The wily George Abercrombie Fox somehow survives the burning fireship he has steered into a French harbour, thereby saving Cloughton's expedition from disaster. But back in England Fox finds that it is not courage that brings a command and a ship in the King's Navy.

Sophy Kintlesham, that plain and plump young girl who flowered into a beautiful woman, the woman who haunts G.A. Fox's infrequent dreams, is also not to be won by tales of valour alone. Frustrated at every turn, Fox is only too happy to accept a post in the expedition to Egypt, even if it does mean discomfort, deprivation and danger.