It is quickly apparent that Captain James Sawyer suffers from paranoia, constantly suspecting plots to undermine his authority and inflicting irrational and arbitrary punishments upon Hornblower and the other officers.

Bush leads the successful attack, but it is Hornblower who is instrumental in negotiating the unconditional surrender of the remaining Spanish forces.

Hornblower alertly retakes the ship, but in the desperate fighting, Bush is severely wounded and the helpless Sawyer is killed.

Reduced to poverty, he ekes out a living by playing whist for a modest stipend (plus whatever he wins or loses) at an upper-class gaming establishment.

Bush meets him several times, and notes in a newspaper that Midshipman Wellard, a suspect in Sawyer's fall into the hold, has drowned in an accident.

Hornblower's promotion is confirmed (by a Lord of the Admiralty he impresses with his exceptional cardplaying skills) and he is appointed commander of a sloop-of-war.