An interview with Peter Kenyon
I am surprised to find Captain Kenyon so young, until I remember that sailors in the 18th Century started their careers at age thirteen or even earlier. There’s a long habit of command in his eyes, which seem to always be looking towards a distant horizon. They are also a very attractive shade of green.
He rises to greet me and bows with that outstretched leg and flourish of the hand that looks so stiff and ridiculous in films, yet here is graceful as a swan. All at once I feel very uncouth.
“Let’s dive right in,” I say. “Tell me, Captain; your family is quite grand, so why did you decide to join the navy?”
“You’ll think I am… showing away,” he says, with a little head-duck of embarrassment. “But the truth is I wanted to do something of use. Not to rise at noon and dress at two and waste my substance in gaming and other debaucheries like my brother. I wished to defend my home and country against its enemies, and to see new wonders, from the silk markets of Cathay to the Sphinx of the Nile.
“And of course my father’s approval was much eased when Commodore Anson returned from his voyage with more gold in prize money than is in the Bank of London.”
“You were an adventurous boy?”
“Always,” he laughs, “I never could hear of a new thing before I desired to sample it for myself.”
“Which brings me neatly onto Lieutenant Andrews,” I say. “Joshua Andrews. You sampled him quickly enough.”
“Is it your purpose to insult me?” He has hardly sat down before he’s standing again, lips drawn thin as wire and his eyes gleaming.
“Peter,” I say, “As your creator, I know you inside out. I know you deserve the occasional insult.”
“I may,” flicking back the skirts of his coat he sits back down, slightly mollified, but still bristling. “But Josh does not.”
“I’m glad you realize that. But what on earth made you charge straight into a gay relationship with him, and then throw him aside the moment the girl came along? He was just something new you wanted to try?”
“I…” he has the grace to look a little ashamed, and doubtful. “I am a man of my times, Mistress, and I thought of sodomy as a vice one might indulge on occasion – like drinking or cards – and then put down when one took on the responsibilities of marriage. In my defense, Josh encouraged me in this view.”
“He did, didn’t he?” I laugh, “you’re both as bad as each other. Though I can’t help but feel his motives were purer. What do you think it was that finally opened your eyes to the fact that you couldn’t live without him?”
“Alas, I couldn’t tell you. Love? Death? Captivity? God? Who can fathom the mysteries of the human heart?”
“Not you, clearly!”
“It’s true,” he laughs again; beautiful, confident and unconcerned with his own flaws. “I have been called reckless, and even proud, but I don’t think anyone has ever claimed I was wise.”
