 The offer is fortuitous because Lewrie's personal life is rapidly unraveling.This novel has Lewrie making his first contact with a British secret agent, Zacariah Twigg, and first crossing swords with an occasional future adversary, Captain Guilliame Choundas of the French Navy.He also connects again with his father, now pursuing life as an officer in the army of East India Company, and achieves something of a rapprochement and is able to gain promotion for his father.