“Sip. Do not gulp.”
She slammed the glass down on the table. “How long fer a meal, blast ye!”
“Three hours.”
“Three hours! D’ye think I’ve nothin’ to do with me time? I’ve charts to study, sails to mend, lines to splice, decks to have swabbed, men to order, attacks to plan, and treasure to plunder. Some nights, I don’t sleep a wink, and ye’re tellin’ me that a lady spends three hours of her day eatin’ dinner?”
Darcy had no pity for her. “You really must learn to bemore patient.”
She scowled. “I’d sooner stab me eyes out with a fork than endure that slow torture.”
They finished their meal in silence, Darcy clearing his throat every time Alex took too large of a bite or swallowed without chewing, and taking diabolical delight in her every glare in return.
Boone stood, a grin on his face. “Really, ‘tis a pleasure, Darcy.” He took his leave, the stiff breeze carrying his chuckle back to the table from the walkway.
Alex tapped her knife against her chin, and Darcy considered it prudent not to correct her just then.
Slowly, her lips curled up, and a calculating gleam spread up to her eyes that troubled Darcy a great deal more than the dagger she held so deftly in her hand. “Ye’re quite the hoity-toity gent, aren’t ye, Darcy? Ye must think ye’re mighty clever. Mighty proud. Well, I can cure a man of pride.”
That gleam in her eye bode ill for Darcy.
CHAPTER 10
Darcy’s discomfort increased the greater Alex’s satisfaction grew. She was like a wolf that smelled fear, a shark smelling fresh blood.
“Ye want to learn the ways of a sailor? Ye’ll start as the ship’s boy, and ye’ll start where all the ship boys do, helpin’ Cook in the galley.”
Darcy tried to contain his relief. Alex could gloat all she liked. He did not care. Any skill he could learn might mean his life—his freedom. No task was too low for him if it meant he could return to shore. To Elizabeth.
He left, finding Bauer swabbing the deck by the dining hall.
“Good day, Bauer. I trust you slept well?”
Bauer looked at him with a blank expression. Clearly, social niceties were lost on this lot. “Perhaps you would direct me to the galley?”
Laying his mop down at the edge of the walkway, Bauer grunted, “This be the way.” He took Darcy to the back of the ship, and down several steps, where there were fewer sailors. “Careful with the cap’n. She be a clever one.”
Darcy understood the warning. Alex had not tried to kill him yet that day, and he supposed he ought to count it as a blessing. It seemed out of character, though. Was she merely moody, or was she scheming something more than using him to secure Nick’s affection? Darcy did not know if Bauer knew, but it was worth asking. “Why is she being more agreeable?”
Bauer scratched his head. “The way I see it, she found a use for ye. Or she saw how quickly ye won over the crew and she be playin’ nice.”
“What does it matter if her crew sympathizes with her prisoner?”
Shaking his head, Bauer said, “Ye don’t know much about our kind, do ye? We may not abide by the laws of the land, but every pirate adheres to our code. Cap’ns be elected.”
“Rule by crew? A democracy?” Darcy could not believe it.
Bauer shrugged. “How else? On a ship full of murderers, bandits, and thieves, we’d never agree on anything. So, we vote. The sailor with the most wins the post.”
Darcy’s plan to gain the favor of the crew now had asolid motive. If he could turn them against Alexandra… But what hold did she have over them? “How did she come to be captain?”
“Cap’n be a good commander, quick to decide a course and confident to carry it out.”
She was controlling. Bossy.
Continuing, Bauer added, “She be a first-rate navigator, and she be mighty handy with a knife, sword, and pistol.”
Darcy was well aware of that.
