The Emperor (77 page)

There was an awkward pause. Lucy was embarrassed that
Collingwood's friend had been criticized so openly by
Chetwyn; but Collingwood was upset to realize that he had
forgotten about Lady Aylesbury's affair with Captain
Weston, and that Lord Aylesbury was more likely to feel
sympathy with Lady Nelson than with her husband. He had
spoken tactlessly, stirring up old trouble, and he hastened to
make amends.

‘
At all events, His Majesty has certainly singled out your
brother for attention, whatever the reason,' he said to Lucy.
‘We must see if we can't turn the circumstance to some
good. St Vincent thinks there will be an expedition to the
Baltic in the new year, so there are bound to be promotions,
and vacancies in the captains' list. It might present the
opportunity to get our young friend made post.’

Lucy's face lit with a smile, and she seized Collingwood's
hand impulsively. 'Oh, how kind you are! Harry will be so
grateful – we all will! You are so very good to interest
yourself in our family. I don't forget how you helped poor
Jack.'

‘
He was the most likeable of young men,' Collingwood said, 'and a fine sailor. He was a great loss to the service.
Ah, here comes the
succés fou
of the evening!' he added as
Harry rejoined them, his cheeks burning and his eyes bright
from his experience. 'Lady Aylesbury, may I do myself the
honour of calling on you in a day or two? I should like to
pay my respects to Lady Chelmsford, and I may perhaps
have some news for you by then.’

Lucy caught her first glimpse of Lady Hamilton that
same evening, as she and Chetwyn and Harry were driving
home in the chariot to Upper Grosvenor Street. As they
went through Grosvenor Square, they saw a carriage drawn
up in front of the Hamilton's house, saw old Sir William
descend and then turn back to offer his hand to his lady.

‘
Is that her?' Lucy said in astonishment. 'Good God, she is enormous! How can Lord Nelson be so fond of her? And
not even handsome,' she added, as they passed the house
and the light from the flambeau fell across Lady Hamilton's
face.

Docwra had a thing or two to say about it as she
undressed Lucy for bed an hour later. 'She's generally held
to be handsome, my lady, though there's differences of
opinion about
how
handsome,' she said when Lucy
repeated her opinion to her. 'But she's not lookin' at her
best at the moment. She'll be a mite puffed up in the face.'

‘
More than a mite,' Lucy said. 'She's monstrous fat! All
swathed in layers and layers of muslin, she looked like an
enormous ham.’

Docwra pursed her lips. 'Fat she may be, my lady, but it's
what you'd call a temporary condition, and I wouldn't
wonder if she didn't be losing some of that figure before
very long.'

‘What?' Lucy said, startled. 'You don't mean — ?'

‘I do an' all,' Docwra nodded. 'Cook had it off one of the
housemaids, but sure I don't need gossiping servants to tell
me that she's increasing and like to come off at any
moment!'

‘Dear me,' said Lucy. 'How very awkward.'

 
A week later Cuthbert Collingwood brought the good news
round to Upper Grosvenor Street. It was doubly worth
waiting for: Harry had been made post into
Semele,
and to
make room for him, Captain Weston was promoted to
command of a frigate, the
Thames,
32.

‘
The commissions in both cases are effective immediately,' Collingwood told Lucy, 'though it will be several
weeks before the news reaches the
Semele
and Weston can
bring her in. The
Thames
probably won't arrive before
February — she's on her way back from the West Indies.'

‘
You are so very kind,' Lucy said, taking his hand. 'You have made the occasion to do me two good services. I can't
thank you enough.'

‘
Believe me, there was very little to do. Your brother
recommended himself to His Majesty with his modest good sense, and Captain Weston's reputation is already high with
Their Lordships.'

‘
Nevertheless, I know what trouble you must have been
to for things to have moved so quickly.'

‘
I am always glad to do my country the service of helping
her to reward good sailors,' he smiled, bowing over her
hand.

‘
And the
Thames,
of all ships,' Lucy marvelled as the
thought struck her. 'She was my brother William's very first
command! He had her for a summer cruise, the year before
the war began.'

‘
Yes, in the April of '92, I remember,' Collingwood said.
‘Do you?' Lucy asked, surprised.

He gave a wry smile. 'Very well indeed. Your brother
was much luckier than 1. I had six years on the beach. In
those days, one scanned the papers for the details of every
ship in commission — there were few enough of them to
remember!'

‘
I seem to recall William spoke very well of the
Thames,'
Lucy mused.

‘
Yes, she's a nice ship, though she's had a chequered
career. She was in French hands for three years, you know.
They took her after a single-ship action with the
Uranie
in
'93. Poor Cotes had her then – he was terribly cut up. She
and
Uranie
fought each other for four hours, until the
French broke off the engagement. The
Thames
had lost two
of her three masts and her rudder, and had no way
of manoeuvring to re-engage, so she made sail in the
only direction she could hold, straight before the wind.
Her opponent was too badly damaged to follow, but
no sooner was she hull-down of the
Uranie
than she ran
straight into another French squadron of three frigates and
a brig.'

‘Oh, what bad luck!'

‘
Yes, indeed it was. She had no choice but to strike. The
French renamed her
Tamise,
and she carried the tricolour
for three years, until Byam Martin won her back off the
Scillies in '96, in a single-ship action with the
Santa
Margarita.'

‘
How nice for Weston to have a frigate with a history,'
Lucy said.

‘
Oh, all our ships have a tale to tell,' Collingwood smiled.
‘And one always has an affection for one's first command.
Mine was the old
Hinchinbroke –
I took her over from
Nelson, when he transferred to the
Janus.
I dare say Weston
will be quite sorry to leave the
Semele.’

Harry was out when Collingwood called, so it fell to Lucy
to tell him the good news on his return, and to hand him the
Admiralty letters that had been left for him. Harry
expressed himself delighted, but Lucy felt there was some
thing missing from his excitement, and when pressed, he
finally admitted his trouble.

‘
I can't help knowing that he's doing all this not for me,
but in memory of Jack. That was why he took me into the
Excellent
in the first place, to sort of make it up to cousin
Charles. I just wish I could be promoted on my own merits,
that's all.'

‘Oh, don't be such a buffle-head,' Lucy said. 'In the first
place, he wouldn't have helped you at all if you weren't a
good sailor – surely you must know that much about him?
And in the second place, everyone, however good they are,
needs interest. Even your precious Admiral Nelson got on
at the beginning through interest, because his uncle was
Comptroller of the navy. So don't stand there talking
fustian, but go straight away and write him a proper letter of
thanks, because he has put himself out a great deal to do this
for you, and whatever he says, it can't be agreeable to ask
favours.’

The
Semele
wasn't expected until the middle of January, and Harry, whose spirits soon rose to the proper level for a
man who had achieved post rank at the age of only twenty-
three, with all its concomitant glory, and the knowledge that
he now had only to live long enough to become an admiral one day, said that he might as well go to Yorkshire for the
Christmas season.

‘
But why don't you come with me?' he said to Lucy and
Chetwyn at the dinner table, 'and bring the children, too?
We could make a real occasion of it. After all, who knows
when we'll all be together again?’

Chetwyn and Lucy exchanged cautious glances. 'What do
you think, Ma'am?' Chetwyn said diffidently. 'I expect the
children would like it of all things.'

‘
Perhaps I will,' Lucy said, studying the pattern on her
plate. 'I haven't yet seen what Mary Ann has made of the
old place.'

‘
You haven't yet seen the new baby,' Harry pointed out.
‘My namesake.'

‘
Not so new any more,' Chetwyn said. 'But wait – we are not fair to the absent. We must not forget Roberta.' She was
dining out that evening. 'Will she want to come?'

‘
She's already told me she's taking the boy to stay with
her father and some of his relatives in Gloucestershire,' said
Lucy.

‘
Good, then it's all settled,' Harry said, reaching for the
roast duck. 'Can I carve you some more of this, Luce? I say,
wouldn't Mama be pleased to have another son a captain? I
once told her I'd settle down with a nice girl and raise some grandchildren for her once I'd got my ship. Perhaps I'd better look around in York over Christmas.'

‘But now Mother's dead, there's no need for the grand
children. You needn't marry if you don't want to,' Lucy
pointed out.

Harry's knife paused with the arresting thought. 'Very
true! I hadn't thought of that.' The knife took up its carving
again. 'But I think I might as well do it as not, after all. I
expect I might like it prodigiously, once I got used to it.'
Chetwyn snorted into his wine, and Lucy choked a little over her pickled peas, and Harry looked at them with a
smirk of puzzled amusement. 'Now what are you two
laughing at? Is it something I said?’

*

Everyone was pleased with the decision. Edward was glad
to see Chetwyn again, especially as he and Lucy seemed
to be on better terms — not loving, nor even close, but at
least comfortable. James was always glad of a distraction
from the monochromatic unhappiness of his life, and he had always got on best with Lucy of all his brothers and
sisters.

‘
We should have better hunting this year,' he promised
her. 'The ground's soft, and there's plenty of scent, and Ned and I have found out half a dozen earths.'

‘
Yes, I thought there would be good sport, so I sent
Parslow on ahead with Minstrel. We passed him just this
side of Doncaster, so he should be here by tomorrow night,' said Lucy.

Chetwyn shuddered. 'If she's taking Minstrel out, I shall
stay at home by the fire. I'd as lief not actually see her break
her neck. You can tell me about it afterwards, Jamie.’

James grinned. ‘Oh, Minstrel's the colt you bought from Rutland, is it? John Anstey told me about it. Can you really manage it, Luce?'

‘Don't be silly,' Lucy replied shortly.

‘
Well, I'll join you by the fire, sir,' Harry said. 'I can't see
the fun in dashing about on a horse through fathoms of mud
when you might have your feet in a fender and your hand
around a tankard. And a horse is about as comfortable as
the fore t'gallant masthead after a sprat supper.'

‘
You'd get on well with George Brummell,' Lucy said
drily.

Edward had been regarding his friend closely, and put a
solicitous hand on his arm and said, 'Are you really well
again, Chet? You're looking worn to the socket.’

Chetwyn returned the pressure briefly, 'I'm well enough,' he said. 'It's just the years catching up with me.’