What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculties!
in form and moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel!

~ William Shakespeare ~

"I have nothing to wear," Archie moaned, sending Horatio into a giggling fit.

Archie was packing his sea chest as the Indy was due to anchor at Plymouth within a few hours. Horatio had finished packing long ago. All he had was his uniform and a few extra shirts. Just like Archie. Only Archie looked into his nearly empty case and sighed.

"Oh, Archie!" Horatio smiled. "You sound like Cinderella invited to a ball at the Prince's court. I doubt that the Major will mind you wearing your uniform."

"But I will!" Archie remained stubborn. "Will you be content to spend your entire shore leave in uniform, Horatio?" Archie waited for the inevitable nod. Of course, Horatio would not complain about such a thing - an exemplary officer of the British Navy through and through. "You still have your old uniform and a few different shirts. All I have is this old thing!" He tugged at his uniform, sulking.

Horatio grinned. "You can borrow some of my clothes and we can both be comfortable. How about that?"

Archie appraised Horatio, letting his eyes wander up and down the tall, lean figure. Then he looked down at himself. "Certainly, Horatio."

They both broke into laughter.

"Gentlemen?" Captain Pellew stood on the pier at Plymouth, waiting for his officers to disembark the jollyboat.

"Have a nice time, Mister Hornblower, won't you?" Matthews called out once Horatio had come to stand by his Captain's side, adjusting his hat. Styles and Oldroyd smiled.

"Thank you, Matthews. I wish you the same, men." His division would be on leave as well and quite possibly they would all be staying at Plymouth.

"Aye Sir." Styles and Matthews heaved first Archie, then the three sea chests onto the pier.

The boat crew saluted the Captain and the officers and set back out to the Indy.

Captain Pellew turned when he heard a coach approach them. "Well, Sirs, I do believe we are expected." He did his best to keep the edginess out of his voice.

"Look at that, Horatio!" Archie called out excitedly.

The coach was indeed magnificent - black with gold trimmings all around, a set of gold-edged oil lamps on either side of the door and another next to the driver who himself was dressed like a nobleman in his long expensive black coat and shiny boots.

"Not bad for a pumpkin, is it, Archie?" Horatio laughed but was silenced by the Captain's reproachful look.

"Captain Pellew's party?" The coach driver called out quite unnecessarily, for there was no one else about, let alone another group of three naval officers.

"Indeed." The Captain watched as the tall figure descended from his perch and heaved their baggage onto the back of the coach before opening the door for them.

The three officers climbed in and made themselves comfortable on the white and gold brocade seats.

The ride to the Earl's manor house took no more than twenty minutes, during which time Horatio and Archie peered out the window on the ocean side, busily increasing the Captain's discomfort by their very enthusiasm. They commented how they were continuing up the side of a steep cliff, going higher and higher until it felt like they were rising to the heavens themselves.

"Yes, gentlemen. Thank you."

Horatio smiled coyly, looking at the Captain apologetically. "Sorry, Sir. But the view is truly breathtaking."

"I am certain it is, Mister Hornblower." Pellew sighed regretfully, watching his Lieutenant skirting closer to the window again, his big dark eyes alight with excitement. Yes, truly breathtaking indeed...

This was going to be a long shore leave.

When the manor came into view, Archie gasped. "Oh my god, that is beautiful!"

Horatio agreed delightedly.

The house sat close to the edge of the cliff with only a large, luscious garden in between. The palatial white building was illuminated by the late afternoon sun, bringing to mind a large, frosted wedding cake. The view from any of the dozens of windows would be either of the Sea - turquoise in this light, the rolling green hills stretching out inland, or Plymouth in the distance.

Within minutes of driving through the wrought iron gate framed by two tall statues of angels - their hair flowing and frozen in time and their arms holding a lute and a sword respectively - the coach stopped in front of the wide stairs to the main entrance.

A butler descended hurriedly to greet the visitors, instructing the driver to bring their luggage inside and leave it with the servant waiting in the hall. The man - Chisholm - would know which rooms to deposit the chests in.

"Welcome to Edrington Manor, gentlemen," the butler greeted warmly but formally, bowing to the guests. "My name is Dervisham and I am to take you to see his Lordship."

Captain Pellew nodded. "Thank you."

Archie and Horatio followed the butler - who looked remarkably like Mister Bowles - and the Captain up the stairs and into a vast hall which could easily serve as a ballroom.

"You may yet get your ball, Archie," Horatio joked, earning another frown from the Captain. He really would have to control his giddy excitement. It was most unbecoming for a Lieutenant of His Majesty's Navy.

"The Earl awaits you in the Garden Parlour, gentlemen. If you would follow me." Dervisham shuffled through the hall and into a lavish but impersonal room on the seaward side of the house, waiting by the door to another room for the visitors to follow him. "One moment please." He went next door to announce them.

"Ah yes!" the distinctive voice of the Major could be heard moments later. "Show my guests in, Dervisham, if you will."

"Sirs..." The butler waited until the three men had entered the Garden Parlour before retreating discreetly.

"Captain Pellew!" Major Edrington rose from a chesterfield on which he had been reclining. "And your young officers, too. Welcome to my humble home, gentlemen." He smiled, motioning for them to take seats.

Horatio and Archie noted just how different he looked out of uniform, wearing instead cream colored trousers and a burgundy smoking jacket.

"My Lord, we would like to thank you for your most generous invitation." The Captain nodded courtly, seating himself on a luxurious sofa by the door to the fragrant garden. How different from the aroma of the Sea - lavender, roses and lilac filled the late summer/early autumn air.

"Aye, my Lord."

"Yes, thank you so much!"

Horatio and Archie gave their thanks also, looking for somewhere to sit.

"You are most welcome, Sirs. Mister Hornblower..." the Major patted the seat next to him and Horatio perched on it awkwardly.

Archie had already joined the Captain on the sofa. "You have a lovely home, my Lord," he complimented, awe evident in his voice.

"It suffices." The Major smiled briefly. "Tell me, gentlemen, how long can you stay? I am on leave myself for the next three weeks and I was hoping we could spend as much time as possible together."

"I fear shore leave in the Navy is a rather vague affair, Sir, however we will at the very least have two weeks at our disposal." Captain Pellew leant forward and took the cup of tea offered to him. "Thank you, my Lord."

"Splendid. Then we must make the most of the time. I would like to return the courtesy you, Captain, have extended to me and my men on your ship. So I have taken the liberty to arrange for a few... diversions, while you are here." The Earl smiled enigmatically while distributing cups of tea to Horatio and Archie as well.

"Thank you, my Lord." Horatio took a sip of the fragrant mix - jasmine, most likely - and leant back a little more easily. Diversions... they could all do with them after Muzillac, followed by two continuous months at Sea since and a number of fierce battles with a newly enraged Republican government in France.

"You are most welcome, Mister Hornblower." The Earl's eyes met Horatio's over the edge of his cup and the young officer could have sworn they were sparkling with mischief. Stunned, he set down his tea.

The four officers made pleasant conversation, caught up on current politics and exchanged pleasantries until their cups were emptied.

"I am sure you would like to get settled into your rooms. I had your luggage sent on ahead. May I show you upstairs myself?" The Earl rose, waiting for the others to follow his example. He was clearly excited by something.

Archie was surprised that he did not order his servants to show them the way, but then again, the Major tended to surprise him more often than not.

They went up a wide staircase to the first floor and the Earl ushered them through the third door on the left. "Captain Pellew, this is your room. Please, make yourself at home."

Briefly making eye contact with each of them, he added with a smirk, "Oh, and of course, I have taken care to ensure your rooms are all on the south-side of my home. I would not wish to deprive you of the view to which you are accustomed." The Earl smiled, pulling back a heavy blue curtain to open a door to a balcony with a view of the ocean.

The officers laughed, but had to admit they did appreciate the sentiment.

"Oh, Captain?" The Earl waited for Pellew to join him on the balcony. "I think you will rest easier being able to keep an eye on her." He smiled at Pellew's dumbfounded expression.

"My Lord... the Indefatigable??"

"You tell me. She is your ship." The well-disguised smile was evident in the Earl's voice.

Indeed, the Indy could be seen in the harbour from Pellew's balcony, serenely anchored and safe.

"Astonishing, Sir." The Captain instantly felt more at ease and infinitely better about not being aboard ship. He really did despise being on land, even for the purposes of shore leave. However, with his ship so near and within sight, perhaps he might permit himself some measure of relaxation?

Pellew turned his attention back to the kingly chamber. "A magnificent room, my Lord." His sense of interior design was very pleased indeed - the Baroque style furnishings complemented the luxurious dark wood finish of the furniture. The magnificent bed at the far wall positively brimmed with lacy cushions, brocade and silk, all of them kept entirely in white and deep blue.

"Good god!" the Captain exclaimed when he spotted the piano nearly hidden behind a floral silk screen.

With a generous smile around his lips, the Earl noted the pleasure on the Captain's face. "It has come to my attention that you are rather fond of music, Captain. And you do play, do you not?"

"I do, my Lord." Pellew coughed. He had not expected this. "Although I had not presumed to be able to do so while staying here. Thank you."

"Ah." The Major moved his hand as though he was chasing away flies. "It is nothing, I assure you. Play it at your leisure, Sir."

Pellew had the distinct impression that the piano did not normally reside in the guest room. He frowned, but his pleasure at his discovery outweighed his confusion. The nobility was famously eccentric, after all, and he suspected the Earl of Edrington would be one the most eccentric noblemen in England.

He was about to be proven correct when the Earl opened the door right opposite the bed. "And this..." He made a grand, sweeping gesture with his arm, "Is your room, Mister Hornblower. If you'll follow me."

Horatio's jaw dropped. A connecting door? To the Captain's room? He swallowed back a surprised gasp. "Yes, my Lord."

"You must tell me if there is anything at all amiss with your accommodations," the Earl requested, looking intently at Horatio but adding as an afterthought, "That goes for all of you, gentlemen. I wish only to please you."

And pleased Horatio was. His room was a veritable library under the guise of a heavenly bedroom. He barely noticed the four-poster draped with a blue/gold star-spangled canopy and the matching silk linen covering the thick mattress and the large strewn pillows. Horatio was busily thumbing his way through the books lining the walls all around. "My Lord, these books..." he gasped.

"You are fond of the classics, are you not?" the Earl inquired, picking up a leather-bound volume off the nightstand. "I trust you appreciate poetry also?"

"I do, my Lord." Horatio joined him by the bed.

"Then you will enjoy this." The Earl held the book out, waiting for Horatio to take it from him. It was a collection of early English poetry - Shakespeare, Drayton, Blake, Daniel... And judging by the binding, it was a special edition.

"My Lord..." Horatio gasped. He had never seen such a collection of books and this was no library, merely his guest room at the Earl's house. "I don't know how to thank you for giving me access to all this."

The Earl removed his hand from the book in Horatio's grasp, letting his fingers glide lightly over his surprised guest's hand. "I trust that if we put our heads together, my dear Horatio, we will think of a way," he whispered, smiling at Horatio's gasp. He did not fail to notice the slight trembling in those slim fingers as he brushed past them.

Walking away abruptly enough to make Horatio sway, the Earl addressed Archie. "Now, Mister Kennedy - through here, if you please."

No longer surprised at anything, Horatio watched as Archie was led into the next room, again through a connecting door. He was not present however when the Earl explained to Archie that they were in his own room now and that Archie's was through yet another door.

"My Lord, this is lovely!" Kennedy exclaimed. His room was sheer luxury the likes of which he had never seen. It looked fit for a king. No, a wealthy Arab sheik - velvets, silks and brushed cotton in the most tasteful shades of blue, green and copper draped over everything. The bed was low on the ground and spanned with a thin muslin canopy, swaying lightly in the breeze from the open door to the balcony.

Archie gasped at the sheer beauty of his room before he had even noticed the small selection of books on the theatre and a handful of stage scripts of famous London shows. And finally, he noticed the silver cage near the balcony and the tiny canary within. Looking at the Earl in pleased surprise, he walked towards it.

"I don't know what to say, my Lord. I..." He could not possibly know, could he? How would the Earl of Edrington be aware that he had always wanted a little canary, ever since he had lost his pet when he was eight years old...

"You need not say anything, Mister Kennedy. The pleasure lighting up your face is all the thanks I need." The Earl smiled and stepped towards him, raising Archie's chin with his index finger. "You are most welcome, Sir."

"Why?" Archie asked, incapable of understanding such kindness when most people he had ever known had only brought pain upon him. A suspicion began to take shape in his mind but was instantly dispersed by the nobleman's next words.

"Do you remember what I asked you to do after Muzillac?"

"You mean... to look after Horatio?" Archie remembered the day only too well. He shuddered.

"Yes. And having him... having all of you here now, I see that you did so marvelously. And I thank you, Mister Kennedy." Entirely unexpectedly, the Major moved towards Archie, gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and strutted out of the room and back into his own.

Archie stood, dumbfounded. He touched his cheek as though it felt different now, and then he followed their host back to the next room where he paused for a moment. This room was exactly like its owner - elegant, neat and quite pretty. He smiled at the personal touches like a whimsical heart shaped box on the nightstand, the flowery curtains and the music box on the dresser.

"May I look at that, my Lord?" Archie asked hesitantly when he spotted the small box.

"Certainly, Mister Kennedy."

Archie picked up the delicate carousel depicting a round of white horses circling a maypole. The Earl came to stand next to him and turned a little key on the side of the box and a melody began to play, much like the cheerful marching tune of his regiment. He smiled. "How perfectly lovely."

"Thank you, Mister Kennedy." The Earl of Edrington's face lit up with a warm smile. "Now if you'll follow me back, I would like to show you gentlemen the bath across the hall."

That was where the four men were a few minutes later - Cleopatra herself would have been envious. The very large brass tub was surrounded by a midnight blue curtain, shielding it from the rest of the room. Thick, soft towels in white, blue and yellow were hanging and folded up everywhere and the entire room was scented with sandalwood - undoubtedly one of the many oils and potions lining the recessed bench under the window. There was a fireplace as well, a short distance from the tub. It was stacked full of logs with a wicker basket with more still next to it.

"Well then, gentlemen. I shall leave you to settle in. Dinner will be at eight, so if you would join me downstairs then..." The Earl smiled and left his guests who assured him they would be downstairs on time.

"I do believe we are in heaven," Archie sighed, still staring in disbelief at the luxurious bathroom. He was going to enjoy this shore leave like none before.

Horatio's eyes met the Captain's behind Archie's back and they exchanged an amused look. Then, the Captain grew serious, his eyes holding his Lieutenant's for just a moment too long for propriety. He turned away quickly, leaving an astonished Horatio to ponder luxury, relaxation... and connecting doors.

Dinner - consisting of a wild rice soup, pheasant, roast vegetables, mint parfaits and vintage Burgundy - was a divine experience. The visitors to Lord Edrington's estate were beginning to settle in very comfortably, unable to withstand the onslaught of luxury and attention from their host.

Horatio suddenly remembered his earlier conversation with Archie onboard the Indy. "My Lord," he began, "I fear that Mister Kennedy and I do not travel with any clothing aside from our uniforms. I had been hoping to find something in Plymouth, but alas, I forgot all about it. Would it perhaps be possible tomorrow to borrow your coach?"

The Earl smiled. "Well, to be perfectly honest, I had anticipated something like that and have provided you with a selection of garments in your respective guestrooms. I hope they will fit appropriately and be to your tastes..."

Captain Pellew, certain the clothing would fit as perfectly as their respective rooms, was dumbfounded now. "Sir... Ahem. My Lord... forgive me, but I must ask this - how do you know so much about all of us?"

Laughing softly, the Earl dabbed at his lips with his table napkin. "There really is no mystery, Sir Edward. I merely requested some information of a personal nature from your Mister Bracegirdle when I was aboard your ship." Enjoying the astounded looks from his guests, he continued. "He was initially reluctant but became quite helpful once I explained that I was planning to invite you all to my estate at a later point and wanted you to feel as much at home as possible."

"Good god!" Pellew exclaimed, deciding he needed to have a word with Bracegirdle once they returned to the Indy. This would not do. Not at all. Meanwhile, of course, there was no point in fretting. One might as well enjoy the Earl's attention to detail.

Archie grinned broadly, sending a silent 'thank you' Bracey's way. "My Lord, might I ask... what are these distractions you have planned?"

Horatio looked up, watching the Earl's expression. Most curious indeed.

"Well, to begin with, I thought we might have ourselves a picnic tomorrow. There is a lovely spot not far from here by a quiet little stream. You may know of it, Mister Hornblower, having come here often as a child?"

Horatio attempted to remember. "I have only heard of one such place, my Lord - Fairy Cove. My aunt used to talk about it when I was a child."

"You are correct, Sir. That is the place. There is also a lovely stretch of private beach below the cliff right here." Major Edrington winked at Horatio and then asked Archie and the Captain in turn, "Do you swim, Mister Kennedy? Sir Edward? Or is that a foolish thing to ask a sailor?"

The Captain cleared his throat. "Not at all. I have had men under my command who could not swim and in fact, I found out about it once under rather unpleasant circumstances."

Pellew's jaw dropped when Horatio began to relate the tale of a young sailor who had been pushed overboard by the Captain himself, merely for a laugh and under the assumption that he had been about to dive into the Sea anyway. It had turned out that assumption was quite untrue, and that Pellew wound up diving into the ocean himself in full Captain's regalia to rescue the man.

As for Horatio's story-telling... More of Bracegirdle's work? He really needed to have a stern talk with the man. Glaring at Hornblower, he quieted down his Lieutenant's awed story-telling.

"Oh deary me!" The Earl laughed heartily. "We have a hero in our midst. No, that is incorrect." He looked at the two young men by his side. "Make that three. I have been fortunate enough to be in battle with you and must admit I have yet to meet braver men." Ignoring the blushed cheeks, he raised his glass to his visitors. "A toast. To His Majesty, his Navy and his Army - may the winds of fortune be with us all, gentlemen, so that we may spend another vacation together just like this in the not too distant future."

They drank in silence, pondering the toast and the uncertainty of the times while the servants cleared the table.