“What?�
“Life and—�
I hesitated.
“What else? Speak on.�
“Your honor,� I said slowly, whereat she stared at my face, now doubtless stern enough in all conscience.
She opened her mouth to speak, but I silenced her with a wave of my hand as I found I could do on various occasions. I did not wish to hear further from her then. What I had to say concerned us both so deeply that I cared not what she said and perhaps that closed cabin into which I had penetrated was the likeliest place for privacy in the whole ship. I could by no means be overheard, so I determined to speak freely and in a way not to be misunderstood. She shrank back against the farther bulkhead as I approached her. Her mouth opened to scream evidently, although she must have realized that a call for help would have but added to her tormentors. But I stopped her before she made a sound.
“I mean you no harm, can you not see it?� I began. “It was all a play.�
“A play,� she panted, “the murder of the captain, the mutiny of the men, the seizure of the ship, the giving up the chart, your purchase—� she drew herself up—by heaven, she was a brave little thing—“of me,� she added, “with your share of the treasure: was that a play?�
“Part of it, madam,� I answered, stung by her scorn and stunned again by the thought that she could ever have believed me capable of such baseness, who had loved her, worshiped her, and—but for that fleeting moment when I had kissed her—had ever treated her with such humble consideration and respect.
“Part of it,� she repeated, “what part?�