Captain Jack Aubrey, R. N., ashore after a successful cruise, is
persuaded by a casual acquaintance to make certain investments in the
City. This innocent decision ensnares him in the London criminal
underground and in government espionage--the province of his friend
Stephen Maturin. Is Aubrey's humiliation and the threatened ruin of his
career a deliberate plot? This dark tale is a fitting backdrop to the
brilliant characterization and sparkling dialogue which O'Brian's
readers have come to expect.