no expectation of ever laying eyes upon him again, and thought she had succeeded in putting him out of her mind. But now, when she saw him again, handsome and tall in the light thrown by the burning rigging, she remembered the secrets he had imparted to her and the protestation of his feelings for her, and she could deny him no longer.
In the same moment he looked up and recognized her. She saw his astonishment give way immediately to grim determination. He leaped across the deck of the Sprite to the wheel and shoved aside the helmsman. He seized the spokes and spun it in a blur back the opposite way. The Sprite's turn away to port checked and then she answered her rudder, turning back slowly. Once more her bows collided heavily against the Arcturus's mid-section, but she did not rebound for Mansur held the wheel over. She began to drag down the side of the larger vessel.
Mansur shouted up at her, 'Jump, Verity! Come to me!' For a long moment she remained frozen, and then it was almost too late. 'Verity, in God's Name, you cannot deny me. I love you. Jump!'
She hesitated no longer. She came up on her feet as quick as a cat, and sprang to the top of the bulwark, balancing there for an instant with her arms outspread. Guy realized what she was about, and ran across the poop to her.
'I forbid it!' he screamed, and snatched at her leg, but she kicked away his hand. He grabbed a fistful of her shirt, and she tried to pull free, but he clung on stubbornly. As they struggled, Mansur left the wheel and ran to the Sprite's side. He was directly below her, holding his arms wide in invitation.
'Jump!' he called. 'I will catch you.'
She flung herself out over the ship's side. Her father did not release his grip, and her shirt ripped, leaving him holding a handful of cloth. Verity dropped into Mansur's arms and her weight bore him to his knees, but he straightened and, for a moment, held her tightly to his chest. Then he set her on her feet and dragged her to safety. The crew's bundled hammocks had been piled along the bulwark as some protection from splinters and musket balls, and Mansur pushed her down behind this barricade. Then he ran back to the wheel and spun it the opposite way.
The two ships drew apart swiftly. The Revenge had also disentangled herself, and was under sail. The Arcturus was still ablaze, but Mansur saw Ruby Cornish striding down her deck, taking charge of the salvage. His men were swarming out of the hatchways again. Within minutes they had brought down the flaming canvas and doused it with seawater from the pumps.
With her guns reloaded and run out, the Arcturus turned in pursuit of the Sprite once more, but her rigging was heavily damaged and Cornish had not had time to bring up new canvas from the sail lockers ; and bend it on to the bare, scorched yards. The Arcturus made slow progress through the water and both the Sprite and the Revenge drew away from her.
Then, as swiftly as it had risen, the night wind died away. Almost as if they had anticipated the dawn, the clouds opened and allowed the paling stars to shine through. A hush descended on the ocean, the roiling surface seemed to freeze into a sheet of polished ice. All three of the battered ships slowed, then came to a gradual standstill. Even in the faint light of the stars they were within sight of each other, becalmed, swinging slowly and aimlessly on the silent currents beneath that glassy surface. However, the Sprite and the Revenge were out of hail of each other, so Dorian and Mansur were unable to confer and decide their next course of action.
'Let the men eat their breakfast as they work, but we must repair our
damage swiftly. This calm will not last long.' Mansur saw the work put in hand, then went to find Verity. She stood alone by the ship's side, staring across at the dim shape of the Arcturus, but she turned to him at once.
'You came,' he said.
'Because you called,' she replied softly, and held out her hand to him. He took it, and was surprised by how cool and smooth her skin was, how narrow and supple her hand.
'There is so much I want to tell you.'
'We will have a lifetime for that,' she said, 'but let me savour this first moment to the full.' They looked into each other's eyes.
'You are beautiful,' he said.
'I am not. But my heart sings to hear you say it.'
'I would kiss you.'
'But you cannot,' she answered. 'Not under the eyes of your crew. They would not approve.'
'Fortunately, we will have a lifetime for that also.'
'And I will rejoice in every minute of it.'
The dawn broke and the first shafts of sunlight beamed through the gaps in the thunderheads and turned the waters of the ocean to glowing amethyst. It played full upon the three ships. They lay motionless, like toys on a village pond. The sea was glassy smooth, its surface marred only by the skittering flight of the flying fish and the swirls of the great silver and gold tuna that pursued them.
The shot-torn sails hung slack and empty. From each ship the sounds of the carpenters' hammers and saws rang out as they hurriedly repaired the battle damage. The sail makers laid out the damaged canvas on the decks and squatted over it, long needles flying as they cobbled up the tears and rents. They all knew that this respite would not last long, that the morning breeze would rise and the next phase of the conflict must begin.
Through the telescope Mansur watched the crew of the Arcturus extinguish the last flames, then send new spars aloft to replace the broken bowsprit and the yards that had been burned or shot away.
'Is your mother aboard the Arcturus?' Mansur asked Verity.
Six weeks ago my father sent her back to the safety of the consulate n Bombay,' Verity answered. She did not want to think about Caroline now, or of the circumstances in which she had last seen her. To change the subject she asked, 'Will you fight again?'
'Are you afraid?' he asked.
She turned to him. Her eyes were green and her gaze was direct. That question is unkind.'
'Forgive me,' he said at once. 'I do not doubt your courage, for you proved it to me last night. I wanted only to know your feelings.'
'I am not afraid for myself. But my father is aboard the other ship, and you are on this one.'
'I saw him strike you.'
'He has struck me many times before, but he is still my father.' Then she lowered her eyes. 'More important than that, though, you are now my man. I am afraid for both of you. But I will not flinch.'
He reached out and touched her arm. 'I will do my utmost to avoid further battle,' he assured her. 'I would have done so last night but my own father was in danger. I had no choice but to come to his aid. However, I doubt that Sir Guy will let you and me escape without he does everything in his power to prevent it.' He nodded grimly towards the distant Arcturus.
'Here comes the morning wind,' she said. 'Now my father's intentions will be made plain.'
The wind scoured the polished azure surface with cats' paws. The Arcturus's sails bulged and she began to glide forward. All her yards were standing, and bright new canvas had replaced much of that which had been scorched and blackened. The wind left her behind and she slowed gradually, then came once more to a standstill. Her mainsail flapped and drooped. The squall of wind came on and picked up the two smaller ships, carried them a short distance, then dropped them.
Again stillness and silence fell on the three vessels. All their saib were set, and the upper yardmen were poised to make the final adjustments when the wind came again.
This time it came out of the east, hard and steady. It caught up the Arcturus first and bore her on. The instant she had steerage way she put up her helm and charged straight towards the two smaller ships. Her guns were still run out and her intentions manifest.
'I am afraid your father is spoiling for a fight.'
'And so are you!' Verity accused him.
'You misjudge me.' He shook his head. 'I have already taken the prize. Sir Guy has nothing more that I want from him.'
Then let us hope that the wind reaches us before he does.' As Verity spoke it puffed against her cheek and blew a long strand of hair across her eyes. She tucked it back into the silk hairnet. 'Here it comes.'
The wind struck the Sprite and she heeled to it. Her canvas slatted and her blocks rattled as her sails filled and bulged. They could feel the
force of it in the eager trembling of the deck beneath their feet and, despite the exigencies of the moment, Verity laughed aloud with excitement. 'We are off!' she cried, and for a moment clung to his arm. Then she saw Kumrah's disapproving expression and stepped back. 'I need no chaperon aboard this ship for I have a hundred already.'
The Sprite raced down towards the Revenge, which still lay becalmed, but then the wind reached her also. The two ships bore away together, the Revenge leading by two cables' length. Mansur looked back over the stern at the pursuit.
'With the wind coming from this quarter your father can never catch us,' he told Verity exultantly. 'We will run him below the horizon before nightfall.' He took her arm and led her gently towards the companionway. 'I can safely leave the deck to Kumrah now, and we can go below to find suitable accommodation for you.'
'There are too many eyes here,' she
