At French instigation, an ambitious Tongan chief captures a British whaler in the Friendly Isles, and Captain Aubrey is dispatched from Australia to restore order. But a spirited female convict unexpectedly joins Aubrey and Maturin as a stowaway. To the officers, Clarissa Harvill is an object of awkward courtliness and dangerous jealousies. Aubrey himself is won over, while only Stephen Maturin fathoms her secrets.

1774. Rob Courtney has spent his whole life in a quiet trading outpost on the east coast of Africa, dreaming of a life of adventure at sea. When his grandfather Jim Courtney dies, and the mysterious Captain Cornish calls into the fort, Rob takes his chance and stows away on Marston's ship as it sails to England. Arriving in London, Rob is seduced by the charms of the big city and soon finds himself desperate and penniless. That is until the navy comes...