Clydee

Mine too!!! I couldn't possibly tell you how many times I have read the whole thing. There are so many great chapters, There are so many great characters I can't decide who I like best. Cavendish for one, Winkler. Daventrey for another, and the list goes on and on.

I see tempers are starting to flare..

Mark, Thank goodness...I was worried you may have for some reason or another abandoned this story and that would have been such a shame. But you haven't and that is a good thing! I don't know how you manage to deal with all of these different personalities, but you do it so well! PLUS writing your other stories too! Now I wonder what is next for George. I thoroughly enjoy your writing and I thank you for so many enjoyable hours of reading. Clyde

I'd like to see Cavendish elevated...he's always been a interesting character and very wise even at his age. Maybe his father would appreciate him more (like he should!)

His lordship will probably live in the new place and rent out the other. You can only live in one place at a time and the new place is going to be more modern. That is unless he updates the Portland Place home with gas and plumbing like the new one. The one in Cowes (sp?) will be updated at some point also, I imagine. Great chapter, Mark! clyde

Mark, I love all of your stories, especially the ones about Granger. If I were to have as much sex as Granger does I'd be sore and exhausted all the time! I suspect your are deliberately teasing us about the upcoming meeting with Napoleon just to keep us in anticipation or just being mean! l understand and if I could write I would do just the same thing. Love this series and always will. Thank you.

I hope this means you will finish the Falcon Banner series too. Welcome back, I've missed your writings.

You know what, I am beginning to think Christopher has abandoned this story. How long has it been? Over a year and a half since the last post from him and while I realize he had to redo the last book...oh, never mind, I'm just whining. I'm afraid he's going to lose his audience if we don't get something pretty soon. I would hate to see that happen, I love all his books.

I think the Spaniards may have quite a bit to do with Granger's release...and the reason I think that is because Mark brought it up. It hadn't occurred to me that his friends in the Spanish court might be able to influence his release somehow. I guess we'll have to wait and see. I don't see Calvert's assignment to the West Indies as a bad thing, certainly not to be treated as an exile. He is a legitimate captain of a frigate in his majesty's navy, after all. It seems to me that everyone in England who counts is aware of the Granger/Calvert connection...are there no secrets any more? Whatever, no one seems to mind all that much. Of course they don't have any hard evidence either, just speculation. No one has caught them in action, thank goodness!

Maybe they will treat George with a 74 and cut him loose to prowl...or maybe he'll just take a 74 from the French with a crew of captured British sailors and then create some mayhem with them. It wouldn't be out of character for Mark to provide us with such an opportunity! I'm sure that a lot of things would have to fall into place for that to happen, not at least violating his parole...unless he was forced to escape somehow. We never know exactly what lurks in the mind of our esteemed author! The scenario I had in mind would be someone high in the French government deciding to execute George so he has to escape and ventures (eventually) to a port city where they are holding British prisoners of war, and well, you can guess the rest! But, since I ain't writing this thing, I guess we'll have to wait for Mark to decide!

He'll probably be elevated to Earldom at least. I would, anyway! With his string of successes plus his work at the Nile, a Dukedom might even be possible. We'll see if King George agrees!

What an interesting chapter! I don't really understand Caroline's reaction to Calvert and Gatling. One would have thought she would have been pleased with the recent developments, but no, she goes ballistic because they are pulling away from George. How she gets treason out of it I don't know. I think she's over reacting... Glad to see that George has new company for his stay in France! It was only a matter of time... Thank you, Mark, you've read my mind and sent us a new chapter!

Whatever happened to the 200,000 in silver that Calvert picked up? Is he planning to blow it all on a Bahamas vac? I'm pretty sure he hadn't transferred it to Baccante. I don't remember him saying anything about it, for that matter. Maybe he did and I just missed it...

Well, I for one enjoyed the chapter very much. I always thought Winkler should have someone to love and be loved. He and Jacobs seem to fit well together and I'm sure Mark has a solution in mind about Jacob's marriage... Whatever happens between Jacobs and his wife remains to be seen obviously, and they (Winkler and Jacobs) might as well be a couple while they can.

Another great chapter, Mark! The battle scenes were among your best! With Granger captured, I wonder how well he will be treated, since he's been such a thorn in the French's side for so long. Maybe he'll meet up with someone knows him and respects him as an honorable foe and be released. On the other hand, they might want to eliminate him for good... On the Hornblower issue, I see quite a difference between the show and the books, but you are right, look at them as two seperate entities and you'll be happier. I have some of the series on my Kindle, but not all are there. The part where he takes on the 4 ships and gets captured is not on Kindle yet, as far as I can tell. It's a bit annoying, because they skip over that part and go on to his becoming a Commodore. I think this whole Bridgemont Series should be put on E-books when you get the chance. I'd love to have it on Kindle! I love this subject and you write it so well. Another series of books I've read are the Bolitho series by Alexander Kent. Really good! I was a little surprised to encounter Jack Aubrey in this chapter, but I guess I shouldn't be. I've read some of Patrick O'Brien's books, but he really gets technical in his writing and it takes a lot of patience to get through some of them. (and there are a lot of them!) Sorry for all the hopping around...at my age it's what I seem to do! Thanks again for a great chapter and for a great series!

I'll just say "wow!" That was a heartbreaking chapter to say the least. Exciting, but heartbreaking. Thank you again, Mark for your great writing skills.

Hows it coming, Christopher? Any progress to report? Please??

I don't see Granger staying a frigate captain any longer either. I think they will give him a 74 and send him on another mission...lord knows where...just to keep him happy, but only after a long stay ashore. I think he might deserve a break for a while. Being sick like he was must have weakened him, so I would imagine the king would insist he stay home for a while. We'll see if Mr. Arbour agrees with me! He rarely does! :no:. I loved the last chapter, it was like taking a big breath of fresh air after all the stuff that has happened up to this point. I like the idea that Nelson has such high regard for Granger, that he recognizes greatness in someone when he sees it. When England finds out about the Nile and Granger was part of it I think just about anything Granger wants he probably could get! I don't think he wants any more recognition though, but I do think his fame will grow! Man I love this story!

By all means...publish it! I hate to see it finished too, but I know the goatwriter in the sky will come up with another epic soon. Wonderful, exciting, mind-numbing, etc, etc, etc... Thank you for a wonderful read! I guess my next step is to go back and re-read the whole thing!

CJ That was a great ending! I was wracking my brain...yes I do have one...on how they were going to get out of their dilemma and I should have just placed my trust in Trevor's ability to think out of the box! Of course, timing played a big part. What an exciting way to finish the story! Now I will have to go back and re-read the whole thing again, which will probably take me to next Christmas, but it will be worth it. I'm sure there are a lot of nuances that I have missed the first time around. I look forward to the epilogue, too! Again, thank you very much for one of the best stories I've read on the web.

The new chapter is up...and it is a good one. I can't believe you left us hanging out there like you just did!! Somehow I believe some native will come into the house with a nasty cure like that woman after the battle for Oran...well, one can hope I guess! I wonder what Sir Thomas is up to? His privateer is around somewhere so I am sure he's up to no good, he would be the type to have a plan B...he's gonna have to die, I can see that coming! Thank you for the chapter, everything is going as I thought it would! NOT!

I hate to make light of your troubles, CJ, but as I understand about the water heater, the garage door opener??? You do actually look over your house once in a while, don't you? Just remember, if the garage door thingy is a little wobbly...maybe you should tighten it up??? And if there is a foot of water around your water tank...it's not a good thing...I know, I know, it ain't funny and some of the same type things have happened to me, well, not the food poisoning, but some of the stuff has! Lucky for me my partner is perfectly willing to let me fix all things and not fail to point out things I have missed. God love him!!! Be that as it may, I hope you are recovering well from all your troubles. Take you time with the last chapter, longer is better in all things!

Oh man! Timing was horrible for Granger this time! Well, with what I know of malaria, Quinine (sp?) is what works the best, if it is indeed malaria. All those mesquitos may mean Yellow Fever if that was a problem in the east indies. I certainly hope not, it's pretty fatal back then. I just don't know. Oh! It could be Dengue Fever, which is prevalent on those islands too, I read somewhere. Oh hell, they all can be fatal...especially back in the 18th century. Let us just hope our hero can recover quickly. Maidstone, being the lovely person I believe him to be, I am sure will attempt to press whatever advantage he perceives he has while Granger is under the weather although with Bertie and Chartley around he may meet with more resistance than he knows. Too many directions for my small mind to figure out... Thank you for sending this chapter out on my birthday, Mark! I was hoping you would and you did!

I

Wonderful chapter, certainly worth waiting for! I wonder, I've heard a few ideas thrown out about how to rescue them and the only viable one to me seems to be a V22 Osprey, and imagine they would have to be very lucky at that! Let's see what CJ has come up with in the next chapter...even superman would have his hands full with these conditions... :myr: I wouldn't go near that storm with an aircraft carrier!