"The Last Encounter" is a short story by

C. S. Forester Cecil Louis Troughton Smith (27 August 1899 – 2 April 1966), known by his pen name Cecil Scott "C. S." Forester, was an English novelist known for writing tales of naval warfare, such as the 12-book Horatio Hornblower series depicting a Roya ...

, notable as providing the final chapter in the life of his fictional naval hero,

Horatio Hornblower Horatio Hornblower is a fictional officer in the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, the protagonist of a series of novels and stories by C. S. Forester. He later became the subject of films, radio and television programmes, an ...

. It was published together with the unfinished novel ''

Hornblower and the Crisis ''Hornblower and the Crisis'' is a 1967 historical novel by C. S. Forester. It forms part of the Horatio Hornblower series, and as a result of Forester's death in 1966, it was left unfinished. There is a one-page summary of the last several ch ...

'' and another short story, "

Hornblower and the Widow McCool "Hornblower and the Widow McCool" is a short story by C. S. Forester featuring his fictional naval hero Horatio Hornblower. It was first published in the 9 December 1950 issue of The Saturday Evening Post as "Hornblower's Temptation" and the ...

Plot summary

In 1848, Hornblower, now 72, is enjoying a comfortable retirement on his country estate at Smallbridge,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. Recently promoted to the well-paid but honorary rank of Admiral of the Fleet, he reflects that life as a country gentleman is pleasant and secure but dull. Hornblower is still married to Lady Barbara, and his sailor-servant Brown still attends him, although now as a butler. The fear of financial insecurity that has haunted Hornblower throughout his career is now lifted and he is now able to consider further subsidising his son Richard's expenses as a colonel in the Guards. Late one stormy night, a well-dressed Frenchman, claiming to be

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, arrives at the front door of Hornblower's mansion. Perceived by Hornblower as speaking a mix of sanity and nonsense, the visitor had been travelling by rail to Dover to take ship for France. However a

landslip Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of environments, ...

has delayed the train near Smallbridge Park, and he is urgently seeking assistance to complete his journey. Barbara is favourably impressed with the man's charming manners and persuades her husband to provide a carriage, although Hornblower remains convinced that the Frenchman is a lunatic. A month later, the Hornblowers learn that the man is Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon I, and the future Emperor

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

. He was on his way to Paris to contest the office of

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...

. After winning the election, the Prince-President confers on Hornblower the insignia of a Chevalier of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

and sends a sapphire to Barbara in gratitude for their timely aid.

Publication

John Forester (son of C.S. Forester) recorded meeting with his father, then resident in Berkeley, California, on 7 August 1964. C. S. Forester confided that he had written the concluding Hornblower story but that it was under secure storage: "locked in my publisher's vault as a legacy to my wife and sons". John Forester confirmed that this was "The Last Encounter", subsequently published in 1967 following his father's death the previous year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Encounter, The 1967 short stories Short stories by C. S. Forester Horatio Hornblower Fiction set in 1848