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Edward stood in the center of the room, utterly frozen What the bloody hell was that? What did she mean by--

He scra for There it was She did not think she would have the time to tell him in person

The blood drained from his face

The Rhiannon It was in the harbor It was leaving that eve

Cecilia had booked passage on it He was certain of it

He checked the pocket watch he’d left out on the table to serve as their clock He had tih His whole world depended on it

Chapter 21

I have not heard fro, Thomas I know I should not worry, that there are dozens of ways for your letters to be delayed, but I cannot help myself Did you know that I mark a calendar to keep track of our correspondence? A week for my letter to be put on a ship, five weeks to cross the Atlantic, another week to reach you Then a week for your letter to be put on a ship, three weeks to cross the Atlantic (see? I was listening when you told me it is faster to journey east), then a week for it to reach me That is three months to receive an answer to a siain, maybe there are no simple questions Or if there are, they lack simple answers

--from Cecilia Harcourt to her brother Thomas (letter never received)

The Rhiannon was remarkably similar to the Lady Miranda, and Cecilia had no difficulty locating her cabin When she’d purchased her ticket a few hours earlier, she’d been told that she would be sharing her cabin with a Miss Alethea Finch, who had been serving as a governess to a pro hoers to share accommodations on such journeys Cecilia had done so on the way over; she’d got on quite ith her fellow traveler and had been sorry to say good-bye when they had docked in New York

Cecilia wondered if Miss Finch was Irish, or like her, siet on the first ship back to the British Isles and did not land Cecilia herself wasn’t sure how she was going to get horeater challenge of getting herself across the Atlantic There would probably be ships sailing from Cork to Liverpool, or if not that, she could travel up to Dublin and sail froot herself from Derbyshire to New York, for heaven’s sake If she could do that, she could do anything She was strong She was powerful

She was crying

Da

She paused in the narrow corridor outside her cabin to take a breath At least she wasn’t sobbing She could still co too ht she had hold of her es seemed to lurch, and she drew in an unexpected breath, but it sounded like a choke, and then her eyes got all prickly, and then--

Stop She needed to stop thinking about it

Goal for today: Don’t cry in public

She sighed She wanted a new goal

Ti breath, she brushed her hand over her eyes and pushed down on the handle to the door of her cabin

It was locked

Cecilia blinked,that her cabinmate had arrived before she had It was prudent for a woman alone to lock her door She would have done the saain, and finally the door opened, but only partway A thin wo years peered out She filled , so Cecilia could not see much of the cabin behind her There appeared to be two bunks, one up and one down, and a trunk was open on the floor On the lone table, a lantern had been lit Clearly Miss Finch had been unpacking "May I help you?" Miss Finch asked

Cecilia affixed a friendly expression to her face and said, "I believe we are sharing this cabin"

Miss Finch regarded her with a pinched mien, then said, "You are mistaken"

Well That was unexpected Cecilia looked back at the door, which was propped open against Miss Finch’s hip A dull brass "8" had been nailed into the wood

"Cabin eight," Cecilia said "You must be Miss Finch We are to be bunky to be sociable, but she knew she must try, so she bobbed a polite curtsy and said, "I am Miss Cecilia Harcourt How do you do?"