1805 by Richard Woodman Page B

entirely
theoretical. I am told that the French cannot build barges capable of
carrying troops. I do not believe that, so it is
your
observations that I wished for.'
    'Very well, sir. I think the French might be capable of
combining their fleet effectively. Their ships are not entirely
despicable. If fortune gave them a lucky start and Nelson…'
he broke off, flushing.
    'Go on, Captain. "If Nelson…"'
    'It is nothing, sir.'
    'You were about to say: "if Nelson maintains his blockade
loosely enough to entice Latouche-Tréville out of Toulon for a
battle,
only to lose contact with him, matters might result in that combination
of their fleets that you are apprehensive of." Is that it?'
    'It is a possibility talked of in the fleet, sir.'
    'It is a possibility talked of elsewhere, sir,' observed Pitt
with some asperity and looking at Dungarth. 'Nelson will be the death
or the glory of us all. He let a French fleet escape him before Abukir.
If he wasn't so damned keen on a battle, but kept close up on Toulon
like Cornwallis at Brest…' Pitt broke off to refill his
glass. 'So you think there is a chance of a French fleet entering the
Channel?'
    Drinkwater nodded. 'It is a remote one, sir. But the Combined
Fleets of France and Spain did so in seventy-nine. They would have more
chance of success if they went north about.'
    'Round Scotland, d'you mean?'
    'Yes, sir. There'd be less chance of detection,' said
Drinkwater, warming to his subject and egged on by the appreciative
expression on Dungarth's face. 'A descent upon the Strait of Dover from
the North Sea would be quite possible and they could release the Dutch
fleet en route. You could circumvent Cornwallis by…'
    'A rendezvous in the West Indies, by God!' interrupted Pitt.
'Combine all your squadrons then lose yourself in the Atlantic for a
month and reappear at our back door… Dungarth, d'you think
it's possible?'
    'Very possible, William, very possible, and also highly
likely. The Emperor Napoleon has one hundred and seventy thousand men
encamped just across the water there. I'd say that was just what he
was
intending.'
    Pitt crossed the rich carpet to stare out of the window at the
pale line of France on the distant horizon. The waters of the Strait
lay between, blue and lovely in the sunshine beyond the bastions of the
castle, dotted with the white sails of Keith's cruisers. Without
turning round, Pitt dismissed Drinkwater.
    'Thank you, Captain Drinkwater. I shall take note of your
opinion.'
    Dungarth saw him to the door. 'Thank you, Nathaniel,' the earl
muttered confidentially, 'I believe your deductions to be absolutely
correct.'
    Drinkwater returned to his boat flattered by the veiled
compliment from Dungarth and vaguely disturbed that his lordship, as
head of the navy's intelligence service, needed a junior captain to
make his case before the new Prime Minister.

----
Chapter
Seven
June-July 1804
The Army of the Coasts of the Ocean
    'Six minutes, Mr Rogers,' said
Drinkwater pocketing his watch,
'very creditable. Now you may pipe the hands to dinner.'
    The shifting of the three topsails had been accomplished in
good time and the tide was just turning against them. They could bring
to their anchor and dine in comfort, for there was insufficient wind to
hold them against a spring ebb. It was a great consolation, he had
remarked to Rogers earlier, that they could eat like civilised men
ashore at a steady table, while secure in the knowledge that their very
presence at anchor in the Dover Strait was sufficient to keep the
French army from invading.
    For almost seven weeks now,
Antigone
had
formed part of Lord Keith's advance division, cruising ceaselessly
between the Varne Bank and Cap Gris Nez, one of several frigates and
sixty-fours that Keith kept in support of the small fry in the
shallower water to the east. Cutters, luggers, sloops and gun-brigs,
with a few bomb-vessels, kept up a constant pressure on the attempts by
the French army to practise embarkation. Drinkwater