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--fro, Cecilia took a walk down to the harbor Edward had told her at breakfast that he washe would be busy She’d been left to her own devices, possibly for the entire day She’d gone back up to their roo the book of poeh for the past week, but after only a few o outside

The rooht, the walls too close, and every tie, her eyes filled with tears

She was raw

For so many reasons

And so she decided a as in order The fresh air would do her good, and she’d be far less likely to spontaneously burst into tears if there itnesses

Goal for today: Don’t cry in public

It seeeable

The weather was very fine, not too hot, with a light breeze co off the water The air smelled of salt and seaweed, which was a pleasant surprise, considering how often the wind carried on it the stench of the prison ships that moored just a little ways off the coast

Cecilia had been in New York long enough to have learned a little so about the patterns of the port Ships arrived almost daily, but very rarely did they carry civilian travelers Most werein much-needed supplies for the British Arers; that was how Cecilia had made it across fro foodstuffs and armaments for the soldiers stationed in New York But she had also borne fourteen passengers Needless to say, Cecilia had gotten to know e They’d had little in coe across a temperamental ocean into an embattled coastal area of a landmass at war

In other words, they were all plumb crazy

It almost made her su She’d been fueled by desperation, to be sure, and she hadn’t had many other options, but still

She was proud of herself For that, at least

There were several ships in the harbor that day, including one that Cecilia had heard belonged to the same fleet as the Lady Miranda The Rhiannon, it was called, and it had journeyed to New York from Cork, in Ireland The wife of one of the officers who took his supper at the Devil’s Head had sailed in on it Cecilia had not met her personally, but her arrival in town had been the source ofthrough the dining rooht, it would have been impossible not to have heard of it

She wandered closer to the docks, using the tall mast of the Rhiannon as her North Star She knew the way, of course, but it felt alation How long had the Rhiannon been in New York? Not yet a week, if she recalled correctly, which meant that it would probably re back across the ocean The holds needed to be unloaded and then loaded with new cargo To say nothing of the sailors, who surely deserved tie

As Cecilia reached the harbor, the world seeht poured forth, unhindered by the three- and four-story buildings that had been blocking the sun There was so about the water that made the earth seem endless, even if the docks weren’t quite at the open ocean It was easy to see Brooklyn in the distance, and Cecilia kne quickly a ship could navigate through the bay and out to the Atlantic

It was really rather pretty, she thought, even if the tableau was far too different from home to ever etch itself permanently on her heart But she liked it all the same, especially the way the water whipped up into foa wall like an iray here, but out over the horizon it would darken to a deep, fathomless blue Soreen

Another little fact she’d never have known if she had not ventured frolad she’d co with a broken heart--for more reasons than one--but it would be worth it She was a better person--no, she was a stronger person

A better person would not have lied for so long

Still, it was a good thing she’d come For herself, and h two days before he woke up She’d re cloths on his skin She would never know if she’d actually saved his life, but if she had, then this all would have been worth it

She had to hold on to that notion It would keep her company for the rest of her life

It was then that she realized she was already thinking in terlanced down to her waist She could be pregnant; she’d not yet had proof otherwise But it was unlikely, and she knew she had to prepare herself for the logistics of travel

Hence her trip to the harbor She had not consciously considered why her feet were leading her to the water, but now, as she watched two longshore crates into the hold of the Rhiannon, it was quite obvious that she was there to make inquiries