HMS Diamond (37 page)

      
A few minutes later Couriol had joined them along with another man, an Englishman, who looked vaguely familiar to Smith but he couldn’t quite place him.

      
Tromelin got up to greet the two men and they joined the group, sitting on the ground like the others. After they had gotten settled, Couriol began the conversation.

      
"Captain, I think perhaps some introductions are in order. I am Jacque Couriol and I am a member of the
Agence de Paris
. We are Britain’s primary spy ring in France. You already know François Tromelin and John Wesley Wright. François really
is
on the staff of General Frotté and John really
is
a midshipman in your navy—although you’re getting a bit old to be a midshipman, John. I think maybe we’d better arrange a promotion."

      
"I’d really appreciate that," Wright said with a certain irony in his voice.

      
"Anyway, these gentlemen are who they seem to be, except for the little detail that all three of us also work for the gentleman on my left, who is..."

      
"William Wickham." Smith interrupted. "Now I remember you. Sir George Spencer introduced us once, at a ball or something if I recall properly. But I heard that you had been appointed the Assistant to our Ambassador to Switzerland. What are you doing here?"

      
"Sir George did indeed introduce us," Wickham replied. "It was just before your knighthood was confirmed. I went to great pains to arrange that introduction. And I am still the Assistant to the Ambassador, at least for another month. I’ll be going back to England after that.

      
"May I ask why meeting a lowly post-captain was so important to you?

      
Wickham paused for a moment to gather his thoughts.

      
"Captain, do you remember a few years ago when, after your visit to Morocco, you submitted a plan to the Admiralty requesting that you be given a fleet to wreak some havoc on the sultan before he got too powerful?"

      
"Yes."

      
"Well, I can tell you that the Admiralty had a good laugh over it; but we in the Home Department weren’t laughing. We looked very carefully at the maps and military assessments you provided. Then we found some additional maps and reports you had filed even earlier from France. They were really quite good—extraordinarily good, I dare say—especially the maps. So we decided to keep an eye on you and test you from time to time.

      
"Test me? What do you mean
test
?"

      
Do you remember when Lord Spencer confronted you with what Nelson and Collingwood said about you? Those comments might have been unfair but they were quite real, and we wanted to see how you would react to them.

      
"Your mission to run supplies to General Frotté? That was us. You handled things very well, by the way. Do you remember the man you dropped off that night on the Chouan beach— Monsieur de la Fruglaye? He was one of us. He was a spy.

      
Your mission to solve the problem of the missing gold? We got you that assignment, although we were as surprised as you were by the involvement of Lord Howell. The insertion of Mr. Wright into Cape Frehel? That was another test. That was a real mission, Captain, and you did it without asking a lot of unnecessary questions. You just knew it was important and didn’t make a fuss. We like to see that."

      
"Mission? Mr. Wright?" Smith looked over at Wright. "What kind of mission?"

      
"Captain, we only have a handful of cells operating on the French coast. One of them is in a tiny town called Erquy, just west of Cape Frehel. Mr. Wright here knew that. So when your ship fortuitously passed by it, he seized the opportunity to get a message to our agent there. We encourage that kind of initiative in our men."

      
"What kind of message?"

      
"It concerned Lord Howell and your unraveling the mystery of the missing gold shipments. It was relayed to General de Frotté."

      
"de Frotté? Why would he be concerned with..."

      
Wickham raised his hand. "I am sorry, but you don’t have a need to know that, captain. At least not at the moment."

      
Smith knew that the words "need to know" signaled the end of all conversation on that topic, so he shifted his questions.

      
"Ambassador, I am still not sure I understand why you did all that ‘testing’ and why you’re here now."

      
"Let me start by saying that we had no idea you were going to be captured at Le Havre. But when we learned of it, we decided it was fortuitous even, may I say, providential.

      
"You see, we’ve suffered some set-backs in recent months. One of our agents was captured and tortured. He gave away the name of our lead agent, our handler, in Paris. He was, of course, arrested and killed."

      
"Have you decided on a replacement?"

      
"Yes, we have. You."

      
Smith quickly glanced over at Walker, then back at Wickham. "ME? You can’t be serious!"

      
"Oh, I am quite serious. So is First Lord Spencer, and so is Prime Minister Pitt. They both know and have approved."

      
Smith’s initial reaction was to suggest that Wickham had lost his mind; but he was an ambassador, or nearly so, and that might not do. So he softened his reply a bit and simply asked the obvious.

      
"And how do you propose that I do that?"

      
"We want you to turn yourself in."

      
Now Smith was genuinely speechless. When he found his voice again, he asked, "Let me see if I understand you. You have arranged my escape, so that I can turn myself back in. When I do that, I will no doubt be thrown into the dankest prison in Paris, from which I am supposed to run a spy ring. Do I have that correct?"

      
"Well ‘turning yourself back in’ is a bit harsh. It sounds so... dishonorable. Perhaps we should call it something more like: ‘allowing yourself to be caught.’ But yes, you have things substantially correct. We will arrange another escape for you when the time is right."

      
"That’s insane!"

      
"Not really. Tell me captain, if you were one of the French authorities, where would be the absolute last place you would look to ferret out the leader of an espionage ring?"

      
It dawned on Smith that he was right. No one, but
no one
, would suspect that it was being run by a prisoner in one of their own jails.

      
"But how am I supposed to do it? How am I supposed to communicate, to coordinate, to..."

      
Wickham interrupted him and briefly explained how it could and would be done. At the end, Smith simply sat silent. Then finally said, "What about my friends here?"

      
"John and François will be going into prison with you. They will be your assistants, so to speak. Dr. Walker will be exchanged."

      
"How do you know Lucas will be exchanged?"

      
"Because I just spent a small fortune in bribes to make it so. You, however, will not."

      
"Do I have a choice in this?"

      
Wickham leaned back against a log. "Not really. Oh, we’d prefer it if you were to volunteer; but, if need be, I can get signed orders from the First Lord of the Admiralty."

      
Smith thought for a long moment, then said, "Do I get a shilling from the King if I volunteer?"

***

      
Several weeks later an old monk with a red birthmark on the side of his face picked up a copy of the
Gazette Nationale
, the official French government newspaper, and read the following:

      
At last we have got Sidney Smith, this English incendiary who burnt our ships at Toulon, the same man who has tried on several occasions to set fire to the buildings and shops in Le Havre and promised Pitt to reduce our ports and our fleet to a heap of ashes. While his ship the
Diamond
was moored in the estuary after putting the
Vengeur
out of action she was attacked by a number of small vessels which had been sent to intercept her and obliged to surrender with her captain and crew. That Smith intended to set fire to the town is beyond doubt for a stick of sulphur was found in his possession similar to one which was discovered only a few months ago under one of our frigates under construction in the shipyard. This is to let you know that as we have not got in Havre a severe enough prison in which to keep him we are sending him under strong escort to Rouen pending the decision of the justiciary in respect to all attempts of this monster. I understand that the Directory has just given orders for him to be taken to Paris as an incendiary.

      
Wickham was right. Walker was exchanged; Smith was not. Smith was going to be tried as an arsonist and the penalty would be the guillotine—if they didn’t discover that he was also a spy and hang him first.

Historical Postscript

Separating fact from fiction

Chapter One

      
Lucas Walker’s speech before the London Medical Society was, of course, fictional. The society itself, however, was very real; and medicine, especially the military medicine of the day, was indeed dominated by Dr. Sir John Pringle. The information on scurvy and MacBride’s Wort is accurate, along with Pringles theory. It wasn’t until 1795 that the British navy began to distribute lime juice to it’s seaman on a regular basis—which is how British seaman got the name limeys.

      
Susan’s dinner party was fictional but the educational reforms she was advocating were not. The British educational system was as described; but Susan was a bit ahead of her time. The things she advocated were eventually enacted by Parliament, but it wasn’t done until the Elementary Education Act of 1870. The attitudes of the dinner guests toward education of the lower classes were very typical of the time. Mary Fletcher was an influential educator of the day and her statements are either direct quotes or paraphrases of her position.

      
The description of St. James Palace is accurate; and the people attending Sidney’s investiture are the ones who actually attended. I was not able to locate the exact form of Sir Sidney’s ceremony so what is shown here is a fictional composite (i.e. a polite way of saying, I made it up).

      
The "Maidens in Waiting to the Court of St. James" is fictional, but if there was ever anyone who deserved to be kissed by a prince, it would be Susan Whitney.

Chapter Two

      
The Swedish naval strategy as described here is accurate, although I am guessing as to whether it was personally conjured-up by Sidney Smith. It’s probably safe to say, however, that the plans were at least run past him before they were implemented and he doubtless had input. Also, the brief description of his exploits with the Swedish fleet are only a fraction of what he actually did. Indeed, in an original draft of this document they occupied a whole chapter and probably deserve a whole book.

      
Smith’s brother, John Spenser Smith, was indeed the King’s representative to the Ottoman Empire and Sidney did indeed go out to visit him.

      
The visit to the ruined basilica is fictional, but the basilica itself and the legends surrounding it are real. The house of Mary and the Cave of the Seven Sleepers, all exist and may be seen today.

      
The
Swallow
was indeed purchased by Smith, crewed by expatriates he rounded up on a dock, and sailed by Smith to find the fleet in Toulon. Captain Tarnow is fictional but his ship the
Sadana
and it’s cargo was real as were the "seekers."

Chapter Three

      
Walker’s medical chest is accurately described and the advertisement was copied from a real one.

      
The meeting took place aboard Hood’s ship as described where Smith volunteered to burn the French ship using exactly those words. Nelson, however, was not at the meeting. Fort Balaguier and Fort l’Eguillette were indeed captured by an unknown artillery officer by the name of Bonaparte; and Bonaparte was reported as having been wounded in the leg by a pike. One wonders how history might have changed if one unknown pikeman had aimed a bit better.

      
The chaotic and eventually disastrous evacuation of Toulon took place as described, as did Smiths burning of the French fleet, right down to the names of the people involved. Had it not been for Spanish duplicity (it turned out later that the Spanish admiral had been bought off), Smith would have accomplished more. It was the greatest single blow ever delivered to the French Navy up to that point; nevertheless, Smith received little or no official credit for accomplishing it. The "Swedish knight" was, indeed, derided by Nelson, Collingwood and their friends (which were legion) for not having done
more
—although neither man was actually present at Toulon.