Ramage and the Dido Read Free Page A

Anyway, she was a sixty-four, the Agamemnon.’
    ‘I don’t care,’ Sarah said obstinately, ‘you’re only getting what you’ve long deserved. And it’s only right that you take the Calypsos with you.’
    ‘He still has to find another four hundred or so men,’ the earl pointed out. ‘I don’t know what the Dido ’scomplement is, but he only has 225 men in the Calypso and the Dido will be nearer 625 . You’re going to have a lot of pressed men to lick into shape!’
    ‘Yes,’ Ramage agreed, ‘but it’s always easier when you have a nucleus of good men to start with.’
    ‘Remember Falstaff’s words,’ the earl reminded him. ‘Although they were pressed for the Army, remember that he had “revolted tapsters, and ostlers trade-fall’n; the cankers of a calm world and a long peace”. Remember, too, that he said that “A mad fellow met me on the way, and told me I had unloaded all the gibbets, and press’d the dead bodies…”’
    Ramage laughed because the quotation, from Henry IV , was one of his favourites. ‘Still, when they hear how much my fellows have made from prize money, I expect I’ll get a few volunteers.’
    The earl nodded in agreement. ‘Mind you, you probably won’t get as much with a seventy-four as you did with a frigate. By the way, that master of yours – Southwick, isn’t it? – should be a wealthy man by now. He’s been with you ever since you got your first command, the Kathleen cutter.’
    ‘Yes, he could retire and be comfortably off. I mentioned it to him once and got a very short answer – he’s happy at sea with me. Interesting to guess what he might have done if he had not been transferred to the Dido.’
    ‘Retired, I expect. A man like him doesn’t want to start having to learn new tricks with a fresh captain – not after so many years with you. Anyway, he must be well into his sixties by now.’
    ‘About sixty-five, but he runs around like a young boy.’
    ‘How’s young Paolo, by the way?’
    ‘You wouldn’t recognise him, he’s grown so much. More like a junior lieutenant than a young midshipman. He was very excited to have his aunt on board when we came back from Naples.’
    ‘From what Gianna said, most of the ship’s company were very excited at seeing her. The Marchesa was certainly popular!’
    ‘You and Mother don’t mind her staying here?’
    ‘Of course not. Anyway, she prefers it when we are down at St Kew – I think the Cornish landscape reminds her of Volterra – Tuscany, anyway. She has plenty of friends now – and I hope she’s enjoying her visit to Shropshire at the moment.’
    Sarah looked at the letter and the commission lying on the table. The important thing neither mentioned was dates. ‘When do you have to go to Portsmouth?’ she asked Ramage.
    He felt himself torn two ways: he wanted to be with her, and he wanted to be down at Portsmouth, looking over his new command, like a child with a new toy. The Admiralty letter said nothing about when he should be at Portsmouth, nor did the commission, but it was always understood that ‘forthwith’ was implied.
    ‘I should go down tomorrow. But you’ll come with me? There’s a comfortable inn near the Dockyard – and you know all the Calypsos. You’ll find it interesting to see a ship of the line being commissioned.’
    ‘She won’t if all you have to do is provision and water her!’ the earl said unexpectedly. ‘Just sitting in her room doing embroidery…’
    ‘I think I’ll start packing,’ Sarah said. ‘Just in case you take a long time getting the Dido ready. There must be some sort of social life in Portsmouth.’
    ‘Oh yes, the whole place positively quivers,’ the earl said ironically. ‘What with tea with the Port Admiral’s wife, and a call on the mayor, and giving Aitken and Southwick tea as the gracious wife of the captain, you won’t have a minute to call your own.’
    ‘You make it sound very exciting. Especially tea with the mayor.’
    ‘Well,