Accepting that conclusion, Georgina went back to the subject of where he intended her to sleep if she was still on the ship tonight. “I had assumed, Captain, that all available cabins were occupied.”
“So they are. What’s your point, lad?”
“I’m just wondering where that’s going to put me and my hammock, if I’m to be near enough to hear if you summon me in the night.”
That got her a laugh. “Where the deuce d’you think it’s going to put you?”
His amusement at her expense was as infuriating as his unwanted concern. “In the drafty hall,” she retorted. “Which I have to tell you doesn’t suit me at—”
“Give over, youngun, before you have me in tears. What bloody nonsense. You’ll sleep right here, of course, just as my previous cabin boy did, and every one before him.”
She’d been afraid that was what he had in mind. Fortunately, it wasn’t unheard of to her, which saved her from making a maidenly display of outrage that would have been quite inappropriate. She knew of several captains who shared their quarters with the youngest members of their crews, simply for the boys’ protection. Her brother Clinton was one, ever since a cabin boy of his had been set upon by three crewmen and seriously injured. She had never learned the particulars of what happened, only that Clinton had been furious enough to have the three attackers severely whipped.
This captain, however, knew she had a brother on board who could see to her protection, so his insistence that she move in here with him was for his convenience, not any concern for her welfare. But she wasn’t going to argue about it—not that he’d listen to arguments after warning her against making any. It would simply be foolish to protest if thiswasan established policy of his, and apparently it was if his other cabin boys had shared the room with him.
So she had only one question for him. “Right herewhere?”
He tilted his head to indicate the one empty corner in the room, the one to the right of the door. “That will suffice, I’m sure. There’s plenty of room for your sea chest and whatever else you’ve brought along with you. Supports are already in the walls for your hammock.”
She saw the hooks he was talking about, spaced just wide enough to accommodate a hammock to cross the space of the corner. Strange, she didn’t remember seeing them yesterday when she’d been in the cabin. The corner was at least a long distance from the bed, but that was the best she could say for it, since there wasn’t a single piece of furniture between the two areas high enough to give her even a modicum of privacy.
The only thing on that side of the room was the screened-off tub in the other corner near the windows, and the low commode between the corner and the door. The dining table was more in the center of the room, with everything else to the left of the door, the bed behind it, the cabinet and highboy on the far left wall, the bookcase on the same wall, but by the windows again, in the corner where the desk was located in front of the windows to take advantage of the light.
“Will it do, youngun?”
As if he would put her somewhere else if she said no, when she knew very well he wouldn’t go to any trouble for the benefit of a mere cabin boy! “I suppose, but would it be all right to make use of the screen?”
“Whatever for?”
For privacy, you dolt!But he was looking so amused by her question, she merely replied, “It was just a thought.”
“Then don’t think, dear boy. Use common sense instead. That screen’s bolted to the floor. Everything is, except for the chairs, and it’s your duty to secure them at the first sign of bad weather.”
Georgina had no trouble feeling the color flood her cheeks this time. That was something she’d known about all her life. On ship, everything had to be bolted, strapped, or otherwise tacked down, or it ended up someplace other than where it belonged, usually causing a great deal of damage in the process. Where was her mind, to forget such a common piece of knowledge as that?
“I never said I’d sailed before,” she replied in defense of that bit of stupidity.
“From England, then, are you?”
“No!” she said, too quickly and too sharply. “I mean, I sailed to get here, yes, but as a passenger.” And then peevishly, since she’d only made herself sound even more ignorant, “I just never took note of such things.”
“No matter. You’ll learn all you need to know, now you’re a working member of the crew. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, lad.”
“Then while you have the time, Captain, would you be so good as to explain my duties to me, other than those you’ve already men—”
She stopped when one of his golden brows rose in amusement. What the devil had she said this time to have him grinning like a loon?
He didn’t keep her in suspense. “Be so good?” He was now laughing. “Good God, lad, I should hope not. I haven’t been good since I was your age, butsogood, never.”
“It was merely a figure of speech,” she replied in exasperation.
“What it was, was an indication of your upbringing, lad. Manners too fine for a cabin boy.”
“Lack of manners were a prerequisite for the job? Someone should have told me.”
“Don’t get lippy with me, brat, or I’ll pin your ears back, that’s if they can be found under that bloody cap.”
“Oh, they’re there, Captain, just pointy and twice the size they should be. Why else would I keep them hidden?”
