Free Full Tide by Celine Conway

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    His manner brought Lisa up sharp. Apparently men tion of Astra had to be respectful. The woman was a friend of Captain Kennard and therefore her motives must be absolutely sound. For a long moment Lisa was silently furious, wishing she had not allowed him to bring her here. But, too soon, her whole being began gradually to relent, so that resentment melted into a kind of pain.
    “I shouldn’t have put it so bluntly,” she said quietly. “Jeremy’s old enough, and probably experienced enough, too, to weigh up his own future, but he brought me into it because I knew how he was placed and he had to t a lk it over with someone. He pretends not to care about his parents, but I’m sure he feels badly about letting them down.”
    “Of course he does, and he yearns to shift the resp o nsibility to your shoulders. You’re an idiot!”
    She nodded and gave a short sigh. “I know. But if I have any influence with him at all I shall use it on his parents’ behalf.”
    “So?” Mark’s tone was expressionless but his jaw had tightened. “I don’t get you at all. You agree that the man is spineless and not worth helping ...”
    “I didn’t say anything like that! There’s plenty of good in Jeremy even if he does happen to be charming and easy-going. His type of man is the most in need of help.”
    “What will you get out of it?” he demanded. “Feeble gratitude to start with and recriminations later, when he begins to mope over what he’s missed. Let him go ahead and make a hash or a success of it.” Almost unpleasantly he added, “I predict that’s what he will do—go ahead, in spite of your sweet and charitable intervention.”
    Lisa got up, ostensibly to move the glass from the arm of her chair to the top of the cabinet, but really to avoid his penetrating gaze. She remained standing, as though ready to leave;
    “Well,” she said flatly, “I’d rather have no connection with it, but if he persists in using me as a confidante I shall continue to dissuade him. It’s the leas t I can do.”
    Mark also was standing, head and shoulders above her as he remarked curtly, “You’re pig-headed. No woman can mould a man unless she’s in love with him, and even then she’d have a tough job with a jackanapes like Carne. You’ll try but you’ll fail.”
    It was a challenge, the words like flints. His eyes were like stones, too, and Lisa had the sensation of being out in a keen wind. It was all she could do not to shiver.
    “Yes, I’ll try,” she murmured. She moved to the door and pushed down the handle.
    “It’s locked,” he said. “It locks automatically. That’s why I brought you to this cabin.” He gave a short, hard laugh. "Don’t worry, I’ll let you out. By the way,” the keys jingled between his fingers as he looked down at her, “you’re the first woman to see this sanctum since I’ve been master of the Wentworth .”
    “It’s a doubtful privilege,” she said. “I feel like a stewardess on the mat.”
    “You needn’t . I don’t deal with the stewardesses. ” He paused to select the key and said deliberately , “ You’re g an u n usual person, Lisa Maxwell. For some reason—I can’t fathom it yet—I trust you.”
    “Thank you, sir.” She inclined her head graciously. “If you’re subtly intimating that no one must know that I’ve had a private session with the Captain—you may go on trusting me. But I’d like to go now.”
    “You take offence quickly, don’t you?”
    “On the contrary, I’m rather forbearing. You’ve called me incompetent and an idiot and I’ve managed not to lose my temper. I consider that good going.”
    “I suppose it is, for a woman. As a matter of fact, I’m not used to han dlin g women. I daresay I’ve overdone it a b it.”
    She smiled. “More than bit. You’ve made me feel about as big as sixpence.”
    The hard lines of his face relaxed. “That wasn’t my intention at all. We started off on the wrong foot, didn ’ t we—when