Chapter 18: Fitting Out

The week in High Matcham ended too fast. Both Tony and Harriet felt that the house and the surrounding land had grown on them, but they had to go back to Portsmouth. They started out early on that Thursday morning, and Nadine Blacket accompanied them in the coach. Of course, with their faithful housekeeper on board, there was no danger of starving. They stopped in the village to drop John Little off at the tavern. He would collect the volunteers and follow in a second, smaller coach that Tony had rented for the purpose, together with parts of their luggage. He was surprised to see not three, but seven volunteers waiting for Little. Word had spread, and four more boys had decided to try their luck in the Navy. That would make for cramped seating, but would prepare them for the living conditions on board his Majesty’s ships, Tony thought grimly.

They reached Portsmouth before evening. The house was cold and dark, and Tony thought he would need to have staff for both his houses after his return to England.

“Let us get a fire going and then have dinner at Carpenter’s,” Tony suggested.

“Sat is a good idea, Sir Anthony,” Nadine agreed. “By ze time you get back, I shall ‘ave ze fire going and ze kitchen hearz, too.”

“No, I meant all of us,” Tony laughed.

“But I could not...” Nadine began.

“Disobey my orders?” Tony continued. “No I suppose you couldn’t. Let us go then.”

Harriet pressed her husband’s arm to show her agreement. Quickly, a fire was started in the great kitchen hearth, and coals were added. A fire in the great fireplace in the living room would make no sense, and so they left the house, a reluctant Nadine Blacket in tow.

Carpenter’s was crowded, but the head waiter saw Tony’s rich uniform and the immaculate appearance of Harriet. He overlooked Nadine’s plain but well-cut dress and seated them at a table fairly towards the front. Somebody waved at them from a table further in the back, and Tony squinted his eyes.

“That’s Elizabeth,” Harriet smiled and rushed over to greet the woman. After ordering wine and an entree, Tony joined them. Elizabeth was sitting with a woman Tony knew from somewhere. Yes, it was Mrs. Archer, Gwendolyn Archer, the widowed daughter of Sir Robert Norton, the merchant, and a business woman in her own right as Tony remembered.

“Mrs. Archer, Miss Wilson, I am enchanted to see you again,” he said, bowing politely.

“Sir Anthony, the joy is mine and mine only. And this must be Lady Carter? I am Gwendolyn Archer. I am happy to meet you. Your husband braved the attempts of my mother to snare him for me, and now that I meet you, I can see what made him so resistant to my charms,” she added, laughing happily.

Harriet had heard the story from Tony, and she could easily recognise the self-assured woman from Tony’s tale.

“I am happy to meet you, too, but please call me Harriet. What brings you to Portsmouth, if I may be so curious.”

“This young woman. A friend of mine was here in town, and all of a sudden she needed an evening gown. She was referred to Miss Wilson, she was fitted for a gown, and she could not stop talking about it. So, here I am. I am a cloth merchant, a business that I inherited from my husband. I love beautiful dresses and gowns, too. I wanted to talk Miss Wilson into a partnership.”

“I accepted,” Elizabeth answered in a small voice as if she still could not believe it. “Just think of it: I shall open a shop in London! In Bond Street! I, Elizabeth Wilson, seamstress.”

“Oh come on, Elizabeth, I always told you that you are far more than a seamstress. You should have heard the people when they saw my wedding gown! I spread your name in London already. You will find customers in no time, dear,” Harriet encouraged her erstwhile rival.

“I see that the sommelier is coming with our wine,” Tony interrupted. “Would you care joining us at our table?”

They did, and it turned out to be a delightful evening. Even Nadine Blacket thawed once the food arrived, and she commented favourably on its quality, to the quiet amusement of the others. It was almost midnight when the company parted, and everybody agreed it had been a wonderful evening. Harriet promised to visit Elizabeth’s shop the next morning to place an order for her travel clothes, joking that she had to hurry before Elizabeth’s prices went up to far.

After a rather short night, Tony was up early since he had to inspect his ship, and over the next days, he immersed himself in the various tasks involved in the fitting out of a ship of the line. As promised, Sir Richard Lambert had collected information on the available officers and had recommended several for his son-in-law’s attention. He would have to interview them over the next days. The ship now had its full complement of warrant officers: boatswain, sail-maker, cook, gunner, cooper, and carpenter. Two wardroom members had also been appointed, the purser, Mr. Donahue, a red-haired giant of a man, and the sailing master, Mr. Jones, easily the oldest man on board. Mr. Galbreith was still in charge of the efforts, but it had been made clear to Tony that the position of First Lieutenant had to be filled with a senior lieutenant. That requirement was easily fulfilled by Mr. Perceval Dougherty, who was interviewed by Tony as the first candidate. He lived in Portsmouth, and had been on half pay since his former ship had paid off to be broken up. He was in his mid-thirties and had held officer’s rank for nearly sixteen years. There was not a single negative remark about him in the papers that he presented, but he had been in the wrong ships at the wrong times, never seeing decisive action, never getting a chance to prove himself. There was a trace of resentment in his eyes at being interviewed by a captain eight years his junior in age, but immeasurably senior to him in the service. That could be a difficult relationship, Tony mused, but the man deserved a chance.

“Mr. Dougherty, first let me tell you that I shall appreciate an officer with your vast experience to serve under me.”

Mr. Dougherty nodded, already expecting the ‘but’. It came.

“However, I need to make one thing clear right from the start. A ship under my command is run my way. As my second in command, I expect unconditional loyalty from you. You will have to enforce the discipline on board, but the right to dole out corporal punishment will rest with me alone. I believe in a fair treatment of the crew, including appropriate provisions and clothing. My crews have always been loyal to me because I was loyal to them, and my record speaks for itself. Do you see any problems with that? Please answer honestly.”

Dougherty only needed a second to shake his head.

“As long as discipline is maintained, Sir, I fully approve of your methods. You can rely on my loyalty, Sir.”

“That is good to hear, Mr. Dougherty. When do you wish to start?”

“Right away, Sir? There is no such thing as being early in the service.”

“I shall write a notice to this effect to the Harbour Admiral. We shall have passengers when we shall sail for Barbados. Sir Pierce Fallon will be accompanied by his wife, and my wife will accompany me as well. We shall need sleeping accommodations for at least two maidservants on this deck, all under the control covered of the Marine sentries. There may also be one additional female passenger. Since this is a roomy ship, this should not be much of a problem.”

Dougherty nodded. “We shall have to make sure the crew dresses properly, then. Are the ladies knowledgeable about the life at sea, Sir?”

“My wife is,” Tony answered smilingly. “Her father is Admiral Sir Richard Lambert, and she travelled to the West Indies when he was commander-in-chief there. Lady Fallon is a novice, I fear, but my wife will help her along. As for the additional passenger, she sailed all the way to the Great South Sea and back, and to my knowledge she never became seasick.”

“I’ll also have a word with the warrant officers and their mates to curb their language, Sir.”

“That is not a bad idea anyway, Mr. Dougherty. You may take your leave now and get your dunnage. I shall inform Mr. Galbreith that you will take over from him.”

“He seems to have done quite well, Sir. There was no slack in those work parties I saw. Is he a senior lieutenant?”

“Five years, give or take. He should rank as 3rd or even 2nd. We shall also have a Lt. Dugan. He was a master’s mate in the Clyde under me. Captain Fortescue had no opening for a lieutenant when he passed his exam, and he asked me if I wanted him. You will have one wardroom member who knows my ways already.”

After Mr. Dougherty had gone, his secretary brought in the mail, already sorted.

“This looked like a personal letter, Sir Anthony. I didn’t open it, Sir.”

He pointed to an unopened envelope. Tony’s eyebrow shot up when he recognised the sender. He cut the envelope open and began to read.

Tony smiled. This was happy news for Harriet. It was happy news for the Asia and her crew as well, to have a competent surgeon. Another thought came to him. John Sykes, former surgeon of the Clyde was still awaiting his execution. He had appealed to the King for mercy, and Tony hoped the matter would not be decided before he left for Barbados. Although he approved of the verdict, he was not keen on witnessing an execution.

Later that day, a carpenter from the shore came to view the great cabin. The bulwarks dividing Sir Pierce’s and his cabin had already been set up, but Sir Pierce had suggested two matching, foldable dining tables for either cabin. That way, the cabins could be joined and one large table could be set up if the need for on board entertainment arose. For this reason, they had also agreed on identical lamps, chests of drawers, desks and chairs. It was a sound idea, Tony thought. The carpenter now took his measurements and they specified the order. Harriet and Lady Fallon would get together to pick things such as cushions and curtains. The ship’s carpenter had been ordered to built solid shutters for the windows in the sleeping cabins. Tony knew that some sailors would risk everything to get a glimpse of a woman, and the shutters would forestall any such attempt.

When Tony went ashore in the evening, he felt tired but satisfied. He would have an excellent ship and live in comparable comfort in the next years. There was a nagging worry in the back of his head regarding the crew. He had four hundred hands now, not counting the marine complement, and he was over a hundred men short. As soon as he had his wardroom complete, he would send out the officers on recruiting missions into the country side. Another option would be to send boats to smaller fishing villages for night time raids. That would not yield sailors, though, and would only be a last resort. He had already arranged to wine and dine the governor of Bodmin Prison next week, to get as many convicts as possible. Most of these people were no real criminals, petty theft and debt were the main reasons for imprisonment. With good training, they could be useful members of the crew.

Dinner was waiting for him when he arrived, and so was Harriet. The wide smile on her face told him that she had received a letter from Lucy. This was confirmed after he had claimed a kiss from his wife.

“This is going to be so wonderful! I shall have my husband and my dearest friend with me.”

“And I shall have a competent surgeon on board. It is an excellent arrangement. I have already given orders to have a separate cabin set up for Lucy.”

“You are a darling,” Harriet squealed, kissing him again. “I was at Elizabeth’s, and we talked about my needs on the journey. The woman is wonderful. I complained that skirts can be a problem on board, seeing that the wind can catch in them and blow them up. She will make a special skirt for me with whale bone stays to keep it from flapping. Another one will be made of suede leather, too heavy to be blown up.”

“I had so hoped for the wind to reveal your charms,” Tony grinned.

“Don’t worry, you’ll see enough of my legs. I shall wrap them around you each night so you won’t miss them during the day.”

“That sounds like a very good idea. I may take you up on that tonight.”

“You do that, darling,” Harriet laughed. She enjoyed the open talk with her husband; there were no secrets between them, no false shame.

“If we keep doing all those wonderful things, there is a good chance that you will be with child soon. You should ask your mother what you may need in this case. Not everything may be available in Bridgetown.”

“You are sweet, thinking about that. As a matter of fact, there is a sea chest in our house in London with all the items I may need. But I shall pass on that kind of warning to Lady Fallon when I’ll meet her. She will come to Portsmouth next week with her husband. I suppose he wants to inspect his flagship. She and I can then decide on the decorations for the cabins.”

After dinner, Tony wrote a letter to his attorney, Mr. Hogsbotham, asking the man to investigate the availability of the Woodbridge manor property and to proceed with the purchase if the price was reasonable. Mr. Hogsbotham was a shrewd man, and Tony trusted his judgement.

They went to bed early that evening, and Harriet made good on her promise to wrap her legs around her husband. So good, that Nadine Blacket chuckled in her own bed, listening to the cries and moans, and delighted that she worked for such a happy couple. She got along famously with her new mistress, and she almost regretted that she could not come along for the trip to Barbados.

Two days later, Sir Pierce and his wife arrived in Portsmouth. Together with Tony, the admiral inspected the Asia and he was pleased with his new flagship. Two more lieutenants had been appointed, both junior to Mr. Galbreith, with two and four years seniority, respectively. The sixth vacancy would be filled with whoever passed the exam next, Tony was informed by the Port Admiral. The dinner with the governor of the Bodmin prison had also gone well. Tony informed his admiral that they would receive fifty convicts within the next week. Another eighty hands were needed, and Tony had sent out the new lieutenants to scour the countryside for volunteers. Sir Pierce saw nothing to complain about.

In the meantime, Harriet had taken care of Lady Fallon, assembling a hand written list of what she would need on a sea journey, things like soft tallow for the skin and the lips and special ship’s biscuit in air-tight tin boxes, safe from maggots. The younger woman was thankful for the advice and expressed her appreciation of having female company. She was clearly scared of the adventures looming ahead but took heart in the fact that Harriet felt no apprehensions whatsoever. When Harriet mentioned the possibility of a pregnancy, Amanda Fallon smiled shyly, and admitted that she was past possibility in this regard, adding to her apprehensions. This was a sore point for Harriet, with her worries about her prior miscarriage, but she covered her feelings and assuaged the younger woman’s fears, telling her that a prominent London practitioner would serve as ship’s surgeon. All in all, they parted with the prospect of a budding friendship.

The Fallons accepted a dinner invitation, and they spent a nice evening at the Carters’ house. It helped that Sir Pierce was an old acquaintance of the Lamberts, and it helped that Lady Fallon was a grateful recipient of Harriet’s friendly advances. At eleven o’clock, the guests retired to their lodgings, and Tony and Harriet went to sleep.

“She is terribly shy,” Harriet mused as she peeled herself out of her evening dress. “I imagine life was hard for her. She went to all those expensive schools and the other girls were probably cruel to her.”

“Isn’t her father a rich merchant?” Tony asked, not fully aware of Lady Fallon’s background.

“He only became rich during the last years, since the war started. She told me that she was born in a wooden shack behind her father’s storage. They have the largest mansion in Manchester now, but people don’t forget her humble origin.”

“Well, my background is humble, too.”

“But you grew up in an environment where your abilities and achievements counted. In a girls school, there are no achievements, and abilities are mostly ignored. It is really only about who your parents and grandparents are. I should know, I think I was just as shallow.”

“But you overcame that, Harriet, and that’s quite an achievement.”

“Well, a certain young mate held me in his arms and shattered my prejudice.”

“You would not think that there may be some prejudices left?” Tony asked, opening his arms.

Harriet laughed brightly and leaned back against Tony who hugged her.

“You always make me laugh, Tony. Please don’t ever stop that, it’s one of the reasons I love you so much.”

“And what are the other reasons?”

Harriet blushed.

“Your talented fingers, and your magic lips, and...”

“And?”

“Your wonderful cock!” she whispered, blushing slightly.

“I was hoping that we would come to that!”

“Make love to me, husband of mine, but slowly. I want to float.”

“I’ll make you float,” Tony promised. He began to kiss her slender throat and neck, eliciting appreciative sounds from his wife. His hands cupped her breasts, feeling the stiff nipples through the fabric of the night shirt. Leaving one hand on her breasts, he let his right hand travel down over her tummy and into the valley between her legs. Willingly, Harriet opened her legs, giving his hand access to her sensitive flesh. He used the palm of his hand to cup her mound, and he felt her moisture through the fabric.

“Think of the cloud covered moon over our heads, and the waves lapping against the bows of our little boat,” he whispered. “Your mother is sitting on your left, sleeping and holding your brother is her arms, not noticing me as I let my hands explore you.”

Harriet moaned and melted further into his embrace.

“I rub your soft flesh, and I feel your moisture. You are lost in your lust, and you let me rub you harder and harder. Then I let my finger part your lips. Your skirt gets really wet now with your juices. Finally, my finger finds your pleasure spot and rubs it gently. Your breathing gets harder and harder, that little button grows bigger and bigger whilst you squirm in my hands, until you cannot take it anymore and you come!”

Indeed, Harriet’s breathing became laboured as she travelled back to an alternate history and felt her lover’s intimate touches.

“Your mother wakes up and looks at us, but you don’t notice.” Harriet squealed at this, feeling naughty. “She looks at us and smiles, giving me a wink, as your passion rises higher.”

Tony pulled up the hem of the nightshift now, and he let his fingers dance on her exposed flesh. First one, then two fingers dove into her swollen entrance, rubbing over her sensitive flesh.

“Your legs are wide open, for everyone to see. You thrust your hips against my fingers, faster and faster. I kiss you to quell your sighs of lust,” he pressed his lips on hers, “and then I start squeezing your little love button.”

“Aaargh,” Harriet’s body arched, she thrust her pelvis against the probing fingers. “Aaaah!” She relaxed in his arms, a beatific smile on her beautiful face, as Tony’s left hand caressed her hair.

“Oh dear me!” Harriet breathed. “Where did that come from?”

“From my fantasies,” Tony answered. “Those fantasies were how I fell in love with you.”

Harriet turned around and began to attack Tony’s mouth with her kisses.

“You ... wonderful ... crazy ... funny ... loving ... treasure ... of a man,” she gushed between her kisses. “I love you so much it hurts.”

“I should not have rubbed you through the wet fabric then,” Tony grinned.

“Oh you! Lay back, you rascal, and let me have my revenge!”

Obediently, Tony lay back, looking forward to her revenge. Harriet had bunched his shirt up and buried her face in his crotch. Once again, the incredible sight of her reddish mane covering his lap, bobbing up and down in steady rhythm, and the exquisite sensation of her mouth around his member reduced him to a helpless and passive state. He was hard in seconds, and he knew that he would not, could not last. He wanted to enjoy the sensations, but he also knew that there was no defence against the magic of her mouth. Not quite three minutes later he erupted into her mouth, and her sucking mouth made him squirm with lust until he had no strength left in him.

Traces of his seed were visible in the corners of her mouth when she looked up with a self-satisfied grin.

“That will happen to you every time you make fun of my feelings!” she threatened.

“I shall keep that in mind,” Tony answered weakly. Then he mustered his wit again. “You promise?” he asked.

With a growl, she took his cock into her mouth again and sucked violently on the sensitive tip. Tony squirmed with the overcharge she created until he could not take it anymore. His limbs trembling uncontrollably, he cried, “I give up! Quarter, please!”

Releasing his cock, she smiled wickedly.

“That should teach you.” She then scooted up and lay on top of him. “You’re not mad at me, are you?”

“No, you funny woman. How could I be mad at you? But please, never do this on my quarterdeck. My crew mustn’t know that their captain is at the mercy of a frail woman.”

Harriet giggled. “That would be a sight, now wouldn’t it?”

She snuggled with her back against him and fell asleep in his embrace, with his right hand on her breast.

Tony awoke at dawn. He’d had an erection all night long, feeling Harriet’s slender body pressed against his front, but now something was different. Coming to his senses, he felt that his member was nestled against Harriet’s back. Her shirt had ridden up during the night, and his shirt had never been tucked down in the first place. He carefully withdrew so as not to wake her, but it was too late.

“Good morning, darling,” she mumbled sleepily. “What time is it?”

“About eight bells,” he answered mechanically, “sorry, 8 o’clock.”

“Time for a breakfast then?”

“I suppose so. Yes, I better get up. There are things to do, after all.”