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“We know the fleet will eventually land somewhere along the coast,” he said, “be it Pensacola or the Mississippi delta or somewhere in between. Was that not your entire argument for sailing into Nassau? To learn the size of the fleet and the destination, both of which we now know.”

“The destination we only think we know.” She set her glass down and drew a deep breath. “But yes, I suppose that was the reason for stopping there.”

“Unless you have a further objection?”

“None worth arguing over. I might only suggest that we part company as soon as it is no longer practical to hold back on our speed in order to stay together. And since the Pride is Lafitte’s ship and you were sent to fetch it back, we shall, in good faith, place her safekeeping in your hands … unless you have a further objection?”

Trapped by his own words, Fonteyne’s eyelid twitched.

Nathan Reed cleared his throat discreetly. “I might be inclined to give the Pride half a day’s head start. She still balks in heavy weather, should we encounter any storms or squalls.”

Stubb snorted and chuckled. “She’d be needin’ half a week to make up for her lumbering, more’s the like.”

Fonteyne frowned, and looked at Reed. “Whatever you think you need, since you will have her helm. You need to get as much speed out of her as you can.”

Reed nodded. “Aye Captain. She’s had some improvements so she might just surprise you.”

Stubb started to make another comment, but the sound changed to a startled squawk as Duardo pinched a handful of sensitive nerves in the little man’s neck and sent him sliding down in his seat.

Rose pushed to her feet. “It would seem as though we have a plan of sorts, and if there is nothing further to discuss, I suggest my crew and I return to our ship and make ready to sail at first light.”

Without waiting for anyone to comment, she picked her hat up, placed it on her head, and walked brusquely out of the cabin. Billy was a pace behind, having passed a small smile to Penman before leaving. Duardo, Stubb, and Digby Fitch followed hastily in their wake.

When they were gone, Penman looked at Fonteyne. “Well, that went better than expected.”

“Quite a bit better,” Sebastien said, frowning. “So why do I feel like I’ve just had a canvas sack pulled over my head?”

Less than an hour later, with Nathan Reed not wanting to let any dust settle under his feet, the Pride weighed anchor and shook out her sails.

While she was still lacking the speed or grace of either the Black Wind or the Cygnet , she was a slightly more graceful sow than when she had been stolen out of Barataria Bay.

As they had done for the departing Nighthawk , the crews from the other two ships lined the rails and sent them off with a rousing cheer.

“If she encounters any trouble,” Billy said, “I’m sure Reed is more than capable of handling it. I hand-picked a few of our own gunners to go on board and help where they can.”

Rose nodded; her attention held by the diamond-like sparkle the sun cast on the surface of the western sea as it was sinking toward the horizon. “Good. That is good.”

“With the modifications we made, the Pride has gained almost four knots on her speed. Her rudder has been rebuilt as well so there should be no floundering if she encounters heavy seas.”

Rose nodded again, her gaze shifting to the silhouette of the Black Wind , “Good. That is good.”

Billy luffed an eyebrow. “Cook is serving raw horsemeat for supper tonight.”

It took a full minute for her words to draw Rose’s attention away from the Black Wind . “He’s doing what?”

Billy cracked a smile. “He’s making mutton stew, actually.”

“Ah. Sorry, my mind was …”

“Focussed on someone standing on a deck about a thousand yards off the bow?”

Rose shook her head. “What is it about men? Arrogant blowhard captains in particular. Is it really so hard for them to believe a woman can function perfectly well without them telling us how we should think, what we should do, and how we should do it?”

“It must be because they fear their manhood is threatened. That’s when they feel the need to beat their chests and order us delicate little creatures about.”

“I believe the term is condescending.”

“And the appropriate reaction to that is a desire to throttle.”

“A very strong desire,” Rose agreed.

“I thought you held your temper in check rather admirably back there.”

“There is a time to argue and a time to just let them think they have won the day.”

They fell silent for another moment and watched the Pride turn into the bronzed path of sunlight rippling under her keel.

“There are, of course, exceptions,” Rose said.

“Dr. Penman, for one. He seems like a good man and I suspect he makes you smile more often than he makes you want to pound him into the boards. The first time I heard you two laughing together on board the Wind , I wasn’t even certain it was you; the sound was so foreign. ”

Billy objected. “I laugh all the time!”

“Not like that, you don’t. When you laugh, every man on this ship feels their ass cheeks squeeze tight with dread.”

“Only if they have a reason to dread it.” Billy grinned. “But you are right. Dr. Penman is a very easy man to talk to. He doesn’t seem to be bothered by—” she waved a hand absently across her damaged cheek— “by things that make other men cringe and turn away.”

“For a gentleman keeping company with a band of pirates, he doesn’t seem to be bothered by a lot of things.”

“He has not talked much about his past, but I gather he was a tavern drunk when he met Captain Fonteyne and couldn’t hold his hands steady enough to thread a needle.

If you’ve noticed, he rarely drinks anything stronger than ale and that very sparingly.

A sip or two to make it seem like he is drinking but most of it gets left behind or spilled onto the boards. ”

Rose leaned back, keeping her hands on the rail to stretch some of the kinks and tension out of her back. “I can only hope Fonteyne is a man of his word. Whatever happens in the coming days and weeks, I hope he sees how important it is to persuade Lafitte to join the Americans.”

“Stubb doesn’t trust Fonteyne as far as he can blow a plug of snot.

He says his ballocks itch every time they are in the same room, and as you well know,” Billy paused to raise her voice so that the curly-haired shadow lurking behind a bulkhead would hear her clearly, “his ballocks are the envy of every soothsayer and gypsy fortune-teller along the Spanish Main. Personally, I think it is merely lice, since his body has not seen soap or hot water for several months.”

“Soap? Water?” Stubb’s unmistakable snort of indignation brought him out of the shadows. “Both be the devil’s own work an’ are to be avoided beyond absolute necessity.”

Billy flared her nostrils slightly. “I detect a great deal of necessity at the moment. I smelled you skulking in the shadows long before I saw you.”

“Only because your nose holes be bigger than cannon muzzles! An’ I do not skulk, I merely walk wi’out soundin’ like a clod. As fer the Devil’s Captain ayont, I say again, he is n’owt to be trusted.” He looked directly at Rose and added, “No matter if his cock be as pretty as ever there were one.”

Rose cast an icy glare at the little man. “Do you not have a beakhead to stick your nose into or a crack in the boards to pinch your ear against?”

Stubb planted his hands on his hips. “If it be not fer this nose an’ these ears, ye’d not be knowin’ the half o’ what goes on aboard this ship …

or any other. Thus, ye should heed my words: He’s already cast a spell over yer sensibilities, aye, as is plain to see by the addled look in yer eyes.

Ye could not look more besotted if ye were standin’ here naked an’ leakin’ wet down yer thighs. ”

Billy’s hand fell to the hilt of her sword, but Rose belayed the movement. “What I do and with whom I do it is none of your damned concern, Mister Barnaby Stubb, and you would do well to keep that in mind.”

Stubb swelled his chest and straightened to his full three feet of height. “Ye’ve just finished lettin’ the blackhearted oaf give ye orders for what to do an’ where to go, so aye, it be a concern to me. It be a concern for the rest o’ the crew as well if we’ve been gelded.”

Billy’s eyes sparked. “Be careful what you’re saying, rodent.”

“I’ll say the same thing to you if ye try to deny the blush in yer cheek an’ the flutter o’ them eyelashes every time ye see the addle-eyed physic. Do it! Say it be not so!”

With a deep, promissory snarl, Billy drew her sword slowly out of her belt. “You will be hard pressed to say anything at all when I carve out your tongue and hang it from the mainmast!”

Stubb clutched his crotch and made a lewd gesture. Before Billy could bring her sword slashing down, he dashed away and disappeared down the hatchway. Billy would have charged fast on his heels if Rose did not hold her back a second time.

“He isn’t entirely wrong,” she said. “And he’s only saying what the rest of the crew is probably thinking; that we’ve given Fonteyne command of more than just his ship.

He does, after all, have a well-deserved reputation as a pirate, a villain, and a thief.

Rogues like Sebastien Fonteyne do not change into heroes and men of good character overnight. ”

Billy recognized the look in Rose’s eyes. “You don’t fully trust him either?”

“Not by the longest shot from the longest cannon we have on board. Once Duardo has set the watches, come join me in my cabin for whatever hellish-hot victuals our Jamaican cook has come up with for tonight. And yes, if you can let him keep his tongue a while longer, bring Stubb as well. We need to study a couple of charts.”