Ramage's Diamond

'Heave to ahead of the flagship,' Ramage said, 'and as soon as the cutter is hoisted out get under way again.'

'And after that, sir?'

'Unless you get a signal from the flagship, get into the Invincible's wake, so there'll be less distance to row when I come back on board!'

The Invincible's captain was waiting on the gangway for him. He returned Ramage's salute and his smile was friendly. That was significant: captains of flagships never gave welcoming smiles to junior captains summoned on board to face an admiral's wrath.

Captain Edwards made no conversation as he led the way down to the Admiral's cabin, however, and Ramage wondered whether he might not be regretting that brief smile. It would have cost him nothing to comment on the anchored ships or even to have asked about the Surcouf, which was clearly in sight and equally clearly a French ship now under British colours, but Edwards held his tongue.

The Admiral's cabin was large and cool and Ramage remembered it well from his first visit in Bridgetown. Then it had been hot and stuffy, with the ship anchored close in to the land. The cabin was empty and Captain Edwards waved to a chair by the table in front of the stern lights. 'Sit down, the Admiral will see you in a few minutes.'

Ramage could hear the Invincible's yards being trimmed round as she got under way again: she had hove-to just long enough for the Juno's cutter to get alongside and Ramage to scramble on board. The minutes passed and he saw the Juno come into sight through the stern lights and take up position two cables astern. Watching her manoeuvring, Ramage felt a glow of pride. Southwick was handling the ship as though he had a full complement on board, instead of less than a third. Once in the flagship's wake, her three masts remained precisely in line. Southwick would be watching the luffs like a hawk, and the men at the wheel and the quartermaster would be meeting each extra puff of wind, every wave that tried to push round the Juno's bow.

The door opened and the Admiral walked in, followed by Captain Edwards and his secretary. Ramage jumped up, watching the expression on the Admiral's face, but it gave nothing away.

The old fool's arrived too late, eh?' he said by way of a greeting. Ramage fidgeted uneasily, not knowing what to say, but the Admiral waved for him to sit down, walked round to the other side of the table and sat down himself opposite Ramage. Captain Edwards was waved to the seat on his right.

'Tell me what happened,' he demanded, and Ramage reached for the canvas bag.

'I have my report here, sir ...'

'Written reports tell admirals what captains think they ought to know, and they can't be interrupted with awkward questions.'

The Admiral seemed hostile and Captain Edwards was watching closely. Between the two men he could see the Juno following astern, her masts still perfectly in line.

'Well, sir, we sighted the convoy ...'

'No, begin from the time you arrived here. I know you covered the schooner business in your first report by La Mutine, but forget that for the moment.'

The Admiral's face was completely expressionless as Ramage told him of the Juno's look into Fort Royal, followed by the night attack on the Juno by the two schooners, and how they cut out the Surcouf from Fort Royal. When Ramage referred to sending La Mutine to Barbados with a warning about the expected French convoy, the Admiral said: 'Why did you choose her and not the other, what's the name, the Créole!'

There was obviously a reason for the question but Ramage could think of none. He shrugged his shoulders. 'It was a matter of chance, sir.'

'She never arrived,' the Admiral said bluntly.

'But my dispatch, sir, you received ...'

'The dispatch arrived but the schooner didn't; she sprang a plank and sank a third of the way over. Baker and his men rowed. Took them nearly four days. Almost dead when they arrived. Most of 'em still in hospital - sunstroke, sunburn and exhaustion ...’

'I'm very sorry -'

'Not your fault,' Admiral Davis said gruffly, 'and a very creditable effort by young Baker and his men. But tell me, Ramage,' he continued, his voice cold, 'why didn't you send the Surcouf with the warning, instead of a little schooner?'

'I was afraid the convoy might arrive early, sir,' Ramage said frankly.

'So you halved the men you had remaining in the Juno and put them on board the Surcouf. That hardly doubled your strength, surely?'

'No sir,' Ramage admitted, ‘but I was hoping that setting up batteries on top of the Diamond Rock to cover the Fours Channel would give us an element of surprise . . .'

'What's that?' the Admiral exclaimed sharply. 'You don't mean to say you even dreamed of getting a gun up on to the top of that Rock? D'you hear that, Edwards? Why, you ...'

Captain Edwards had been watching Ramage closely and he deliberately interrupted the Admiraclass="underline" 'Perhaps we might hear what Ramage had in mind, sir?'

The Admiral had now put himself in such a difficult position that Ramage hardly knew how to begin. Davis glanced at Edwards and Ramage, his bloodshot eyes missing little. Although Ramage did not know it, Admiral Davis was a man who knew when to cut his losses.

'Did you get a gun up to the top?'

'Yes, sir,' Ramage said, and decided to get it over with at the rush. 'We swayed two up to the top, a third to a ledge half-way up, and a fourth covers the only cove where a boat can land.'

'Bless my soul,' the Admiral said. 'You must have been mad even to try it. Carronades, eh? Men parbuckled 'em up the hill?'

'Ramage said they swayed them up, sir,' Captain Edwards interposed.

'Carronades, though. Didn't do much good, eh? No range, those things. Don't believe in 'em myself.'

Edwards glanced at Ramage and said quietly: 'I noticed the Juno is missing some 12-pounders. Three, I believe, and a 6-pounder, too ...'

Ramage nodded gratefully. 'Yes, sir. You see, I found that we ...’

'Twelve-pounders?' the Admiral almost shouted. 'Do you mean to tell me you swayed a couple of 12-pounders up to the top of the Diamond?'

‘Well, yes sir, you see ...'

The Admiral slapped the table with a thump that made Ramage blink and miss the old man's expression. 'Splendid! Splendid, m'boy! Dammit, Edwards, I knew I should never have let Eames . . .' he broke off. 'Well, go on, now you have the batteries on top of the Diamond and two half-manned frigates. Then you wait and wait for that damned old Admiral, who never comes, eh?'

He was grinning now, and Ramage decided he could be completely frank. Admiral Davis was far shrewder than he seemed and had a sense of humour lurking beneath that almost purple complexion.

'Well, sir, to be truthful, we waited for the convoy ...’

'Damme, that's an honest enough answer, eh, Edwards? What's your seniority, Ramage?'

'Last name in the List when I left England, sir.'

'Ah yes, I remember. By jove, for the last few days you've been commanding a squadron of - how many ships?'

'Eleven, sir: three frigates, a schooner and seven merchant ships.'

'Ah yes, now let's hear about the convoy.’

Ramage began by describing briefly how he hoped to lure the convoy and escorts into the Fours Channel, where he could make a surprise attack with the two frigates, using La Créole as a Trojan horse and, as soon as the French ships were within range, opening fire with the Diamond batteries.

His attempt to keep his story brief failed completely: both the Admiral and Captain Edwards kept interrupting with questions. How did he time the arrival of the Juno and Surcouf so the French were squarely in the Channel? How did Ramage expect to break through two frigates with the half-manned Juno to attack from the unprotected landward side? How could he expect the Surcouf to dodge the two remaining frigates?