Chapter 4 Summary

Hornblower prepares to receive Charles Ramsbottom, a very wealthy industrialist who has recently entered society. Ramsbottom effects a penchant for yachting in a military style and has retained a naval brig and ostensibly plans to cruise the Carribbean. Letters from Hornblower's wife, Barbara, inform Hornblower that Ramsbottom has made a big splash in the English social scene and that the man is a millionaire. It is the first time Hornblower has read the word as being attached to an individual, and he finds it distasteful in that context. Ramsbottom arrives in his yacht, Bride of Abydos, a brig purchased from the Royal Navy and remodeled somewhat. Hornblower is surprised to find Ramsbottom eminently likable and affable. Over the next days, Ramsbottom makes a big splash in the Jamaican social scene and spends several evenings playing whist with Hornblower. One evening Ramsbottom invites Hornblower...