One Glance

Chapter 1

"At some point fate takes over a story and even the author himself loses control." Alena Smith, The Affair

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I would just like to disclose that the following events are fictitious, and in no way are meant to represent a real historical battle. It is a dramatization of final moments of the Napoleonic Wars. Whereas we know the final moments led to the Battle of Waterloo, I wanted to direct attention to the Royal Naval effort in this battle.

Chapter One

Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, June, 1815

It was a game that the naval officers aboard the HMS Bradbury often liked to play.

What are you going to do when the war is finally over?

Captain Cassidy's men had gotten to the point of memorising their answers, as they were virtually unchanged in the three years they had been serving together at sea, but that still did not stop them wanting to play the game.

It was a much needed escape. Leave opportunities were rare as the Napoleonic Wars drew to a close. Each man was simply too important to spare, which was why Luke had not returned home to England in a very long time.

It was an unusually foggy morning for the month of June as Luke and his more senior officers congregated on the bridge. Luke was at the helm, overseeing his crew working on maintaining the ship.

Luke hoped that his men in the crow's nest were doing better in seeing through the fog. It was making him nervous. A dozen British navy ships were forming a blockade in an attempt to stop and destroy any enemy ships that might flee. He knew that he had British ships either side of him somewhere, only it would make him feel easier if he could see them.

"Rest easy, Captain," Commander Lockwood assured him. "The militia have all but ended this. We are only a precaution. We have done our duty. The end is nigh."

"I will rest easy when we receive word that it is over and that we can return home," murmured Luke in reply.

Home seemed like such a foreign idea. It had been three years since he had set foot on English soil. It had been three years since he had known any sort of normality.

"When we receive the word, Commander, what are you going to do?" asked Lieutenant Hartwell.

Luke did try to relax himself as he began to participate in their ship's little game. The fact of the matter was that the end was nigh. All of these men would be returning to their families.

"Well, I joined the navy to make my fortune so that I could marry Miss Lizzie Simpkins," replied Commander Lockwood bitterly. "But she went and married someone richer while I was in the middle of a war. So I am going to take my fortune, by the biggest house in her county, and marry someone twice as beautiful as she."

The crew always laughed in support of Commander Lockwood's plan. It had been dreadfully painful for the man when he had received word that his childhood love had married another. He had indeed joined the navy to make his fortune, and he had worked terribly hard to rise up in the ranks so that he could receive the spoils of capturing enemy ships. But he had not done so quickly enough, and so Miss Simpkins had married another.

Luke had full confidence that Commander Lockwood would find another woman to love. He was brave, clever, handsome, and very wealthy. He would have no trouble.

"What are your plans after the war, Lieutenant?" Commander Lockwood asked in return.

"Oh, I am going to wear my naval uniform through every assembly hall and public room I can find in England and charm every young lady I can find," boasted Lieutenant Hartwell.