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| - In The Letter of Marque Jack, now a civilian, prepares to sail the Surprise, now owned by Stephen, as a privateer. Jack is bitter and is in low spirits about his dismissal from the navy, and dreads affrontal and disrespectful treatment from Royal Navy officers. However, he is strongly supported by his hand-picked crew, notably smugglers and Sethian religious fanatics from the fictional port of Shelmerston.
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| abstract
| - In The Letter of Marque Jack, now a civilian, prepares to sail the Surprise, now owned by Stephen, as a privateer. Jack is bitter and is in low spirits about his dismissal from the navy, and dreads affrontal and disrespectful treatment from Royal Navy officers. However, he is strongly supported by his hand-picked crew, notably smugglers and Sethian religious fanatics from the fictional port of Shelmerston. The downfall of the traitors Wray and Ledward in the previous book has restored order in British intelligence circles, and Maturin - now the secret owner of Surprise - plans to use her privateering as cover for a covert anti-Spanish mission to South America. The ship is therefore under official protection to an extent and Aubrey's innocence is known privately to many, though the spies are still at large and politics will make his rehabilitation impossible without extraordinary deeds on his part. They depart on a cruise, during which Maturin's servant Padeen becomes a secret laudanum addict after painful dental surgery, diluting Maturin's own supplies with brandy in order to conceal his theft. Maturin is thus unknowingly weaned off his own addiction (though he later substitutes it with the practice of chewing Coca leaves). The Surprises first capture the US privateer Spartan's consort, the Merlin, and then board the Spartan itself, retrieving its valuable cargo of quicksilver, looted from the Spanish Azul, as well as tricking her five prizes out of Horta harbour. These, together with his success in the cutting-out of the Diane from the French port of St. Martin despite serious wounds, make Aubrey both wealthy again and a popular hero. He is offered the opportunity to seek a free pardon, but angrily declines on the grounds that he is innocent and his friends fear that he has missed his chance of redemption. However, Aubrey's embarrassing father, a fugitive since his part in the stock-jobbing affair, is found dead in a ditch, and Aubrey is offered a Parliamentary seat by his cousin, Edward Norton, who owns the borough of Milport. This extra influence is enough for him to receive private assurances from Lord Melville, First Lord of the Admiralty, that he will indeed be restored to the Navy List as soon as the time is right. Maturin, in possession once more of Diana's magnificent Blue Peter diamond, decides to take it to her in Sweden. He sails part of the way on the old Leopard, now sadly reduced to a lowly transport ship, before re-joining the Surprise. He meets his wife Diana in Stockholm and is unsurprised to learn that the letter he sent to her from Gibraltar via Wray, accounting for his supposed infidelity, was never delivered. She also tells him she has not been unfaithful with Jagiello, and has been supporting herself by ascending - whilst mounted on a small Arab horse - in a hot-air balloon before an audience. Maturin is seriously injured in a fall after taking his usual dose of laudanum to soothe himself after their initial meeting, unaware that his tolerance has been reduced by Padeen's actions. Diana nurses him back to health and they become reconciled once more. When the Surprise returns from a trip to Riga to buy poldavy, Maturin hears from Martin about Padeen's laudanam addiction, discovered after he was caught siphoning laudanum from one of the carboys and replacing the tincture with brandy. Stephen is well enough to be finally transported back to the ship, accompanied by Colonel Jagiello's escort, and Diana embarks with him and Jack for home.
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