Patrick O'Brian · 1988 · sea
The twelfth novel finds Jack stripped of his commission but not his ship: Stephen has bought the Surprise, and Jack sails her as a privateer under a letter of marque, hunting prizes to win back his fortune and his name. This route follows that cruise into the Bay of Biscay and the daring night cutting-out of the French frigate Diane from under the guns of Saint Martin's on the Ile de Re, the brilliant stroke that begins his long road back to the Navy.
- 1Shelmerston
From the rakish privateering port of Shelmerston, Jack takes the Surprise to sea as a private man-of-war, her crew a mix of his own faithful followers and hard-handed smuggler-seamen. He is no longer a King's officer but a hunter of prizes, fighting now for money and, far more, for the chance to clear his name.
- 2Bay of Biscay
Cruising the Bay of Biscay and the approaches to the French coast, the Surprise takes prizes and recaptures a richly laden Indiaman, restoring something of Jack's shattered fortune. But the prize he truly wants is not money: it is a feat of arms great enough to force the Admiralty to take him back.
- 3Saint Martin's
That feat comes at Saint Martin's on the Ile de Re, where a French frigate, the Diane, lies in the protected harbour. In a daring night attack with boats, Jack cuts her out from under the very guns of the batteries and brings her off, a stroke of such brilliance that it cannot be ignored.
- 4England
Jack returns to England with his prize and his reputation transformed, the disgrace of the pillory beginning at last to lift. Stephen meanwhile wrestles with his own demons and his estrangement from Diana, and word comes of a great new venture in the offing, a voyage to the far side of the world.
- 5Stockholm
The Baltic ending: Stephen travels to Stockholm to be reconciled with Diana, returning her great blue diamond and breaking his leg in a laudanum fall; she nurses him back, the Surprise looks in at Riga for poldavy, and Diana embarks with them for home.