Poland muttered something as several men ran to secure one of the boats on the tier; they were wading waist deep in water one moment, then seemed to rise higher than the quarterdeck the next.
Poland shouted, "I've three men below with injuries. I ordered the surgeon to make certain they were real and proper-no malingerers, I told him! "
Bolitho looked away. I'm sure of that, he thought.
Aloud he said, "Once clear of the Skaggerak we can use this nor'-easterly to good advantage." He saw Poland nod, not yet committed. "We will have a companion for the final passage across the North Sea. You can reduce sail then if need be to carry out repairs and relight the galley fire."
Poland showed no surprise that Bolitho should know about the galley. Instead he said bluntly, "You ordered Zest to make the rendezvous, Sir Richard? I make no secret of it-Captain Varian and I do not see eye to eye."
"I am aware of it. I am also conscious that even with our reinforcements from Cape Town and the Caribbean we are pitifully short of frigates." He did not add as usual although it had always been so; he had heard his father complaining about it often enough. "So you had best forget your private differences and concentrate on the task in hand."
In the bitter wind, with sea and spindrift reaching further out on either beam as the grey light continued to expand, it was hard to think of plots and schemers in high places. This was the place which truly counted. If England lost command of the seas she would surely lose everything else, with freedom at the top of the tally.
He was glad all the same that he had taken every precaution he could think of. If he was to be proved mistaken he would have lost nothing. But if not-He turned as the lookout yelled, "Deck there! Th' Dane's gone about! "
Poland staggered as another sea lifted and burst over the beakhead, his hands gripped behind him, his body responding to the deck's pitch with the ease of a rider on a well-trained stallion.
Bolitho moved away his eyes slitted against the weather as he watched a faint blur of land seemingly far away to larboard. In fact he knew it was probably less than two miles distant. Poland was staying as closehauled as he dared, using the north-east wind to weather the headland, The Skaw as it was respectfully called. He thought suddenly of his own elation when he had been roused by Allday on that other occasion when they had sighted The Lizard; what Catherine had later told him about her certainty that he had been near, although she could not possibly have known.
"All hands! All hands! Stand by to wear ship! "
Red-eyed and sagging with fatigue, their bodies bruised and bloodied by their fight with wind and sea, Truculent's seamen and marines staggered to their stations at halliards and braces like old men or drunkards.
Poland called sharply, "Get your best topmen aloft, Mr Williams-I want the t'gan's'ls on her as soon as we are on the new course." He glared at Hull, the sailing master. "This must be smartly done, sir! " It sounded like a threat.
Williams raised his speaking-trumpet. How his arm must ache, Bolitho thought. "Stand by on the quarterdeck! " He waited, judging the moment. "Alter course three points to larboard! " He gestured angrily with the speaking-trumpet as a wave swept over the nettings and hurled several men from their positions, while others stood firm, crouching and spitting out mouthfuls of water.
"Mr Lancer! More hands on the lee braces there! "
Poland nodded, his chin close to his chest. "Put up your helm! "
With a thunder of canvas and the squeal of blocks Truculent began to pay off to the wind, so that the sails refilled and held the ship almost upright instead of lying over to the mercy of the gale.
Poland consulted the compass and said, "Hold her steady, Mr Hull."
Bolitho saw the master glare at his back as he replied smartly, "Steady she goes, sir! West-by-north."
"Deck there! "
Poland peered up at the scudding, full-bellied clouds, his features raw from endless hours on deck. "What does that fool want?"
The lookout called again, "Sail on the starboard quarter! "
Poland looked along the length of his ship where men bustled about amidst the confusion of water and broken rigging, while they carried out repairs as they would perform under fire. Duty, discipline and tradition. It was all they knew.
He said, "Get somebody aloft with a glass, Mr Williams." Poland darted a quick glance at Bolitho by the weather rail. How could he have known?
Bolitho saw the glance. It was as if Poland had shouted the question out loud. He felt the tension draining out of him, the uncertainty replaced by a cold, bitter logic.
A master's mate, Hull 's best, had been sent to the masthead, and soon he bellowed down in a voice which had become as hardened to a sailor's life as a cannon which has seen a world of battles.
"Deck thar! Man-o'-war, zur! " A long pause while Truculent surged and dipped her jib-boom into a mountainous wave. It felt like striking a sandbar. Then he yelled, "Small 'un, zur! Corvette, aye, 'tis a corvette! "
Hull muttered, "If 'e says she's a corvette, then that she be! "
Poland walked unsteadily towards Bolitho and touched his hat with stiff formality. "Frenchman, Sir Richard." He hesitated before adding, "Too small to hamper us."
"Big enough to seek us out, Captain Poland, to hang to our coat-tails until-" He shrugged and said, "Whatever it is we shall soon know."
Poland digested it and asked, "Orders, Sir Richard?"
Bolitho looked past him at the listless exhausted seamen. Poland was right. No corvette would dare to challenge a thirtysix-gun frigate. So her captain must know that he would not be alone for much longer; and then. He heard himself reply "Have the boatswain's party clear out the galley and relight the fires immediately He ignored Poland 's expression. His face was full of questions; the galley had obviously not been high on his list. "Your people are in no state to fight-they are worn out. A good hot meal, and a double ration of rum, and you, will have men who will follow your orders and not give in at the first whiff of grape." He saw Poland nod and said, "I must see Sir Charles Inskip. I fear he is in for another unpleasant surprise."
Allday was standing close by and saw one of the seamen nudge his companion with a grin. "See, Bill? Our Dick's not bothered, so why should we be, eh?"
Allday sighed. Our Dick. Now they were his men too.
Then he thought about the rum and licked his lips in anticipation. A good "wet" was always welcome. Especially when it might be your last.
Catherine paused at the foot of the steps and glanced along the street with its tall elegant houses and leafless trees. It was late afternoon and already dark enough for the carriages to show their lamps. She had been shopping in some of the adjoining streets with Yovell as her companion, and sometimes adviser, especially on matters concerning the man he served so loyally.
She waved to the coachman, still called Young Matthew even though his grandfather Old Matthew, who had been the Bolitho coachman for many years, was long dead. It was good to have the light, elegant carriage here, she thought. A part of home. It seemed strange that she could think of Falmouth and the old grey house as home.
"You can go to the mews, Young Matthew, I'll not need you again today." He grinned down at her and touched his hat with his whip. "Very well, m'lady." One of Lord Browne's servants had come down the steps and she curtsied, her apron ribbons whipping out in the cold wind, before going to help Yovell with their many parcels.
"Oh, m'lady! " The girl called after her but Catherine was already in the hall. She stood stock-still with surprise, even shock, as she saw a uniformed figure standing inside the booklined library, his hands held out to the fire.
She waited a few seconds, her hand to her breast, until her breathing became steady again. It was foolish, but just for a moment she had believed-But the tall captain had fair hair and blue eyes: a friend for so many reasons. Captain Valentine Keen took her hand and kissed it. "I beg your pardon, m'lady for coming unannounced. I was at the Admiralty, too near to miss the chance of seeing you."