By evening the damage was sufficiently repaired. The more seriously wounded of the Alert's men were taken on board the frigate, and an equal number of men sent to take their places. Twenty men were placed on board each of the gunboats, and the Tartar then sailed eastward, while the other three craft started for Gibraltar.
"There is no getting your jewels now, madame," Peter said, as, after sail was made, he went down into the cabin. "Next time I cruise along here I will get them for you; but at present I am under orders for Gibraltar, and must go straight there. I shall have no difficulty in arranging passages for you to England, and you may be sure of a most hospitable reception when you get to my father's. It is perhaps just as well that you should not take the jewels with you, for it is possible that the vessel you go home from Gib by may be captured by French privateers. Indeed I should recommend your staying at Gibraltar until a convoy is made up there, say under the protection of a frigate; and in the meantime I shall, of course, be your banker. I shall hold your jewels, you see, as security for the loan."
On arriving at Gibraltar they found quite a fleet of merchantmen there waiting for a convoy, and before the repairs on board the Alert were executed he had the satisfaction of seeing the three ladies comfortably settled on board a large ship which with the others sailed on the following morning for England under the convoy of a frigate and two gun-brigs. Peter had been highly complimented by the naval officer commanding the station, and two days afterwards passed his examination, and was at once promoted to the rank of lieutenant. Ten days later he sailed again, and arriving after dark one evening at his old anchorage off the château, again landed in disguise, and accompanied by a couple of sailors, made his way up to the ruins, dug up the box, and brought it on board, and the first time he saw the Tartar he handed it to the captain, asking him to send it to England by the first frigate or man-of-war going home.
"I am afraid to keep it on board, sir, for the contents are valuable, and it would be a heavy weight upon my mind if we got into action with a superior force. It contains the family jewels of the de Vignerolles."
A month later the box reached its destination, and some time afterwards a letter from his father informed him that he had disposed of the greater portion of the jewels at the request of the baroness, and that she and her daughters were now established at a house within a few minutes' walk of his. Four years later Peter returned home with the rank of commander; and two marriages took place while he was at home on leave, his elder brother marrying Melanie de Vignerolles, while he and Julie paired off together. Five years later Peter, now a post-captain, retired from active service on half-pay, a cannon-ball having carried his right leg off just below the knee. Julie, far from regretting the event, declared openly that she considered the wound to be a most fortunate one, for that the war might go on for any time, and it was vastly better to have him at home, even with half a leg, than to be in constant anxiety lest she should hear that he had fallen. The jewels had fetched a large sum, and the greater portion of this the baroness divided between her two daughters, she herself taking up her residence, at Peter's earnest request, with him and Julie, until her death, which took place ten years later.