Chapter 22
Hints of WarPetroc waited with some little impatience for his visitor. It was snowing again, and the wind from the northeast bit deep. He’d had the upper yards sent down to reduce the risk of ice accumulating on them, and in common with most of the ships now lying at anchor, he had ordered awnings rigged over the decks as a simple means of reducing the penetration of the snow below decks and around the guns. Of course, it meant the ship was not immediately able to put to sea, and the snow accumulating on the awnings had to be regularly dislodged, but it kept the ship at least partly clear.
The news from home was better as well. His father, though still confined to the house, was at least able to take a hand in the affairs of the estate once more. Though his father’s own letter
