Chapter 26: At Home

October 1805

It was the 14th of October, and Thomas was sitting in the stage coach to London, with his sea chest and other belongings tied to the luggage rack. He was on half pay now, having ended his employment with Admiral Moorbanke’s staff four days earlier. He had been given a very good evaluation by the old admiral who was now retiring, but also a finely made double-barrelled pistol. Moorbanke had given him the weapon, claiming that he would not need it anymore, being over seventy years old, and that his grandson would only hurt himself with it.

Another sad moment came when he bade his good-byes to Captain Conway and the girls at the Sea Rover. Chances were that he would not see them again, and he spent part of the Saturday and all of Sunday at the club, not just availing himself of the services of Ginger, Chastity and Vivienne, but also eating, celebrating and revelling in the closeness they had developed.

Young Vivienne was being wooed by a young commander, who had visited the club as guest of another officer and fallen helplessly in love with the girl. She was leaning towards accepting the proposal, but she had still made time for Thomas during his last Sunday afternoon at the Sea Rover. Much against the rules, Thomas had even spent the night with Chastity, and they had all seen him off at the stage coach relay

Dead tired and worn out, Thomas was dozing for most of the coach ride to Guildford, only barely aware of the progress, and he had to be shaken awake when they arrived. There, waiting for him, were his parents, and after loading his dunnage onto their carriage, they drove out to the manor house.

One of the first tasks undertaken by his mother and the maids was a thorough examination of his clothes, and a list was written of the items that would need replacement. After three years at the Academy and time spent on Moorbanke’s staff, both of his bicorne hats were deemed unfitting for an aspiring young officer, and an order for two new ones was placed with the hatter.

Only one of his coats passed examination, and even that needed some letting out to fit comfortably. Two new coats with some room to grow were ordered, too.

His pistol, the gift from Admiral Moorbanke was handed to the gunsmith for a thorough cleaning and revision, but Theodore Grey expressed his admiration for the old, but well-made weapon.

Two weeks after his arrival, Thomas was as ready to join his next ship as possible, but all that he had received was a short note from the First Naval Lord’s staff that he was slated to join HMS Wolverine, a rather new brig-sloop of the Cruizer class, with a main armament of sixteen 32-pounder carronades. She was one of the new workhorses for convoy duty and expected to return with her latest convoy by the end of the year. This would give Thomas more time at home, unless an urgent need in another man-of-war would crop up.

Father and son then travelled to Portsmouth together, and there, at the Royal Navy Dockyard, collected what information was available about the Cruizer and her sister ships. Opinions were split about them. Their narrow beam made them fast, but also quite lively in heavy seas. The two-masted sail plan and the carronade armament made for a small crew, but put them at a severe disadvantage when encountering three-masted sloops of war, or in a boarding fight. Still, they were at sea all the time and logging untold miles, tirelessly protecting convoys, and they had, by necessity, small gunrooms populated by master’s mates and midshipmen with little or no interest. A young man, backed by two influential members of parliament, would rise quickly in such a ship’s hierarchy.