He comprehended far better than Kate could the extent of the favour which the Governor had offered to bestow.

It was, indeed, extraordinary to commute what was really a sentence of death against a notorious and dangerous pirate for the sake of a beautiful and pleading woman.

An ambitious idea shot through the merchant's brain.

The Governor was a widower; he had met Kate before.

Was there any other lady on the island better fitted to preside over the gubernatorial household?
But, although a man of high position could not wed the daughter of a pirate, a pirate, evidently of an unsound mind, could be adjudged demented, as he truly was, and thus the shadow of his crime be lifted from him.