He shrugged. “He probably got distracted when you called me a murderer.”
She snorted at that reminder. “You didn’t lock the door. I assume someone’s standing guard out there?”
“Of course.”
“Then send him for a needle and thread. You need proper stitching if you want that wound to heal anytime soon.”
“Still determined to make me cry?”
“Good guess,” she quipped with a tight grin.
But he did as she suggested, though he told the sailor to send someone else to fetch what was needed. Jackie arrived moments later with a needle and thread and a tray of food.
“Bring me a lit lantern or a candle,” Jacqueline told the boy. “I need to pass the needle through a flame.”
“So you received doctoring lessons, too?” Bastard said with some surprise.
“No, but I’ve seen a competent physician at work before, and I know a dirty needle is worse than no needle a’tall.”
“But how are you with a needle?”
“I know how to sew, if that’s what you mean. My cousin Judy wanted to learn embroidery and I wasn’t going to just sit there and watch her do it, so I learned, too.”
“I would have thought you’d have been out slaying dragons instead.”
“She and I did everything together. I didn’t like the sewing, but she was pleased that I tried it with her.”
“And then she hunted dragons with you?”
She glanced up at him and noticed his grin. “Is that what you did as a child? Pretend to slay dragons?”
He laughed. “Actually, Mort and I pretended to slay pirates. But then we grew up in the Caribbean. I don’t think there are any dragons there. Was that a real smile, Jack?”
It had been, for the briefest moment, but she wasn’t going to kick herself about it. “I was just imagining a dragon romping through the islands. But Judy and I didn’t need to play pretend. Our family is too big. There was always something exciting happening to occupy us instead.”
“Did she reciprocate and try all of your activities as well?”
“Goodness, no. Some of the things I cajoled my father into teaching me, she considered too unladylike for her. But she watched and cheered me on.”
“Steering a ship isn’t dangerous.”
“Fetch me a rapier and I’ll demonstrate.”
He chuckled. “Lessons of that sort, really?”
“Much more fun than needlepoint.”
To have such a normal conversation with him was a little disconcerting. A good start to her plan, but it still felt odd discussing their childhoods in such a whimsical way. But she didn’t want to waste this opportunity to find out more about him, maybe even something personal that she could use against him.
So she said, “I would have guessed you grew up in England, not the Caribbean. You certainly sound English.”
“Have I intrigued you again?”
“Again? Oh, that,” she scoffed, thinking of the masquerade ball. “Any mystery is intriguing, and that’s all you were—when you were wearing that ridiculous mask. Were you born in the islands?”
“Yes, of English parents. You’d be surprised how many Englishmen settle in the West Indies on the islands Britain has claimed.”
“Which island?”
