The Continental Risque Read Online Free

just happened, officially,’ Stanton said. ‘They just authorized the purchase of a few ships and formed this committee. So now there is a navy of sorts, a bunch of merchantmen they’re beefing up and turning into men-of-war.’
    Stanton’s tone left little doubt as to his position regarding that plan. ‘Nonsense, of course, as you well know. If you want a man-of-war, you have to build a man-of-war, like
Charlemagne
here. No merchant brig could have lived through the pounding she’s taken. But I reckon there’s neither time nor money to build new—’
    â€˜So Hopkins asked you …?’ Biddlecomb cut Stanton off. If he was allowed to get full under way with this line of thought, Biddlecomb knew from long use, there would be no stopping him.
    â€˜Yes. He said they need people working for them that know ships, understand what’s required. I reckon my involvement in the Rhode Island navy gave him the idea I know something of naval affairs.’
    â€˜You know as much as anyone in the Colonies, I should think.’
    â€˜Well, I was honored, to say the least, and I accepted right off. I had to take Rogers, of course, I’d be lost without him, and I couldn’t leave Virginia alone, so we’re moving the whole household to Philadelphia.’
    Biddlecomb glanced at Virginia. She was excited about the trip, he could tell as much, excited to live in the biggest city in the Colonies.
    â€˜It was my thinking, you know,’ Stanton continued, ‘that you and
Charlemagne
would be best off going to Philadelphia. That’s where it’s happening, in the naval line.’
    â€˜You see a place for
Charlemagne
in this navy they’re forming?’
    â€˜I do. I reckoned when
Charlemagne
was ready, why, we’d all take passage to Philadelphia. Kill two birds, you know. I’d a mind … I mean I had thought that, if it is agreeable to you, perhaps
Charlemagne
might just be leased to the Naval Committee. You’re to retain command, of course.’
    Biddlecomb smiled and nodded his head. Stanton was being as political as he could; despite the familial aspects of their relationship, Stanton was in fact the outright owner of the
Charlemagne
and could do whatsoever he pleased with her.
    â€˜A fine plan. I would be honored, of course, to serve as an officer in the navy of the United Colonies, and frankly I’ll be quite pleased to see a real navy come together, converted merchantmen or not.’
    It was another week before they were blessed with the right conditions for slipping past the blockading squadron: quarter moon with a promise of morning fog, light airs from the northwest, and an ebb tide just past midnight. A pilot was summoned, a man whose local knowledge encompassed every shoal, rock and shifting bank of sand, and in the darkness the
Charlemagne
’s dock lines were singled up and topsails loosened off.
    â€˜Mr Rumstick,’ Biddlecomb called forward. He spoke in a loud whisper; there were enough people in Cambridge of dubious loyalty, and enough time for such people to get word to the Royal Navy, that he did not care to advertise their departure. He was about to follow the hail with orders to set the fore topsail when a coach and four came rumbling and creaking down the quay. The driver reined the horses to a noisy stop as the door was flung open.
    â€˜Ahoy, there! Ahoy, is this the
Charlemagne
?’ a voice called from the dark interior of the carriage. Biddlecomb wondered if there was anyone in Cambridge who was not startled awake by the noise.
    â€˜Yes,’ he called back hesitantly.
    â€˜Are you getting under way?’ the man in the carriage demanded next.
    It was irritating in the extreme that any degree of secrecy was now lost, and Biddlecomb was not about to begin shouting out his intentions like a town crier. ‘Look, here—’ he began, then the man in the carriage cut him off.
    â€˜Of course