The Last Encounter

"The Last Encounter" is a short story by C. S. Forester, the final chapter in the life of his fictional naval hero, Horatio Hornblower. It was published together with the unfinished novel Hornblower and the Crisis and another short story, "Hornblower and the Widow McCool".

Plot summary

In 1848, Hornblower, now an Admiral of the Fleet, is enjoying a well-earned retirement on his English estate when, late one night, a seemingly mad man claiming to be Napoleon Bonaparte arrives at his front door and requests his help. The Frenchman has been travelling by train to Dover, but a landslide has delayed the train and he is seeking assistance to complete his journey. Hornblower's wife Barbara is favourably impressed with the man's manners and persuades her husband to provide his carriage to oblige the visitor.

Later, the Hornblowers find that their caller really was Napoleon—Napoleon III of France, nephew of Napoleon I, and that he was on his way to Paris to contest the office of President of France. After winning the election, he confers on Hornblower the insignia of a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in gratitude for his timely assistance. Arguably this clashes with his staunch British patriotism, but by this stage in his career Hornblower has softened in his fierce introspection and has come to appreciate there are more important things in life than self doubt, such as indiscriminately aiding a man in need.