Amid the flurry of activity aboard Elizabeth as she was prepared to get underway, Aldrick watched Doc Haines and his assistants render aid to the writhing man in the blanket while Peters explained the nature of the injuries.

Appearing satisfied, Peters rose from his knees, headed across the deck to the ladder and climbed to the quarterdeck, saying as he neared, "They are in better hands now. There is nothing else I can do."

"Doc has worked miracles in the past. We shall leave him to do it again. Let us move out of the way." Aldrick turned to the Officer of the Watch and pointed aft. "Mister Charles, I shall be in the port turn of the taffrail."

"Aye, Sir. I shall tell Mister Wilson when he relieves me; it approaches eight bells."

While Aldrick led the two men aft, Peters said, "Thank you for stopping, Sir."

"Any mariner worthy of the name would do so." He nodded toward the wallowing hull. "Tell me how this evolved that I may avoid it happening."

Peters grimaced, then he spoke, "As sunset approached, we had watched a line of tall clouds approaching. The type from which squalls come. There was no way of avoiding them, and when the sudden cooling and the smell of dust arrived, I ordered the main and foresail struck. As the crew released the main gaff halyard, it jammed in the sheave atop the mast, and I sent three hands aloft to clear it."

Peters paused, shaking his head. "When they could not work it free, Andrews countermanded my order to cut it away, and he sent more aloft to help clear the jam. The twisting wind of the squall caused a hard gybe, and the sudden force on the shrouds ripped the chainplates from the hull. The mainmast failed, and it took the foremast with it as it toppled." He grimaced. "And the lives of thirteen hands."

Andrews shrugged. "How was we sposed to know the plates was set in dry rot?"

"By closely examining what I told you to. By doing a proper survey. By not being in such a rush. By following my orders. By using your head for something other than as a support for a cap."

Andrews swung a fist at Peters, and Aldrick blocked it, grasping the wrist. "Cease and desist, Andrews. Such behaviour is not allowed aboard this ship." Tightening his twist on the wrist, he called forward, "Mister Charles, send me some stout hands to restrain this man."

After three men arrived and took Andrews away with instructions, Aldrick asked Peters, "Besides him, any others need to be restrained?"

"Now only Benson and Smythe remain." He shook his head. "The other renegades all perished as they followed Andrews' orders."

Aldrick motioned forward and began walking. "Accompany me to the fore rail, and you can call them from there."

When the summoned men stepped forward and looked up, Aldrick pointed at them as he called down, "Langley, Brock, Wall, restrain these two. Take them to the Coxswain. Tell him I order the same treatment as for Andrews."

While the two men were being led away, Aldrick turned to Peters. "The lads had said there were four others abandoned on the island."

"Yes, Roberts and the three cooks."

"Can you guide us there so we can rescue them?"

"The anchorage is tricky and tedious to approach through the shoals from the west. But if the weather remains fair, you can stand off the east side of the islet and send a longboat to fetch them; there is a shallow passage through the rocks to the north. I have a sketch of the place with the exact latitude marked." He patted his pockets, appearing to confirm what he wanted was there.

"And the longitude?"

"Seventy-five to seventy-six from London. Closer to seventy-six."

"Accompany me below that we might examine the charts." Aldrick motioned toward the hatch coaming where Elizabeth stood on the upper steps of the ladder, and he introduced them.

As she led them down, she said, "I shall have James bring coffee. Will you join us for breakfast, Captain Peters?"

"It would be my great pleasure, my Lady."

Aldrick took Peters to the chart table and pointed to their last position.

"The latitude is twenty-two, seventeen, twenty, if my mind serves." Peters pulled a canvas budget from his pocket, opened it to withdraw a tattered piece of parchment, then unfolding it, he nodded. "Yes, that is correct."

Aldrick picked up the dividers and measured. "One hundred thirty miles to arrive at that latitude northwest of Acklin Island." He tapped the place. "This was along our intended route through the Passage, anyway, and if the wind continues this brisk, we should still raise Acklin well before sunset to confirm our position. From there, we can sail west under reduced canvas through the night." He paused to span the dividers. "Thirty to ninety miles. Sail very slowly."

"You are very much at ease, not only with the navigation, but also with command and the handling of people."

Aldrick shrugged. "Fourth-generation mariner. My great-grandfather was a privateer for the first King Charles, my grandfather was a pirate hunter for the second King Charles, and my father expanded the trading company they had established. This is my thirteenth year at sea."

"Through my enquiries, I had learnt of the trading company and of its success." He ranged his arm around the great cabin, his eyes following. "I have not before seen such quality and refinement aboard a ship, nor even dreamt its existence."

"We enjoy our comforts."

"We would all love to be able to do this." He shook his head. "So close these last months with the treasure wrecks. Millions of pounds in gold and silver." He shook his head again. "Lost through stupidity and greed." He washed his face with his hands. "Now all these lives lost."

"Lucre has a way of distorting reasoned thinking."

"Indeed! Some men —"

Peters was interrupted by Elizabeth's announcement of coffee.

While they sat at the table enjoying, Aldrick asked, "The three injured? Are they good men?"

"They are, Sir." He clenched his eyes and shook his head. "The stupidity of Andrews knows no bounds."

"And the four on the island? Are they to be trusted?"

Peters laughed. "Three branded felons and a fool. The cooks were part of Andrew's coterie, but they lost his favour when they were blamed for spoilt fruit and vegetables in the hold."

"And the fourth? Captain Roberts?"

"The fraud. Treacherous, secretive and deceitful. Never been to sea in his life, but he fancied himself the captain. I should never have believed his line of talk and signed on." He shrugged. "But once at sea, it was too late. I should have let Andrews depose him earlier."

Aldrick looked up from his cup. "Why did you not yourself?"

"It would be mutiny. Oh, I considered it many times, and increasingly seriously, but Andrews controlled most of the crew."

"True. So, like Roberts, Andrews kept you aboard only for your knowledge and experience."

"Exactly!" But unlike Roberts, Andrews would not listen to reason. He ordered the rigging cut away, and we had no means to rescue those in the water as we were blown alee." He clenched his jaws. "Nor were we left with anything for a jury-mast and some sail to save ourselves."

Aldrick closed his eyes and shook his head. "Why ever would he think to do that?"

"By having no basis for thinking. He had no experience of the sea but from that as a deckhand. We had taken a steep list to starboard, and he told all that the rigging would cause us to capsize." Peters heaved a deep sigh. "He restrained me and ordered all the lines and shrouds chopped."

After a long pause, Aldrick looked up from his coffee and asked, "Do you know the history of the treasure? Why the three ships ended wrecked?"

"I asked Roberts several times," Peters shrugged. "But all he ever said was that his father had been in one of the ships when they wrecked and that he had drawn the map."

"His father had led a mutiny against the ship's captain and officers. Their lack of knowledge of navigation caused the ship to wreck in a storm, leading its two prizes onto the rocks with it."

"So, treachery runs in his family." Peters tilted his head and looked into Aldrick's eyes. "How have you come upon this knowledge?"

"It was my grandfather's ship, Delfe, a former war prize from the Dutch. The family has spent fifty-four years searching for it and its prizes, San Joaquin and Santiago, both of them Spanish eighty-gun ships-of-the-line, laden with bullion and coins from the Lima and the Mexico mints when they had been captured by pirates."

"Thus the vast quantity and your familiarity with the doubloon." Peters bobbed his head. "And the treasure has slipped through your fingers, as well as ours."

"No, with great fortune, it has not. We know the ship which loaded it from the abandoned hulk of Avenger. It is one of ours."

Peters justled his cup, slopping coffee into his saucer. "And how do you know this?"

"The ship was alongside the wharves in Kingston while we were, and it has now sailed north. Protecting its presence was my preoccupation."