pennant
a long narrow flag; not to be confused with pendant
pilot
one with local nautical knowledge as an adviser; also an authoritative printed guide
piping the eye
crying, as in a child
poilu
term of endearment for French infantryman similar to “Tommy”
posset
spiced drink of hot milk curdled with ale
post-chaise
fast horse-drawn closed four-wheeled carriage
posy ring
ring with inscribed words
preventer tackles
rigged to prevent a spar taking charge in a blow
quarters
after the ship is cleared for action, the men close up at quarters for battle
reefer
midshipman
Reis-ul Kuttab
essentially the Ottoman foreign ministry
riband
ornate ribbon used in military decorations
scabbard
the sheath of a sword or bayonet
seraglio
strictly, the living quarters of the harem (wives and concubines), generalised to harem today
sextant
navigational instrument with a 60° arc, used for determining latitudes
shab
shabaroon; disreputable and unreliable
sky hook
mythical device for hoisting higher than the masthead
slasher
cutlass; barkers and slashers-pistols and cutlasses
spar
general term for mast, yard, boom, etc.
staysail
a triangular sail hoisted on the stays between the masts
stopper
to check or hold fast one rope by means of another
Sublime Porte
term for the state apparatus for receiving foreign
envoys in the Ottoman Court
tarpaulin officer
officer who started as a common seaman
Tobias Smollett
early picaresque novelist of the sea; see
Roderick Random
trusties
those men trusted to return to the ship if given liberty
Ulema
body of Islamic scholars in counsel to the sultan
victuals
provisions for the ship’s company
weigh anchor
to raise it clear of the seabed, metaphorically to start a voyage
yamak
auxiliary soldier in the Ottoman Army
zindiq
infidel, heretic
JULIAN STOCKWIN was sent at the age of fourteen to TS Indefatigable, a tough sea-training school. He joined the British Navy at fifteen, transferred to the Australian Navy when his family emigrated, and saw active service in Vietnam. A teacher and an educational psychologist, he was commissioned into the Royal Naval Reserve and awarded the MBE. Retired from the RNR with the rank of Lieutenant Commander, he now lives in Devon, England.
>WILL KYDD LAY SIEGE TO THE ANCIENT CITY OF CONSTANTINOPLE?
Thomas Kydd and the crew of L’Aurore bid farewell to the balmy waters of the Caribbean. Once home, Kydd finds his exploits are the talk of London and he and his best friend and confidential secretary, Nicholas Renzi, must part ways for good.
When British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Charles Arbuthnot, reports that the French (in an attempt to secure a vital passage to India) have been whipping up anti-English sentiment and actively wooing the Turks; Kydd is sent to the Dardanelles.
Braving treacherous currents, unreliable winds, and giant bombards, Kydd rescues the ambassador. But as the fleet waits for a response to their ultimatum, the French help strengthen Turkish defenses and an attempted coup lands Renzi in prison!
Bir gul mu var bu gulsen-i ‘alemde harsiz
(Does any bloom, in this rose-garden world, lack thorns?)
– Divan poetry from the court of Sultan Selim III
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
* indicates a fictitious character
* Thomas Kydd, captain of L’Aurore
* Nicholas Renzi,
his friend and confidential secretary, later Lord Farndon
L’AURORE, SHIP’S COMPANY
* Bowden, third lieutenant
* Brice, officer appointed into L’Aurore
* Calloway, master’s mate
* Clinch, midshipman
* Clinton, lieutenant of marines
* Curzon, second lieutenant
* Doud, seaman
* Gilbey, first lieutenant
* Goffin, ship’s clerk
* Kendall, sailing master
* Oakley, boatswain
* Owen, purser
* Peyton, surgeon
* Poulden, captain’s coxswain
* Redmond, gunner
* Saxton, master’s mate
* Stirk, gunner’s mate
* Tysoe, Kydd’s valet
* Willock, midshipman
OFFICERS, OTHER SHIPS
Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood
Vice Admiral Duckworth
Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Louis
Rear Admiral Sidney Smith
Captain Blackwood, Ajax
Captain Bolton, Fisgard
Captain Boyles, Windsor Castle
Captain Brisbane, Arethusa
Captain Lydiard, Anson
Captain Moubray, Active
* Lawson, lieutenant-in-command, Weazel
Dmitry Senyavin, Russian Navy admiral
Aleksey Ochakov, lieutenant of Tverdyi
OTHERS
Alexander Ball, governor of Malta
King George III
John Murray, publisher
* Congalton, Foreign Office
* Dillon, under-secretary, Eskdale Hall
* Emily, Kydd family’s maid
* Fortescue, confidential secretary
* Jago, under-steward, Eskdale Hall
* Cecilia Kydd
* Fanny Kydd
* Walter Kydd
* Marquess of Bloomsbury
* Hetty Panton, friend of Cecilia Kydd
* Perrott, Kydd school boatswain
CONSTANTINOPLE
Ahmed, secretary to Selim III
Arbuthnot, British ambassador
Crown Prince Mustafa
Haji Samatar, grand mufti of Constantinople
Ibrahim Hilmi Pasha, grand vizier
Isaac Bey, Ottoman envoy
Italinski, Russian ambassador
Kabakji Mustafa, Janissary official
Kaptan Pasha, port captain of Constantinople
Kose Musa, deputy grand vizier
Mahmut, chief of eunuchs of harem
Mehmed Ataullah Efendi, leader of Ulema
Memish Efendi, Selim supporter
Nezir Aga, eunuch of the harem
Pakize, favourite concubine of Selim
Sebastiani, French ambassador
Selim III, sultan Shakir Efendi, Selim supporter
* Doruk Zorlu, British ambassador’s aide
* Dunn, merchant
* Mustafa Tayyar Efendi, foreign ministry official
CHAPTER 1
IT WAS AS IF THE HANDSOME FRIGATE knew that she and her two-hundred-odd company were going home. After leaving the Caribbean she had quickly picked up a reliable westerly and now hitched up her skirt and flew, overtaking the broad Atlantic waves one by one in an eager swooping that had even old hands moving cautiously about the deck.
Channel fever was aboard and it gripped every soul. Soon after the chaos and drama of Trafalgar, HMS L’Aurore had been sent to join an expedition to wrest Cape Town from the Dutch. Success there had not been matched by the following ill-starred attempt at the South American colonies of Spain, and after capturing the capital, Buenos Aires, they had been forced to an ignominious surrender. Their later few months of service in the Caribbean had been abruptly terminated in an Admiralty summons to return to England. No doubt her captain was wanted at the vengeful court-martial to follow. But at last the handsome frigate and her crew were homeward bound.