by David Donachie · Allison & Busby · tapa blanda · ISBN 9780749079888
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John Pearce returns from Corsica demanding that Captain Barclay of HMS Brilliant, the man who originally pressed him and his fellow Pelicans into the Navy, be tried at home by a civilian court. Against the background of the ongoing siege of Toulon and with the Revolutionary Army massing to attack, no-one in authority sees this as a good time to accede to his requests. Barclay's patron Admiral Hotham contrives a way out of the dilemma by sending Pearce and his men to transport renegade French sailors to an Atlantic port.
While Pearce is gone, Hotham fixes a court martial where Barclay is found innocent for lack of evidence, a ruse that leads to an open breach with his wife Emily. Pearce eventually returns to the siege having survived conflict on both land and water only to find Barclay acquitted and exempt from further trial under the law of double jeopardy. Despite clear warnings not to do so, he begins a romance with Emily Barclay, but mayhem surrounds the evacuation of Toulon and the revolutionary forces, including Napoleon Bonaparte, are closing in to retake the port.
