Ramage & the Renegades by Dudley Pope Read Free Book Online Page A

back to the
Triton
brig, his second command, drifting dismasted in the Caribbean after a hurricane, with St Thomas and St Croix in the distance.
    â€œThe Swedes get back St Bartholomew.”
    A tiny island north of Antigua but one of the most beautiful in the Leeward Islands.
    â€œFrance—well, Bonaparte gets back all the sugar islands except Guadeloupe. We lost thousands of soldiers and hundreds of seamen from sickness to capture them. Every capture raised a cheer in Parliament for the government. Now Bonaparte gets them back—by bluffing Hawkesbury, I suppose.”
    Every one of those islands was as familiar to Ramage as Whitehall: St Lucia, and his attack with the
Triton
brig; Martinique, where he had seized Diamond Rock and captured a convoy, and his present command, the
Calypso
frigate, raiding Fort Royal—or Fort de France, as the Republicans had renamed it; Antigua with its mosquitoes and corruption …
    â€œNow,” he continued, “the Atlantic. We return the Cape of Good Hope to the Dutch, and Portugal gets Madeira.”
    â€œSo we lose provisioning ports on the way to India,” his father said. “Hawkesbury is a bigger fool than anyone believed.”
    â€œYou flatter him,” Nicholas said dryly, “because, in the East Indies, Malacca, Amboyna, Banda and Ternate are returned to the Dutch, although we keep Ceylon. But in India Bonaparte gets back Pondicherry, Chandernagore, and various settlements along the Ganges.”
    â€œIt’s unbelievable,” the Admiral said, his voice revealing his despair. “We’ve lost so many lives and beggared ourselves and now we sign a peace treaty which would be harsh even if we’d
lost
the war.”
    â€œWe won the war and Hawkesbury and Addington have lost the peace,” Nicholas said bitterly.
    Gianna said quietly: “There is no mention of Italy?”
    â€œNot of Volterra, but I’m just coming to Europe,” Nicholas said. “We return the island of St Marcouf, Egypt goes back to the Sublime Porte, and the Order of St John of Jerusalem have Malta, Gozo and Comino restored to them. France has to evacuate Naples and Roman territory—that is the only reference to Italy—while Britain evacuates Corsica, which means Portoferraio, and ‘all other islands and fortresses she has occupied in the Adriatic and Mediterranean.’ And, across the Atlantic, we restore St Pierre and Miquelon to Bonaparte so his fishermen have a base …”
    â€œCan I return to Volterra?” Gianna asked flatly.
    Ramage gestured at his father, who was obviously leaving him to answer. “Well, once the ratifications are signed, legally we are at peace with France and British subjects will be free to travel. Dozens will flock to Paris and Rome, I expect. But Bonaparte is going to keep the Republic of Genoa, Piedmont, Tuscany … all the Italian states, including Volterra. At least, that’s what the newspapers say, and I think they must have been given special information.”
    â€œThat doesn’t answer my question,
caro
…”
    He knew it did not; he was trying to evade it. “You are the ruler of Volterra by right, custom, tradition and the will of the people. But Bonaparte invaded it—along with most of the rest of Italy—and this peace they are signing still leaves the French in occupation. I can’t see Bonaparte allowing the rightful ruler back into any country he is occupying.”
    â€œWhy not? It is my Kingdom!”
    â€œThat would be sufficient reason for him to refuse …” “This Bonaparte—he would be afraid that I would rally my people and throw out the French?”
    â€œDarling, you might—and would, I am sure—rally your people, but you could never throw out the French.” He loved the way she always referred disdainfully to “this Bonaparte,” but the habit could be dangerous. “You must not underestimate