Petals on the River Read Online Free PDF

ignoring her husband. "You'll cancel
    your order or I'll see that Captain Fitch dismisses you from this ship
    forthwith!"
     
    "Gertrude!" Fitch was appalled by her threat and hastened to dissuade
    her without causing an out-and-out rift with her father.   "You cannot
    expect me to dismiss a man for doing his duty!"
     
    "I expect you to remember who owns this ship!" Gertrude snapped.
     
    "How can I forget when you constantly remind me?" her husband shot back.
     
    "You forget yourself, Everette," Gertrude rumbled in a low, assertive
    tone as he scowled back at her.   "I hope I won't have to make mention of
    this occasion to Papa."
     
    James Harper resented the woman's manipulation of power but was hardly
    in a position to complain.   Vowing never to sail on another ship with
    her, he drew himself up with all the dignity of a merchant seaman and
    forced himself to verbalize his words carefully, finding it difficult to
    speak in anything less than a roar.   "Madam, I've always taken my orders
    directly from the captain.   If he charges me to set Potts at liberty,
    then I'll have no other choice but to do so."
     
    Knowing that he dumped the full weight of responsibility on his
    superior, Harper faced the older man and waited for the necessary
    dictum, which Fitch seemed reluctant to issue.
     
    ''Go about your business, Mr.   Harper," Fitch finally urged.   "We will
    confer on this matter at a more convenient time."
     
    "Everette Fitch!" Gertrude's ponderous bosom tested the restraints of
    her bodice as she puffed up like an outraged walrus.   "Do you mean to
    say that you're going to let Mr.   Harper get away with ignoring my
    wishes?   If you will not make him do what I say, then perhaps Papa will
    have to remind you just where your loyalties should be fixed.   He'll be
    arriving in New York on the Black Prince ere we leave port, and I'm sure
    he'll have something to say about your behavior today."
     
    Captain Fitch managed to hide his annoyance behind a polite but stilted
    manner.   He had learned by experience that to rile Gertrude was to
    invite the wrath of her father, who had never demonstrated compassion
    toward anyone, least of all to those who provoked him or his daughter.
    If not for the fact that Turnbull was sole owner of the London Pride,
    Fitch would have halted Gertrude's intrusions at the very start of the
    voyage, but he had been unable to forget who controlled the purse
    strings.   It was one of the pitfalls of marrying for wealth, of which he
    had been able to enjoy very little.   Except for the moneys he had
    managed to pilfer here and there, the greater bulk of Turnbull' s wealth
    had remained inaccessible to him, and that goaded him unmercifully, for
    Horace Turnbull was rich beyond belief.
     
    "Your pardon, Gertrude.   I thought it prudent to wait and handle this
    matter after most of the crew have left the ship so they won't be aware
    of Potts's release."
     
    Like an oversized cat, Gertrude snuggled her head back into the folds of
    her neck and smiled serenely, content that she would get her way.
     
    Jacob Potts had kept her abreast of the quick-tempered antics of a
    certain Irish chit who had foolishly upbraided her and her husband as if
    they were naught but wayward children.   Shemaine's criticism had been
    initiated by the flogging of Annie Carver which had taken place shortly
    after their departure from England.   It was the least the lackluster
    mouse had deserved for trying to kill herself after the loss of her
    babe, but Shemaine O'Hearn had deserved much more for daring to confront
    them about their treatment of the guttersnipe in front of the crew and
    the other convicts.   Thereafter, Gertrude had yearned to see the girl's
    lifeless body dropped into the depths of the sea and, in that quest, had
    sought to exact the ultimate revenge.   But no amount of arguing could
    sway Everette or get him to agree to anything more stringent than four
    days of isolation and limited