Ramage & the Guillotine by Dudley Pope

great faith in the reports of agents and emigres. It’ll be useful to be able to check as much of it as we can when you get back. As far as the
Moniteur
reports are concerned, you must bear in mind that it is the most convenient way that Bonaparte has of providing us with misleading information.”
    â€œWhich in itself might provide positive information,” Ramage thought to himself and as Lord Nelson looked up suddenly realized he had said it aloud.
    â€œExactly, my dear Ramage, two negatives make a positive, and that’s something you can bear in mind as you read those
Moniteur
reports—which I only obtained late last night from the Secretary of State’s office. My French isn’t good enough to make all that easy reading, but see what you can find out. Make notes. Mention anything you think might interest me. Anything,” he reiterated, “however unimportant it might seem.”
    â€œAye aye, sir. But how am I to get to France?”
    The Admiral laughed; a short, almost mirthless laugh. “That’s your problem. You can be put on shore by boat from any one of my cutters; or you can find out how the smugglers travel back and forth. Now for your specific orders. As the First Lord mentioned last night, it is essential to find out how many of each type of vessel the French can put to sea at the next new moon period. Barges, gunboats, fishing craft and so on. I’d like some estimate of how many more can be commissioned by the following new moon. So that is the first part of your task, and the most dangerous. The second part you can do by keeping your eyes open: accurate estimates of the number of troops, guns and horses and amount of provisions the vessels can carry.”
    â€œAnd the sailing date … ?” Ramage asked cautiously.
    â€œThe chances of your discovering that are slight, even if Bonaparte knows it, which I doubt very much. We can be certain of one thing, though: the French won’t risk having the troops and horses on board for more than 24 hours before sailing. Most of those vessels are anchored in such exposed places that the soldiers will become seasick within fifteen minutes.”
    The Admiral stood up. “You can stay here and go through those papers. Put them in the portfolio when you’ve finished and return them to the Board Secretary. I’m going down to Dover now, and you can report to me there tomorrow evening. Is there anything you want to mention now that won’t wait until then?”
    Ramage nodded hurriedly, since he had been wondering how he could raise the point. “Men, sir. At the moment I don’t know how I’ll be handling all this, but—”
    â€œBut by chance,” Nelson interrupted, “you happen to know the ships in which some of those scoundrels from your last ship are now serving …”
    Ramage grinned. “Purely by chance, sir!”
    â€œVery well, I’ll speak to the First Lord, and you can leave a list with the Board Secretary when you give him the portfolio. No more than a dozen, and I don’t know what the deuce you need them for.”
    He had written the names of the three men he wanted before he realized that only one of them was British. The first man was Thomas Jackson, the American who had served as his coxswain in all the ships he had commanded. “All” included the
Kathleen
cutter, which he lost at the Battle of Cape St Vincent, the
Triton
brig, which he lost after a hurricane in the Caribbean, and more recently the
Lady Arabella
brig. The second name was the Briton, Will Stafford, a Cockney who had been a locksmith and burglar before being swept up by a press-gang. His former trade might come in useful. The third man was an Italian, Alberto Rossi, whose presence in France would not arouse suspicion.
    He put the list to one side and began reading through the notes he had made while going through the dozens of pages taken from various issues of
Le