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or less. He’s afraid it could get even worse.”
    Damita’s hopes sank. She had never had occasion to fear much in her life, but now she felt helpless. She said as much to Yancy. “I wish I hadn’t come on this voyage.”
    â€œI’ve had the same thought.” He was not wearing a hat, and the wind blew his auburn hair over his forehead. He ran his hand through it and shook his head. “We may have to turn back and get to a port to wait this storm out.”
    The two studied the waves that seemed to rise higher than the ship. They lifted the Orestes, then the bottom seemed to drop out. “My poor aunt,” Damita moaned. “She can’t stand much of this.”
    â€œI think we’ll just have to stand it.”
    A thought came to Damita. “Not a very good honeymoon trip for the McCains.”
    â€œNo, it’s not.”
    Her eyes still on the white waves that seemed to reach out for the ship and slap it with a huge hand, Damita asked, “Do you suppose that they’ll love each other as much in a year as they do now?”
    â€œI hope so. They’re good people.”
    â€œShe told me a lot. It’s almost frightening, how much she loves her husband.”
    â€œFrightening? I think it’s a good thing. You know, I heard about some geese that fly in from Canada. They mate for life, and if one of them dies, the mate stays with its partner and mourns.” Yancy shook his head faintly. Light spray showed on his face. He wiped it and said, “I wish human beings were that faithful.”
    â€œThey can be. My mother and my father are.”
    â€œAre they? That’s good news.”
    â€œWhat about your parents?”
    â€œMy father died when I was two. My mother died when I was fourteen.”
    â€œShe never married again?”
    â€œNo. She loved my dad until the day she died. I always liked that about my mother.”
    The ship suddenly rose up, throwing Damita off balance. She cried out and fell against Devereaux. He held her and kept her from falling.
    Damita heard the screaming of the wind through the sails, but she was more aware of the fact that Devereaux was pressing her tightly against him, and that his arms had closed about her. She had known for a long time that a lone man’s attention always moved like a compass to a single woman. She knew that she was attractive, and at that instant, as their eyes met, she knew that even with her storm-swept appearance, he studied her with a hungry glance.
    Then he lowered his head, and she felt his lips on hers. She could have turned aside—she knew that—but she did not. Whether it was curiosity or passion, she didn’t know, but she made no attempt to avoid him. His arms tightened around her. There was something demanding about his kiss, and though he was rough, he was also tender. He held her, she thought, as a man held something he was afraid he might lose.
    For a moment they stood in an embrace, something besides the storm whirling rashly between them. And then she put her hand against his chest and pushed away. She was angry, not at him as much as at herself. She had responded to his advance, and she was embarrassed. “You keep your hands off me!” she shouted through the wind.
    Yancy studied her face and shook his head. “Damita, you’re living in a little box. You’re afraid to reach out and touch life.”
    â€œYou—you leave me alone! You’re nothing but a rude Kaintock!” She whirled away, and clinging to the sides of the cabin, she stumbled toward the stairs. She felt her way through the dim corridor to her door, went inside, and checked her aunt’s bunk. Damita was relieved that Juanita seemed to be asleep.
    She quickly traded her damp clothes for the warmest nightgown and heaviest socks she could find, climbed silently to the top bunk, and slipped under the covers. She felt the ship continue to thrash, but again and again, her