Southwick wanted nothing: he had been offered much in the past but asked only that he be allowed to serve with Ramage. There would be prize money for all the Junos. At a guess, the Surcouf should fetch about £16,000, so the seamen would share £4000, or about £25 each. La Comète would fetch less because she was damaged, say £20 a man. There would be as much again for the seven merchantmen and two schooners. That totalled some £65 a man - the equivalent of six years' pay. Aitken and Wagstaffe would get shares as commanding officers, and only Baker and the men in La Mutine would receive nothing because they were not present during the action.

Baker! Did La Mutine get to Barbados? Why wasn't she with the Admiral's squadron? Had the Admiral ordered Baker to stay in Bridgetown, with the twenty Junos on board La Mutine? Why was the Admiral so late? Plenty of questions, he thought sourly, and no answers...

'Hoist our pendant numbers,' Ramage told Orsini, 'and then watch the flagship. She'll be making a signal very soon.'

Southwick bustled up. 'We're ready to hoist out a boat, sir.' He looked at Ramage's stock and then down at his stockings. 'There's plenty of time for you to change, sir, if you wish.'

The Master was quite right: within half an hour he would probably be on board the flagship, making his report. Clean stock, best uniform, boots polished, hat squared and mind you do not trip over your sword ... At least he had recently shaved, and the report to the Admiral was in his cabin, already signed and sealed. The object, he told himself mockingly, is to make everything seem easy: four French frigates and seven merchantmen accounted for yesterday; today no sign of effort...

He was still in his cabin, his steward brushing his coat, when he heard through the skylight Orsini reporting a signal from the Invincible: the Juno's pendant and number 213. That was one that Ramage knew by heart - The Captain of the ship pointed out to come to the Admiral ... A moment later the boy was at his door, knocking urgently and delivering the message.

Ramage slung the sword belt over his shoulder and finished dressing, crouching as he slid into the coat held up by his steward. He jammed his hat on his head and picked up the canvas bag. It was bulky - not only did it contain his report and the orders he had written for Wagstaffe to take the merchantmen to Barbados, but he decided to take the Master's log and his own journal, as well as his order book. And there were the secret papers from La Comète, perhaps the most important of them all.

The Invincible was a mile away, steering towards them, with a frigate ahead and one on either beam. Southwick was waiting for orders. There had been no signal from the Invincible telling the Juno to take up a particular position in the squadron, which told him that either Admiral Davis was in a hurry to hear the news - by now he would have seen the cluster of ships at anchor off the Diamond - or he was not a fussy man who did not trust his captains.

'Heave to ahead of the flagship,' Ramage said, 'and as soon as the cutter is hoisted out get under way again.'

'And after that, sir?'

'Unless you get a signal from the flagship, get into the Invincible's wake, so there'll be less distance to row when I come back on board!'

The Invincible's captain was waiting on the gangway for him. He returned Ramage's salute and his smile was friendly. That was significant: captains of flagships never gave welcoming smiles to junior captains summoned on board to face an admiral's wrath.

Captain Edwards made no conversation as he led the way down to the Admiral's cabin, however, and Ramage wondered whether he might not be regretting that brief smile. It would have cost him nothing to comment on the anchored ships or even to have asked about the Surcouf, which was clearly in sight and equally clearly a French ship now under British colours, but Edwards held his tongue.

The Admiral's cabin was large and cool and Ramage remembered it well from his first visit in Bridgetown. Then it had been hot and stuffy, with the ship anchored close in to the land. The cabin was empty and Captain Edwards waved to a chair by the table in front of the stern lights. 'Sit down, the Admiral will see you in a few minutes.'

Ramage could hear the Invincible's yards being trimmed round as she got under way again: she had hove-to just long enough for the Juno's cutter to get alongside and Ramage to scramble on board. The minutes passed and he saw the Juno come into sight through the stern lights and take up position two cables astern. Watching her manoeuvring, Ramage felt a glow of pride. Southwick was handling the ship as though he had a full complement on board, instead of less than a third. Once in the flagship's wake, her three masts remained precisely in line. Southwick would be watching the luffs like a hawk, and the men at the wheel and the quartermaster would be meeting each extra puff of wind, every wave that tried to push round the Juno's bow.

The door opened and the Admiral walked in, followed by Captain Edwards and his secretary. Ramage jumped up, watching the expression on the Admiral's face, but it gave nothing away.

The old fool's arrived too late, eh?' he said by way of a greeting. Ramage fidgeted uneasily, not knowing what to say, but the Admiral waved for him to sit down, walked round to the other side of the table and sat down himself opposite Ramage. Captain Edwards was waved to the seat on his right.

'Tell me what happened,' he demanded, and Ramage reached for the canvas bag.

'I have my report here, sir ...'

'Written reports tell admirals what captains think they ought to know, and they can't be interrupted with awkward questions.'

The Admiral seemed hostile and Captain Edwards was watching closely. Between the two men he could see the Juno following astern, her masts still perfectly in line.

'Well, sir, we sighted the convoy ...'

'No, begin from the time you arrived here. I know you covered the schooner business in your first report by La Mutine, but forget that for the moment.'

The Admiral's face was completely expressionless as Ramage told him of the Juno's look into Fort Royal, followed by the night attack on the Juno by the two schooners, and how they cut out the Surcouf from Fort Royal. When Ramage referred to sending La Mutine to Barbados with a warning about the expected French convoy, the Admiral said: 'Why did you choose her and not the other, what's the name, the Créole!'

There was obviously a reason for the question but Ramage could think of none. He shrugged his shoulders. 'It was a matter of chance, sir.'

'She never arrived,' the Admiral said bluntly.

'But my dispatch, sir, you received ...'

'The dispatch arrived but the schooner didn't; she sprang a plank and sank a third of the way over. Baker and his men rowed. Took them nearly four days. Almost dead when they arrived. Most of 'em still in hospital - sunstroke, sunburn and exhaustion ...’

'I'm very sorry -'

'Not your fault,' Admiral Davis said gruffly, 'and a very creditable effort by young Baker and his men. But tell me, Ramage,' he continued, his voice cold, 'why didn't you send the Surcouf with the warning, instead of a little schooner?'

'I was afraid the convoy might arrive early, sir,' Ramage said frankly.

'So you halved the men you had remaining in the Juno and put them on board the Surcouf. That hardly doubled your strength, surely?'

'No sir,' Ramage admitted, ‘but I was hoping that setting up batteries on top of the Diamond Rock to cover the Fours Channel would give us an element of surprise . . .'

'What's that?' the Admiral exclaimed sharply. 'You don't mean to say you even dreamed of getting a gun up on to the top of that Rock? D'you hear that, Edwards? Why, you ...'

Captain Edwards had been watching Ramage closely and he deliberately interrupted the Admiral: 'Perhaps we might hear what Ramage had in mind, sir?'