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“Perhaps we should go,” Mia heard Alicesay.
She couldn’t form the words, but Mia sent them a pleading look. She needed a line tossed to her or she was going to sink. She had no experience with a situation like this. Not only had she not known she had an aunt, two of them actually, she didn’t know Papa knew she did. And she couldn’t reason why he’d keep that from her. She couldn’t recall a moment in her life when she was angry with Papa, but it was anger she feltbuilding.
“No, we will stay,” Johanna said stepping up and taking Mia’s hand so she was forced to take a step towards the sitting room. “Please Missus?” Mia saw her aunt nod. “Mrs. Rossenburg, we’re about to have tea. Mia hasn’t felt well, you’ll respect any request to leave. Mr. Hong, please if you’d be so kind as to bring anothercup.”
Mr. Hong went muttering about this mutiny against Papa, but Mia didn’t respond and she was never so thankful to have two women raised and familiar with the kind of leadership in social situations such as this. Because Mia could see the rocks but, unlike the duchess, she couldn’t think how to comeabout.
The ladies all settled and Mia still couldn’t put enough thoughts together to plot a course. Thank Neptune for friends like shehad.
“You’re Mia’s aunt?” Alice asked lifting her cup to her lips. “Perhaps you might explain why she knows nothing ofyou.”
“I suppose, because it was Molly’s want that she not and CaptainDekker—”
“Commodore,” Mia corrected, finally looking at the woman who could be her mother the way shelooked.
“Commodore Dekker,” Mary amended, “Has upheld Molly’swill.”
“You sound very familiar with Mia’s papa,” Johanna added, suspicion laced herwords.
“I’ve only met him recently, after my first attempt to contact Mia, but…” she bent down to reach into her reticule and pulled out a small bundle of letters. “Molly spoke highly of him. We were so happy and relieved she’d found someone who loved her and cared for her. Certainly, that she’d not died as reported.” She handed the letters to Mia who took them but only set them in herlap.
“You said you just met Papa a few weeks ago?” Mia asked. Did Papa not know the womanexisted?
“Yes,” Mary said then took a deep breath, “He came to tell us Molly didn’t want us in your life, and,” the woman stopped and took a second deep breath, “when I challenged him to let Molly say that he toldus…”
“Mama is dead,” Mia said, finally able to look up at the woman. “You didn’tknow?”
“No, I always thought,” again she had to stop and take a breath. This time she managed a frail smile. “It doesn’t matter what I thought. We didn’t know. She only sent a letter every few years or so. She never said in any of them where she settled. She only said she’d married and had given birth to you. And the other to say she knew we couldn’t do anything to change things with father and mother, but she was happy and the man she married couldn’t be a better father to herchild.”
“You’ve not received a letter in some time. Were you not worried? Curious?” Alice asked as Mr. Hong came in with another cup and pouredtea.
“Marg,” Mary started then tried to catch Mia’s eye. “Marg is your other aunt, the youngest of us. Marg and I tried several times to learn her whereabouts, but the letters always passed through several hands and we couldn’t trace them back to where they came from. And the last letter she sent did speak of Molly’s need to move on and forget her past. She wanted so much to be a good wife to the captain… I mean commodore.” She accepted the cup from Mr. Hong who muttered this was a bad idea to go against the commodore. “When Mother, my mother,” she clarified, “read in the paper about Captain Winthrop, she commented she thought it amusing how the man’s wife shared our last name, Cadley. Thought perhaps a distantrelation.”
“She didn’t reason out it could be her own daughter, or even her granddaughter?” Johannaasked.
“Mother isn’t well and Molly wrote to me, only me,” she said, pointing to the letters sitting in Mia’s lap. “She asked me to keep everything to myself: that she lived, that she wed, that she had a child. I didn’t even tell Marg until she was getting married herself, but I should guess it might have been too late by then. Molly and I were born less than a year apart so we were close, but Marge didn’t come for almost eight more years. I haven’t told mother. I think she’s convinced herself she dreamed up Molly. As for father… His guilt for sending Molly to the colonies… He sacrificed his own child for the sake of his family’s reputation. But that sacrifice didn’t help any of us onebit.”
Mia lifted one of the letters and unfolded it. The date, July 1814, caught her eye. “This was her last letter to you?” She handed it over and saw Mary look at it then nod before handing it back. “She was pregnant with Charlie thatJuly.”
Every woman in the room gasped. “You have a brother? Molly has ason?”
“Shehadone, he died with her when our home was attacked. He was only a few months old when he died.” Mia told her, willing the emotions to not rise up and storm. It was harder to do these days, and when the woman had to smother a sob Mia had to blink hard to stop the tears fromfalling.
“I’m sorry, Mia, for your loss. Truly it isn’t my intent to bring you more heartache. I just hoped when you arrived in England… maybeMolly…”
“You hoped your sister was ready to reconcile?” Alice said and leaned forward to pour more tea. Mia couldn’t stop the giggle seeing Alice use the very techniques she’d been taught at her lastschool.
She shook her head when everyone turned to look at her but then another giggle slipped out as she thought how absurd all of this was. Her mother’s family, her father’s family… both now known to Mia and all she wanted washerfamily.Her family. The crews of the shipping line, Papa, Hong, Grim and Devin. Devin andherchild. She should’ve put up sail yesterday and sailed away when she had the chance. She hated England. Everything that hurt her mother was here. Everything that hurt her through her childhood washere. Another giggle though this one ended with asob.
“Mia? Are you all right?” Johannaasked
Yes, England was where all the hurt came from, but too, it was the only place where Mia could get answers. Answers for herself, and for her mother. Her mother who went to her grave not ever able to say why her family not only cast her out, but tried to kill her. She sniffed, took a deep breath and wiped her eyes before she lifted her head, pulled her shoulders back and made the conscious choice to take the helm and steer this ship on the course shewanted.
“Well then,” she started and when Johanna squeezed her fingers she squeezed back. “Perhaps I should hear your side of all this. Because I certainly know the way the wind blew as my mother sawit.”
Chapter 23
Mia pacedthe docks and waited for the assist boats to push the frigate in. That a second ship was also trying to dock only made the wait longer, but the smaller ship had right of way and priority, so all Mia could do was wait. Wait and hope the ship docked and was moored up before Devin discovered she’d mutinied againsthim.
