Emeline didn't look back. She needed to get away from him. If he didn't love her, she had nothing. Her father was a deteriorating old man and her mother was quickly becoming an old woman. Suddenly she slipped, tumbling forward and grazing her cheek on a jagged rock. She had been blocking the noise out before, but now she could hear boisterous laughter and talking. When she finally forced herself to her feet, she found she was standing before a pub. She had never seen it before, but this was one of the more dangerous parts of town. She stared into the window, listening to the few voices she could make out.
"I think most of the crew is right here!" one commented, waving his arm about the room. "Served with some o' them before, and let me tell you this: All we need's one more lousy captain to push us over the edge."
"You mean like Selby?"
"Beast of a man if I ever saw one," the first replied. "I though mutiny was sure to break out on the last run. So, what do ya hear of this one, Jim?"
"What, Captain Evans?" the second questioned while the first nodded. "I 'ear 'e works the men 'ard and don't give 'em near enough grog at the end of the day. One mission, in a fit o' fury, he dumped all the grog straight into the sea! Crew was furious, but Evans is a terrible man with a whip. I still 'ave the scars, I tell ya."
Emeline gasped as someone grabbed her shoulder. She whirled around and slapped Joseph in the face. "Joe! Don't scare me like that!"
"You been listening to what the boys have to say, eh?" he asked, ignoring the sting in his cheek.
Her eyes suddenly filled with terror. "Please, Joe, you mustn't get on that ship! The crew, they're going to mutiny! What if you're killed? What if Peter's killed?" She stopped, as if an idea had suddenly struck her, took Joseph's hand, and began marching home. "Neither of you must go. You shall stay here where it's safe."
"I'm not going to be in danger, 'cause there won't be a mutiny," Joseph insisted. "You know what crews are like--they talk."
She stopped. "They talk?"
He nodded. "All the time."
She hugged him then, so tightly that he felt he couldn't breathe. He could feel her warm tears on his neck. "If anything ever h-happened to you, I'd n-never f-forgive myself," she sobbed.
"Emeline," he said, forcing her to look into his eyes, "nothing is going to happen to me. Besides, do you really think Peter would let something bad happen to his brother-in-law?"
"What?" she asked, confused. "What do you mean?"
He took her hands in his. "Will you be my wife, Emeline?"
"Do you mean it?"
Joseph nodded slowly. "Am I the joking sort?" She threw her arms around him again, sobbing joyously, and it felt right.