Au revoir!

Well that’s it, I’m afraid, for this volume of the Voyage of the Vampire.  As you can probably tell, I’m finding army life in peace time a little trying, and will soon purchase a second yacht, the Ariel in anticipation of more voyages at sea.  In fact, in the next four years I will sail to Morocco, the Canary Islands, the West Indies, Venezuela and Cuba, before returning to Europe.

Despite my reservations about army life as I’ve experienced it in Corfu, I won’t sell out of the army until 1851, when I will marry Mariquita Sanchez de Pina, the daughter of Don Sanchez de Pina of Gibraltar.  We will move back to Scotland, take up residence at Springwood Park near Kelso, and raise our family in peace and prosperity there.  Local matters will occupy me from then on: I will become a Conservative MP for the County of Roxburgh, Captain of the Kelso Volunteers, stand on various local committees and run my estates.

My adventures on the Vampire will become a thing of the past.

In the meantime, don’t forget to read the latest instalment of the story of my sister Charlotte’s pursuit of love …