Merciless Reason Read Free Page B

rest had done him good, but his whole body still ached. His face, neck and arms were badly sunburnt, and the gashes in his back from his most recent flogging stung constantly. The edges of the cuts were white and swollen from being immersed for so long in the salt water. Jim left his shirt off, staring at himself in the small rectangular mirror propped on the cabin’s tiny desk. He read the worst events in his life, carved there in the scars on his skin. His new injuries would fade in a matter of days. He never had to suffer pain for very long: it was a quality that ran in his family.
    â€œYou should keep yourself covered up,” a voice said from behind him.
    He turned to see Lieutenant Dempsey standing in the doorway. There was open hostility written on his dark-skinned face and it put Jim on edge. Something familiar in the officer’s posture, his looks, bothered Jim, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
    â€œThe captain is a very able man,” Dempsey told him, stepping inside and pulling the curtain across the doorway. He spoke softly. “But he is blinded by his perception of class. We have a detailed description of the scars on your body—the one on your side and the one over your heart are particularly noticeable. And even though we know you’ve been working in manual labor and as a sailor since you left Africa, the captain still can’t imagine a gentleman ending up looking like the tramp he saw when you came aboard.”
    Nathaniel Wildenstern glanced down at his own chest and then stared back at the officer. He didn’t answer immediately. He had not been recognized in over a year.
    â€œNo doubt he’ll have a change of heart when he sees how well I scrub up,” he said. “Or, if he is so sure that the clothes make the man, perhaps I’ll be able to persuade him I’m one of his crew if I slip on some blue and whites.”
    â€œWyndham’s no spark, but he’s no fool either,” Dempsey continued. “If he sees your scars, he’ll recognize you. Don’t shave off your beard until you leave the ship. And see if you can keep up the Liverpool accent—if that’s what it’s supposed to be.”
    â€œWhat’s your game, then?” Nate asked. “Why aren’t you telling him?”
    Dempsey scowled. Casting his eyes over his shoulder to check the curtain behind him, he moved closer to Nate.
    â€œI have no great love for the Wildenstern family,” he said in a hoarse whisper. “My wife is dead because of them, and they have all but stolen my son. He lives with them now, and they chose my ship to send in search of you so as to keep me out of their way. I have been back once since my wife died and had to seek permission to see my own son. I’m happy to cause your family any distress I can.”
    â€œCathal,” Nate said, almost to himself, searching old, unpleasant memories. “You’re Cathal Dempsey’s father.”
    â€œNot if the bloody Wildensterns have anything to say about it, I’m not.”
    â€œAnd yet, if you brought me back, you would see your son again,” Nate said, moving backwards slightly so that he could lean on the desk, where his knife lay beneath his shirt. “Why don’t you want me to be found?”
    â€œBecause to Hell with them, that’s why!” Dempsey growled, clenching his teeth. “I’ll get my son back my way and make sure the thrice-damned, night-soiled cur who took him pays a heavy price.”
    â€œNow I know where your son gets his charming bloody-­mindedness,” Nate observed. “I seem to remember my young sister learning some delightful swearwords from him.”
    â€œI know why you fled your family, Nathaniel Wildenstern,” the lieutenant went on. “And I can tell you, they have grown worse in your absence. Ireland is suffering because of their infernal schemes.”
    â€œReally? Doesn’t sound like