venteen days, may well be borne in mind by
those unfamiliar with the delays attending concerted movements, that
have to be timed with reference to the slowest units taking part in
the combination.

The days of chase, over which we have hurried in a few lines, passed
for Nelson not only wearily, but in agony of soul. Justified as his
action was to his own mind, and as it must be by the dispassionate
review of military criticism, he could not but be tormented by the
thought of what might have been, and by his temper, which lacked
equanimity and fretted uncontrollably to get alongside the enemy--to
do the duty and to reap the glory that he rightly conceived to be his
own. "I am entirely adrift," he complained, "by my frigates losing
sight of the French fleet so soon after their coming out of port." His
purpose never faltered, nor did the light that led him grow dim. His
action left nothing to be desired, but the chafing of his spirit
approached fury. Lord Radstock, writing from London to his son, says:
"I met a person yesterday, who told me that he had seen a letter from
Lord Nelson, concluding in these words: 'O French fleet, French fleet,
if I can but once get up with you, I'll make you pay dearly for all
that you have made me suffer!' Another told me that he had seen a
letter from an officer on board the Victory, describing his chief 'as
almost raving with anger and vexation.' This," continues Radstock,
who knew him very well, "I can readily credit, so much so, indeed,
that I much fear that he will either undertake some desperate measure
to retrieve his ground, or, should not such an opportunity offer, that
he will never suffer us to behold him more."

Being in London, the writer just quoted was in close touch with the
popular feeling of anxiety, a suspicion of which he could well imagine
Nelson also had, and which added to his burden. "It is believed here,"
he says on the 21st of May, "that the combined fleet from Cadiz is
bound to the West Indies. This is by no means improbable.... The City
people are crying out against Sir J.O.,[92] and, as usual, are equally
absurd and unjust. Some are so ridiculous as to say that he ought to
have captured some of the Toulon squadron, whilst others, more
moderate, think that he might at all events, have so crippled the
enemy as to have checked the expedition.[93] You may readily guess
that your chief is not out of our thoughts at this critical moment.
Should Providence once more f