[He, however, takes a sip. And makes a disclaimer.]
If you want to ask questions, you may, and you don't have to wait for the end. Though I suppose I have to go back to when I first joined the navy. I'll try to keep it brief.
You know I joined because of my grandfather, of course. And for the first few years, running powder was very exciting. I liked living on a ship very much, as a boy. It wasn't always so terrible. Horatio joined much later, of course--in '93, after I'd been a midshipman for two years. So we did not even meet until I was sixteen. When I was rated midshipman, I was transferred to the Justinian, and a few months later, so was another man. His name was Simpson, and he... [A deep breath.] You should understand that the midshipman's berth on every ship is a den of lions. Seniority means little there, so someone bullies his way into high standing and lords it over the others. I want you to take my full meaning when I tell you Simpson, even in comparison with other men like that, was a monster.
[Action]
If you want to ask questions, you may, and you don't have to wait for the end. Though I suppose I have to go back to when I first joined the navy. I'll try to keep it brief.
You know I joined because of my grandfather, of course. And for the first few years, running powder was very exciting. I liked living on a ship very much, as a boy. It wasn't always so terrible. Horatio joined much later, of course--in '93, after I'd been a midshipman for two years. So we did not even meet until I was sixteen. When I was rated midshipman, I was transferred to the Justinian, and a few months later, so was another man. His name was Simpson, and he... [A deep breath.] You should understand that the midshipman's berth on every ship is a den of lions. Seniority means little there, so someone bullies his way into high standing and lords it over the others. I want you to take my full meaning when I tell you Simpson, even in comparison with other men like that, was a monster.