'It appears to me that at this juncture there is a great deal to be said for viewing the coleoptera of the far side of the world, until the storm blows over; a great deal to be said for the pursuit of Happiness ( Read more... )

He had a fine comfortable packet of letters from Sophie: all was well at home, apart from the chicken-pox and Caroline's teeth, which had been obliged to be filed by a dentist in Winchester; a strange blight had struck the roses, but on the other hand his new plantation of oaks was shooting up amazingly. They had seen a good deal of Diana, who was ( Read more... )

which it means George too...
Jack's two little girls came running from the galley, grasping massy half-eaten slabs of cold plum-duff, followed by George, their younger brother, in his first pair of pantaloons, carried by a hairy quartermaster.

I adore the idea of the children aboard, endlessly pampered by the ship's company. :D

Even if I were to marry you, which is totally inconceivable, I should never, never do so after such a grovelling, such an utterly mundane and businesslike proposal

.'I refuse to believe, sir,' he said, 'that all your officers but one are descended from Queen Anne.'
'I am sorry to tell you, sir, that Queen Anne is dead,' said Jack. 'Common decency, therefore, forbids me to make any comment.'yes, this post includes Jagiello, the port admiral, M Duhamel, the porter at the Temple ( Read more... )

Dividing them up differently this time since there's not a lot of Stephen-and-Jack-together time.

So this is a discussion post for Stephen Maturin and his little circle: Diana and Johnson, Louisa and Herapath, Dubreuil and Pontet-Canet.

He did not love Diana Villiers any more, and it was death to him.

Desolation Island discussion post for the women: Sophia, Diana and Louisa.

'I wish with all my heart I could make a clear-cut reply; but in all honesty I can give you no more than my impression. I think Mrs Wogan did impose upon her to a large extent; but Mrs Villiers is no fool, and a clandestine correspondence rarely assumes the form of foolscap ( Read more... )