With his wife Maria and baby son going to London on a Cotswold canal, Hornblower is called upon to act as a bargeman, giving the reader an unexpected image of late 18th century England. In London and captain of the Atropos, Hornblower finds his abilities challenged as he manages 38 barges for the naval procession carrying Nelson's casket from Greenwich up the Thames to Whitehall. In his next successful adventure, he notices an oar with a crossed numeral 7 floating in a dense fog in the Broads. On reporting to Gibraltar the Atropos is directed to raise sunken treasure from a quiet bay in Turkey. Ending at home, with less fortune in sight, Hornblower knows his duty is to his country first, leading the reader to yearn to continue Hornblower's adventures.