Captain Shard

Shard commands the surviving crew of the Desperate Lark, who escaped the gallows by settling a movable island between Plymouth and the Horn and plundering passing ships by night. He lavishes the Queen of the South with looted jewels and Provençal wine, but she remains morose, still mourning Bombasharna, and he mutters that he wishes he knew more about the ways of Queens. His cunning seamanship keeps the crew alive; his uncomprehending devotion keeps the tale's strange domestic ache alive.