HarperCollins Publishers

In 1803 Napolean smashes the Peace of Amiens, and Captain Jack Abbrey, RN, taking refuge in France from his creditors, is interned. He escapes from France, from debtor's prison, from a possible mutiny, and pursues his quarry straight into the mouth of a French-held harbor. Stephen Maturin's struggles, with himself as much as with a proud and intelligent woman, are woven into Aubrey's straining their friendship at times to the breaking point.