"'I HAVE DECIDED TO ENTRUST YOU WITH A DIFFICULT AND DANGEROUS MISSION.'"
"'I HAVE DECIDED TO ENTRUST YOU WITH A DIFFICULT AND DANGEROUS MISSION.'"
In the summer of 189-, the Channel Squadron, having taken part in the Annual Mobilisation, had dispersed.
Ships and men alike were resting, the former in their respective dockyards, the latter enjoying themselves after their kind on leave.
Although only a senior lieutenant, I had lately been appointed to the command of a torpedo-gunboat, the Quickmatch, a vessel of the Speedy type, which I had left at Portsmouth. I was spending my leave at the country seat in Hampshire of one of my late father's oldest friends, whose daughter I had long loved, when a telegram arrived ordering me to join my ship with all possible despatch. Hawes,our cheeky little clerk, evidently thinking I should regard it as a piece of good news, had added on his own responsibility, "War declared! Vive la gloire!"
So it had come, then, and I should have to leave the delights of love in a country house for the stern realities of war. There was nothing for it but to leave Bertha and say farewell. We had been engaged for some time, but had decided that it would be folly to marry till I had at least reached the rank of Commander; and the one drop of sweetness in the bitter cup of our farewell was the thought that active service would give me an opportunity for quick promotion.
It was difficult to find a quiet corner for leave-taking; but eventually, in the drawing-room, behind a palm-shaded screen, I bade her a long good-bye.