"I came on board, but no Emma.

No, no, my heart will break.

I am in silent distraction....

My dearest wife, how can I bear our separation?
Good God, what a change! I am so low that I cannot hold up my head." His depression was increased by the condition of Parker, the young commander, who had been wounded off Boulogne, and had since then hovered between life and death.

The thigh had been shattered too far up for amputation, and the only faint hope had been that the bones might reunite.