Ramage And The Rebels

They moved apart as they heard the door handle rasping, and then the Governor bustled out, followed by the lieutenants. 'How are you now, my dear?' he asked the girl, and when she assured him she was recovered he said: 'I think your mother would like to see you: some trouble with the kitchen staff I think.'

As soon as she left he said to Ramage: 'Perhaps we should discuss plans before di

When Ramage agreed the Governor said: 'Should we talk here? We run no risk of servants hearing too much, and I imagine you want your officers present'

For the next fifteen minutes van Someren told them all he knew of the rebels' activities, how far they had advanced, and how long - unless something was done quickly - before the rebels reached Amsterdam. At the end of the recital he asked Ramage: 'So what do you propose doing?' Thinking about it at di

This I know, but surely . . .'

'I'm sorry, Your Excellency."

'But - well, I must insist I am the Governor of the island and I have surrendered it to you. I insist that you defend Amsterdam, and I insist on knowing - knowing now - how you propose to do it.'

Ramage did not feel particularly angry; in fact he more than understood the Governor's concern. But like his daughter earlier, van Someren was talking without considering the facts.

'I think, Your Excellency, that we ought to go down to di

'Captain Ramage,' van Someren said sharply, 'I insist on knowing.' Clearly he was not going to move from the balcony, and the mosquitoes were begi

'Your Excellency,' Ramage said quietly, 'yesterday you surrendered this island to me. We signed all the necessary documents. Since then I have continued to address you as "Your Excellency"; you have been treated as though you were the Governor . . .'

Would he need to say more? Van Someren was quick to answer: 'But I am the Governor!'

'Forgive me,' Ramage said almost dreamily, 'how can you, a Dutch subject, a citizen of the Batavian Republic, be the Governor of an island which, since yesterday afternoon, belonged to Britain?'

Van Someren was silent for several seconds and Ramage heard two or three of the lieutenants shuffle their feet as they realized the significance of what their captain had said but were far from sure what van Someren was going to do.

'Again, I must apologize,' the Dutchman said. 'You are of course quite correct. You are, I suppose, the new governor - and naval and military commander.'

'More important for the moment,' Ramage said dryly, 'I am your guest for di

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Lieutenant Re

All this, Re

In his ignorance the would - be sailor did not know that eighteen years of age was much too late to begin a naval career, but a chance meeting with another young blood who had made the same mistake put him on to the Marines. His father, finally accepting that his son was lost to the 1st Dragoons (thus saving himself several hundred pounds for a subaltern's commission, with hundreds more for later promotions, since advancement depended on guineas, not glory), mentioned casually that George Villiers, the Member of Parliament for Warwick (the county in which the Re

Father and son had then paid a visit to the Honourable George Villiers at his town house in Portman Square, and there the man who Was also Paymaster of the Marines (as well as being the youngest brother of the Earl of Clarendon) seemed glad to see Colonel Re

Now, four years later, it had happened: he commanded his own Marine company of one sergeant, two corporals and forty privates; more important, he commanded them in a frigate which was in turn commanded by the Navy's most brilliant young captain. Others might disagree - if they did you could probably put it down to jealousy - but Captain Ramage had two rare abilities, and you needed to serve with him and to share in the pla

The two abilities were in many ways contradictory. Re