Before you is a book that Forester did not have time to finish...Hornblower goes through a period of preparation to carry out his spy mission. He brushes up on his Spanish while communicating with the healthy Count Miranda, whom he will have to accompany to Spain under the guise of a servant. He must learn to watch every word and gesture; his very life depends on not doing anything that could betray him as an Englishman. The end of the preparatory period is overshadowed by a crisis in the mind of Hornblower himself, who is disgusted by the path of espionage. Already on the boat that should take him to the ship leaving for Spain, Hornblower thinks: “Another step forward on the hated path. Each stroke of the oars brings me closer to danger, closer to a possible shameful execution...”