“Thank you,” I said, letting my hand drop. “Why are you going to Basseterre?”
He narrowed his eyes at me briefly before shrugging. “I might as well tell you. I am known as the spy for the mission. Traveling and learning the newest gossip, government movements, battles, staying up to date on business and policies. Newspaper can only tell us so much.”
“I see. So that’s why you are called Whisper?”
He touched his nose. “Clever girl.”
I laughed. “It doesn’t take a genius to put that together.”
He started walking out into the corridor and beckoned me to follow him. “What do you think of the island so far?”
“It’s very comfortable. Warm.” I hugged myself as we walked.
He nodded. “I agree.” I saw him glance at me. “I wonder if you’ll satisfy my curiosity. It’s an occupational habit, but I find it difficult to stop myself from asking impertinent questions. Would you mind answering a few?”
“I’m not one for secrets myself. Please, ask away.”
“Splendid. What I’m most curious about is why you came to find Graham?”
Perhaps Iwasone for secrets. I did hope to keep this particular detail private for as long as possible. I took a deep breath. “I wanted to bring him home…no, that’s not exactly true. I wanted to find him and remind him of the promises we made to each other.” I glanced at him. “More?”
“If you wouldn’t mind.”
I nodded. “He sent me a letter saying he would break our engagement. I had been waiting for three years and lost contact with him two years ago. I couldn’t let him get away with ending our engagement without speaking face to face. So I ran away from home and made Mr. Ashby bring me here.”
“Fascinating,” Whisper said. Then his eyes seemed to brighten at something in front of us. “Have you told Graham about this letter?”
I paused then, because Graham had just appeared. I was certain Whisper had noticed him before I did. Graham was looking at me with wariness and confusion. “What letter?” he said.
Whisper sucked in a breath through his teeth. “Whoops.” And that was it before he disappeared around a corner.
That little instigator. I faced Graham with as much composure as I could muster. “I was just telling Whisper…about my reason for coming to the West Indies.” How much had he heard?
“And it had to do with a letter? Was it from me, by chance?”
My eyes widened slightly. “Yes,” I said, honestly.
“May I read it?” he asked.
Even if I had the letter, I would’ve hesitated to show it to him. But then I realized this meant he wanted to know more about his past. I wished that I’d been in the right mind to take my carpet bag onto theMaelstrom. Due to being starved and half-mad from sun-exposure, we had left our things in the dinghy. “I’m afraid I don’t have it.”
He nodded. “That’s a shame. It would’ve been nice to read something I wrote myself.”
I smiled softly at him. “I’m glad to hear you want to know more. I wasn’t sure if you would ever ask about your past.”
Graham glanced downward. “It isn’t an easy thing, to ask others for your memories.”
A thought that hadn’t occurred to me came out. “Because I may remember things differently than you would?”
“Aye, I worry about having false memories as much as I worry about not remembering anything.”
Staring at him openly, I tried to connect the man I knew with the man standing before me. He looked the same, and also vastly different. I’d noticed it on the ship, how altered his brown eyes were. They used to brighten when he saw me. Now they were just…brown. There was no magic in them. His height and build were impressive; that had not changed. But he held himself differently. He walked with heavier steps, somehow. I wasn’t sure if that was due to an injury, or a shift in mindset. He also used to have a small tick in his jaw that happened whenever he was lost in thought. I hadn’t seen that at all, and he had been thoughtful more than once since we reunited.
“What is it?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I’m sorry, it’s just…I’m trying to understand how much you’ve changed.”
He ran a hand through his hair awkwardly. “It must be difficult for you.”
