In Perilous Seas — Victor J.H. Suthren

BOOK THREE IN THE GALLANT SAGA

1747: Paul Gallant is now captain of a frigate . . . and his assignment is to shepherd a convoy of merchantmen from the West Indies to France, evading privateers and the British Navy and guarding the person and dowry of Marianne de Poitrincourt, Marquise de Bézy. There is treachery in high and low places, and Marianne and dowry are taken hostage . . . Gallant once again lives up to his name, and against terrific odds (including a nasty Spanish noble, a vicious Dutch pirate, a British warship and the Carolina coastal waters)