A War by Diplomacy Read online

  Mr. Stewart directed the coachman to a large, stone house built in the current fashion, the home of a prosperous business-owner who did not feel the need to ape the aristocracy. Although there was a butler, who opened the door, Mrs. Stewart was in the entryway to welcome them warmly and to show them to their rooms. She was a large, unpretentious woman who spoke with a pronounced Wiltshire accent. She seemed to be somewhat awed by her guests.

  Dinner was a hearty meal, with several removes* excellently prepared and presented. Much of the conversation was about ships and the war. Mr. Stewart’s yard had all the work they could handle building for the navy, and describing this activity inevitably led the conversation to the war and the Navy’s role in it. Mrs. Stewart was not much interested in the general threats that Napoleon presented, but was very concerned about its implications for her son, Daniel, Giles’s midshipman. She was inordinately proud of him and his service in Giles’s ships, but she was clearly worried about the hazards that attended service in a ship-of-war in a time of conflict. Giles could do little to set her mind at ease on the latter topic, though he did let drop that he would not be surprised if the next cruise provided little fighting. He did praise the young man’s progress adding enough detail that it was clear that he was monitoring the lad’s development and not just giving pro forma replies to an anxious parent.

  Conversation inevitably turned to the new frigate. Daphne asked about the Captain’s cabin.

  “That will be one of the features of the ship,” Mr. Stewart replied. “Glaucus has a splendid stern window. I was warned that she might be required to transport very distinguished people, so I have made the area so that it can accommodate two versions of the cabin. One is for Captain Giles when there is no special passenger and another in which there are two sleeping cabins and day cabins with a special adjoining dining area that can be used by both. The layout will cramp the wardroom* a bit, but not nearly as much as when an extra guest has to be accommodated in the wardroom and the officers have to put up with the complaints of the visitors who are not used to the Spartan arrangements of a ship of war. The arrangement will also prevent situations where the captain feels he has to give up his own cabin to some visiting dignitary.

  “But how can you have two different cabins on the same ship?” Daphne inquired.

  “It’s easy,” replied Mr. Stewart. “The cabin partitions in a ship-of-war are all temporary. In fact they are removed and stowed below when the crew is ordered to ‘clear for action’. Glaucus just has two different sets of partitions. Daniel tells me that Captain Giles always clears for action at daybreak, so his passenger will have to get up at dawn, like it or not.”

  “We will be supplying two hanging cots, two tables and two chairs for the cabins, and a table that can seat ten and the corresponding number of chairs for the dining area, and a serving table. They are all pretty plain, I am afraid. Many captains get their own furniture and they even put a rug on the floor to make it less utilitarian, but that is up to them, not to the ship builders or the Admiralty.”

  The following morning, Giles and Daphne were rowed out to the new frigate. It was evident that a substantial amount of carpentry was still to be done. Giles’s crew had already arrived and settled in and were now speeding matters by helping with the rigging tasks that would normally be done by the yard, as well as doing as much of the fitting out that was usually left to a ship’s crew as they could while the ship was still being built.

  Daphne was welcomed on board enthusiastically by the officers and crew. Most of them had already seen her on a couple of occasions and definitely approved their captain’s choice of a wife. Lead by Mr. Stewart, Giles and Daphne were given a tour of the main features of the ship, and the builder was very keen to show Daphne how the Captain’s cabin could take on different configurations, even though doing so caused a good deal of confusion and interruption of other tasks. What Daphne most noticed was that Glaucus smelled much more pleasantly than had Giles’s pervious ship, Impetuous.

  When the general tour was over, Giles wanted to go over every part of the ship in detail with some of his petty officers. Daphne announced that she would like to return to the shore to see Mrs. Stewart’s garden which, she said, contained some unusual features. She had learned about them when the ladies were waiting for the gentlemen to finish their wine after dinner. Giles was surprised because she hadn’t mentioned this interest earlier, but had no objection. When he glanced ashore a bit later, he was puzzled to see Daphne going into the office of the shipyard with Mr. Stewart rather than walking directly to Mrs. Stewart’s house.

  When they met before dinner later in the day, Giles had completely forgotten about Daphne’s strange behavior. This may have been because she had a new proposal to put to him.

  “Richard, do you remember that we were supposed to have two full days in London.”

  “Yes, of course, though we came down here instead on the second day.”

  “I would still like to have the second day to shop and sight-see in London.”

  “Shopping again? Can I afford it?”

  “Of course you can. Don’t be silly. Can we do it? Or do you still need to be here?”

  “No. And I don’t suppose that the work at Dipton will be ruined if we are away an extra couple of days.”

  “So we can go to London tomorrow?”

  “Yes, indeed. It should be entertaining. We can stay at the same hotel. I am sure that I can find much to do while you are about your business.”

  Chapter III

  “Captain Giles,” the desk-man at Nerot’s Hotel greeted him as he and Daphne arrived from Butler’s Hard. “It is good to have you with us again. This note was delivered for you a few minutes ago, in the hope that you might be returning this evening.”

  The note was from Sir David McDougall. It read:

  Captain Giles, I do not know if you are still in town. If you are and if it is convenient, I invite you and Lady Giles to a reception at the home of The Viscount Ducksworth in Chaverly Square. Any time after eight. Sir Walcott Lainey will be in attendance and it would be a good idea for you to meet him before your trip begins.

  “Daphne, we have been invited to a reception at the home of some viscount or other, this evening. Something about meeting that fellow I am supposed to take to St. Petersburg. Would you like to attend?”

  “Yes, I would – very much. You know that I have never been in a London house – or in one that is owned by a viscount. I had no idea that I was marrying such an important man. But I don’t have anything to wear.”

  “Nonsense, what you wore to the Opera will do very nicely, I would think.”

  “I suppose so. After all, we will be going to see what London Society is like, not to dazzle Society with my own looks.”

  “Oh, you’ll do that, my dear, and not because of your clothes.”

  The carriage delivered Daphne and Giles to a brilliantly lit, large house in a square that Giles said was in Mayfair. Footmen helped them from the carriage and they followed some earlier arrivals through the front door, where they gave their names to some sort of servant. He in turn led them to the door of a very large room where he bellowed their names at the groups of people gathered there. Just as Giles was wondering what he should do next, for he had spotted no one he knew and had no idea of what the Viscount Ducksworth might look like, Sir David detached himself from a group and greeted them warmly, seeking in particular an introduction to Daphne. She suspected that he had a roving eye, but she had no intention of flirting with him to advance Giles’s career, something that rumor said happened quite frequently in these circles.

  Sir David led them over to a man who was standing alone, gazing off into space. He turned as Sir David announced, “Sir Walcott, may I introduce Captain and Lady Giles.” The person addressed was a tall, red-faced man with straw-colored hair tied in a queue. His most prominent feature was a slightly pursed mouth with a jutting out lower lip suggesting a man whose habitual state was to be aggressively displeased wit
h everything. He was expensively and rather foppishly dressed.

  “Ah,” he said, “you are the man who is supposed to take me to St. Petersburg. I hope you know your business. In my experience, most of you fellows do not seem to know what they are doing. You are, of course, under my orders, you understand.”

  Giles was wondering how to respond to this falsehood when Sir David intervened. “Sir Walcott, you know that is not the case. Glaucus will sail under Admiralty orders, and Captain Giles has been instructed to convey you to St. Petersburg and to bring you back when your business is concluded or appears to be completely stalled, in any case before winter sets in. He has also been instructed to avoid conflict, if it is possible in his judgment, because you are aboard. Allow me a few moments with him to make sure that he understands his orders.”

  Sir David took Giles by the elbow and led him to one side where the others could not hear him. Sir Walcott turned to Daphne to continue his complaints.

  “Stuff and nonsense, Lady Giles. I will have my orders obeyed, of course, no matter what that place-holder McDougall says. I do hope that your husband at least knows -- what do they say? – starboard from…ah… t’otherside. I imagine that you will be coming with us and cluttering up the boat with women’s things.”

  “Why, no, Sir Walcott, I will not. I have important matters to attend to in England.”

  “Just as well. Quite the country mouse, are you? I should have guessed from your clothes.”

  “These old rags. We only received Sir David’s invitation at the last minute. Some mistake at the hotel, I suppose. I had already sent my other evening clothes on ahead to Dipton Hall. That is Captain Sir Richard’s estate, you know. Anyway,” said Daphne, with sudden inspiration, “accommodations are very Spartan on Captain Sir Richard’s ship. We were just down in Wiltshire inspecting her, yesterday. Very plain accommodations, I am afraid, with only very crude furniture made by the shipbuilder. That is the way it is in the Navy. Of course, passengers may bring their own furniture, though it has to be suitable for the unusual lines of a ship, and specially made so that it will remain steady when the ship is not.”

  “You seem to be very knowledgeable, Lady Giles.”

  “I am, indeed. Yes! I spoke to the chief shipbuilder while we were at Butler’s Hard. He said that the best place to get such furniture is Siddon’s in Duke Street, here in London. He highly recommended that establishment, said it was better than anything in Portsmouth. They may well have the measurements for Glaucus.”

  “I really do think that the Navy should have provided me with adequate accommodations on the ship. It is a remarkably inefficient service. I don’t see how these Admiralty flunkies can expect me to undertake an important mission if they do not make sure that my quarters are fitted out in the very best taste. What you describe may be good enough for your husband, but not for me. Siddon’s, you say?”

  “Yes, Sir Walcott, Siddon’s in Duke Street. Just down from Piccadilly, I believe.”

  “Good. I shall have to make arrangements, I suppose. I shall also have to speak to Sir David. In very firm terms. Ah, here he is now.”

  Sir Walcott drew Sir David aside and from his agitated manner, which contrasted with Sir David’s curt responses, he did not seem to be getting his way. Giles and Daphne were left on their own, but not for long.

  “Richard,” a large, stately woman addressed him. “I didn’t expect you to be in town. Almost no one is. I hear you have been doing great things! And this must be your wife. You are a beauty, my dear, and so wise not to swathe yourself in the gaudy nonsense that Lady Hamilton inspired. But I get ahead of myself. Do introduce us properly, Richard.”

  “Yes, Aunt Gillian. Lady and Lord Struthers, may I present my wife, Daphne. Lady Struthers is my mother’s sister and they are very close. When I was growing up, Lord and Lady Struthers were very good to me. Uncle Geoffrey gave me my first pony, and helped me to ride him.”

  . “He was a real hellion at that age, but we are very fond of him,” Lord Struthers remarked. “So glad to hear from Clara that he married well, and not just for money. I hope we may get to know you better soon.”

  The two couples chatted for a while, Giles’s aunt drawing Daphne into explaining the changes that they were making to Dipton Hall. However, after ten minutes, Lady Struthers spotted someone across the room to whom she ‘absolutely had to talk’. Giles and Daphne were marooned among the groups of chattering, elegantly dressed people and Daphne started to feel very uncomfortable, especially as Sir Walcott’s remark and the kind words of Lady Struthers made her aware that Giles had not been the most informed source for information on what clothes would be appropriate.

  “I would like to leave, if you would, Daphne,” Giles announced. Daphne was more than happy to agree. She had no objection to an early night at the hotel.

  Next morning, at breakfast, Daphne announced, “Richard, I want to go shopping on my own this morning, with Betsy, of course. Then I would like to have lunch here with you and then you can show me all the sights.”

  “Hardly all the sights, my dear. There are too many.”

  “Well then, the ones you like best.”

  Giles was a bit surprised that Daphne had not tried to get him to join the shopping expedition. However, he would be quite happy to spend the time on his own. He would like to visit Hatchard’s new bookstore in Piccadilly and possibly also find some music for his violin or, even better, some piano and violin music that Daphne and he could work on while he was away. In addition it would be a rare pleasure for him to visit a coffee shop to read the newspapers, a delight in which he could readily indulge himself. He could anticipate being happily engaged for the morning on his own.

  Giles was just leaving Hatchard’s when he saw Daphne and Betsy farther down the street emerging from a shop. They turned down Duke Street almost at once. He suspected that the store was Fortnum and Mason’s, which was also his own next stop. He had heard from captains who were richer than he that this particular emporium was the best place to order superior cabin supplies. At the time he had learned about the shop, such extravagance was well beyond his purse. It was only for the well-off, which he had not been, but now he was. Furthermore, he had never liked the idea of his having much better food than his officers, so he had found that getting his cabin supplies in the port from which he was leaving was quite satisfactory. However, with Sir Walcott sharing the captain’s quarters with him, he supposed he should get some high-end delicacies. He reflected that he was indeed now among those richer captains who could afford to satisfy their tastes with the best provisions.

  Giles entered the long-established institution for supplying the needs of gentlemen, especially officers in the military. The attendant who assisted him was very knowledgeable about what supplies gentlemen particularly liked to order. He soon found himself choosing a variety of preserved fruits and biscuits, smoked hams and beef, and several cheeses. Giles had soon put together a large order which he reckoned would provide enough special items for the dinners he would have with Sir Walcott and his own officers. When he was ready to complete the order, the clerk looked up in surprise when he heard the name of the customer and where the goods were to be delivered.

  “Captain Giles. Lady Giles visited us earlier in the morning. She also placed a large order to be delivered to Glaucus.”

  “Well,” thought Giles, “that explains the mysterious shopping excursion that Daphne insisted on taking by herself.”

  “Did she buy the same items?” he asked.

  “In many cases, yes,” declared the shop-attendant, “though sometimes in the very best quality, rather than the more ordinary ones you chose. Yours are, of course, perfectly adequate and very popular with many of my captains. And Lady Giles ordered somewhat larger quantities.”

  “Then remove those items from my order that overlap hers. Keep the other things that are only in my order. Make sure the packaging of the two orders is separate, so it will be clear which order is which.”

 
“Yes, sir. And send the account to Mr. Edwards?”

  “Yes, do so.”

  Giles next stop was a coffee shop. He sat with his cup, reading a newspaper, but found he could not concentrate on it. How thoughtful it was of Daphne to think of his comfort, even when he himself only remembered to visit Fortnum and Mason’s because of the unfortunate shipmate he was about to endure. She would have enjoyed this coffee house, he was sure, but, of course women were banned from such establishments. How he was going to miss her while he was away! Some Navy captains did take their wives with them on voyages, even in wartime, but he could hardly ask Daphne to accompany him when she was pregnant. Also, she would become bored on shipboard with nothing useful to do. She got great pleasure out of managing their estate and her father’s one. The wives who went to sea were probably much less active on shore and, he suspected, in most cases, it was frugality on the part of the captain, rather than a reluctance to be separated from their mates, that drove their decision to take their wives with them. How he wished this war would end: in truth, he would rather be with Daphne at Dipton than sailing to St. Petersburg.

  Giles came out of his reverie to realize that he had little more time before he was to meet Daphne. His newspaper remained largely unread, but it did not matter. He had better things to do. He did arrive at Nerot’s Hotel with time to spare, and while waiting he inquired about concerts that evening. Daphne would enjoy one, he thought. He was in luck; there would be a concert in the Hanover Square Rooms that night, starting at 8 o’clock.

  Daphne and Giles did not tarry over lunch. He suggested that they walk to Westminster, to see the Abbey and Houses of Parliament. They did so, going through St. James’s Park before turning off to see the Abbey. Giles then took Daphne by the other sights of Westminster to the river near Westminster Bridge. There he arranged for a boat to take them down stream as far as the Tower of London, and then bring them back. Some of the best views of the metropolis were to be had from the water, Giles maintained.