Ramage turned to Gianna, took her hand and lifted it to his lips, and then swung round to face Commodore Nelson without looking at her again.

 The Commodore was obviously in jovial mood: he slapped his knee and exclaimed:

'How about that, Ramage, eh?'

Ramage looked puzzled.

'Bit of a surprise, eh? Dead men do tell tales after all!’

The other three were laughing. Was the Commodore one of these blasted practical jokers?

The Italian said, We have almost met before, Tenente.'

'You have the advantage of me, sir,' Ramage said coolly.

 Everyone seemed to be talking in riddles. It's Gianna's turn to have a dig now, he thought sourly, involuntarily glancing at her.

She looked as if he had just slapped her face.

'Nicholas! Nicholas!'

 She almost ran the four or five paces separating them, and gripped his arm with her left hand. 'It's Antonio! Don't you understand?'

She was almost in tears. No, he didn't understand, nor did he care about Antonio: he simply wanted to kiss her, but instead gently pushed her away.

'Antonio, Nicholas! Antonio — my cousin: Count Pitti!

 The cabin slowly began moving round him; in a moment it was spinning and Gianna held him tightly, otherwise he would have fallen. A few seconds later the Commodore and Gianna were helping him to a chair while Pitti, now standing helplessly and leaning on his stick, kept repeating, 'What happened? What is wrong?'

 Ramage saw that exploded face, the shattered bones and remains of the teeth silvery-white in the moonlight, the torn flesh and slopping blood, black and caked in the sand. Yet Pisano had been right: Count Pitti was alive after all. God -no wonder no one believed he had gone back. But Jackson ...

 God damn and blast them all: he dragged himself out of the chair, conscious his brow was wet with cold perspiration, and asked the Commodore:

'May I return to my ship, sir?'

Nelson looked puzzled but promptly said: ‘No - sit down.'

 Ramage almost slid into the chair: there was no strength in his knees and tiredness was adding its quota to help fuddle his brain. If only they'd leave him alone.

 Suddenly he realized Gianna was kneeling beside him, talking softly, and the agony and bewilderment in her face stabbed into his consciousness like a dagger.

'But it is all right now,' she was saying. 'It is all right, Nico - e finito, cara mia!’

The Commodore interrupted:

 'Mr Ramage has received a shock. My little surprise seems to have misfired and he deserves an explanation. Count Pitti, perhaps you would oblige - and please be seated,' he added, pushing a chair towards him.

Pitti sat down heavily.

'Allora, Tenente, you remember you met us on the track leading to the Tower? Well, when you and Gianna ran over the dunes towards the sea, my cousin Pisano and I, with the two peasants, went on to the Tower along the track and then up on to the dunes.

 'I was worried about Gianna and stopped on top of the dunes to look back. I saw several French cavalry galloping along the beach towards you. It seemed impossible for either of you to avoid being killed. Then suddenly, at the last moment, a man ran out of the bushes and down the side of the dune, charging the cavalrymen and shouting so loud he fright­ened the horses.'

'Yes,' Ramage nodded. 'That was my cox'n, Jackson.'

'Well, I watched you pick up Gianna and run towards the boat at the end of the dunes. But at that moment two or three French soldiers, who must have galloped along the track and left their horses by the Tower, suddenly appeared behind me -between me and the Tower.

 'I ran into the bushes and the soldiers followed, but they had to split up because the bushes were so thick.

‘1 had almost reached the end of the dunes, running in and out of the bushes like a rabbit, when I slipped in the sand as I crossed a clearing — you remember how soft it was - and broke my ankle. I managed to crawl under a bush a few mo­ments before a French soldier appeared in the clearing. He stopped - I think he saw the marks I had made in the sand.

 'There was a shot behind him - from the direction he'd come - and he fell down; but almost at once there were more shots and much shouting in French, and the rest of the soldiers went back towards the Tower. I think he was shot accidentally by one of his own people because he was in front and the rest of them mistook him for one of us.'

Ramage asked: 'Which way was he facing when he was shot?'

'Towards the boat: the ball hit the back of his head. Ah - 1 see why you ask. Well, I stayed under my bush for two or three minutes; then I heard someone calling in English from the direction of the boat. Then a man ran into the clearing and turned the body over - it was lying on its face.

 'The man was you, was it not? I recognized you when you came into the cabin: you have a particular — how do you say, a particular stance.'

 .Yes, I came back. But I didn't realize the body was of a French soldier.'

 'I am not surprised: he was a cavalryman and wore a cloak, as I did. He was not wearing a hat - I expect he lost it. He wore white breeches and boots - just as I was wearing.'

 The Commodore said, 'The uniforms of Revolutionary France are very sober now: none of the old trappings.'

'Allora, I was going to call you, but I knew my ankle was broken and that it would take a long time for me to get to the boat. I also knew any delay would risk everyone else's life. So I stayed under the bush and you went away. Then a few minutes later someone else came running through the clearing, from the same direction that the French soldier had come.

 "He too looked at the body and swore in English. I realized it was a sailor and guessed he was the man who charged the cavalry. Well, that's all.'

 ‘But how did you get here?'

 'That was not too difficult. You told the two peasants that I was missing, and ordered them to escape. They crossed the river - to please you, incidentally - and as soon as you had gone off in the boat came back to look for me. After the French soldiers fired at you from the beach they galloped away.'

'Then what happened?'

 'The peasants took me to a hut near the village of Capalbio, and bribed a fisherman from Port' Ercole to take me to Elba -to Porto Ferraio. He would not risk crossing to Bastia, and so we went along the coast at night. At Port Ferraio I found a British frigate, and went on board. The next day Commodore Nelson arrived and until yesterday I was his guest.'

 Ramage looked at Nelson. 'So Count Pitti was on board when you arrived here, sir?'

'Yes, my boy.'

Well, sir, I do think—'

'No,' interrupted Nelson, 'not if you think a little harder. When I read the minutes of the trial which my arrival interrupted, I needed a lieutenant to take command of the Kath­leen. In view of the circumstances surrounding the trial, I thought it wiser you should leave Bastia for a short while. I asked Count Pitti if he would mind if the Marchesa was kept waiting for a few more hours before she was told that he was safe, and he agreed.'

Ramage said, 'I am sorry, sir: I didn't realize ...’

 'Oh, don't thank me,' replied Nelson. 'I don't want cowards serving under me. I was bound to send a report to Sir John Jervis about the rather - er, inconclusive - proceedings here involving an accusation of cowardice. If I could later forward a report from the same young officer describing how he had successfully rescued the crew of the Belette, then neither the Admiral nor myself need have any further doubts about his courage - or qualities of leadership for that matter.'

 'But sir, you had no idea that it would be any harder rescu­ing them than picking them up from a quay!' exclaimed Ramage.

'Oh?' Nelson said, raising his eyebrows. 'On the contrary.  An offshore wind, another headland to get in your way - and I guessed French troops would be on board. I believe Lord Probus made some reference to you to the effect that you were still on trial?'