It occurred during a lull. Sir Dace craned his long and ponderous neck over the table towards Jack.
“Captain Tanerton, were you satisfied with that chief mate of yours, Edward Pym? Did he do his duty as a chief mate ought?”
“Not always, Sir Dace,” was Jack’s ready answer. “I was not particularly well satisfied with him.”
“Will he sail with you again when you go out?”
“No. Not if the decision lies with me.”
Sir Dace frowned and drew his neck in again. I fancied he would have been glad to hear that Pym was going out again with Jack—perhaps to be rid of him.
Colonel Letsom spoke up then. “Why do you not like him, Jack?”
“Well, for one thing, I found him deceitful,” spoke out Jack, after hesitating a little, and still without any idea that Pym was known to anybody present.
Verena bent forward to speak then from the end of the table, her face all blushes, her tone resentful.