Sea Change

The year is 1803, and there is uneasy peace between England and France. Captain Oliver Westland of his Majesty's Navy has been jilted by Admiral's daughter Sarah Craythorne, and on the rebound he proposes to Sarah's sister Letty. Believing she is in love with him Letty accepts, but after the wedding Oliver sails for the West Indies, leaving his marriage unconsummated. Six months later he sends for his bride, but the merchant vessel carrying Letty is intercepted by a French man o'war, and she is taken prisoner. The French captain, Armand d'Anviers, has been told to deposit his captive with the authorities in Martinique, but as they head further south Letty and Armand begin falling in love. Disobeying orders the Frenchman veers off course to anchor near an uninhabited island, but by the following morning Oliver's ship has caught up with them. Feeling it will be best for Letty d'Anviers hands her over, and as she lands in Antigua she learns that England and France are once again at war. Oliver treats his wife with consideration, but as she is drawn into island society Letty realises he has been having an affair, and is startled when he angrily accuses her of an involvement with d'Anviers. In the meantime Oliver and his ship have been ordered back to Europe, and Letty is sent home aboard a merchantman sailing under escort. Arriving to stay with her father she finds England under siege, and as summer turns into autumn the tension grows. Briefly Oliver comes home, and as they develop a new understanding she realises she might have been happy with him, but after he has gone d'Anviers slips into England. Soon, the two men in her life are facing destiny under the guns of Trafalgar.


Genre: Historical