Chapter 1 Summary

Jack Aubrey, Stephen Maturin, and Diana Villiers are all passengers aboard HMS Shannon. The threesome has recently escaped from Boston and is being pursued by Harry Johnson, Villiers' one-time lover and an eager American intelligence officer possessed of extensive personal wealth. Aubrey participated as a combatant in Shannon's recent victory over USS Chesapeake, and the captured American heavy frigate accompanies Shannon on her voyage into Halifax, Nova Scotia. Word of the recent British victory spreads like wildfire and the town and environs erupt in a tumultuous celebration. Amidst much cheering, Aubrey is repeatedly invited to recount the battle from his own perspective. While the celebrations are going on, Maturin attends to the wounded until they are comfortably transferred to a hospital ashore.

Over the next days and weeks celebrations continue unabated and Aubrey is something of a local hero. Even so, letters from...