Read Online Bolitho 19 - Beyond the Reef by Alexander Kent - Free Book Online

precisely what had happened. An exploding charge, an enemy wad through a gunport; he simply did not know, and there had been nobody near him left alive to tell him.
    He faced the court now, his terrible wound in shadow, a private man, a man of courage. He had nothing but his ship. Even the girl he had loved had turned away from him when she learned what had happened.
    He saw Bolitho, and smiled faintly in recognition. No, he was not quite alone any more. He had come to admire Bolitho more than he could have believed possible.
    The Judge Advocate confronted him, angry with the court and perhaps with himself for trying to avoid Tyacke’s impassive stare.
    “You were the first to sight the French vessels, Commander Tyacke.”
    Tyacke glanced at Herrick. “Yes, sir. We came on the ships quite by accident. One of the big three-deckers was unknown to me. I discovered much later that she was in fact Spanish, taken into the French command, so we had no cause to recognise her.” He hesitated. “Vice-Admiral Bolitho knew her, of course.”
    One of the court leaned over to whisper something and Hamett-Parker said, “She was the San Mateo, which destroyed Sir Richard’s flagship Hyperion before Trafalgar.” He nodded irritably. “Continue.”
    Tyacke looked at him with dislike. “We beat as close as we could but they were on to us, and gave us a good peppering before we could show them a clean pair of heels. Eventually we found the convoy and I closed to report to the rear-admiral in charge.”
    One of the captains asked, “Had the frigate already left the convoy?”
    “Aye, sir.” He paused, expecting something further, then he said, “I told Rear-Admiral Herrick what I had seen.”
    “How did he receive you?”
    “I spoke through a speaking-trumpet, sir.” He added with barely concealed sarcasm, “The enemy were too close for comfort, and there seemed some urgency in the air!”
    The Judge Advocate smiled. “That was well said, Commander Tyacke.” The mood changed back again. “Now it is very important that you recall exactly what the rear-admiral’s reply was. I imagine it would have been written in Larne’s signal book?”
    “Probably.” Tyacke ignored his frown. “As I recall, Rear-Admiral Herrick ordered me to find Sir Richard Bolitho’s North Sea squadron. Then he changed his mind and told me to report directly to Admiral Gambier’s flagship Prince of Wales off Copenhagen.”
    Cotgrave said quietly, “Even after seven months, during which time you must have had much to occupy your attention, the fact that Rear-Admiral Herrick changed his mind still seems to surprise you? Pray tell the court why.”
    Tyacke was caught off guard. He replied, “Sir Richard Bolitho was his friend, sir, and in any case …”
    “In any case, Commander Tyacke, it would have been sensible, would it not, to find Sir Richard’s squadron first, as it was only in a supporting role against the Danes at that time?”
    The President snapped, “You will answer, sir!”
    Tyacke said evenly, “That must have been what I was thinking.”
    Cotgrave turned to Herrick. “You have a question or two perhaps?”
    Herrick regarded him calmly. “None. This officer speaks the truth, as well as being a most gallant fighter.”
    One of the captains said, “There is a question from the back, sir.”
    “I am sorry to interrupt the proceedings, even delay refreshment, but the President did offer to have matters explained to a mere landsman.”
    Bolitho turned round, remembering the voice but unable to identify the speaker. Someone with a great deal of authority to make a joke at Hamett-Parker’s expense without fear of attack. Dressed all in black, it was Sir Paul Sillitoe, once the Prime Minister’s personal adviser, whom Bolitho had first met at a reception at Godschale’s grand house near Blackwall Reach. That had been before the attack on Copenhagen.
    Sillitoe was thin-faced and dark, with deep hooded eyes, very self-contained; and a