Chapter 4
In what seemed an excess of gallantry, Captain Blake invited Colette to dine with him in his cabin that night. His space was twice or more the size of her confined quarters, which were normally reserved for the first mate, she learned. That lanky young man with a pockmarked face shared the evening meal with them. He glowered at Colette the whole time and said no more ten words, none of them civil. He seemed very resentful of being displaced and blamed it all on her.
I shall have to watch my back with him around. She gave pretty smiles to both men, though, and tried to appear both charming and virtuous at the same time. The last thing she needed was for either of them to attempt an amorous encounter and stir Gaston’s wrath again. She had learned that under stress he did not h
