Free Honour Redeemed by David Donachie Page B

much.’
    ‘This arrest, Captain. Does it confine me to the ship?’
    ‘No, it does not,’ snapped de Lisle. ‘We are far too short-handed to have you skulking in your cabin. You may go about your duties. And if there is a god for a heathen like you, then perhaps he will see fit to arm a French ball to take off your insolent head.’
    ‘There won’t be one for you, sir. They do not have sufficient range.’
    The silhouette turned sideways, and de Lisle spoke softly. ‘Mr Bernard.’
    The midshipman was outside, in the sunlight. Markham wasn’t sure, as the boy stepped into view, if his face was red from excessive heat or embarrassment. And he kept his eyes resolutely on the face of the captain, not willing to engage those of the marine officer.
    ‘You will have overheard every word exchanged here?’ said de Lisle.
    ‘Sir,’ the boy replied noncommittally.
    ‘Good,’ the captain responded, unaware of Bernard’s lack of enthusiasm. ‘You will be called at Mr Markham’s court, and you will be asked to repeat what he said.’
    The silhouette was square-on again, but Markham didn’t have to use much imagination to put a smirk on the pasty round face. ‘We will see if half a dozen naval captains take kindly to the notion of a marine officer of this ilk. One who disobeys orders with impunity, and chooses also to call his commander’s bravery into account.’
    ‘Don’t leave out your motives, sir,’ said Markham.
    ‘Have you turned in your army commission yet?’
    ‘Yes,’ Markham lied.
    De Lisle, knowing how strapped he was for cash, must have supposed he’d done so. After all, he’d come aboard at Chatham with the bailiffs on his heels, further evidence of his raffish nature. Not that a lieutenant’s commission was worth much, especially in a normal line regiment like the 65th. What the captain didn’t know was that the commission in question was the last gift he had had from his late father. Since Sir John had died while he was serving in Russia, his half-sister Hannah had demanded back every penny that his natural father had gifted him. Even if he had no use for it, he’d keep that commission till his dying day.
    For once de Lisle actually snorted, so great was his pleasure. And the irony in his tone was pitched too high to be anything other than contrived.
    ‘That’s a damned shame, Markham. You’ve gone and sold the only thing that might be of use to you. And God knows, you’ll never get one back on your own account.’
    De Lisle turned then and marched out into the bright light. As he stopped by Bernard he took a deep breath that made his whole frame swell up, as though to emphasise that he’d just concluded a very satisfactory interview.

Chapter six
    There was a method to a siege which paid very little heed to notions of terrain and numbers. First, the enemy had to be denied any chance of sending out foraging parties to bring in food to the beleaguered garrison, which meant close investment of all means of escape. Then, having examined the perimeter defences, General Dundas picked the point at which he wished to attack. The beach area offered the best approach, since floating bomb vessels could give close flank support. Artillery, in this case naval guns and mortars, was brought up to bombard the walls and effect a breach, while the Army, with plenty of wood to hand, began to sap forward through the sand, to create revetted trench lines inching ever closer to the point at which the final assault would be launched.
    Little glory could be expected in the preparation, only work: digging and sawing, dragging logs, carrying ammunition for the guns, or taking supplies of food and water up to the forward positions. Markham and his men were almost exclusively occupied with servicing the naval cannon, 32-pounders which had been put ashore with true naval efficiency. The officers of Hood’s fleet had skills in moving heavy ordnance which drew quiet praise from General Dundas’s engineering staff.