Returning safely to England after the dramatic capture of Martinique Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Bolitho finds an all too brief respite from war and politics in the arms of his mistress, Lady Catherine Somervill. But the shadow of a new conflict already darkens the horizon. The old enemy, France, forges an uneasy alliance with America -threatening the safety of British trade routes. Although ordered immediately to the Indian Ocean, for the first time Bolitho's thoughts are not of glory but his own- and the Navy's -past. Both Nelson and Collingwood died in their counry's service. For the Navy's newest Admiral, is there life beyond the sea itself?