We served together on the Asia six years ago when we were both lieutenants. He can make buttons out of cheese and he doesn’t like fish.’
‘Fish?’ She blinked. ‘You mean to eat?’
‘To do anything with, I imagine. Other than that, he’s a fair man with an uncanny ability to sense bad weather. Your brother couldn’t ask for a better captain.’
‘Thank you. I appreciate your saying so.’ For the first time since they’d met her smile didn’t contain the faintest hint of sarcasm. ‘You must be good, too, Captain Delaney. To reach such a high rank by the age of...’ she looked him up and down again ‘...thirty?’
This time he couldn’t stop himself from smiling. ‘You’re very direct, Miss Fortini.’
‘Yes, I know.’ She seemed unperturbed by the comment. ‘It’s a failing of mine, I suppose, but the problem is that I can never understand why. If I could, then maybe I could do something about it, but as it is...’ she shrugged ‘... I like to get to the point. It was only an observation, however. I didn’t mean to offend you.’
‘I’m not remotely offended, although I’m afraid your observation is slightly out. I’m a weather-beaten twenty-six, but you’re correct about my rank. In peace time, it would have taken a great deal longer to gain such a promotion, but things work differently in war.’
‘I suppose so.’ She nodded sombrely as they started to walk again. ‘Do you enjoy it? Being a sailor, I mean?’
‘I do. I’ve always loved the water. Swimming, sailing, fishing, even looking at it, so the navy suits me. I like the routine on board ship, too. It can be tedious, but it gives me a sense of purpose and it’s calming.’
‘Do you often need calming?’ She gave him a quizzical look.
‘On a daily basis at the moment. I’ve been on shore for four months and it feels like an eternity. I’m afraid of losing my sea legs.’
‘Sebastian loves the navy, too, but I wish he might come home for a while. The last we heard his ship was somewhere off the coast of South America, but I’m afraid of another big sea battle.’
‘It’s extremely unlikely. Napoleon doesn’t have enough ships left to risk another naval assault and it’s doubtful he’d want to anyway. Trafalgar was the longest day of my life, but at least the victory was decisive.’
‘You were there?’ Her head spun towards him so quickly he almost jumped. ‘Is that where you were injured?’
‘Yes.’
‘You called it a skirmish!’
‘A big skirmish.’
‘A big...’ She stared at him with an expression of bewilderment mixed with curiosity. ‘I read that you were outnumbered. Thirty-three French and Spanish ships to twenty-seven British.’
‘That’s right. More than forty thousand men, all told.’
‘What was the name of your ship?’
‘The Colossus.’
‘But I’ve heard of that!’ Bewilderment turned to outright amazement. ‘It was in the middle of the action.’
‘Yes, unfortunately. Our yardarm locked with that of the Argonaute. We were trapped together for ten minutes before the sea swell drove us apart.’
‘And then the Swiftsure surrendered to you?’
‘Eventually, after we gave her a full broadside.’
‘And the Bahama. You destroyed her mainmast.’
He lifted an eyebrow. ‘You know your sea battles, Miss Fortini.’
‘I don’t see why a woman shouldn’t read about such things as well as a man.’
‘Neither do I, especially when that woman has a brother in the navy. Ask me anything you like.’
‘All right.’ She paused as if to gather her thoughts. ‘What was the battle really like? The reports all make it sound so well ordered, but how do you stay in formation?’
‘With many hours of practice, although what Nelson did at Trafalgar hasn’t been done often before. Instead of the fleets facing each other, he divided ours into two columns. We cut through the enemy line instead of confronting them head on. It took them by surprise and gained us the advantage.’
‘Did you know you were winning?’
He shook his head. ‘At close quarters, it’s hard to see anything that’s happening beyond your own ship. There are shards of timber and metal flying all around and you can’t hear because the boom of so many cannons drowns out everything except the ringing inside your own head. You’re aware of men shouting and screaming, but you can’t make out the words. Meanwhile, the smoke burns your lungs so that you can’t answer back, either. Most of the time, you’re just fighting to stay alive.’ He stopped, afraid that he might have said too much, but she seemed to be hanging on every word.
‘It must have been terrifying.’
‘It was. A few other words come to mind, but in essence they mean the same thing. Being responsible for so many lives is frightening enough, but I believe that every man is terrified going into battle. There’s always the chance that you won’t make it out again, but there’s no use in showing it or giving in to the fear, either. And being with your crew and part of the fleet gives you courage.’
‘Sebastian said something similar in one of his letters. He said it was like having a second family.’
‘That’s true. At sea, we all depend on each other for survival. You have to rely on your men to do what they’ve been trained for.’
‘Did the fighting really last three hours?’
‘It did, then the weather that night nearly finished us off. We were in a poor enough state after the battle, but the storm was even worse. Many of us spent the night on deck, waiting to see if we’d be scuppered on the rocks. A number of ships didn’t make it to morning.’
‘And you’d lost your commander.’
‘Yes.’ He clenched his jaw at the memory. ‘During the battle, Nelson refused to go below deck for safety. He wanted to fight alongside us and he said the men needed to see him. Unfortunately a French sharpshooter in the rigging of the Redoubtable saw him, too. The musket ball entered his left shoulder.’
‘It was a great loss.’
‘It was. I remember when we got word of what had happened. The whole fleet fell silent. We’d won, but it felt like defeat.’
‘Maybe all battles feel like that in the end.’ She sounded pensive as they emerged out of the trees and on to a wide pathway leading up to a stone pavilion. ‘It all seems like such a terrible waste.’
‘It was. Thousands of men died that day. The waves were red with...’ He
