"Repeat after me," said the parson. "I, Horatio, take thee, Maria Ellen --"
The thought came up in Hornblower's mind that these were the last few seconds in which he could withdraw from doing something which he knew to be ill-considered.
The opening sentences of Hornblower and the Hotspur, by C.S. Forester.
Oh no, I wonder what happened. This is a good tease!
ReplyDeleteHoration Hornblower! I don't know how this ends, but I do remember a thrilling TV series featuring the man. I should probably read the books, eh? Great teaser!
ReplyDeleteIf you'd like, you can check out mine here.
@Faith: Literally the first two sentences of the book -- what an opener!
ReplyDelete@celia.a: I've watched the series several times on Youtube and now own it on DVD, to my perpetual delight. :-D
If you want to dive into the series, "Captain Horatio Hornblower" collects the first of Foretester's Hornblower works, while "Midshipman Hornblower" contains the short stories that the movies are about.