the impression that you despised him, so why should it matter to you if he is dead?’
‘There are those I know in England who will be saddened to hear of his death,’ she said.
Harry’s eyes narrowed. ‘If you talk of his family, he has none.’
‘How do you know that? He had lost his memory and could not remember his family,’ she said with a toss of her head, causing her glorious hair to swirl about her shoulders. ‘If only he had not separated me from my father and gone to the New World.’
Harry’s gaze fixed on her hair and he longed to touch it and run his fingers through it. Instead he clenched his fists. ‘No doubt when last you confronted each other, you were showing all the signs of burgeoning womanhood.’
Bridget flushed. ‘What are you suggesting? That he thought I would have an unsettling effect on his crew?’
He raised his eyebrows in a speaking manner. ‘No doubt he was aware that a woman’s needs are very different from a man’s and to be the only female on a long voyage would have presented you with problems.’
She knew he was right about that, but was not going to admit it. ‘I would have coped, Captain. A woman can adapt to difficult situations the same as a man.’
‘I am not disputing your courage and stamina, Mistress McDonald, but a woman cannot help but practise her feminine wiles on a man in order to get him to do what she wishes.’
Bridget’s jaw dropped and, for a moment, she was speechless and hurt that he could believe that of her. ‘Are you daring to suggest that I am a coquette?’ she demanded. ‘I thought you were different from other men because you have been kind to me, but I see now that I was mistaken. I will seek help elsewhere. I have been called a witch in the past and accused of putting a spell on a man. The slave trader was typical of a certain kind of man who blames the object of their lust, without caring what damage they do to a woman. No doubt Black Harry was the same.’
Harry’s jaw tightened. ‘You do him an injustice when he cannot defend his reputation. I understand why you were desperate enough to jump into a raging sea, but I am not like that slave trader. Anyway, if you prefer to manage without any further help from me then I will leave you alone to consider your options.’ He left the bedchamber, closing the door carefully behind him.
If there had been anything close by that she could have picked up and thrown at him, Bridget would have done so. She wanted to scream at him. How could he not understand how much his words had hurt her? She had done everything possible to hide her feminine charms from the pirate crew but little good it had done her. When she had fought off the advances of the ones who had tried to steal a kiss from her, she had been repaid with a beating.
She dropped on to the bed, wondering how she could get off this island without the captain. She remembered Black Harry paying for her passage to Scotland, so she could leave Ireland as her father had wished her to do. She had to admit that it was strange behaviour on Black Harry’s part if he really had lusted after her. She recalled how strong and indestructible he had appeared as he had stood on the quayside last time she had seen him. It seemed wrong that two such strong men as he and her father could now be dead.
A lump filled her throat and she wanted to weep. She must return to Black Harry’s friend, the Baron Dalsland, in England, but what sad news she would be taking with her to the Baron and his wife, Rosamund, who was Black Harry’s sister—the sister he did not know existed. Joshua, too, would be disappointed, as would Lady Elizabeth—that is if they were still alive. She wondered if they believed she, herself, was lost to them for ever.
A tear trickled down her cheek. Perhaps it would be better if she did not return to England because then she would not have to give them such disappointing and sad news. But that was a cowardly thought and she must consider some way she could get back to them.
She wondered if she were to get down on her knees and kiss the captain’s feet and beg his pardon he would extend his helping hand to her again. Her proud nature baulked at the very notion of behaving in the way she had been forced to act whilst in the power of the pirate chieftain when she had rebelled against his orders. Fortunately, where he was concerned her beauty had saved her from rape, because she was worth more to him as a virgin.
A knock on the door and her heart began to race and she felt quite faint at the thought of coming face to face with her host again. He was beginning to have the most odd effect on her. Had he returned to tell her that he did indeed want her out of the house immediately?
‘Who is it?’ she asked in a trembling voice.
‘It’s Joe.’
She felt a mixture of disappointment and relief. ‘Come in.’
He opened the door and peered round it cautiously. ‘The captain said that you were vexed. He told me to make sure not to get too close to you with a knife.’
His words came as such an anticlimax that Bridget laughed. ‘Your captain jests. I would not hurt you, Joe. I look upon you as my friend.’
‘Honestly?’ He pushed the door wider with his hip and came further into the bedchamber. ‘I’ve got no female friends, but I’ve food here that’s real appetising. It’ll nourish you and make you strong.’
‘I suppose you don’t get a chance to become acquainted with a suitable lass being away at sea so long,’ said Bridget.
‘Aye. But, to be honest, I don’t know what to say to lasses, unlike some of the crew. Women and drink are the first things they think of as soon as we drop anchor in port.’ He reddened. ‘I suppose I shouldn’t be talking to you about such matters …’ His voice trailed off and he looked even more embarrassed.
Bridget lowered her eyes and toyed with her fingers. ‘Does the captain go with women?’
Joe placed the tray on the chest and made for the door. ‘No, he steers clear of them. There was a woman he once loved, but she was in love with his closest friend.’ Joe looked guilty. ‘The captain would have me hide if he knew I was gossiping about him. Now you eat your fish and bread.’
Bridget gazed down at the pure white fillets swimming in a creamy herb sauce as if in a daze. ‘What kind of fish is it?’
‘Forget its name, but it has a real ugly head. Anyway, you’re not going to have to look at that because I chopped it off.’
‘Did you catch it yourself?’ she asked.
Joe grinned. ‘Aye. Captain’s too busy to go fishing. Time’s money and he reckons the winds will be blowing in the right direction soon to take us to Lisbon.’
The lad’s words made Bridget feel almost as desperate as she had felt when she had dropped into the sea. ‘Tell me, Joe, what is your captain’s name?’
‘We call him Captain Mariner.’
‘Mariner?’ She stared at him in surprise. ‘But that is simply another name for a sailor.’
Joe nodded. ‘Aye, the captain was an orphan like me, so he chose his own name.’
Bridget supposed it made perfect sense. ‘And what’s your surname, Joe?’
‘I’m Joseph Cook because that’s what I am. I’ll leave you now, mistress, to enjoy
