“You put him in the care of a lovable old dreamer, and then expected him to accept life as you knew it.”
Cleigh rumpled his cowlicks. A fairy story? 257 But that was nonsense! Fairy stories had long since gone out of fashion.
“When I saw you two together an idea popped into my head. But do you care for the boy?”
“I care everything for him—or I shouldn’t be here!”
Cunningham relaxed a little more in his chair, his eyes still closed.
“What do you mean by that?” demanded Cleigh.
“I let you abduct me. I thought, maybe, if I were near you for a little I might bring you two together.”
“Well, now!” said Cleigh, falling into the old New England vernacular which was his birthright. “I brought you on board merely to lure him after you. I wanted you both on board so I could observe you. I intended to carry you both off on a cruise. I watched you from the door that night while you two were dining. I saw by his face and his gestures that he would follow you anywhere.”
“But I—I am only a professional nurse. I’m nobody! I haven’t anything!”
“Good Lord, will you listen to that?” cried the pirate, with a touch of his old banter. “Nobody and nothing?”