Winans stood. “Very well. I shall leave you in Mr Renner’s capable hands while I attend to my report. Vermont has undergone some refurbishment since the … ah … military requisitioned her services and our passenger facilities are not what they were. Nevertheless, I think you’ll find them agreeable enough, at least for the duration of your passage.”

Winans looked towards the stern window. “I see the fog’s almost lifted. We’ve an hour yet before we reach Plattsburg. I suggest you make yourselves comfortable until then.”

Stepping out from behind his chart table, Captain Winans drew himself up. “I’m sorry we had to meet under such unfortunate circumstances.”

“Unfortunate for Stagg maybe,” Lawrence said with a smile as he shook Winans’ proffered hand. “Not for us. We can’t thank you enough, sir. It would have been a damned tiring row had you not stopped to pick us up.”

Hawkwood kept his face straight. “I’ll be submitting my own report, of course, Captain. General Dearborn will want a full account of the incident. I can’t say that I’m looking forward to explaining how Captain Douglas and I allowed ourselves to be hoodwinked by scoundrels, but you may rest assured the general will be fully informed of the role you and your crew played in delivering us from Remus Stagg’s clutches.”

For a moment Winans appeared disconcerted by this. Then a new light glimmered in his eyes. At first Hawkwood thought it was gratitude he was seeing, but then he realized it was more than that. There was relief there, too.

It confirmed his suspicions; for all his air of authority, Captain Winans had been wary lest he and his crew be held responsible for the collision. Had they been so inclined, the men he knew as Douglas and Matthews could have made his life very difficult by levelling accusations of reckless seamanship or, worse, gross negligence on his part. Those fears had dissipated now that he had discovered the identities of the men who had perished and the nature of their business.

Hawkwood’s false admission that he and Lawrence feared they may have been negligent in letting themselves to be taken by Stagg had helped their cause. By massaging the facts and by promising to portray the captain as their saviour, Hawkwood had convinced Winans that the three of them were now allies by virtue of a shared sense of culpability. It meant Hawkwood and Lawrence wouldn’t have to look over their shoulders for the duration of the voyage to Plattsburg.

The Northern Army’s winter quarters and home to several thousand American troops.

And the very last place on earth they wanted to be.