Captain Blood guide

Summary

Characters

• PeterAlso BloodLeadFrom Chapter 1
• JamesAlso MonmouthOtherFrom Chapter 1
• JeremiahAlso Pitt, JeremyHelperFrom Chapter 1
• Captain HobartVillainFrom Chapter 2
• ArabellaAlso BishopLoveFrom Chapter 3
• WilliamAlso BishopVillainFrom Chapter 3
• SteedGatekeeperFrom Chapter 4
• WolverstoneHelperFrom Chapter 4
• HagthorpeHelperFrom Chapter 6
• OgleHelperFrom Chapter 6
• NuttallHelperFrom Chapter 6
• DiegoAlso EspinosaVillainFrom Chapter 8
• EstebanAlso EspinosaVillainFrom Chapter 8
• MiguelAlso EspinosaVillainFrom Chapter 8
• OgeronHelperFrom Chapter 13
• LevasseurVillainFrom Chapter 13
• CahusacHelperFrom Chapter 14
• JulianAlso WadeRivalFrom Chapter 18
• MallardGatekeeperFrom Chapter 22
• WilloughbyGatekeeperFrom Chapter 24
• CussyGatekeeperFrom Chapter 25
• RivarolVillainFrom Chapter 25

Chapter by chapter

Storylines

• Monmouth's rebels contest James II's rule; their battle brings disastrous news to Bridgewater.

  • The rebellion's consequences develop into merciless pursuit, capture of rebels and punishment of those sheltering them.
  • The rebellion has been defeated: Monmouth is executed, followers are prosecuted and condemned, and Grey obtains a purchased pardon. The survival rumour supplies no confirmed continuation of the struggle.

• Monmouth's forces attempt a surprise attack on Feversham, but blundering leadership dissipates their advantages.

  • Monmouth's execution closes the failed military undertaking.

• The Misses Pitt grow hostile toward Blood because he remains aloof from Monmouth's rebellion.

• Jeremiah Pitt abandons his shipboard duties to fight for Monmouth.

  • Pitt's attempt to evade the royal troops fails; bound and taken toward Bridgewater, he cannot continue fighting for Monmouth.
  • Pitt remains a prisoner, admits treason and is sentenced to death, preventing further participation in Monmouth's cause.

• After illness ends his appetite for adventure, Blood determines to settle in Bridgewater and practise medicine.

  • Arrest prevents Blood from continuing his settled medical life, while the soldiers' brutality leads him to question the worth of healing humanity.
  • Imprisonment prevents Blood from practising freely; even treatment of fellow prisoners is obstructed, and conviction and sentence further defeat his settled medical life.
  • Transportation and sale into slavery further prevent Blood from returning to his settled medical practice in Bridgewater.

• Blood's attachment to his patron Gildoy becomes evident in his grief at Gildoy's injury and his commitment to attend him.

  • Blood treats and defends Gildoy, and Gildoy explicitly acknowledges his debt and promises repayment if he survives.

• Severely wounded at Oglethorpe's Farm, Gildoy seeks Blood's medical assistance through Jeremiah Pitt.

  • Blood reaches Gildoy and provides the medical assistance he sought; Gildoy regains consciousness.

• Blood agrees to attend Gildoy, collects his instruments, and rides with Pitt toward the wounded man.

  • Blood and Pitt complete the journey to the farm, and Blood begins treating Gildoy.

• Pitt conceals himself from the dragoons, but Hobart discovers and captures him.

  • Pitt's capture is followed by public admission of treason and conviction; his concealment has definitively failed.

• Blood opposes Hobart's dangerous removal of Gildoy and secures transport on the patient's day-bed by invoking his rank and the risk of reprisals.

• Gildoy promises to seek repayment of Blood's service if he survives.

• Hobart detains Blood, threatens him with hanging and has him bound and taken toward Bridgewater gaol despite his attempts to leave and resist.

  • Blood's detention escalates through punitive imprisonment and transfer to trial, conviction and a formal death sentence.

• Blood invents noble rank and connections to Kirke for Pitt to protect him from hanging; Hobart doubts the claim and sends Pitt into custody.

  • The invented peerage secured a reprieve from immediate hanging, but Hobart publicly acknowledges the deception and Pitt is subsequently sentenced to death.

• Hobart and his soldiers terrorize Baynes's household through arrests, an assault on Baynes's daughter, destruction of property and violence against Andrew.

• Blood considers killing Hobart with his lancet, possibly by drawing him aside with a claim of hidden treasure, but Hobart's interruption ends the immediate scheme.

• Blood contemplates revenge on Hobart if he survives and suppresses a threat to preserve his chance of survival.

• Blood develops a deadly hatred of King James and his representatives as imprisonment and reports of royal executions and purchased pardons expose their cruelty and corruption.

  • Royal punishment becomes transportation, lethal confinement and sale as property; Blood explicitly feels disgust at the bargaining over Pitt.
  • Blood invokes his unjust conviction and royal enslavement to justify refusing service to James II; his anger subsides into contempt.
  • Blood's acceptance of the King's service remains repellent to him; protecting Arabella overrides his opposition, and she offers a distinction between serving England and serving its king.

• Blood seeks permission to treat suffering fellow prisoners, but the authorities threaten him with flogging.

  • After Gardner initially refuses, Blood obtains permission to minister to the sick and checks the disease through treatment and improved conditions.

• Jeffreys obstructs Blood's defence and intimidates the jury; despite approval for Blood's argument, the trial ends in conviction and a death sentence.

• Blood seeks acquittal by explaining that he treated Gildoy from medical duty and by persuading the jury that preventing injustice honours the King.

  • The sentence is commuted to transportation rather than overturned; Blood remains condemned and is sold into slavery.

• Blood turns his medical understanding of Jeffreys's illness into a prediction of an agonizing death, frightening the judge who condemns him.

• Blood, Pitt and Andrew face execution after their convictions for high treason.

  • Transportation replaces execution for Blood, Pitt and Andrew, ending the immediate execution threat; Andrew subsequently dies of shipboard sickness.

• Blood and Pitt are transported into ten years of captivity under the King's order and become Bishop's purchased slaves.

  • Medical work gives Blood relative liberty, but he recognizes that he remains imprisoned; the other convicts' suffering and lethal punishments expose the coercion sustaining their captivity.
  • Pitt suffers whipping, deprivation and crushing labour, while confinement and compulsory service continue to constrain both men's freedom.
  • Bishop exercises his ownership through Pitt's torture and deprivation, then threatens Blood with the same coercive violence.
  • Blood and his companions seize a ship and sail out of Bridgetown, ending their immediate captivity under Bishop.

• Gardner initially refuses Blood permission to treat the captives, then employs his medical skill to reduce deaths and cites his success when offering him for sale.

• Arabella's gaze makes Blood conscious of his degraded appearance; she subsequently directs Bishop's attention to him, while Blood recoils from becoming indirectly her property.

  • Arabella explains her protective motive and learns of Blood's unjust conviction. He nevertheless persuades himself that she shares Bishop's cruelty and avoids her. Her charity to the Spaniards overturns that belief, while his insulting remarks anger her; his resulting self-reproach reveals that her regard matters to him.
  • Avoidance and a failed reconciliation give way to shared conversation. Learning Blood's history brings Arabella explicit sympathy and friendliness, while their teasing and shyness suggest growing personal attachment that distracts Blood from escape.
  • Blood's fear for Arabella, overwhelming relief at her safety and efforts to secure her evacuation reveal his deepening attachment. His disappointment that Mary supplies the gratitude shows his desire for Arabella's recognition.
  • Blood's regard for Arabella overrides his wish to hang her uncle, even at the risk of mutiny.
  • Blood's attachment becomes an acknowledged source of torment and moral restraint; he names his ship Arabella despite believing her unattainable.

• Pitt comes to love Blood and depend on his guidance and support; his purchase by Bishop makes anticipated separation distressing.

  • Blood chooses Pitt as navigator and confidant; the prospect of escape restores Pitt's hope and turns their attachment into an active partnership.
  • Blood protects and revives Pitt, renews his commitment to escape with him, and stakes his medical services on permission to ease his suffering.
  • Blood continues nursing and supporting Pitt, while Pitt reciprocates by detecting the anomalous course and warning him.
  • Pitt notices signs of Blood's private distress and joins the companions who choose buccaneering and swear continued obedience to Blood.
  • Blood confides his guilt and remaining hopes to Pitt, who tries to relieve his distress by assigning responsibility to Rivarol.

• Blood resents Bishop's contemptuous inspection and feels repugnance at becoming his property, but his wish that Gardner reject the offer is defeated by the sale.

  • Bishop exploits Blood's medical value and yields to requests on economic grounds. Blood openly thwarts his owner's interference by invoking Steed's orders and takes satisfaction in the victory.
  • Blood submits to Bishop's interrogation to protect the escape, but Bishop's prohibition on returning that night nearly defeats it.
  • Blood openly defies Bishop's control over his treatment of Pitt; Bishop resolves to curb his independence and threatens flogging.
  • The power relationship reverses: Blood detains his former owner, confronts his threatened cruelty and forces him into the sea, leaving Bishop alive and enraged.

• Blood's successful treatment wins Governor Steed and his wife’s esteem, giving him influential support within captivity.

  • Steed continues to depend on Blood's medical skill, demanding his attendance and retaining him until his gout improves; this dependence temporarily obstructs Blood's escape.

• Blood increasingly longs to escape Barbados, but has neither a concrete plan nor hope of success.

  • Blood's previously hopeless longing becomes a funded escape with a boat, recruits and equipment. Compulsory attendance forces postponement; his release restores optimism, but the boat surety creates an unresolved danger.
  • Blood insists on escaping with Pitt, and the prospect of losing their route to freedom causes him anguish.
  • Blood gains control of the frigate, prevents interference through Bishop's detention and sails away from Barbados.

• Blood seeks better care for Bishop's sick slaves and obtains concessions by appealing to their value as workers.

• Bishop's enslaved convicts resist their treatment through rebellion and flight; lethal punishments force the survivors into submission.

  • Despite the demoralizing effects of plantation punishment, Pitt and selected enslaved convicts renew resistance through organized escape preparations.
  • Pitt's defiance and attempted attack on Bishop are crushed by restraint, flogging and deprivation, leaving him in profound despair.
  • Bishop's departure enables the convicts to abandon work and gather at the stockade. They remain there under Blood's guidance despite Kent's order to hide.
  • The convicts break their enforced submission, capture the frigate and escape, while openly expressing their hatred of Bishop.

• Blood treats the wounded Spaniards despite his prejudices; a patient recognizes him as a friend and protector after he resists Bishop's interference.

  • All of Blood's patients recover, and the wounded men's departure from the shed completes the immediate course of treatment.

• Bishop attempts to stop the Spaniards' treatment, but Steed upholds it; Bishop's attempt to browbeat the Governor produces lasting resentment.

• Arabella supports the Spanish prisoners through daily visits and gifts.

• Blood's growing medical reputation costs Whacker and Bronson their patients, prompting them to seek his departure.

• Whacker and Bronson seek to remove Blood as a professional rival by financing his escape through Curacao.

• Blood organizes a clandestine escape with Pitt as navigator, Nuttall procuring a boat, the surgeons providing funds, and selected slaves joining the party.

  • Nuttall has failed to find Blood for the surety money, while Pitt, the intended navigator, is confined and gravely injured. Blood nevertheless remains committed to their escape.
  • The clandestine escape effort acquires a new means through the captured frigate and culminates in departure, but Pitt's incapacitation prevents treating the original plan and its intended party as fully fulfilled.
  • The fugitives are sailing away from Barbados toward their intended destination, but Pitt's incapacity forces Blood to secure Diego's navigation services.
  • The escape party sails away from Barbados, establishes elected officers under Blood and passes into the Caribbean, though Curacao remains unreached.

• Blood recognizes the surgeons' self-interested motive for assisting his escape but conceals his understanding.

• Blood and his accomplices conceal their escape preparations through private meetings, restricted recruitment, a funding cover story and hidden equipment.

  • Nuttall's flight brings Bishop's scrutiny onto his meeting with Pitt. Pitt preserves their secrecy by refusing to identify him or explain his business, but continued interrogation and possible boat confiscation threaten exposure.
  • The concealed weapons support the seizure; Blood then openly identifies the captors and reveals his escape intention to Bishop before departure.

• Blood and Nuttall become escape partners, with Blood supplying money and Nuttall undertaking to obtain the boat.

• Bishop's restrictions and Steed's demand for medical attendance prevent Blood from joining the planned nighttime escape.

  • Blood defeats the restrictions on his departure by holding Bishop hostage and sailing beyond the harbour.

• The compulsory declaration and ten-pound surety on Nuttall's boat threaten to expose the escape funding before the postponed departure.

  • The required money remains unobtained, and Pitt warns Blood that confiscation of the boat could expose the conspirators and lead to branding; neither confiscation nor exposure is established.

• Nuttall must find Blood and obtain ten pounds before noon to meet the boat surety requirement and avert scrutiny of the escape.

  • Nuttall cannot locate Blood, communicates the urgent need for ten pounds to Pitt, and flees when Bishop arrives without obtaining the money.

• Blood and Arabella's apparent intimacy becomes visible to passersby who may report it to Bishop.

• Bishop seeks the identity and business of Pitt's visitor; Pitt refuses to inform despite escalating violence, confinement, deprivation and threatened branding.

  • Pitt's severe flogging and incapacitation are established; Bishop subsequently loses his freedom of action when Blood detains him.

• A ship entering the bay under English colours opens apparent fire on the fort and reveals Spanish allegiance, confronting Bishop and the settlement with a pirate attack.

  • The attack defeats the militia, disables the fort and places Bridgetown under Spanish occupation. The inhabitants are disarmed, subjected to atrocities and threatened with the town's destruction unless ransom is paid.
  • The attack overpowers the garrison, but the convicts seize the Spanish ship, destroy the returning boats and leave the surviving raiders prisoners ashore.

• Blood refuses all medical work unless Bishop allows him to relieve Pitt's suffering, using his medical value to contest Bishop's prohibition.

  • Pitt remains severely injured, and Blood's departure supplies no evidence that his medical boycott secured permission to relieve him.

• Humiliated by the Pride of Devon, Diego vows to punish the English with a memorable attack on Barbados.

  • Diego's punitive attack devastates Bridgetown and extracts the ransom, although he subsequently loses both his ship and the money.

• Diego prepares the Cinco Llagas for a punitive raid timed to avoid warships and enters Carlisle Bay under false colours.

  • The raid reaches occupation and ransom collection, but its withdrawal ends in Diego's capture and the destruction or capture of his returning force.

• Kent orders the convicts to hide in the woods until the attack is defeated, but Blood persuades them to remain and watch the battle.

  • The convicts move beyond remaining to watch the battle and actively seize the attackers' ship.

• Diego demands 100,000 pieces of eight and fifty cattle as the price of sparing Bridgetown from burning.

  • Steed pays the demanded monetary ransom and the raiders leave shore; the chests subsequently pass into the convicts' control. Delivery of the cattle is not established.

• Blood intervenes against Mary's Spanish pursuer, kills him and escorts Mary out of Bridgetown to Bishop's house, ending the immediate threat.

• Mary develops enduring gratitude and trust toward Blood after he rescues her, relying on his presence while she remains terrified.

• Blood persuades Arabella to evacuate north with Mary and her attendants; James supplies the horses and guides their departure.

• Blood has an undisclosed purpose for which he gathers the necessary information before returning toward the stockade.

  • Blood's previously undisclosed purpose becomes manifest in the organized seizure of the frigate and preparations to exploit its capture.

• Blood and the convicts seize the Cinco Llagas, capture its returning commander and ransom, and turn its guns on the returning raiders.

  • Blood's possession of the captured ship is established, its commander and returning Spaniards are prisoners, and the convicts are escaping aboard it.

• Blood seeks to teach Bishop a lasting lesson that will protect future victims of his cruelty.

• The convicts demand Bishop's death, but Blood stakes his continued leadership and his own life on preserving Bishop as a hostage.

• Blood holds Bishop hostage to prevent interference with the escape, sends his terms to Steed, and releases Bishop into the sea once the ship has left harbour.

• Blood threatens to kill Diego and the other Spanish prisoners unless Diego supplies an acceptable alternative; their lives are secured by his undertaking to navigate to Curacao.

  • Diego's betrayal destroys the basis of the earlier bargain. Blood secures him and renews the threat to the Spanish prisoners' lives under conditions intended to defeat the trap.
  • Diego dies in his bonds, but Blood secures the surviving Spanish prisoners' release.

• Pitt's fever and delirium leave the escaped convicts without their navigator, while Blood's limited navigation skills jeopardize their passage to Curacao.

  • Pitt recovers enough to come on deck and detect the wrong course. His recovery begins to restore navigational expertise, but Blood's ignorance has already allowed Diego to endanger the passage.
  • The company abandons the attempt to reach Curacao and reaches the Bay of Cayona after choosing Tortuga.

• Diego undertakes on parole to navigate the ship to Curacao in exchange for sparing the Spanish prisoners and releasing the survivors there.

  • Diego appears to fulfil his undertaking before explanations and renewed forecasts conceal a course toward Hispaniola. His exposed betrayal and capture defeat the agreed passage to Curacao and release there.
  • Diego's death and the abandonment of Curacao end his navigation undertaking; the surviving prisoners are released elsewhere.

• Diego wins Blood's and his officers' trust through apparent friendliness and honour, but his deliberate misnavigation and attack expose his betrayal.

  • Diego's death ends the relationship formed through his false professions of honour; Blood reveals that he knew of the death before visiting Miguel.

• Diego steers the escaped company toward Hispaniola and his brother Miguel's flagship, threatening them with recapture and worse slavery; Blood subdues him but must still escape the approaching ship.

  • Miguel abandons his proposed visit, lets Blood return to the Cinco Llagas and sails away without discovering the escaped company's identity.

• Blood plans to pass as a rescued Spaniard alongside Esteban before the approaching flagship, using the Spanish flag and the prisoners' cooperation; Diego is bound across a loaded cannon to guarantee Blood's safe and free return.

  • Blood and Esteban sustain the deception and return safely as Miguel departs, although Diego was already dead and could no longer serve as a living hostage.

• Esteban pleads for his father's life, briefly shaking Blood's resolve; Blood maintains the threat against Diego and makes the prisoners' survival depend on their cooperation.

  • Esteban cooperates under the apparent threat to his father, then discovers Diego was already dead; the coercive arrangement ends with the prisoners' release.

• Blood conceals his identity and the ship's seizure from Miguel through an invented rescue history, Esteban's cooperation and real treasure presented as Diego's ransom proceeds; Miguel accepts the deception and sails away.

• Esteban holds Blood responsible for exploiting his concern for his already dead father and threatens to have Blood hanged aboard the Encarnacion.

• Blood insists on releasing the Spanish prisoners despite Wolverstone's demand to hang them; the prisoners are ultimately freed in a boat.

• The escaped company abandons Curacao and chooses Tortuga as its destination, reaching the Bay of Cayona.

  • Tortuga becomes the company's established refuge: Blood awaits onward passage there before accepting the buccaneering career offered to him.

• Blood intends to leave Tortuga for France or Holland, but exhausts his resources while awaiting passage.

• Blood's desire for Arabella torments him because he believes her unattainable; the prospect of her scorn deepens his scruples about becoming a pirate.

  • Arabella's imagined judgement continues to govern Blood's conduct, and he hopes the rescue will improve her opinion of him.
  • Blood encounters Arabella again and suffers her explicit repudiation of him as a thief and pirate, making the scorn he feared immediate and personally painful.
  • Arabella's explicit repudiation confirms Blood's belief that she is lost to him, entangles his love with hatred and precipitates a crisis in his moral restraint.
  • His attachment drives him to risk personal surrender and then accept royal service to protect Arabella; her softened judgement renews his hope.
  • Blood interprets Arabella's avoidance and attention to Julian as evidence that his love remains unattainable, bitterly regrets his changed position, and threatens to undo his entry into royal service.
  • Blood believes redemption in Arabella's eyes impossible and assumes she has chosen Julian. His love nevertheless makes him protect Julian and seek a kindly remembrance.
  • Blood's distress deepens into drunkenness, neglect and physical decline; Wolverstone suspects a woman, and his proposal to take Arabella provokes Blood's fury.

• Blood accepts command of a buccaneering company, finances and equips his ship with d'Ogeron's loan, recruits additional men and establishes articles governing obedience and prize shares.

  • Blood expands his company and fleet, appoints commanders and retains both English and French support when Cahusac challenges his leadership.
  • Blood's fame and captured vessels enable him to select crews and sail with five ships and over a thousand men.
  • Blood refuses further piracy, loses Christian's ship through desertion, and consents to placing the remaining company in French military service.

• Blood resolves to keep Arabella in mind as a restraint against wrongdoing during his buccaneering career.

  • Blood acts honourably toward the captives with Arabella's imagined approval as his motive.
  • Although he has restrained his crew's excesses, Arabella's condemnation prompts Blood to resolve against the humane ideals her memory had sustained; his subsequent distress leaves that resolve unsettled.
  • Despite his jealousy and temptation to provoke a fatal quarrel, Blood again allows his love for Arabella to restrain him.
  • Blood's fear of a woman's judgement remains bound to his remorse over renewed piracy and Cartagena's anticipated suffering.

• Blood's successful attacks on Spanish shipping provoke Spain's diplomatic protests and Miguel's threats, while England disavows him and approves Spanish action against him.

  • Miguel's threats become a blockade and direct combat; the loss of his fleet does not end his resistance from Palomas.
  • Blood captures another Spanish ship, Miguel renews his commitment to personal vengeance, and Blood sends a warning back to him.
  • Blood's enlarged fleet and victories further strain Anglo-Spanish relations, while Miguel's response extends to indiscriminate attacks on English and French shipping.

• Blood chooses Spain as the source of compensation for his sufferings and justifies his attacks as service to England and mankind.

  • Blood captures the Spanish Santiago and its valuable cargo, obtaining further compensation through attacks on Spanish property.
  • Blood's campaign against Spanish possessions yields ransom, loot and captured warships.
  • Blood obtains further ransom and a Spanish prize, and links his warning to Miguel with Miguel's responsibility for commissioning Diego's Barbados raid.
  • Blood takes further Spanish vessels and publicly signals his intention to command the fate of Spanish shipping.

• Levasseur and Mademoiselle d'Ogeron are reportedly romantically attached, and Levasseur seeks to marry her.

  • Madeleine initially welcomes rescue and renews her embrace, but witnessing Levasseur's brutality destroys her trusting adoration. She rejects his advances, and he responds with force and threats.
  • Levasseur threatens to possess Madeleine without marriage, and his death ends the prospect of their union.

• D'Ogeron refuses Levasseur permission to marry his daughter; Levasseur vows to defy him and retaliate, while armed guards prevent access to her.

  • D'Ogeron escalates his opposition by sending Madeleine to Europe. Levasseur defeats that separation by taking both children and prepares to compel their father to accept terms.
  • Levasseur's death and the siblings' deliverance end his attempt to overcome their father's opposition through coercion.

• Blood and Levasseur form a signed privateering association to make preliminary captures and assemble the ships and men required for a raid on Maracaybo; they prepare to sail and agree to reunite at Tortuga if separated.

  • The partners sail, separate and reunite after captures. Blood distributes the Spanish prize proceeds according to their shares; they arrange to sell the cacao, recruit more adventurers and rendezvous at Saltatudos for Maracaybo after Levasseur's repairs.
  • Blood explicitly cancels his association with Levasseur after killing him; the later agreement with Cahusac is a renewed arrangement.

• After abandoning his attempt to reach Mademoiselle d'Ogeron, Levasseur resolves to take different, unspecified measures on his return.

  • Madeleine's appeal supersedes the unspecified measures Levasseur had deferred until his return: he immediately pursues her ship, captures her and Henri, and forms a concrete coercive plan against their father.

• Blood increasingly distrusts the association with Levasseur and regrets accepting it; he and Wolverstone agree that treachery would warrant killing Levasseur if they survive it.

  • Levasseur deliberately evades Blood to make a capture he expects Blood would prevent, then conceals the Governor's children. Blood objects angrily to the Dutch capture but drops that objection without learning the concealed circumstances.
  • Blood discovers Levasseur's abuses, intends punishment under the articles, and ends their antagonism and association by killing him in the duel.

• D'Ogeron sends Madeleine to Europe under Henri's charge to separate her permanently from Levasseur.

  • The intended removal to Europe remains interrupted; Blood now promises to return the siblings to Tortuga.

• Madeleine appeals to Levasseur to rescue her from the voyage to Europe; he pursues the Jongvrow and carries her aboard La Foudre.

  • Madeleine's sought rescue by Levasseur has become captivity and peril, from which Blood delivers her; she recognizes her original involvement as a mistake.

• Cahusac objects to Levasseur's diversion and the risks of the Dutch capture, but submits to his orders and is told to suppress his criticism.

  • Cahusac openly supports Blood, suffers Levasseur's assault, and succeeds him after his death, ending his subordination to Levasseur.

• Levasseur attacks and seizes the Dutch Jongvrow, killing its master and taking its cargo despite resistance and casualties among his own men.

  • Blood makes reconciliation with the Dutch and restitution of the brig and cargo conditions of renewed service, but restitution is not yet shown.

• Henri refuses parole or accommodation with Levasseur, condemns him to Madeleine, and suffers assault and confinement.

  • Henri maintains his refusal under threatened torture until Blood's intervention frees him from Levasseur and his bonds.

• Levasseur intends to use his possession of the Governor's children to compel D'Ogeron to accept terms before Blood discovers the matter.

  • The scheme becomes a ransom demand enforced by threats against both siblings; Henri refuses, Blood intervenes, and Levasseur dies without obtaining the father's submission.

• After Madeleine rejects him, Levasseur forcibly embraces and kisses her, deliberately hurts her and threatens punishment for further displeasure.

  • Levasseur escalates his coercion and resists Madeleine's removal, but his death and her deliverance end his power over her.

• Dutch gunfire forces La Foudre to seek shelter at La Virgen Magra for careening and repairs; the crews establish shore quarters and gain shelter from a hurricane.

  • The hurricane also forces Blood back to the island, and his promise to sail when able leaves departure pending.

• Levasseur conceals the Governor's children from Blood while giving him an account of the Dutch prize and arranging their separate movements.

  • Blood discovers the concealed prisoners, learns their identities, and reveals that he overheard Levasseur's proposal.

• Blood uses the association's articles and the crews' financial interests to purchase the siblings' freedom, defeating Levasseur's claim to Madeleine.

• Cahusac and the French contingent renew their association with Blood on condition that they make peace with the Dutch and restore the captured brig and cargo.

  • The French contingent continues operating with Blood despite losing La Foudre and its commander's attempted dissent; its men explicitly choose to remain. These events do not establish restitution to the Dutch.

• Blood promises the rescued siblings honourable treatment and passage home to Tortuga when he can sail.

• Madeleine acknowledges her responsibility for the siblings' predicament and seeks her brother's forgiveness.

• Madeleine abandons her belief that Blood resembles Levasseur, comes to admire and trust him, and seeks forgiveness for her judgement.

• Blood hopes Arabella will hear of his rescue of Madeleine and revise her presumed contempt for him.

  • Arabella receives a distorted account of Madeleine's rescue and withdraws her regard for Blood, frustrating his hope that the episode will improve her opinion.
  • Arabella's direct rejection confirms that Blood has not obtained the restoration of her esteem he hoped his rescue of Madeleine would bring.
  • Arabella hears Pitt's account of Madeleine's rescue, but interprets his answers as confirming Cahusac's account rather than clearing Blood.
  • Arabella revises her contemptuous interpretation of Blood's rescue of Madeleine, fulfilling his earlier hope without his knowledge.

• D'Ogeron's closer friendship and protection strengthen Blood's welcome at Tortuga and his standing among the buccaneers.

  • The d'Ogeron family tries to draw Blood back into friendship, and d'Ogeron brings de Cussy aboard with an offer of employment.

• Blood assembles five hundred men and a three-vessel fleet, then carries out the Maracaybo and Gibraltar expedition, obtaining ransom and loot despite the loss of La Foudre and heavy siege casualties.

  • The company receives Maracaybo's ransom and cattle, releases the hostages from ransom captivity, evacuates the town and escapes to open sea, completing the expedition.

• Cahusac challenges Blood's judgement and refusal of Spanish terms; Blood blames Cahusac's navigation for their predicament and permits secession, but the French followers choose Blood and Cahusac joins the escape council with renewed confidence.

  • Renewed hostility ends in Cahusac's secession with his followers. Their subsequent capture and rescue discredit his leadership, and his disgrace persists at Tortuga.

• Miguel traps Blood's company inside Lake Maracaybo with a superior fleet; Blood defeats the ships, but Miguel's fortified position at Palomas still prevents escape.

  • Despite reinforcement of Palomas's artillery, Blood's feint draws its principal guns inland and his fleet escapes the blockade.

• Blood plans an escape using a fire-ship against the Spanish flagship and attacks on the remaining vessels; the operation destroys or captures the opposing ships, but concealed artillery at Palomas forces the company to withdraw and reconsider.

  • The fire-ship operation's unresolved passage problem is overcome by a revised deception that allows the surviving fleet to reach open sea.

• Miguel prioritizes saving the treasure from capture, withdrawing aboard Salvador toward Palomas; the ship is sunk and he reaches shore, while the treasure's fate remains unspecified.

• Miguel secretly concentrates Cojero's armament and a garrison at Palomas, concealing the strength that overturns Blood's belief that the route to sea is clear.

  • Reports expose the additional recovered artillery, and Blood's reconnaissance establishes the fort's crucial vulnerability: all its guns face seaward.

• Blood attempts to obtain ransom and safe passage by threatening Maracaybo's destruction; Miguel refuses, but Francisco independently raises the ransom under a three-day parole secured by his son as hostage.

• Cahusac negotiates passage through Miguel's blockade in exchange for abandoning all booty, then leaves Blood with about sixty followers; subsequent Spanish capture costs them their sloop and freedom before Blood rescues the survivors.

• Blood exploits Palomas's seaward-facing artillery by feigning a large landing, inducing the Spaniards to turn their guns inland and allowing his fleet to escape through the channel.

  • The chapter confirms Blood's escape from Miguel's naval trap.

• Humiliated by Blood's escape, Miguel vows vengeance regardless of personal cost; Blood sends him a warning through the released captain of the Santo Nino.

  • Disgrace turns Miguel's vengeance into an obsession; he becomes a pirate and actively searches for Blood.
  • Miguel finds Blood and attempts to capture and hang him, but Blood defeats both Spanish ships, captures Milagrosa and restrains Miguel's renewed violence. Blood offers release and urges him to abandon pursuit; Miguel's acceptance of that advice is not established.

• Cahusac's followers turn against him after his capitulation leads to Spanish captivity and rescue by the comrades they abandoned; ridicule at Tortuga perpetuates his disgrace.

• After a hurricane disperses his fleet, Blood returns toward Tortuga to reunite his ships.

  • Blood diverts toward Jamaica to disembark his rescued passengers, postponing his return to Tortuga.
  • Wolverstone goes ahead to the fleet at Tortuga, and Blood renews his intention to return there before departing Port Royal.
  • Blood reaches Tortuga, finds his four separated ships waiting, and is subsequently joined by Wolverstone.

• France orders its overseas governors to suppress the buccaneers with utmost severity.

• Bishop uses his deputy-governorship of Jamaica to pursue his private vengeance against Blood, but repeated failures bring official reproaches and leave his pursuit at an impasse.

  • Blood's approach to Jamaica exposes him to the enemy whose office and pursuit Julian and Arabella now recognize as a danger to his life.
  • Bishop's fleet brings Blood within capture, but the royal commission frustrates his officer's surrender demand; the officer returns for further orders.
  • Bishop seeks to cancel Blood's commission and hang him. Julian's explanation of Sunderland's express authorization prevents an immediate open challenge, but Bishop subsequently summons Blood peremptorily.
  • Bishop attempts to use a court-martial and harbour restrictions to secure Blood's execution, but Blood defeats the arrest and sails with Bishop as his hostage.
  • Bishop renews his threats, gains Julian's covert assistance and deploys the fleet against Blood; the events report Blood's capture off Hispaniola, followed by a further expedition against Tortuga.
  • Bishop's pursuit of the buccaneers escalates into an expedition that exposes Jamaica and brings a conditional threat of capital accountability.
  • Bishop loses the authority supporting his pursuit and becomes Blood's prisoner, but still threatens another reckoning.

• Bishop considers raiding Tortuga to capture Blood and eliminate the buccaneers, then abandons the scheme because of its defenses and the diplomatic consequences.

  • War with France supplies a political justification for the previously abandoned attack on Tortuga, and Bishop sails with the entire fleet to capture Blood.
  • The Jamaican fleet leaves Jamaica for Tortuga, advancing the expedition beyond the earlier abandoned proposal.
  • Bishop revives the Tortuga expedition and actually departs with Jamaica's entire local fleet.

• Sunderland sends Julian with discretionary authority and blank royal commissions to recruit Blood into royal service, or detach his officers if recruiting Blood proves undesirable.

  • Julian offers the commission and clarifies that it includes Blood's followers, but Blood explicitly refuses because of the King's responsibility for his persecution and enslavement.
  • Julian secures Blood's acceptance on negotiated terms, supplies the commission, and obtains its recognition from Calverley.

• Julian and Arabella develop mutual attraction and growing friendship during their voyage.

  • Julian's admiration persists, but his growing uneasiness about Arabella's feelings for Blood complicates their developing attachment.
  • Julian recognizes his romantic desire and presses his suit, but Arabella offers friendship only.

• Arabella's former esteem for Blood gives way to doubt and then repudiation as Julian relays Cahusac's misleading account of Levasseur's death, the pearls and Blood's supposed betrothal to Madeleine.

  • Upon recognizing Blood, Arabella openly repudiates their acquaintance because he is a thief and pirate, expressing her adverse judgement directly to him.
  • Arabella initially treats Pitt's answers as confirmation of Cahusac's story. After overhearing Blood's explanation and learning the danger he incurs for her, her scorn gives way to alarm and sorrow.
  • After briefly mistrusting Blood's apparent submission to the hostage demand, Arabella recognizes his sacrifice for her and tentatively acknowledges that she may have judged him harshly.
  • Arabella's resentment involves the reported romantic success and Levasseur's death. She explicitly condemns Blood as a murderer; he discovers the subject of her accusation, but their exchange ends without clearing the misunderstanding.
  • Arabella rejects her prejudiced interpretation of the Levasseur affair, recognizes her injustice, and recovers trust in Blood's capacity for disinterested rescue.

• Miguel attacks and cripples the Royal Mary, takes Arabella and Julian prisoner, and abandons the remaining survivors to escape or drown.

  • Blood's capture of Milagrosa ends Miguel's control over Arabella and Julian, and Blood directs their transfer to his own ship.

• Miguel intends to determine and demand ransom for Julian and Arabella.

  • Miguel loses his ship and control of the captives, preventing him from enforcing a ransom demand.

• Julian threatens to hold Miguel accountable for the killings and captivity; Miguel invokes retaliation against English piracy and nearly strikes him.

  • Julian seeks Miguel's execution after the capture, but Blood insists on releasing him and dismisses Julian's protest.

• Julian resolves to acquit himself better before Arabella after judging his conduct during the capture discreditable.

  • Julian attends to Arabella's distress and seeks to place her under cover during the battle, acting protectively in her presence; she chooses to remain watching.

• Julian's experience of Spanish violence leads him to question suppressing piracy and to see it as a restraint upon Spain.

• Julian admires Blood's bearing and command, but Blood's lack of deference and refusal to hang Miguel create friction between them.

  • Julian seeks friendship and accepts Blood's account of his persecution, becoming abashed; Blood nevertheless declines his offered handshake while denying personal offence.
  • Julian's temporary mistrust gives way to a negotiated agreement and active support for Blood's commissioned status, although he stays aboard to guarantee Arabella's departure.
  • Their estrangement culminates in Julian's detention, but Blood's explanation of his sacrifice restores Julian's respect, produces reconciliation, and moves Julian to secure his departure.
  • Julian's remaining regard for Blood gives way to jealous hostility and covert cooperation in efforts to destroy him.

• Blood grants the defeated Spaniards departure in boats and intends to scuttle Milagrosa after transferring Arabella and Julian aboard his ship.

  • Arabella, Julian, their remaining belongings and Arabella's attendant are accommodated aboard Blood's ship, completing the passenger-transfer portion of his plan.

• Stung by Arabella's repudiation, Blood resolves to abandon his humane restraints and become the remorseless pirate she condemns, but recognition of his own bitterness brings distress and sobbing.

  • Blood protects Arabella through a personally repellent concession rather than permitting the crew's threatened cruelty, and her reconsideration restores his interest in life.
  • Blood explicitly renounces piracy and rejects the proposed seizure of Arabella, opposing his earlier resolve to become remorseless.

• Julian suspects a deeper attachment between Arabella and Blood and becomes uneasy, possibly jealous, as he observes their reactions and questions Arabella.

  • Blood explicitly reveals his love for Arabella, confirming the attachment Julian had suspected.
  • Julian's suspicion becomes confident recognition, then receives Arabella's confession that she loves Blood.

• Blood turns toward Jamaica to land Arabella and Julian as near Port Royal as safety permits, exposing himself to Bishop's pursuit.

  • The Jamaica fleet intercepts the voyage. Blood arranges Arabella's transfer to her uncle through Calverley, while Julian elects to remain aboard until Port Royal; their arrival or transfer is not yet recorded.
  • The voyage to Jamaica is completed: Blood and Julian reach Port Royal, and Arabella is ashore at the fort.

• Ogle and the crew defy Blood's command and demand Arabella as a hostage against Bishop; Blood averts the threatened mutiny and secures her release by accepting royal service with immunity for his company.

• Blood proposes surrendering himself with Julian and Arabella in exchange for his ship's safe departure, but Wolverstone opposes the bargain and Blood realizes it cannot prevent the crew from retaining Arabella.

• Pitt publicly maintains his loyalty to Blood during the crew's defiance, while Wolverstone opposes Blood's surrender but supports him against taking Arabella hostage.

  • Pitt reluctantly obeys Blood's order to prepare the boat while declaring that harm to Blood through Bishop's breach of faith will provoke retaliation.
  • Wolverstone protects Blood's standing with a cover story and continues trying to restore him despite his withdrawal.

• Blood accepts a royal commission on Julian's agreement that the whole crew receives immunity and enlistment remains voluntary; the commission defeats Calverley's surrender demand, but Bishop's response is pending.

  • Blood's commission withstands Bishop's immediate opposition, his ship is virtually incorporated into the Jamaica squadron, and departures from his company demonstrate that continued service is voluntary.
  • The commission initially protects Blood, but Bishop pursues prosecution and Julian declines to enforce the promised immunity. Blood abandons the arrangement and offers back the commission.
  • The company is ready to abandon royal service with Blood, his return to piracy is reported, and Julian recognizes that his recruitment success has collapsed.

• Julian remains aboard Blood's ship until Port Royal to ensure that Arabella can leave without obstruction.

  • Julian reaches Port Royal and Arabella is safely ashore, completing the purpose of his remaining aboard.

• Blood regards Julian as a formidable rival for Arabella's affection; his insinuation about Julian angers her and obstructs their attempted reconciliation.

  • Blood admits his jealousy and impulse to kill Julian, but sends him safely ashore for Arabella's sake; the disclosure brings reconciliation between the rivals.
  • Julian's invitation revives the question of rivalry, but Blood promises him safety and begins hoping Arabella rejected him before making his own appeal.

• Pitt threatens retaliation against Bishop if Blood is harmed through a breach of faith.

• Blood seeks to improve Arabella's opinion of him through a personal appeal, but their exchange ends before she understands his comparison between Levasseur's death and the killing at Bridgetown.

  • Arabella finally understands Blood's earlier comparison and wishes to make amends, although she has not yet conveyed this change to him.
  • Arabella receives Blood's explanation and learns of his sacrifice for her, confirming his worth and overturning her adverse judgement.

• Blood sends Wolverstone to Tortuga to explain his commission and warn the buccaneers to abandon piracy or leave the Caribbean within a month; Julian supports awaiting the result.

  • Wolverstone substitutes a protective fiction for the explanation and warning he was sent to deliver, and Blood accepts that fiction.

• Blood escapes Bishop's attempted arrest by taking him hostage, then uses the threat of hanging him to obtain an unopposed departure, promising to land him safely if passage is allowed.

  • The orders prevent an attack on Blood's ship, and Blood releases Bishop, who returns safely to Port Royal.

• Arabella seeks to make amends to Blood after recognizing that she wronged him over the Levasseur affair, but postpones her explanation when she sees him with Bishop.

  • Arabella believes her rejection drove Blood back to piracy and endangered him; having missed her chance to speak, she gains hope from Julian's promise to rescue him.
  • Arabella seeks an audience, acknowledges her injustice and asks to part as friends; Blood initially rebuffs reconciliation but then accepts her hand.

• Blood abandons royal service and intends to return to Tortuga and his buccaneers.

  • Blood's departure and return to outlawry are confirmed, with his company prepared to leave royal service alongside him.
  • Blood returns to Tortuga and his company, completing his intended return after abandoning royal service; he now also renounces piracy.

• Blood asks Julian to tell Arabella that he spared his rival for her sake, hoping she will remember him kindly.

  • After an overnight delay, Julian delivers the message: Arabella learns that Blood spared his rival and relinquished protection for her presumed happiness, restoring her esteem.
  • Blood learns that Julian delivered his message in his own words and that Arabella recognizes the injustice of her judgement.

• Julian promises Arabella to use his influence to rescue Blood, but abandons the promise when jealousy turns him against Blood.

• Arabella recognizes her love for Blood and confesses it to Julian.

  • Their renewed intimacy leads Blood to hope his love is returned and ask her to remain with him; no explicit acceptance is recorded.

• Julian conceals his betrayal of his promise to help Blood while secretly assisting Bishop's efforts to destroy him.

• Bishop and Julian become allies through their shared hostility to Blood and Bishop's wish to secure Julian as Arabella's husband.

• William of Orange takes the English crown, while James seeks French support to regain it.

  • William and Mary's joint rule, James's flight to France, and England's war with France are confirmed and become known to Blood.

• War with France and the announced arrival of Willoughby threaten Bishop's supreme authority in Jamaica.

  • Willoughby has reached Port Royal and discovered Bishop's knowing departure; the threat to Bishop's authority becomes explicit personal accountability.
  • Willoughby removes Bishop, installs Blood and has Bishop arrested; Bishop finally discovers who has superseded him.

• Bishop and Julian intend Blood's death to remove the obstacle to Julian's marriage to Arabella.

• Bishop conceals the Tortuga expedition's destination from Arabella and the public by claiming that the fleet will raid French Hispaniola.

• Wolverstone conceals Blood's breach with royal service behind an invented exploit; Blood accepts the account as their cover story.

• Blood commits to abandoning piracy, finding French military service an honourable alternative despite his indifference to his future.

  • Blood recognizes that French service serves plunder and has not delivered the honourable escape from piracy he sought; he nevertheless remains available for military orders.
  • Blood actively serves the French campaign through reconnaissance, military criticism and successful operations, while continuing to distinguish conquest from treasure hunting.
  • Blood continues seeking an honourable escape from piracy, but rejects French service and considers service to Spain instead.
  • Blood's desire to leave piracy gains an English alternative through Willoughby's assurances and offer; he commits to defending Jamaica for William.
  • Blood achieves an honourable alternative to piracy through lawful office and loyal service to William.

• Wolverstone and the d'Ogeron family seek to restore Blood's spirits and engagement with his friends, while Wolverstone suspects romantic distress.

  • Opposition from Rivarol revives Blood's self-respect, normal spirits and enjoyment of conflict, advancing the recovery his friends sought.

• Blood's refusal to direct profitable raids alienates his captains and leaves the buccaneers desperate; Christian deserts with the Clotho.

• Wolverstone proposes raiding Port Royal and taking Arabella, but Blood violently rejects the proposal.

• France and Spain enter formal war, prompting French preparations for a New World campaign under Rivarol.

  • Rivarol's fleet assembles, his direct force grows to twelve hundred men, and the combined expedition sails toward Cartagena.

• Blood and his officers contract to serve France under Rivarol for one fifth of prizes and prepare to assemble their forces at Petit Goave by the end of January.

  • The forces assemble at Petit Goave. Blood defeats Rivarol's attempt to reduce the agreed share, obtains confirmation of the signed articles, and sails with the expedition.
  • The contracted service produces the capture of Cartagena and collected treasure; no distribution of the buccaneers' promised share is recorded.
  • Rivarol promises the contracted fifth under witnessed weighing, then absconds with the treasure, defeating payment and betraying the service agreement.

• Rivarol attempts to halve the buccaneers' contracted prize share and enforce their obedience; Blood insists that repudiating the articles releases them from service and secures their reaffirmation.

  • Exclusion and threatened nonpayment bring the buccaneers near mutiny. Blood backs their demand; Rivarol apparently concedes, then evades the division entirely.

• Rivarol humiliates Cussy and assumes his local authority, while Cussy mediates with the indispensable buccaneers and loses respect for Rivarol's motives.

  • Blood again calls on Cussy to mediate with Rivarol, who subsequently appoints Cussy Governor of conquered Cartagena.
  • Rivarol abandons and defrauds Cussy and his contingent, whose shared grievance aligns them with Blood's men.

• Wolverstone's altercation with a French officer leads to his arrest; Blood demands redress and threatens armed intervention, obtaining a mixed inquiry that ends in Wolverstone's release and his opponent's punishment.

• Rivarol temporarily honours the articles while contemplating later renegotiation backed by additional troops, whose recruitment convinces him that he can keep the buccaneers submissive.

  • Rivarol's temporary observance of the articles culminates in a false payment promise and flight with the treasure, replacing prospective renegotiation with outright evasion.

• Blood advocates conquering Spanish Hispaniola and publicly challenges Rivarol's plundering motives when Cartagena is proposed instead; he withdraws from deliberations while remaining subject to military orders, leaving Rivarol ashamed and enraged.

  • Their disagreement over military judgement and plundering deepens: Blood's warning is vindicated, Rivarol resents his independent success, claims the victory's entire credit and permits plunder beyond the surrender terms.
  • The antagonism over Rivarol's conduct develops into personal affronts and Blood's proposal to pursue and punish him.

• Rivarol selects Cartagena as the campaign's first target and leads the combined fleet south from Hispaniola.

  • The expedition reaches its selected target and captures Cartagena after Blood's operations secure the harbour forts and La Poupa.

• Rivarol attempts a surprise northern landing despite Blood's reconnaissance-based warning; wrecked boats and heavy casualties force him to abandon it.

• Blood refuses Rivarol's dangerous assault assignment and attacks Boca Chica without orders; Rivarol blames him for the failed landing, wishes his ships destroyed and intends punishment, but Blood's victory checks his immediate anger without ending his insistence on obedience.

• Blood proposes exploiting the capture of Boca Chica by reducing the inner fort and occupying La Poupa to prevent the removal of Cartagena's wealth; Rivarol adopts the plan and the forces carry it out.

• Rivarol compels Cartagena to surrender much of its wealth under terms protecting the remainder, then withdraws restraints on his troops and permits the inhabitants' remaining property to be plundered.

  • Rivarol's fraud exposes Cartagena to renewed extortion by the forces left behind; Blood anticipates further suffering but cannot secure the inhabitants' protection.

• Rivarol and Blood exchange personal affronts; Rivarol threatens personal satisfaction, while Blood resolves to settle the insults before they part.

  • Rivarol falls shot in the head, ending the prospect of the personal satisfaction threatened between him and Blood.

• Rivarol's fraud unites Blood's buccaneers and Cussy's Hispaniola contingent in common anger.

• Blood proposes pursuing Rivarol for punishment and recovery of the treasure; committed crews force the pursuit forward despite Blood's attempted withdrawal.

  • Blood renews his commitment to confronting Rivarol and recovering the treasure, now with Willoughby's agreement to a division under William.
  • Blood's company captures Victorieuse and Rivarol falls, but recovery of the treasure is not established.

• Blood's company splits into nearly fighting factions over pursuing Rivarol or remaining at Cartagena to repair ships and extort further treasure.

• Wolverstone, Yberville and the stranded crews intend to extort hidden treasure from Cartagena while repairing their ships.

• Blood wishes to protect Cartagena from further suffering but despairs of doing so whether he remains or departs, and holds himself responsible for the anticipated harm.

• Blood considers offering his sword to the King of Spain as his remaining prospect of honourable service.

  • The changed English government opens another route to honourable service, displacing the immediate prospect of seeking Spanish employment.

• Blood diverts toward distant gunfire to investigate a possible attack on his friends; his ships approach an English vessel burning at sea and undertake to recover its departing boats.

  • The investigation establishes that Rivarol attacked the flagship, and the rescue is completed with about forty-five men brought safely aboard.

• Blood's rescue and hospitality win Willoughby's confidence; Willoughby offers protection from prosecution and royal service, then recognizes Blood's greatness.

  • Willoughby's confidence briefly collapses when Arabella appears doomed, but Blood's capture of Victorieuse earns a second apology and explicit admiration for his resource and valour.
  • Willoughby's confidence culminates in commissioning Blood as governor and entrusting him with Bishop's punishment.

• Learning of James's fall, Blood sees a prospect of returning home free of his original outlawry, but defers choosing his future.

  • Blood's outlawry ends, but he gives up an immediate return to England to accept office; returning home remains a future prospect.

• Willoughby discovers that Bishop knowingly stripped Port Royal of its fleet and conditionally vows to hold him capitally accountable for resulting harm.

  • The destruction of Port Royal's fort establishes further harm during the attack Bishop left the settlement exposed to, strengthening the basis of Willoughby's threatened reckoning.
  • Willoughby dismisses Bishop and subjects him to arrest and possible capital punishment, while leaving the hearing and sentence to Blood.

• Blood commits to defending Jamaica for William against Rivarol, orders maximum speed toward Port Royal, and adopts sinking his own ships across the channel as a fallback until allied ships arrive.

  • Blood attacks after the fort has weakened the French, captures Victorieuse and overcomes Rivarol, but the fort is destroyed and Medusa remains undefeated. Arabella sinks after the boarding rather than being deliberately sunk across the channel.
  • Blood's company saves Jamaica and captures the French fleet, at heavy cost in lives and ships; Kuylen's fleet subsequently arrives.

• Blood proposes preventing Rivarol's treasure from escaping and securing it for William, with one fifth reserved for his buccaneers; Willoughby agrees.

  • Capturing Victorieuse and overcoming Rivarol advances the effort to prevent his escape with the treasure; its possession and division remain unconfirmed.
  • The fleet and treasure are secured for William, and the agreed fifth is distributed to the buccaneers with Willoughby's sanction.

• Blood waits for Port Royal's defenders to weaken Rivarol's fleet, then launches a surprise attack and boards Victorieuse; his company captures her despite heavy casualties and the loss of Arabella.

  • The battle ends with the French fleet captured and Jamaica saved, although the buccaneers suffer severe casualties.

• Blood orders the captured Victorieuse toward Hagthorpe to rescue his company after the French repel their boarding attack on Medusa.

  • The battle concludes with the French fleet captured; Hagthorpe is killed and Elizabeth severely damaged, so the rescue does not preserve their commander or ship intact.

• Blood accepts the governorship of Jamaica and undertakes loyal service to King William despite doubts about his capacity.

• Blood orders the restoration of Port Royal's fortifications and the repair of three captured French ships.

• Blood offers his surviving buccaneers a choice between departure and royal service; twenty, including Pitt, Ogle and Dyke, choose to remain.

• Blood intends to spare Bishop, protect him from private vengeance and send him to his Barbados plantation; he renews his promise of mercy at Arabella's request.

• Blood asks Arabella to stay with him and eventually return home together after learning of Julian's invitation and beginning to hope she loves him.

Places

Bridgewater, Taunton, England, France, Sedgemoor, Tangiers, Weston, Lyme Regis, Taunton Castle, Barbados, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Bristol, Carlisle Bay, Government House, Bridgetown, Speightstown, The Antilles, Martinique, Curacao, Spain, Caribbean, San Juan de Porto Rico, The Spanish Main, Grenada, Tobago, Cuba, Hispaniola, Leon, San Domingo, Tortuga, Comerton, Maracaybo, Holland, Windward Passage, Rio de la Hacha, Goldfields of Santa Maria, Court of St. James's, Europe, West Indies, Amsterdam, Virgen Magra, Virgin Islands, La Virgen Magra, Puerto Rico, Saltatudos, Church of Nuestra Senora del Carmen, Gibraltar, La Guayra, Vigilias, Palomas, Fort of Cojero, Oruba, Lesser Antilles, Caymites, St. Nicholas, Plymouth, South Sea, Port Royal, Gulf of Gonaves, Execution Dock, Petit Goave, Castle of Petit Goave, Cartagena, Boca Chica, Heights of Nuestra Senora de la Poupa