by Marie Hall
“Your Grace,” Lady Johanna Lovelace, Duchess of Marshal gasped then slapped her husband’s thigh. “I don’t think that’s very complimentary.” Everyone laughed at the man’s sheepish grin.
“Well if I’m going to do something I should hope I do it the best,” Mia said, sipping her tea to cover the smile. Loud happy squeals from the front of the house turned everyone to the window. Beyond the glass of the estate house dozens of children were at play. The duke’s own son, little Thomas, and several of the children of servants. With kites and toy ships and guns at hand plus the three men Mia was forced to bring along, Mr. Hong, Grim and now Mr. Daylon, exciting games were being had. Grim passed by the window carrying a small girl on his shoulders as she did her best to control her kite. Mia heard Lady Johanna gasp with concern.
“Grim won’t hurt them, Jo-Jo,” Alice said reaching out to pat the woman’s knee.
“No, of course. It’s just he’s so big. And… well his name.” The woman spoke a bit dramatically as she set her hand against her throat.
Mia laughed. “It’s not really his name.”
“What is his name?” Philip asked.
“We don’t know.” Then at their looks, “When Papa found him he was chained to a wall in the house of the man who owned him. Seems the man had bought Grim, who was too talkative. The man poured boiling water down his throat. Grim couldn’t speak after that. Papa bought him away and put him to work on the ship. But he couldn’t tell us his name because he didn’t know how to read or write so he drew a picture. A figure of a person, a big head with eyes, and a,” she arched her finger in the air, “a sad mouth. Mr. Smithe asked him why such a ‘grim’ picture and the name stuck. He could tell us now he does read and write and understands a number of languages, but he won’t.”
“Perhaps as a reminder,” Philip said, again looking back out the window in time to see Grim lift Thomas into his arms.
“Your father… papa,” Lady Johanna corrected herself having heard why the difference was so distinct. “He sounds like quite the man. Saving children, rescuing cast away women from the sea. I should say you might write a fine story about him someday.”
Mia giggled, “If I write that story it’ll be long after he is gone or I’m sure I’ll find myself stranded on some shoal some place.” Again, everyone laughed. There was no secret not everything done on the seas was above board. Some things were just less despicable than others. “But we’re going to speak about sailing, aren’t we?” Mia said to change the subject.
She’d accepted the invitation to the duke’s estate to apologize about causing worry and to maybe hear what they remembered about the woman from the office. It was a pointless endeavor. They were no more help than any of Papa’s crew who’d been going about the city looking for the woman, but saying nothing to Mia of what they’d learned. She knew Devin was being tight-lipped though she thought to be wearing him down some.
It was rather late when they left, but it was with genuine calls to return and an open invitation to Grim to come whenever he might like as he carried three children at once to their beds. Mia was so touched by the offer to the man she almost cried. She hardly remembered why she always thought nobility to be the damnedest people in the world. She got a sharp reminder a few days later and the stab went right into her heart.
“Mia Winthrop?”
Mia turned at her name being called to see an elder woman step into the offices followed by Captain Mallory, no less. “Yes, that’s her,” he said stepping in and closing the door.
Mia saw the woman look her up and down with a sneer. “You’re Mia Winthrop, formerly Mia Cadley?”
“I am. How might I help you?” Mia asked, her eyes going between the woman and the captain. Something rather bad was about to happen and Mia discreetly reached for the pistol under the counter and drew it closer.
“You have something that belongs to me and I want it back,” the woman said.
“I’m sure you’re mistaken. What do I have that is yours?” Mia asked, and watched as the woman stepped up to the counter and set a small case there. She opened it and turned it so Mia could see the contents. Tears burned her eyes, and she quickly blinked them back.
“You have one like this?” the woman asked, indicating the elaborate brooch. Mia could only nod. “When that woman, your mother, seduced my son she gained access to it. It’s mine, it was stolen from me, and I want it back, now. Today.”
Mia jerked back and stared at the woman in disbelief. Was she really looking at her grandmother? They bore no resemblance at all to each other, though Mia couldn’t say what the woman might have looked like years ago. And why such hatred from her? Such disparaging remarks when it was her son who acted the coward, acted dishonorably. “It was my mother’s and you’ll have it back… never.” Mia said shoving the one in the case away.
“Your mother stole it from my family and you’ll surrender it to me now or I’ll see you arrested and jailed,” the woman said, taking back the one she’d brought with her. “There’s nothing at all that makes you worthy of having it.” And that was the answer to Mia’s question. She didn’t see Mia or her mother as good enough for her family, her son. How much of her complete disapproval led to what fate befell Molly Cadley? “I’ll call on the authorities, girl,” the woman threatened with a sneer. And while Mia was not overly worried that she didn’t have enough clout on her own, she also knew she could make requests of her new friends. Unless this woman was also royalty she had no real ability to harm Mia. However, she might have had enough to hurt Mama.
“Then see to it, and see your way out of my office.” She pointed towards the door. “Good day, madam.”
“You may want to rethink that, Mrs. Winthrop,” Mallory said, as he stepped up and took the woman’s arm. “A wife in prison would make a career in the navy hard to manage. But if your husband’s wellbeing is of no concern to you, Lady Briskbee will take the matter to the magistrate,” he said, helping the woman out the door. “Expect a visit. Good day, Mrs. Winthrop.”
Mia managed to wait until they were out of sight before she grabbed the counter and eased down to the floor on shaky legs. That woman had a brooch just like her mother’s. Claimed it was her son Molly seduced. Both tied them together. Who could she be other than a grandmother? Who was she though? Briskbee. Mia reached for a sheet of parchment and the pen she’d been using earlier and wrote the name. She’d need to find out what she could about the woman. Though she didn’t know how she might if they were a family also from Cornwall. It was more than a day’s sailing in distance.
Papa might know her. But how would he and if he did why hadn’t he said something to Mia? Did Papa know Mama stole someone’s property? If he did why then give it to Mia that it could get her into trouble? Something about this wasn’t right. Mama wasn’t a thief. Of everything she might have held on to when she was put off the ship only the brooch made it. It wouldn’t have been something she held onto after her very life depended on it, if it was simply something she stole. She’d have offered it to the ship’s captain or crew when they were putting her in the life boat if it was nothing to her. But she hadn’t she’d held onto it. She gave it to a man who she knew would hold it for her. No, her mother wasn’t a thief. That woman was lying.
Hell with it. How could she even prove Mia’s brooch was once hers at all? Perhaps they were just from the same craftsman. Mia would demand to see a bill of sale if it came to it. But perhaps asking Papa would settle the matter.
Pulling herself from the floor, Mia wiped her face and headed out the door. Instantly, she regretted leaving the pistol behind. She knew she was being watched this time. She made sure to stay with the crowds as most of them knew her. Once on the long dock where Papa’s fleet came in, she felt safer if not still watched, so she didn’t pause to speak as she hurried down to the Molly.
“Ahoy the ship,” she called and stood at the end of the plank waiting for an invitation.
“What are you doing down here, sea witch?” Smith
e asked, causing Mia to nearly come out of her skin. “Avast now, what has you floundering?”
“Is Papa here?” she asked, and tried to clear her throat so she might speak without sounding like she was about to cry, which she was.
“No. Now what’s got your rigging all in a knot?”
Mia sniffed and giggled at the ever so common words aboard ships. Devin used the same phrase on her all the time. This wasn’t so bad. How could it be? She sniffed again and wiped at her nose. “Do you know when he’ll be back? I have to ask him something very important.”
“Could be a week or more,” Smithe said, taking her hand like he used to when she was a child and leading her up the plank to stand on deck. The rolling motion was the most soothing thing at the moment. “What do you need to know?”
Mia would rather hear directly from Papa but said, “I’ve trusted you my whole life,” she started and gained the man’s full attention. “I need to trust that you’ll speak true.”
“May be best you wait for the commodore,” Smithe said and Mia knew he’d lie for her papa but…
“I may not have a week to wait. Please Bart, please be honest. You were on board the Flying Jig when the skiff with Mama in it was spotted.”
“I was, aye.”
“And when Mama traded her brooch for passage, you were there too?”
“Aye, but it was already three weeks and the commodore was well in love then. You know he’d not have taken her back and left her. Brooch or no,” Smithe said and reached out to touch Mia’s arm, the same as he used to when he scolded her and instructed her about some task she’d done incorrectly.
She managed a weak smile as the feeling of being watched grew stronger. “Aye, of course I know. But did Mama ever say where she got the brooch? Did she say perhaps it was a family heirloom? Or…” Mia watched him shake his head slowly and she felt her stomach start to churn like waters in a storm. “Do you think… do you… was… could she…”
“Mia Lynn, pump it out girl,” Smithe snapped and Mia jumped.
“Could she have stolen it? Was she a thief perhaps?”
Smithe stared at her for what seemed an eternity then burst out laughing. He laughed so hard it doubled him. “Sea witch, you have been in the sun too much. If your mama was a thief, I’m the Christ come again.”
“Mr. Smithe,” Mia admonished. “Don’t let the commodore hear such talk.”
“And don’t let him hear you accuse your mother of being a thief. She wasn’t and why would you be asking such a thing?”
Mia turned away then and walked to the rail. Someone was watching her. She searched the crowd, but no one stood out.
“Mia Lynn, answer me, why did you ask if your mother stole the brooch?”
“A woman came in the office today,” Mia said seeking out faces that didn’t belong.
“The same woman from last week?”
“No, some other. She came in and demanded I give her my brooch. She has one like it and she said Mama stole it from her.”
“Was her name Briskbee, by chance?” Smithe said, coming to stand next to Mia at the rail.
“Aye, how did you know?”
“Mia,” the man said softly taking her chin forcing her to look at him. “More than anything you need to know that your mama loved you. And more than anything life might have to offer, your papa loves you.” Mia could only nod her head as the feeling of dread grew. “And no matter what anyone will tell you, he loved your mama. He loved her the moment he rolled her half dead body over in the skiff. He loved her from that moment and even now. She was his greatest treasure.”
“Aye,” Mia breathed. She knew this. He’d found Mama and she was a treasure. Mia was given to him and she was his greatest gift. Same but different.
“But Mia,” Smithe said sadly. “Your mama’s heart, it wasn’t completely your papa’s. The man she loved before, the one who she gave herself to when she gave herself the first time. The man who fathered you. She never got back her whole heart from him.”
“Mama hated him, she said so all the time,” Mia snapped and pulled away.
“Aye, she did. She never could forgive him because she never got her whole heart back. He had some little piece of her until the day she died and she chose to hate him. She never forgave him keeping it.” He took her hand and began pulling Mia along towards the lower decks. She followed him down and then to the section of the ship the man kept as his own. She watched him move to an old trunk, lift the lid and sift through the belongings until he came up with a thick stack of letters tied with a ribbon. “I found these under the seat on the skiff. I kept them from the commodore because I knew how much he loved your mama and I think while the first few he might have dismissed, and maybe the few in the middle he’d have laughed at, the ones at the end would have sent him to do murder.” He handed the stack to Mia. “I’ve read them more than a few times, trying to understand what I still don’t understand. How a man can claim to love a woman, know everything to say to her to make her truly love him and then simply turn it all into a lie.”
Mia looked at the stack in her hand. “My father wrote these?”
“He did, those and that brooch are all your mama took with her when she was left to die. Maybe it was her hope that when she was eventually found those letters would cause a scandal or earn her some justice. I don’t know. I never even told your mama I found them. I think she thought they were lost with the boat.”
“There’s something in these about the brooch then?” Mia asked, unable to lift her eyes from the papers in her hands. The only thing she had that would tell her anything at all about her father. But did she want to read them? Smithe had, and he didn’t sound impressed. She knew they weren’t going to change her mind about the man. And perhaps they might make her want to be rid of the brooch even if her papa thought it important she have it. If for only how it brought he and Mama together.
“The note he perhaps sent with the brooch or just after he gave it to her. And a few others mention it.” He stepped forward and touched the letters. “Have caution, Mia, reading these. They are not safe waters for someone who loved Molly. And remember,” he paused and took hold of her chin again. “These are the words from a man who never cared about her as he should have. They aren’t a true reflection of who Molly Cadley was, nor who she became as a woman. And they’ve no bearing at all on who you are. That man’s blood is in your veins only by chance. But he’s not your blood, your blood is the salt water of the seas. And he’s not your kin. Your kin is your crew, your captain and your commodore. Do you understand me?”
“Aye,” Mia whispered and stepped up to hug the man who was a second papa to her.
“My pretty little sea witch, if we could have built a reef around your heart to protect you from all the sharks that bide in the water…. But you have a strong mast and bow, and you’ll sail through as you always have.” He set her back and smiled. “Go on with you now. Shove off before you sink me.”
Mia gave him one more squeeze and a peck on the cheek, and hurried from the ship. She caught the first cab she could and made her way home. When Lady Briskbee and the magistrate came for her she was more than ready to prove she and her mother were the better people. She’d greet them with enough support to ensure shots weren’t again fired across her bow.
Chapter 17
“Captain Winthrop?” Mia called, and Devin stopped mid stride.
“Yes, Mrs. Winthrop?” he replied, turning to look around the room at everyone who’d come out in support of his wife. He took a second to give Mr. Smithe a second look. The man still looked ill at ease.
Devin knew the feeling. Any moment now Mia would face off against someone who had tormented her for her whole life. And both he and Smithe agreed to let her have the first shot at sinking him. Against the commodore’s wishes and worse, without his knowledge. He turned back to face his wife with a forced smile.
“Please stop pacing the deck, you’re making me uneasy,” Mia scolded only to have both Lady Alic
e and Mrs. Booker lean in to hug her.
“You’re making everyone uneasy, Captain. Go sit by your wife,” Admiral Booker told him and held out his hand for his own wife to come stand beside the desk.
“What time were they told to come?” Lord Lovelace asked as he checked his watch.
“Two, but what do lubbers know of keeping to a schedule?” Mr. Smithe complained. “Present company excluded,” he amended recalling not a single person in the room now was tardy.
Devin pulled his watch. “It’s only a quarter past. Perhaps another fifteen minutes and we will say they abandoned ship on the matter.” He was torn. Mia could be gaining the chance to learn more about her mother’s history, but she could also be risking learning her mother wasn’t the fine woman the commodore held her up to be. A child had a far easier time finding parents perfect, but Mia was no longer a child and what she learned in those letters already had her questioning what she believed. Devin reminded her countless times she was only getting half of the story. She had no idea what her mother wrote in response to any of them. Half the story left a great deal of truth to be had.
“I hope I haven’t wasted everyone’s time. I told you I’d handle this myself,” Mia said with a sigh.
“It wasn’t solely your issue my dear,” Mrs. Booker said. “The navy has a stake in this because it was the reputation of a fine captain of the Royal Navy who was also threatened.”
“And it’s hardly a waste if it sets right a record,” Lady Alice said, although it might be more not a waste because she was going to get to see her cousin Kendirk Mallory sink. There was no love lost in that family.
“Thank you all again, I—” The sharp rap on the door brought the men in the room to their feet.
“Come,” the Admiral called, and the door opened only a little as Captain Fallbrook peeked inside. “Yes, come we’re ready.” He waved the man forward.
Fallbrook opened the door, snapped to attention and announced, “Lady and Lord Briskbee and the honorable Mr. Milton.” He stepped aside and as the lady entered and the magistrate, distinguished by his robes followed, he saw Mia tense and slowly come to her feet as the last man entered the room.