The Blast That Tears the Skies (2012) Read Online Free Page A

business in any part of government, Captain Quinton? Paper, sir. The mountain of paper that swamps me day after day in the conduct of the Admiralty. Yet this simple desk permits me to file every piece of paper in a fitting place, where I can retrieve it instantly. Behold’ – he reached over and opened a drawer – ‘your letters to me, during your command of the House of Nassau . And here’ – without warning, Coventry span on his chair and reached into a box on the far side of the desk – ‘the last muster book of the same, sent in by Captain Harris. With, it has to be said, rather more errors than was the case during your command.’ Coventry span back to face me. I did not know whether to gasp, laugh or seek a physician who could clap him up. ‘Efficiency, sir,’ he said. ‘That is what I strive for. Oh, my foes mock my desk behind my back, but this is the future, Captain Quinton. Information – control of it, access to it. He who possesses information in these new, rational times will be a master amongst men.’
    ‘As you say, Sir William.’
    The Lord High Admiral’s secretary continued to look mightily pleased with himself. I wondered if there were any left at court who had not been treated to a demonstration of the marvellous desk. The odd scullion, perhaps, or maybe a chimney-sweep, but surely no one grander than that. ‘So, Captain,’ said Coventry. ‘You seek me upon business?’
    ‘Sir – my removal from the House of Nassau – I wondered upon the cause of it. I hope for a new commission, now that war is declared and the fleet is already assembling at the Nore.’
    Coventry leaned back. The rotating chair creaked ominously under his weight.
    ‘Captain Quinton, I am but a secretary.’ This was disingenuous; Coventry was spoken of as one of the rising politicians of the realm, keeper of all the secrets of the heir to the throne and many others besides. ‘His Royal Highness does not make me privy to all his thoughts, and he did not share with me his reasons for recalling you from your previous command. Nor did he leave any instructions for the issue of a new commission to you before he left to take command of the fleet – for which I leave tonight, to attend upon His Royal Highness.’
    ‘Sir,’ I said, ‘I am most desirous of another command –’
    ‘With respect, Captain Quinton, so are the three score and more of candidates for command who pester me relentlessly. And of course, the decision by His Majesty and His Royal Highness to recommission many veterans of the last war with the Dutch has greatly restricted the opportunities available to those who have no such experience.’ Coventry’s tone was curious; it was difficult to tell whether he approved or disapproved of the recall of the men whom Beau Harris had denigrated so ferociously. ‘But you may be assured, sir, that I will lay your name before His Royal Highness. As I would with the names of all other solicitants for command.’
    Coventry’s words were damning. They cut me to the very quick. I cannot remember taking my leave of him and his ludicrous desk. I dimly recall wandering through the maze of Whitehall, getting lost more than once, consumed by my own desperate thoughts. Nothing could make a young sea-captain’s name and fortune like a good war, and yet here I was, destined apparently to take no part in this one. Victory, glory, honour, riches – none of it bound for Matthew Quinton. And as the black mood wrapped its tentacles around me, one thought above all turned over in my mind.
    How was I to tell my wife?
    * * *
     
    Since our return to England upon the king’s restoration, Cornelia and I had lived at Ravensden Abbey, the ancestral home of the Quintons in Bedfordshire. This was chiefly of necessity, for I lacked the income to permit the establishment of an independent household. During the last year, though, the arrangement had become increasingly untenable. The relationship between Cornelia and my mother, the