![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dwgm500 words this time, vaguely referencing the 'Beauty' theme. Many thanks to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hereswith for editing and suggestions.
1. Tortuga
2. Happiness
3. Festive
4. Last Minute
5. Calm
6. Truth
7. Bargain
8. Spook
9. Down
10. Wounds
11. Moon
12. Monsters
13. Beauty
~ An Execrable Business, continued...
It was very early, and the streets that had been so full of life under the bright old moon were nearly deserted as the young sun arose.
"I’ll take you to a little place I know down by the beach on the east side,” Jack said.
“Where the fishermen land their boats?” asked Nell.
“Aye. Not an area much frequented by pickpockets. But Claypool’s men’ll be watching the Black Pearl, if they’re anywhere at all at this devilish hour. I expect Martha told ‘em who I am—meaning no harm by it, you understand.”
Nell said, sadly, “I was sorry to be obliged to treat Mistress Whitby in such a fashion. She was very kind.”
“Aye,” Jack agreed. “I owe her for the dinner, and she wasn’t best pleased about the chair, either.”
“The chair? What chair?”
“The chair I threw across the room, to stop those fellows coming after you. Or delay them at least. I got the first, neat as anything, and the other fell over him.”
“Oh! How I wish I could have seen it!”
She was all genuine admiration and Jack couldn’t help being gratified. Her next words, however, were rather less satisfactory.
“That house we stayed in last night… didn’t you say the people who lived there were friends of yours?”
Jack winced. “Sally is. Miss Sarah. She’s a right one. I’ll explain the whole thing to her next time we meet, and she’ll listen—unlike that harridan that keeps house for her. I’m just glad the husband didn’t come in. Great, burley gent, he is, does the gardening and odd jobs, and drives Sally’s carriage for her.”
“Is Sally your lover?”
Jack nearly choked, and stopped to glare down at Nell. “What sort of question is that?”
She colored, but only a little. “Is she?”
“That’s none of your business, Miss Impertinence.” He started off again, faster. “If you had any delicacy of mind you’d never have asked such a thing.”
“If I had much delicacy of mind, I would have starved by now,” she replied. “But I’m sorry if I’ve offended you.”
It did seem absurd, and Jack wasn’t even sure why he’d taken offense. He glanced at her, a slight, grubby figure in baggy boy’s clothing, her hair clubbed and half hidden by a cap, limping along beside him. She didn't look like much, at first sight. But at second! And that face wasn't all. She’d taken off her coat to sleep last night, and though she was slender, there’d certainly been curves enough to tempt his hands when he’d laid down beside her – for warmth, he’d told her, though the brandy had already eased her qualms. But he’d nobly resisted temptation.
For she did have delicacy of mind. She'd come this far without selling her body, though she must know it was the quickest way for a woman to make money here. There were men who'd pay a fortune to bed her: young, beautiful, high-born. A maid untouched.
He would himself.
TBC…
hereswith for editing and suggestions.1. Tortuga
2. Happiness
3. Festive
4. Last Minute
5. Calm
6. Truth
7. Bargain
8. Spook
9. Down
10. Wounds
11. Moon
12. Monsters
13. Beauty
~ An Execrable Business, continued...
It was very early, and the streets that had been so full of life under the bright old moon were nearly deserted as the young sun arose.
"I’ll take you to a little place I know down by the beach on the east side,” Jack said.
“Where the fishermen land their boats?” asked Nell.
“Aye. Not an area much frequented by pickpockets. But Claypool’s men’ll be watching the Black Pearl, if they’re anywhere at all at this devilish hour. I expect Martha told ‘em who I am—meaning no harm by it, you understand.”
Nell said, sadly, “I was sorry to be obliged to treat Mistress Whitby in such a fashion. She was very kind.”
“Aye,” Jack agreed. “I owe her for the dinner, and she wasn’t best pleased about the chair, either.”
“The chair? What chair?”
“The chair I threw across the room, to stop those fellows coming after you. Or delay them at least. I got the first, neat as anything, and the other fell over him.”
“Oh! How I wish I could have seen it!”
She was all genuine admiration and Jack couldn’t help being gratified. Her next words, however, were rather less satisfactory.
“That house we stayed in last night… didn’t you say the people who lived there were friends of yours?”
Jack winced. “Sally is. Miss Sarah. She’s a right one. I’ll explain the whole thing to her next time we meet, and she’ll listen—unlike that harridan that keeps house for her. I’m just glad the husband didn’t come in. Great, burley gent, he is, does the gardening and odd jobs, and drives Sally’s carriage for her.”
“Is Sally your lover?”
Jack nearly choked, and stopped to glare down at Nell. “What sort of question is that?”
She colored, but only a little. “Is she?”
“That’s none of your business, Miss Impertinence.” He started off again, faster. “If you had any delicacy of mind you’d never have asked such a thing.”
“If I had much delicacy of mind, I would have starved by now,” she replied. “But I’m sorry if I’ve offended you.”
It did seem absurd, and Jack wasn’t even sure why he’d taken offense. He glanced at her, a slight, grubby figure in baggy boy’s clothing, her hair clubbed and half hidden by a cap, limping along beside him. She didn't look like much, at first sight. But at second! And that face wasn't all. She’d taken off her coat to sleep last night, and though she was slender, there’d certainly been curves enough to tempt his hands when he’d laid down beside her – for warmth, he’d told her, though the brandy had already eased her qualms. But he’d nobly resisted temptation.
For she did have delicacy of mind. She'd come this far without selling her body, though she must know it was the quickest way for a woman to make money here. There were men who'd pay a fortune to bed her: young, beautiful, high-born. A maid untouched.
He would himself.
TBC…
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-01-23 12:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-23 05:26 pm (UTC)