In this the long awaited conclusion of Alexander Kent's midshipman trilogy the new year of 1774 seems to offer Richard Bolitho & his friend Martyn Dancer the culmination of a dream. Both have been recommended for promotion although they have not yet gained the coveted lieutenant's commission. But a routine passage from Plymouth to Guernsey in an untried schooner becomes for Bolitho a passage from midshipman to King's officer tempering the promise of the future with the bitter price of maturity.