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manned, somewhat jealous of the freedom enjoyed by those who served, as he had once done, before the mast. They obeyed orders instead of issuing them and had no need to record their every action as well as every drop used of cleansing vinegar with quill and ink.

    The cannon fire did not go unnoticed aboard the flagship, though Hood did not stir from his chair, continuing what he thought of as his conversation with William Hotham: to the recipient it was more like a lecture. In this Hood had first advised him of his intention to take some leave at a date yet to be established, with the insistence that he would bereturning to the Mediterranean and his command in due course, which allowed him, as he took care to point out, to dictate how he wished matters to proceed in his absence.
    It had been instructive to see how Hotham reacted, for if he thought himself a master of dissimulation he was far from correct. The truth of that was not in his face, the features of which he managed to control; it was evident in his hands and the fidgeting thereof, no doubt caused by the thoughts of what he would do once Hood had departed, never mind any orders that were issued. That Hotham twitched even more at the sound of gunfire made the pleasure of keeping him seated and still all the greater; not that Lord Hood would have stirred, it being beneath his rank and dignity to display such obvious curiosity.
    It had been hard, when giving Hotham instructions, not to hector him, to keep his orders strictly professional, for Hood was not a fool: he suspected they would be disobeyed as soon as his topsails disappeared over the horizon. For that reason he had his clerk present, as well as Admiral Parker, writing a verbatim record of the conversation.
    A copy of this, once neatly written up, would be delivered to
HMS Britannia
along with the papers Hood had accumulated during his tenure in command. Hood had struggled to keep out of his voice the disdain he felt for his second in command, for his tactical appreciations as well as his manner of going about his duties, an area in which, to the thinking of Admiral Parker he had signally failed.
    ‘It would be worthwhile to hold to it, Sir William, that you have the overall command out here, and while you cannot instruct the likes of General Stuart to undertake operations which he declines to support, you have the right to applya great deal of pressure, as I have, I think, demonstrated. I have set a policy of taking control of Corsica, on behalf on the indigenes, of course, and I expect that to be followed.’
    Ignoring the hands and looking into that smooth face and those, to his mind, shifty brown eyes, Hood wondered if the sod was paying true attention. As it was he himself was distracted by the knock at his door.
    ‘Enter.’
    ‘Captain Knight’s compliments, milord, but
HMS Lutine
is approaching under full sail and flying the signal, enemy has struck.’
    ‘How long before we have their boat alongside?’
    ‘Half a glass, sir.’
    ‘Very well, signal the captain to repair aboard and let me know when his barge is in the water.’ Hood began speaking again as soon as the door closed. ‘Now we must discuss the French fleet and what you must do about it.’
    ‘I find it insulting, milord, that you think I do not know.’
    ‘As if I give a damn about that,’ Hood snapped. ‘You had a chance to stop them while I was occupied at Bastia and missed it. It would pain me, Sir William, as well as the British people, if that were to happen again.’
    Hotham reddened at that reminder and his voice went lower in tone as he defended himself. ‘I took cognisance, milord, of the facts as I saw them, not least the state of our ships.’
    ‘It has ever been my policy,’ Hood replied, with a weary tone that was all the more insulting for being so, ‘to take more cognisance of the state of the enemy’s ships.’
    ‘Yet I think you will agree, milord, that we are short of overwhelming strength and our vessels