Mr Fitton's Prize

Book excerpt: First published in 1993 Mr Fitton's Prize follows the adventures of sailor Michael Fitton. When Michael Fitton joins the HMS Fortitude as master's mate all he wants is a chance to prove himself a loyal member of the new crew and earn a much-longed for promotion. But Fitton's loyalty to the ship is severely tested when his captain refuses to help struggling French Royalists, including the beautiful and captivating Denise de Charignay, defend their stronghold against the revolutionaries. A chance to command his own expedition leads Fitton into a daring night seizure of a French brig and the opportunity to sail to the Royalists aid. Relying purely on nerve and skill Fitton must battle revolutionaries in order to save Denise and her uncle the Comte, friend of the Comte d'Artois, brother to the executed French King Louis XVI, now a refugee in England and heir presumptive to the French throne. Facing capture and execution as he races across the sea back to the shores of England, where he may face a court-martial for his actions, Fitton must find a way to outwit a larger, faster and better equipped vessel captained by his old nemesis, the French privateer Captain Dorimond.