Mark Arbour

Bummer about the stars. I'll let you tell me if you think it worked after the story explains why.

It's not always easy to avoid replaying the same soundtrack, so I'm glad you think I pulled it off with this one. This is one of my favorites of the CAP series. Brad and Robbie are one of those tempestuous couples that has a problem finding balance. This is the beginning of that problem. Millennium brings us to the end (so far). I don't think Robbie's behavior is all that unreasonable when you think about who he is. He's got some serious issues brewing there, based on his rape, and he's also a pretty high-maintenance guy. Personally, I think he's worth it.

I think the big question is why she did it in the first place. That will probably determine his reaction. Regardless, I think this will only bring him closer to George, not farther away. It is so good to see you here! Wow! Welcome back! Sharon said that if I was going to turn him into a sex slave, I should have had the pirates do it. I think that's just because she likes those big swarthy guy encounters. I think the king would be pissed off. Really pissed off. If he finds out.

March 12, 1797 The shore boat hooked on to Belvidera, and Granger leaped toward her, grabbed her chains, but slipped, losing his footing. He hung there, scrambling to get his feet back onto the chains, while the ship rolled to the side, dunking him in the water up to his waist. The concerned cries from his gig just made him more embarrassed and irritated. He muffled a curse as he finally got his footing, thankfully saving himself from actually falling completely into

What an interesting way to look at Bertie. I love your metaphor: the mysterious spider we never (rarely) see.

Alright, here's a spoiler. You can definitely expect Dr. Jackson to make it to the next ship, and probably Andrews too.

Wow. Thanks! What a nice compliment. Like I mentioned, every time in the past he's had a pleasant homecoming. It's nice to see him push his boundaries a bit.

George has always had happy homecomings. This one...not so much. But as stolid as he is, he desperately needs someone to lean on at times like this. Chartley gets major brownie points for being that guy.

I try. It's not always easy. ;-)

Thanks for the vote! I think that Peter is the right person at the right time for Granger.

Wade's so intertwined with the First Families of Virginia it's almost scary.

You guys make some interesting points about "love." I think that's a real hard thing to pin down: 1. What is love? People define it differently. When I see Chartley talking about love, I see his description as more of a friendship that has romance intertwined. I wonder if he's really gotten to the kind of love that Granger has experienced with Travers, Calvert, and Cavendish. 2. This era was renowned for people falling in love quite often, so it's period-realistic. I think that maybe there's something to that, what with the lifespans being short. I mean, you didn't have all that much time to figure it out. Shit, most of us would already be dead if we were alive back then. Did that make sense? I think this is Granger's flaw, where he confuses infatuation with love, and dives right in, then has to figure it out later. Lucky for him, he's usually gone by the time it wears off, so it fades away naturally. I think his big challenge will come when he develops feelings for someone and he's in a position to take his time, like say when he's at home for an extended period.

Happy Birthday Chris! I'll still hit on you, even though you're an old man now.

Congrats to everyone who won, and thank you for voting one of my characters (George Granger) protagonist of the year. It's pretty exciting for me to have a character that is based in 1797 still resonate enough to win an award. Thank you!

Thanks. It's funny how this one turned out. It was just kind of intuitive when I wrote it, and it sound like it was that way when you read it too.

LOL. You know the old riddle: What's the difference between a straight man and a gay man? A six pack of beer. I think Bertie just had one of those moments. Thanks for the congrats! I'm pretty excited about that, since he's been such a fun character to write. Even more, having a character in a specialty story like this (Historical: Napoleonic Era) win is pretty awesome. Thanks to all of you who voted for George!

March 11, 1797 Chartley woke up the next morning in a playful mood. They’d spent the entire day and night in bed, alternating between fucking, eating, and sleeping. He’d watched Granger’s exhaustion fade away until it vanished, and not just the physical exhaustion, but the emotional exhaustion as well. In a way, he felt as if he were a doctor, and his sole mission was to cure Granger’s malaise. He rolled over on top of Granger, waking him up. “Ugh,” Gr

I think you're right on all accounts. I do think, though, that Caroline can learn and adapt. She'll do better in the future.

I think that's an apt way to look at it. In the past, when Granger came home, things were pretty much as they should have been, and that helped him adapt to and enjoy his life ashore. Now, things are all messed up, and he's having to pave his own way back to normalcy.

A lot of people read this story and then stopped reading the series. They missed the point. This disaster is one of the seminal moments in JP's life, and the guilt he feels about this follows him for years afterwards.

There are those who longed for JP's demise, but then again, it wouldn't have been a very long story if I'd have killed him off. I think that they're both messed up guys at this point.

Did you say semen in the Abbey? Oh, my bad. I think it's important to view this from Caroline's point of view. She's probably been going along, totally unaware that people were talking about her and Gloucester, and the next thing she knows she's pregnant and her husband is back. It's not that easy to end an affair, especially if the guy (Gloucester) isn't all that worried about offending the husband. And she'd just now starting to realize that, while she thought she was being discreet, she really wasn't. I'll bet it takes her a bit to finally figure that out, even though in this chapter she got a pretty rude shock.

I'm so glad I can help out! How can Chartley help Granger? See previous review comment about big dicks. ;-)

George does need some comfort. Nothing a big dick can't solve. ;-)

March 10, 1797 Granger had stayed in his own room last night, all by himself, and while he may have been lonely, in fact he had spent a good deal of time thinking about his unfortunate situation, and making plans to rectify it. He’d returned to London with a damaged ship and an uncertain future, to find his friends had become strange and detached; and to discover that his wife was pregnant with the child of a man she seemed determined to keep fucking. He’d replayed th