In the Navy
Copyright© 2005/2020 to Argon
Chapter 62: Family
May 1814
Knowing Harriet’s parents to be currently in London in their city house on Cavendish Square, Tony paid off his steward Paul Grimm, likely for the last time, and with only John Little to accompany him, he took a cab to Cavendish Square.
Richard Lambert opened the door for them in person and gave his son-in-law a crushing hug.
“It’s good to have you back in England, Anthony. You too, Mister Little. How about it: you both survived the war!”
“Thank you kindly, Sir Richard,” Little answered formally and with a bow.
“I suppose you want to see your wife soonest, Mister Little?” Tony asked with a benevolent smile.”
“Only if you don’t need me, Sir Anthony.”
“Well, I shall be fine with Sir Richard and Lady Lambert. Give my regards to Mistress Inez.”
“I shall, Sir Anthony. Please, let me know when you’ll need me again.”
“I imagine I shall need you in Portsmouth in a few months, but for now, enjoy your family again. Oh, and take this. A young family needs more than good wishes.”
With that, he handed a purse to his coxswain and confidential servant. Little drew his pay as a petty officer, of course, and Inez Little likely earned a pretty penny running Wilson’s Fashion House, but John Little’s services had gone far beyond handling Tony’s barge, and the purse contained over £60.
“Thank you kindly, Sir Anthony. With your leave?”
“Yes, of course, take the cab. It’s already paid!” Tony laughed.
“You have a good man there, Anthony,” Richard Lambert said as he led Tony to the back of the house and the sitting room, where a smiling Eleanor Lambert greeted him with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“It is so good to see you again, Anthony. How happy Harriet will be to have you back unharmed and for good! My daughter is pining for you!”
“And I for her,” Tony answered truthfully.
“Yes, but today, it is my turn to pamper you!” Eleanor Lambert laughed. “Knowing you, a hot freshwater bath will be welcome?”
“Oh, dear, yes!”
“I’ll have the maids wash and iron your shirts. When your convoy was sighted in the Channel, we sent notice to Harriet. We expect her and the children back from High Matcham any day. You did well coming here. I fear, there’s only the caretaker at your house, but Harriet will bring your staff.”
“She wrote that she is staying out at High Matcham, and I know that we don’t employ staff for two houses,” Tony smiled. “Thank you for sending the note to Harriet.”
Tony spent the next two days at the Admiralty, handing in his reports, but also having a brief interview with Lord Melville, the new First Lord. Melville did not bother denying that Tony was recalled to appease Manchester, but he made light of it.
“I hear that you did well there, but we decided to pull you out of harm’s way. Manchester has some pull, and you don’t need the aggravation of his enmity.”
“We also gave transport to his wife, milord.”
“Yes, I know. Not your fault, although Captain Lambert should have been more discreet.”
“We were not aware of those rumours, milord. People forget that sailors don’t have the time to run their mouths.”
“An excellent point, Sir Anthony. And now that Boney’s out of the picture, you will make an excellent figurehead for the Naval College. Those youngsters need inspiration and guidance, not just academic knowledge, and you are perfectly suited for that task. You will retain your current rank, of course.”
“Thank you, milord. I look forward to joining forces with Professor Inman.”
“You know that the Order of the Bath will be enlarged?”
“No, milord.”
“Yes, it will. They’ll create three classes, knights companions, knights commanders, and knights grand cross. All current knights will be made knights commanders during the next honours. That includes you, of course. So, felicitations: you’ll get a bigger cross to wear.”
“Thank you again, milord. I shall do my best to justify the honour.”
“You already did, Sir Anthony. Perhaps, once your tenure at the College ends, we can interest you in joining the Board? You did well here as Chief of Staff.”
“I shall always serve to my best abilities when called upon, milord.”
“That is good to hear, my dear Sir Anthony. Sir Arthur Manning will retire from the lieutenant governorship with the end of this year’s classes, which should be a perfect time for you to take over the college.”
“Suits me well, milord. Are any changes envisioned which I shall have to implement?”
“Not to my knowledge. Should we have a lasting peace, we may use the place to give navigation classes to midshipmen on half pay, to further their education and better their chances of employment.”
“I might have profited from such an opportunity myself in my younger years,” Tony admitted with a smile.
After the interview, Tony also spent time with the First Naval Lord, Sir Sydney Yorke, discussing Tony’s experiences at New Orleans and Mobile. Surprisingly, he was also sent to the Foreign Office, where an undersecretary questioned him about the situation at Cartagena — stable — and about the affair at La Guaira and his impression of the leadership of New Grenada — poor. All through this interview, Tony kept mum about the help he’d got from Don Alonso, describing the visit as a purely private affair, but mentioning loquacious junta members.
When he was finally free to leave Whitehall, it was time to meet his father-in-law at his club. Since Eleanor Lambert was visiting a cousin, they had their dinner there, and afterwards met a few of Sir Richard’s fellow admirals in the library where they enjoyed aged Armagnac brandies. He learned that Sir Richard, too, would advance in the ranks of the newly enlarged Order of the Bath, but as a senior admiral, he would be made a Knight Grand Cross.
It was late afternoon before they returned to Cavendish Square, where they had tea and waited for Lady Lambert to return from her visit. Supper was a frugal affair, since all three had had a dinner already, and afterwards they settled in the sitting room, exchanging stories of the last year, until it was bedtime.
In the next morning, Tony, accompanied by one of the Lamberts’ manservants, set out for Bond Street and Wilson’s Fashion House, where a tired-looking Inez Little received him with a smile.
“What can we do for you, Sir Anthony?” she asked, with only a faint remnant of Spanish in her pronunciation.
“I shall have a shore command, and most of my coats show the wear. I’ll need a new everyday captain’s coat and two everyday rear admiral’s uniform coats, with shirts and breeches to match. Before we get into details, I am to convey the greetings of Doña Maria Ruiz y Costa. She remembers you fondly.”
“Thank you, Sir Anthony. She is a wonderful lady.”
“There are no two opinions about that, my dear Mistress Little.”
“I shall have your measure taken by Merton, then. Shall we spruce up the old coats, too?”
“Yes, please. They’re good quality, only a little bleached, and I may still wear them should I go to sea again.”
The manservant unloaded the clothes bag onto the counter, and Inez Little took out the contents and surveyed them. Most of the coats were deemed salvageable, but one made her shake her pretty head.
“I cannot have you wear this again, Sir Anthony,” she said with determination. “The button holes are frayed, and the collar is worn too much. Really, this should go to a haberdasher, for some impoverished captain to wear.”
“It is your call, Mistress Little,” Tony answered with an indulgent smile. He really liked the woman Inez had become.
One of the tailors, Merton then took Tony’s measurements, determining that his chest had expanded by almost an inch since the last fitting, but he promised to amend Tony’s tailor’s dummy to the new measurements. Now back to England, Tony took the standard blue broadcloth for the coats, since no tropical heat would require a lighter material, and after an hour, he was sent off again with the advice to return three days hence for a fitting. The Lamberts’ coach took him back to Cavendish Square, where he found his own coach standing in front of Lambert House. Harriet had arrived.
Tony had barely alighted from the Lamberts’ coach when Harriet was already descending the front steps in a hurry, flying into his open arms.
“You’re back, Tony, thank God!”
“Yes! You have to thank Andrew for it,” Tony laughed, kissing her with all the longing he felt.
“Is it because he dallied with the Duchess? Father hinted at it.”
“It is a silly rumour. Andrew only saw her to the lodgings he had found for her, and the gossipers already had him bedding her. Manchester heard of those rumours and demanded that I be relieved, court-martialled, tarred and feathered. Melville humoured him, but only because Inman asked that I will be the next lieutenant governor. I remain a commodore on full pay, only having my suppers with you and the children again. Everybody wins.”
“Hell hath no fury like a man cuckolded,” Harriet quipped with a grin. “Shall I send him a thank-you note?”
“Not worth the troubles. He feels better now — I hope, at least — and I feel better holding you in my arms again.”
“You are right, of course. Let’s go in. Richard and Eleanor are waiting for you.”
“Emily?”
Harriet smiled. “She moved in with Lucy. I allowed it because she is blossoming with something worthwhile to do, and Lucy adores her.”
Tony shook his head and smiled. “She is an astounding woman, and Emily could not have a better tutor.”
“That is my thinking, too. I shall send her a note to have dinner with us. Richard is missing his big sister.”
They entered the city house together, and it the vestibule, Tony was met by Richard and Eleanor’s dear faces. In a second’s time, he had swooped them both up into his arms, and two pairs of thin arms wrapped around his neck.
“Are you back from the war, Father?” Richard asked seriously.
“Yes, Richard, I am. My next task will be in Portsmouth, and we shall live together again. You remember Portsmouth?”
“Uncle Andrew lives there,” Richard nodded.
“Can we see him?” Eleanor piped up.
“Very likely. I don’t know yet what he’ll do next, but he will likely live in Portsmouth again,” Tony explained whilst setting the children down again.
Behind the children, Eleanor Lambert appeared now, and immediately, Tony was old news.
“Gramma, Father is back from the war,” Richard announced breathlessly.
“He’ll stay with us!” Eleanor added.
“Yes, I know, and I know he’s very happy to live with you again,” the elder Eleanor smiled down at her grandchildren. “Are you hungry, my little angels?”
“Yes!” Richard announced. “What shall we have?”
“Soup and leftover pies. How does that sound, young man?”
“Yummy!” was the enthusiastic reply, and already, Richard and Eleanor were running for the back of the house and the dining room.
“That boy! Always hungry!” a happy grandmother beamed.
“Well, we left before dawn, and they had no appetite during the coach ride, excited as they were,” Harriet shrugged. “It’s a small wonder that they are famished by now.”
For Tony it was a first to see his daughter eating at a dinner table and using the silverware with a degree of control. She was barely over five years old, and she needed a cushion to lift her up over the table, but she handed spoon and fork well, albeit needing a little assistance with cutting the pie and the roast with the heavy dinner knife.
“She needs smaller silverware,” Tony commented innocently.
“We brought her special silverware along, but it’s being unpacked at Camden Court,” Harriet answered, but her mother shook her head.
“How could I forget?” Her small silver bell sounded an the maid responsible for the dining room appeared in haste. “Elspeth, be a dear and ask Abernathy where the children’s silverware was stowed away and retrieve it. It must be with the dinnerware from our old house, somewhere in the attic. Better yet, let Abernathy find it and keep serving us.”
“Yes, m’lady, I’ll see to it at once. My apologies, Sir Anthony!” the young woman offered.”
“No need, Elspeth. They are not starving yet, with us cutting their meats. The next meal will be early enough,” Tony placated the young woman.
“Yes, Sir Anthony!”
“She is a dear girl, but she is still learning,” Eleanor Lambert explained. “We just haven’t had children this age at table since Andrew mastered his manners.”
“‘Tis too true,” Sir Richard agreed. “We must learn to live with children again. Not that I ever was of much use for that.”
“Well, dear, you were gone most of the time, even before the war,” his wife commented. “I believe I raised our children quite well on my own.”
“Yes you did, Eleanor. Well, Harriet was a handful, and she did not really learn her lessons until she met Anthony.”
Harriet blushed crimson, being reminded of her ‘snooty’ days, but she rallied.
“Had I been docile all along, I might be married to some nobody now, raising his stupid offspring. My temper kept me unwed until the right man was posted captain. Of course, I was still prone to say stupid things,” she added, placing her hand on Tony’s. “For which I’m still sorry.”
“Which I have forgiven long ago and almost forgotten by now. By the way, I learned from General Sir George Beckwith that Brigadier Selkirk died in action during the taking of Martinique. He died a brave man, and it’s time to forget and forgive his previous foolishness.”
“I didn’t know,” Harriet said thoughtfully. “You are right. He and Sir Pierce can now settle their silly quarrel peacefully.”
In the next morning, a message came from their own city house, notifying them that it was ready for the family, and the entire family took the two coaches to Camden Court. The house, now freshly cleaned and with their clothes and other items sorted away, was indeed habitable, and a proud Nadine Blacket, now also ten years older than when she first took charge of Tony’s household in Portsmouth, greeted her employer with obvious happiness. She was now undisputedly in charge of the household, since their butler, quite scandalised over having no authority over the cook, had resigned. Harriet had replaced the man with a junior cook, two kitchen maids, and an elderly former Royal Marines sergeant, who cut a fine figure in his scarlet lobster coat when he greeted visitors and kept their manservants on a short leash. Tony knew the man, Henry Collier, from his time in the Asia third-rate, where he had been the corporal of the captain’s guard, and he applauded the change.
Of course, Tony would somehow fit John Little into the household, too. Little was a warrant officer now, addressed as ‘Mister’, but as far as Tony remembered, the two men had worked well together in the Asia. Tony even suspected that Collier had helped Little avenging himself against the French agent back in Dublin, who’d been found strangled in the Asia’s brig1. Time would tell, but Little was special for Tony, and with their growing family, he and Inez both needed their pay.
Soon, the Carters were making the rounds amongst their friends and acquaintances. Lucy and Jonathan Wilkes were at the top of the list, of course, but they also invited Elizabeth Anson and Anita Heyworth for dinner. Jeremiah Anson was still serving on the North America Station in Asia, and his wife was hoping for a quick end of that conflict, now that the main overt reasons for it had been resolved by Napoleon’s abdication. The other reasons, such as the American wish to add British North America to their union, had not materialised, since the British troops and their allied Indian tribes had rebuffed the attacks decisively.
To read the complete story you need to be logged in:
Log In or
Register for a Free account
(Why register?)
* Allows you 3 stories to read in 24 hours.