Hornblower has been promoted rear-admiral and named in command of the West Indies Station (in the Caribbean) with a squadron consisting of three frigates and fourteen brigs and schooners.

Hornblower intercepts their ship, the Daring, but is powerless to stop them by force; with no other choice, he is prepared to sacrifice his honour for the sake of peace in Europe.

When he returns to port, he learns to his astonishment and relief that his lie was the truth, recalling Saint Elizabeth's miracle of the roses.

Hornblower, characteristically, outsmarts his subordinate, the dim-witted, pompous Captain Fell of the Clorinda to the point he thinks the sabotage plan was his idea.

Pirates kidnap Hornblower and his young secretary Spendlove and take them to their hideout near Montego Bay, in an attempt to extort a pardon for themselves.

The young man is on a tour of the Caribbean in his yacht, a converted ex-Royal Navy brig-sloop, the Bride of Abydos.

While Hornblower and his squadron are conveniently away on manoeuvres, Ramsbottom, by pretending that his yacht is the Desperate, a Royal Navy brig enforcing a (bogus) blockade, captures the Helmond, an unsuspecting Dutch transport, and secures the Spanish artillery train forming its cargo.

Hornblower is troubled by the case of a young marine bandsman, Hudnutt, a naturally gifted musician who refuses to play what he feels is a wrong note.