Dunham

Chapter 32

Elliott waved a hand. "Get on with it."

"There were other oddities. When the captain addressed us she called us Man and Woman. I don't believe she knew our names, but then she seemed not to remember we were there most of the time after she had dispensed with us. There were many women aboard, perhaps three dozen. Quite a few children, boys and girls alike, who also worked hard. I believe the youngest was nine." He paused. "There was also an older woman aboard who served as the chief purser, but everyone deferred to her no matter what, and sometimes even the captain herself. She was called Officer Mary."

At Elliott's noncommittal hum, the man continued, "We sat for a time in the water when the wind didn't blow, there with two other pirate ships. We had only just been captured a few days before, and we were ordered below for near the duration." He sniffed. "There was music and dancing and much drunkenness and—and—and—debauchery. We were not put out to stay belowdecks, for a certainty."

Elliott nearly grinned. "Odd. Anything else?"

Mocksling stared down into his empty glass. "There was one other thing. The day after we were taken aboard. She flogged a man who confronted her in defense of the missus. And made us watch."

"I would expect no less."

"He nearly died from his lashes."

"How many did she give him?"

"Thirty-nine. With a cat."

Elliott saw nothing untoward in that, but did not remark it. "What of Georgina? You've said little of her."

"She ... ah ... she took to it easily, but then, she was not, in fact, impressed, as we were." He cleared his throat. "She was given the choice of marriage to you or a life aboard a pirate ship. She chose piracy."

Escaping Elliott.

He grinned and looked away, rubbing his mouth. He'd love to see George's mischievous little face when she learned of it.

What do you want now, Captain Harmless?

"I do not see why you would find that amusing, my lord," Mr. Mocksling said stiffly.

"No, you wouldn't," Elliott muttered, still chuckling. And for his further amusement, he asked, "Was Georgina, ah, taken advantage of in any way?"

The man flushed bright red. "Ah, no, I cannot say she was ... taken advantage of."

It was all Elliott could do not to burst out laughing. "Excellent. Well, retire for the night, Mocksling. I shall send a message to Bancroft on the morrow. Do not fear. We shall find her."

"She does not want to be found."

"Well then! Good." The father stared at him blankly. "She has courage."

"She is intractable," the man grumbled. "An incorrigible hoyden, riding astride, running harum-scarum about the countryside with all manner of boys and not a female friend in sight."

Elliott's eyebrow arched high. "Ah, so you wanted to be rid of her anyway."

"If you were commissioned with her—"

"Which is precisely my role in this union, no? Taming your daughter for you? Bedding her would have been the ... benefit?"

"She is quite beautiful, my lord."

The man's neck was small. It wouldn't take much for Elliott to snap it. "God only knows a pirate ship's the best place for a girl like that. Now get out of my sight before I toss you out."