
obduracy and – '

'Have not I just said that you may not talk like this to me?'
Sharply.

'I am sorry.'

Rennie looked at him, and unbent a little. 'Well well, I
must not bite off your head when you have come to me for
advice.' He paused a moment, then: 'Perhaps you will like to
consider a different opinion of Their Lordships, if I give it.
Propose the case to yourself thus. Copper is a very great aid
to Their Lordships in the preservation of ships. It took long
persuasion before His Majesty's government felt obliged to
vote through the moneys to pay for it, regular. It took years
of persuasion. And now you young fellows come along with
your new paint, crying miracle and magic, and let us do away
with copper entire, it is so damn' wasteful and costly, and so
forth, and expect to be embraced, and rewarded, and fêted up
and down Whitehall.'

'I never wished to be fêted – '

'Fêted, and covered in glory, and given knighthoods, or
peerages even. But had you considered for one moment what
it would mean to remove the work of coppering from the
dockyards, whose business it is to build and repair ships? A
whole enterprise, a whole industry, would be ruined. Not just
the men who smelt and make the copper, and beat it into
sheath, but all the artificers who nail it to the hull, and prise
it off again in a year or two, to repair or replace it, and attend
to the rotted timbers beneath. And not just in the naval
dockyards, neither. There are many small private yards
engaged in the Navy's business. This is a broad enterprise.
There are great contractual obligations to be honoured,
made in good faith. The business of coppering is very broad,
very large, and many people depend upon it. A great deal of
money is involved.'