Acting for the Admiralty's Secret Department, Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater advertises his cargo of Russian military stores, thus embarking on a scheme to flout Napoleon's Continental System and antagonize the French Emperor's new ally, Czar Alexander.

The Queen of Regency Romance, bestselling author Georgette Heyer, charms readers with this delightful romp of mistaken identity. A missing twin Something is very wrong, and the Honourable Christopher "Kit" Fancot can sense it. Kit returns to London on leave from the diplomatic service to find that his twin brother Evelyn has disappeared and his extravagant mother's debts have mounted alarmingly. A quick-minded heiress The Fancot family's fortunes are riding on Evelyn's marriage to the self-possessed Cressy Stavely, and her formidable grandmother's approval of the match. If Evelyn fails to meet the Dowager Lady Stavely in a few days as planned, the betrothal could be off. A fortune in the balance When the incorrigible Lady Fancot persuades her son to impersonate his twin (just for one night, she promises) the masquerade sets off a tangled sequence of events that engage Kit's heart far more deeply than he'd ever anticipated with his brother's fiancée—who might know much more about what's going on than she cares to reveal... Praise for Georgette Heyer: "A writer of great wit and style... I've read her books to ragged shreds."—Kate Fenton, Daily Telegraph "Reading Georgette Heyer is the next best thing to reading Jane Austen."—Publishers Weekly

"Good news, Augustus," my mother exclaimed upon reading the message she'd just received from a friend in Dieppe. "Your father has escaped France in safety." We hugged each other, overjoyed to know that he'd avoided the inevitable fate, which, as an aristocrat, would have befallen him at the hands of the purging Republicans. Then a look of distress crossed her face. "But until we get news from England to enable us to join him there, I hardly know where we can look for refuge. I suppose we're guaranteed a temporary home, for my younger sister, Agatha, is Abbess of the convent of St. Claire, but now there is talk of suppressing convents and priests altogether. My other fear pertains to you, my dear boy," she said, wringing her hands. "Taking refuge and protecting you from danger is one thing; but how to smuggle you, a young boy of seventeen, into a convent full of young nuns is a perfect puzzle to me." "Nonsense, Mother!" I exclaimed. "Before the convents are suppressed, we'll be in safety in England, and as for getting me snugly into the convent, we're about the same height and resemble one another, so you must dress me up the best way you can and introduce me as your sister, or niece, or friend, or something or other." "You are impudent for imagining any such idea," replied my mother, laughing, "but you forget one thing. It will be impossible to deceive my sister, Agatha." "Try, anyway," I said, "and if the worst comes to the worst, we must let her into our secret and trust to her kindness." "Your plan is bold, if not rash, but as I can't think of anything else, we'll try it," she agreed with some misgivings. "Let me see," she continued in a musing tone, "I'll present you as the niece of your father's wife, but even then Agatha may have her suspicions, but we'll risk it." She wagged a finger at me. "Mind you don't look so bold, and stride so wide in your walk as you usually do, and I'll dress you suitably tomorrow morning." I shook my head. "We don't know what may happen this afternoon or tomorrow morning.

It is no ordinary murder case that brings the famed French detective Monsieur Bencolin out of retirement, but one that involves a midnight rendezvous on a steamy Paris night, a broken love affair, and four different murder weapons found in the secret villa where the body is discovered. Rose Klonec, whose corpse bears the mark of a particularly horrible wound, had connections - and old lovers - throughout Paris, and soon the number of suspects grows to match the number of possible weapons ...

"An overwhelming, outstanding novel...!"—Irish Times Captain Jack Aubrey, accomplished at sea but dreadfully vulnerable on land, finds himself ashore after a successful cruise. With his prize money burning a hole in his pocket, he is persuaded by a kind stranger he meets at a tavern to make certain investments. This innocent decision ensnares him in the London criminal underground and in government espionage?the province of his friend Stephen Maturin, now tasked with rescuing his imperiled friend as he also attempts to locate his wayward wife, Diana Villiers. Is Aubrey’s humiliation and the threatened ruin of his career a deliberate plot? This dark tale is a fitting backdrop to the brilliant characterization and sparkling dialogue which Patrick O’Brian’s readers have come to expect.

As the crow flies'', ''chunder'', ''cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey'', ''three sheets to the wind'' - many terms like these are used in everyday English language conversation and writing. But how many landlubbers know that they derive from naval slang or know what the phrase originally referred to? The navy has helped to shape modern society. The navy is famous for its traditions, quirks and nuances. It is disinctly different to wider society and nowhere is this more evident than in language. The naval community once had its own language, incomprehensible to anyone who was not a sailor, which described and explained his unique world. But on shore leave these men introduced their language to the populations of bustling ports and harbours and the usage slowly spread inland. Today through the mediums of film, television and music, naval slang has been brought to the wider public and has become fully integrated into the English language to point where many phrases are used by people who have no concept of their meaning. Presenting terminology thematically, this book provides a compilation of naval slang throughout the world, from terms relating to ship-handling and seamanship through to food and drink, discipline and insults. The text is further enhanced with original black line drawings that illustrate certain technical terms, such as ''splice the mainbrace''.