Geoffrey Hornblower was deteriorating fairly consistently after Horatio took to the Navy. Within a year of him being gone, he hired Fiona again even though there were no children in his household, and essentially had her acting as chief of staff around the house, nurse and secretary in his office and business, assistant in all manners of estate and finally, as projected wife to all emotional matters and things regarding his son.

As Fiona considered herself Horatio’s mother in all but name and blood, she took little issue with any of this and was only too happy to remain in Geoffrey’s employ no matter how erratic his behavior became over time.  

When peace was declared between England and France, Horatio returned home to find things relatively as he remembered them. For a week, he stayed in his room and helped Fiona and the other servants around the house relatively unnoticed by Geoffrey.

It was while Fiona was tending to laundry that matters took a shift – Geoffrey called for her, and Horatio, being familiar with his father’s demands when tending to patients in the house ( which was not common, but Geoffrey did take emergency calls at home, particularly for duel related surgeries ) went to assist him in her stead. Focused as he was on the patient, nothing occurred until the man was resting and Geoffrey finally registered who had been helping him.

It seemed as though the man had truly been unaware of Horatio’s presence in the house until then, and the two started arguing ( or rather, Geoffrey started making sharp remarks and Horatio bit his tongue whilst thinly defending himself ) when Fiona came in and tried to intervene, urging Geoffrey to lay down and rest awhile. Geoffrey insisted Horatio leave the house, as he was too old to be ‘riding on his father’s coattails for a living’ and when Fiona gently reminded him that he was having a bad day, and did not really wish Horatio to leave, he struck her and commanded that she be silent or ‘go with the whelp.’

Furious on Fiona’s behalf, Horatio stepped between his father and his surrogate mother and for once in his life gave the man a piece of his mind. Geoffrey was taken aback sharply enough by the tirade that he seemed to realize not only where he was and to whom he was speaking, but also what had created this situation.

In a rare shift, it was Geoffrey who offered no resistance to lashing words and unkind sentiments. Indeed, when Fiona chose to quit that same day, leaving with Horatio, he made no attempt to seek her forgiveness (Though, she would learn through her friends among his household at his funeral that he had consistent days where he seemed very confused as to where she had gone, and would become either frustrated or deeply upset when he could not find her )

Six months after their departure, Geoffrey was found to have fallen down the stairs in his estate, and broken his neck. There was some speculation as to his capacities ( including rumor that he had been affected by laudanum at the time ) but little investigation was made into matters.

Fiona, taking pity on Horatio ( who was distraught with the realization his last words to his father had been ones of wrath ) took the affairs in hand and arranged for the funeral. She attended to all matters, including the reading of Geoffrey’s will – the latter of which turned out to be a wise decision, for it seemed guilt had driven Geoffrey’s last actions. His home, estate and finances were all signed over to the son of Richard Danvers.

To his son, Geoffrey left only a collection of first edition novels and a box that Fiona would open for him, and discover within every drawing, composition, and letter she had thrown away at his bequest. Horatio bade her to keep it, and seemed unwilling to look at it. It has a special spot in her room, and has been added to with her own mementos of Horatio.