"
"King James's?" he sneered.
"England's," she corrected him in reproof. "The country is all,
sir; the sovereign naught. King James will pass; others will come
and pass; England remains, to be honourably served by her sons,
whatever rancour they may hold against the man who rules her in
their time."
He showed some surprise. Then he smiled a little. "Shrewd advocacy,"
he approved it. "You should have spoken to the crew."
And then, the note of irony deepening in his voice: "Do you suppose
now that this honourable service might redeem one who was a pirate
and a thief?"
Her glance fell away. Her voice faltered a little in replying.
"If he... needs redeeming. Perhaps... perhaps he has been judged
too harshly."
The blue eyes flashed, and the firm lips relaxed their grim set.
"Why... if ye think that," he said, considering her, an odd hunger
in his glance, "life might have its uses, after all, and even the
service of King James might become tolerable."
Looking beyond her, across the water, he observed a boat putting
off from one of the great ships, which, hove to now, were rocking
gently some three hundred yards away.
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