Page "Horatio Hornblower" Paragraph 26

After several years ashore, he is promoted to rear admiral and appointed naval Commander-in-Chief of the West Indies.

He foils an attempt by veterans of Napoleon's Imperial Guard to free Napoleon from his captivity on Saint Helena, captures a slave ship, and encounters Simón Bolívar's army.

He also discovers a plot by Lady Barbara to engineer the escape of a Marine bandsman sentenced to death for a minor offence.

An astonished Hornblower overlooks her breach of the law and reassures her of his love.

Finally, while attempting to return to England, the Hornblowers are caught in a hurricane, and Horatio struggles desperately to save Barbara's life from the storm.

In a moment of terror and desperation, she bares her heart to him, revealing that she never loved her first husband, only him.

The two survive, and this revelation does much to heal the last self-inflicted wounds in Hornblower's soul.

He retires to Kent and eventually becomes Admiral of the Fleet.