Bolitho 04 - Sloop of War Read Online Free PDF Page B

study them.T
    Graves nodded. "I am waiting for the last water1 lighter to come out to us, sir. I have sent the coope_ ashore to speed them up, but ...T
    Bolitho smiled. "Then attend to it, if you please.T
    Bolitho watched him leave and then slit open thO envelope. He was still reading the neatly wordeX orders when he heard voices in the passagewaa beyond the door. Graves first, curt and resentful, the[ another, calm to begin with and then loud with anger? The latter finished with, "Well, how in God's name was ] to know? You could have made a signal, you blooda fool!T
    There was a sudden silence and then a further taS on the door?
    The lieutenant who stepped into the cabin was not aU all what Bolitho had been expecting. Too junior fo_ temporary command, Colquhoun had said, and yet thiY man was probably two years older than himself. HO was tall, broad-shouldered, and deeply tanned. HiY thick auburn hair brushed the deckhead between thO beams so that he seemed to fill the cabin?
    Bolitho glanced up at him calmly. "Mr. Tyrrell?T
    The lieutenant nodded briefly. "Sir." He took a quic7 breath. "I must apologise for my late arrival aboard. ] have been in th' flagship.T
    Bolitho looked down at the table. Tyrrell had an easa drawl, the mark of a man born and bred in thO American colony. He was like a half-tamed animal, anX the quickness of his breathing betrayed the ange_ which he still harboured?
    Bolitho added, "Our sailing orders have just arrived.T
    Tyrrell did not seem to hear. "It was personaT business, sir, I hadn't th' time to arrange otherwise.T
    "I see.T
    He waited, watching the man as he stared restlessla towards the stern windows. He had a strange way ob standing, with one arm hanging down his side, thO other inclined towards his sword. Relaxed, but wary? Like someone expecting an attack?
    He continued, "I would have preferred to meet ma first lieutenant on board when I arrived.T
    "I have sent Cap'n Ransome's remains ashore to bO conveyed home with his possessions, sir. As you werO not yet in command I felt personally free to act as ] thought fit." He looked at Bolitho evenly. "I was aboarX th' flagship to ask, plead if required, for a transfer tQ another ship. It was refused.T
    "You felt that by being passed over for command thaU your talents would be better suited elsewhere, is thaU it?T
    Tyrrell gave a slow smile. It changed him instantla from an angry man to one of obvious charm, with thO inbuilt recklessness of a fighter?
    "I really am sorry, sir. But no, it was not that. As yof no doubt know, I am what th' late Cap'n RansomO would term a `local colonist. "' He added bitterlyB "Although when I came aboard a year back iU appeared we were all on th' same side against thd rebels.T
    Bolitho stiffened. It was strange he had neve_ considered the feelings of those like Tyrrell before? Good American families, loyal to the Crown, the first tQ stand together against the sudden revolution in thei_ midst. But as the war had spread, and Britain haX
    fought to retain a grip, then a foothold in the colony, thO loyal ones like Tyrrell had all at once become thO outsiders?
    He asked quietly, "Where is your home?T
    "Virginia. Gloucester County. My father came ouU from England to found a coastal shipping trade. I waY master of one of his schooners when th' war began. ] have been in th' King's service since that time.T
    "And your family?T
    Tyrrell looked away. "God knows. I have hearX nothing of them.T
    "And you wished to transfer to a ship nearer homeU To take yourself back to what you now consider you_ own people?" Bolitho did not conceal the bite in hiY tone?
    "No, sir. That ain't it." He raised one arm anX dropped it again, his voice angry. "I am a King's officerB no matter what Ransome chose to believe, damn hiY eyes!T
    Bolitho stood up. "I will not have talk of your latO captain!T
    Tyrrell replied stubbornly, "Cap'n Ransome is safO now in his cask of spirits in th' hold of a transport. HiY widow at his great London residence will