“Where are you from?”
“Devonshire.”
“Who were your parents?”
Blackburne shrugged.
“Who raised you?” Richard asked.
“An old fisherman and his wife saw I was fed, let me use their surname, helped me find work on me first ship.”
“You have been at sea most of your life?”
“Aye.”
“How did you become a pirate?”
“The Lafittes took me ship.” He spat on the floor.
“And they let you live?”
“I was just a lad, light on me feet and good at climbing. When they saw me crawl up the ropes like a monkey, they decided they’d keep me. T’weren’t much of a choice.”
He did not think much of his mentors, then. Encouraged to hear evidence of a conscience, Richard pressed on. “Does the name Darcy mean anything to you? Anything at all?”
“Should it?”
“Have you no family?”
“Who’d claim the likes o’ me?”
“What do you know of your history? Were your parents from Devonshire?”
Another shrug. “I suppose.”
“Did the fisherman tell you anything about them?” Lack of information was frustrating. Richard could not imagine how awful it would be to grow up completely alone, with no place, nobody.
“He said a fish vomited me onto the shore. Found me wailing on the beach. I always thought he made it up to keep me from asking ‘til I heard the vicar talk about Jonah.” He looked down, adding softly, “The vicar’s wife taught me to read with that story.”
Blackburne was literate, then, and intelligent. He had learned to adapt, skilled at survival under what Richard imagined as the most adverse circumstances.
“Where can I find the fisherman?” he asked.
“I don’t suppose ye can. He was old when I left, and that was fifteen years ago.”
Fifteen years away, at sea. “How old are you?”
“Eight and twenty, as far as I know. I know the year, but not the day.”
Richard needed more than that. “What of his wife? Might she still be alive?”
“Doubtful.”
Tugging his hand through his hair, Richard pressed, “Did they have children? Or friends they trusted?”
Blackburne folded his arms over his chest and scowled, looking so much like Darcy inappearance and manner, Richard was struck anew with awe. “Why all these blasted questions? I’ve no family here. No friends on land.” He scoffed. “Right now, ye’re me closest acquaintance, and I don’t even know yer name, only that ye’re skilled at fighting and therefore deserving of me respect.”
Richard took a deep breath. “I apologize. Your resemblance to my cousin is so striking, I forgot my manners.”
