“Do you really need three new ships right this minute?”
“I can always use new ships. I have a plan, and I’ll tell you all about it in a few days when everything comes together.”
“I’ll look forward to it.” Cecil took a few steps toward him and asked, “How long do you plan on staying in Boston?”
“A little bit longer.”
“Do you have to go back to France? Can’t you run your business from here?”
He could easily run his business from Boston. But he needed to leave for the same reason he needed to leave two years before. He could not bear to be this near Mercy and not have her for his own. The thought of seeing her around town with another man made his stomach clench. He needed to get away. He took a sip of tea and replied, “I like France.”
“Are you missing your countess then?”
He let out a harsh laugh. “She is not my countess.” Honestly, he’d barely even thought of her. “Listen, Cecil. I need to go visit Mr. Creed. I heard he is ill and I…well, I need to go visit him.”
“All right. I’ll see you at dinner.” Cecil left the room and Addison gathered his paperwork and put it into his attaché case. A lot of planning needed to go into this new venture, and he would be busy far into the night.
Soon he found himself knocking on the Creed’s front door. A hulk of a man answered the door with red and puffy eyes as if he’d been crying. After being ushered into the parlor Addison warmed himself by the fire. His heart raced in anticipation of seeing Mercy. She told him she never wanted to see him again and he would honor her request, but right now he had a debt he needed to pay to her father and that took precedence.
The door opened and Mrs. Creed entered the room and he felt both relief and disappointment that it wasn’t Mercy. She held out her arms and walked toward him and he grasped them firmly while trying to decide what to say. He sucked in a breath of surprise when she fell against him and cried until sobs wracked her body. He never expected this. Her voice came out muffled against his coat as she mumbled, “I’m sorry. I haven’t cried like this. I’ve been strong for days.”
“It’s all right, Mrs. Creed. I’m glad I’m here. I want to help.”
“I know you do. That’s why I’m so relieved to see you.”
Uneasily he asked, “How long has Mr. Creed been like this?”
“A week.”
“Has he been conscious at all?”
“No. He has mumbled incoherently a few times, but he isn’t conscious.”
“I wanted to see him, but I suppose that isn’t possible.”
“You could see him, but he wouldn’t know. Mercy has been awake for days worrying herself sick, and she finally fell asleep on his bed next to him. I hate to wake her.”
“No. Don’t wake her.”
She stepped back and wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry about weeping against you like that.”
“Please don’t be sorry.” He held her shoulders and assured her. “I want you to know that I’m here for you. For the most part I’ll be working at home for the next few days, so if Mr. Creed awakens, please send for me. I have some extremely important business I need to discuss with him.”
“Thank you, Mr. Berkeley.”
“You are welcome.”
She wiped at her eyes, as she asked, “Did you have a nice time in Philadelphia?”
“I did. Mr. Franklin has become quite involved with the Abolition movement in Philadelphia and we traveled around the city while he gave speeches. He is eighty years old and I can hardly keep up with him. I also played enough chess with him to last me the rest of my life. But we did other things as well. There is quite a bit to enjoy in Philadelphia, but now it’s back to work.” He stepped toward the door. “I will not keep you. Let me know if you need anything.”
“I will.” She walked him to the front door and watched him walk away. He turned around and waved at her as he got into his sleigh. She’d asked him how long he would stay in Boston. The answer was that he would stay as long as necessary to make sure the man who was kind to him as a child didn’t have a family left destitute.
****
Mercy stood at the window of her parent’s room as she watched the snow float to the ground and cover the backyard shrubs and plants with a blanket of white. She slept for a few minutes beside her father, but something had awakened her, and she couldn’t go back to sleep. The door creaked open behind her and her mother said quietly, “Oh, Mercy. You are awake.”
She nodded. “I can’t sleep. Did I hear Barry tell you someone was here to see you?”
“Yes. Mr. Berkeley came by.”
Just hearing his name caused her heart to stand still in her chest. With a shuddering breath, she asked, “Mr. Berkeley. He is back? Why…I mean…what…what did he want?”
“He wanted to speak with your father, but he also wanted to let me know that he is here for us if we need him.” She walked over and stood next to her at the window. “I’m quite embarrassed. I feel so weak and small and when I saw his strength and vitality I fell against his chest and wept.”
“What did he do?”
“He just held me and comforted me. It worked. I feel a little better just knowing he is here.”
Mercy nodded and turned back to the window. She was glad her mother felt better knowing Mr. Berkeley was near, but it brought on a whole new wave of grief for her. A shuddering, sick feeling of embarrassment and shame descended upon her and she gripped the windowsill and placed her head on her arm. What a fool. She’d been such a fool, and she’d ruined everything.
Her mother picked up a Bible on the nightstand and sat by her father’s side and read from the psalms just in case he could hear her. Every time her mother’s soft, melodious voice spoke aloud the words, “enemies of God,” Mercy knew she must fall into this category. She didn’t want to be there, but how could she not. For two and a half years her life had been nothing but deceit after deceit with a deplorable man. God could never forgive her for that. God might have forgiven Ian if he had asked because he didn’t know any better. But she did. She knew better. A knock sounded at the door and her mother called out, “Come in.”
Barry stepped inside and said softly, “Mrs. Creed. There is a man to see you from the bank. A Mr. Lawman.”
“The bank. To see me?”
Barry nodded and her mother turned to her. “Mercy, would you come with me so you can help me remember what he says. My brain doesn’t seem to be functioning properly right now.” Mercy turned from the window and followed her downstairs. A stern looking man paced the room, and stopped to face them as they entered. Her mother asked, “Would you like some tea?”
He shook his head briskly. “No, thank-you. I just need a moment of your time.”
“Certainly.” She motioned to a chair. “Would you like to sit?”
He positioned himself stiffly in a chair across from the sofa they both sat upon and glanced at Mercy quickly and then turned to her mother and without wasting any time got right to business. “Mrs. Creed. This isn’t pleasant for me. My bank has dealt with your husband’s money for many years and it has been a profitable business for both sides. However, as you know the last three years have been difficult. Now I, along with everyone else in Boston, know why. But over the last two years your husband has sold two ships to pay debts, but he used the other three ships as collateral for loans. Loans now he unfortunately cannot pay. Your husband’s inability to pay his banknotes has put me in an extremely difficult situation.”
Shifting in his seat uncomfortably, he continued, “I don’t know how much you understand about banking, but I must have the gold or silver in my bank to cover the notes I’ve issued. If I don’t, I’m considered insolvent and I could lose my charter. Yesterday, I was forced to sell your husband’s three ships to cover the debts, but it wasn’t enough. The only thing of value your husband has left is this home. He has used that as collateral as well and I’m afraid I will have to collect on it. It pains me to say this, but I have no othe
r choice. With your husband in the condition he is in right now, it will be a long time before he can work and earn back enough to pay his debts. That is if he gets well at all. In the meantime, I could lose my bank. I need to ask you to start packing. I will put the house up for sale tomorrow.
“But my husband is ill. This cannot wait?”
“No. I’m afraid it cannot wait. If it could, I would not be here.” He stood and Mercy saw a glimmer of pity in his eyes as he stated, “I wish I didn’t have to do this. Your husband is a good man.”
He quickly left the room and Mercy stared at her mother blankly in a state of utter shock. Finally she muttered, “I’ve lived in this house my whole life.”
Her mother nodded and mused aloud, “And to think everything your father worked so hard for was squandered away in gambling halls and brothels.”
The painful thought slashed at Mercy like a knife. If a villain had done this to her it would’ve been bad enough, but it was done by the man she allowed to hold her and kiss her countless times. The man she’d thought she was in love with. The man she wanted to marry. The man she wanted to be the father of her children. Ian had deceived her, but she allowed herself to be deceived. How was it possible for anyone in the world to be as stupid as her?
The door burst open and Priscilla rushed inside with Luke at her heels looking a little chagrined at his wife’s failure to observe protocol. Priscilla threw herself onto the sofa and a torrent of words spilled out, “We just got back this morning from our honeymoon and we went to see my mother and father and they told me about everything. The arrest of your father’s horrible accountant—I told you he was evil—I knew it from the first time I saw him. The trial sounds horrendous. You poor thing, and now your father is sick too. Well, I’m here now, Mercy. What can I do?”
Stupidly she mumbled, “You can help me pack.”
“Pack? What do you mean?”
“Mr. Lawman the banker just left and said my father used this house as collateral and he needs to sell it, so we have to be out immediately.”
“You can’t leave your house,” Priscilla practically wailed. “This is horrible. Oh, Mercy, I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry too, but what can be done? We have no choice.”
“Where will you go? What will you do?”
“I don’t know.”
“You can stay with us.” She glanced up at Luke. “Can’t they?”
His warm brown eyes looked so concerned. “Of course they can, sweetheart.”
Her mother stood to her feet. “Thank you for coming by. I need to go check on James.” She quietly left the room, and Mercy literally felt her heart breaking.
Priscilla patted her arm reassuringly. “We need to go see Luke’s parents before it gets dark, but I’ll be by tomorrow to help you pack.”
“Thank you. Both of you. Thank you.” Mercy walked them out and then went up to go and check on her father. Her mother lay beside him with her arm across his chest and tears streaming down her face. Mercy lay down beside her on the bed and they held each other and wept.
The next morning, Mercy awoke still on her parent’s bed. She slept about fifteen hours which was much more than she slept in a week. She made her way downstairs to find Barry and asked him to bring some trunks up from the basement for her. Her heart squeezed in her chest when she realized that Barry would have no place to go. He’d been with her father for over thirty years. Ian’s carelessness had affected so many people.
She packed all day and tried to remove herself emotionally and not become sentimental. Daisy began wrapping pictures on the wall and she removed one and stared at it for awhile. She held it up and asked, “Did you make this sampler, Mercy?”
“Yes, I did. When I was eleven.”
“I like the lighthouse. I like what it says.” She came and stood before Mercy and read it out loud, “May she be a lighthouse, an instrument of God’s love and mercy, a guiding beacon for others in the storms of life.” Daisy took her hand and spoke softly, “That is what you have been for me.”
She shook her head as she proclaimed adamantly, “Oh, no, Daisy, don’t praise me. I’m not worthy of it. I’ve fallen short. I’ve fallen so far short.” With despair, she remembered Noah saying this was his prayer for her, and thoughts of him made her feel horribly ashamed.
Daisy took her hand and squeezed it. “Mercy, I didn’t say you are perfect. No one is perfect. But you must let me praise you. You showed mercy to me in a way no one ever had before in my entire life. You have been kind to me and taken care of me. You are the first friend I ever had and I love you.”
Daisy took a deep breath. “I wish you could understand what it means to me to be able to read. Every day I read my Bible you gave me and I’ll tell you what I’ve learned. We are all sinners and we all need mercy from God. Without his mercy, we would be in big trouble, because the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Can’t you see that mercy is a gift? No one deserves mercy. We all have a debt of sin we cannot pay. Jesus paid our debts for us. He wiped our slate clean—-not because we deserved it—but because he loves us. Jesus loves you Mercy. He loves you just the way you are. You don’t have to be good to come to Him. You just have to be willing.”
Mercy listened intently to Daisy’s passionate words. She wanted for it to be true. She wished she could have her slate wiped clean. She wished she could have her debts paid. But who would pay a debt they didn’t owe? She wanted to ponder these words some more, but she would have to think on it later. Right now there was just too much work to do. She gave Daisy a long hug. “Thank you for sharing that with me.” Daisy nodded and wiped away a tear and then turned and got back to work.
In the early evening Priscilla came into her room with a broad smile. “Mercy, you can stop packing.”
She looked up at her with confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Just trust me. Don’t pack anymore. You don’t have to move.”
“But Mr. Lawman says our debts must be paid. We have to move.”
“Come downstairs. My father wants to talk with you.” She pulled Mercy along and then said, “Go get your mother.”
Within minutes, Mercy and her mother both sat in a trance on the sofa as Mr. Brown sat across from them with a pleased smile on his face. He let out a huge sigh of relief and began, “You cannot know how pleased I am to give you this news. Your debts have all been paid. You can keep your house. And if that wasn’t enough, a savings account has been started in your name in such a large amount that you can live comfortably off the interest.”
Baffled, her mother wondered aloud, “What? Wait? Who would do such a thing?”
“I’ve been sworn to secrecy. I can’t tell you.”
Without really paying attention to what he just said Mercy asked, “Who would do something like that for us?”
His brown eyes twinkled as he explained, “Well, only a few people in these parts could afford to pay off your families enormous debts with enough left over to start you a savings account.” Leaning forward, he whispered, “I’ll give you a hint. It wasn’t John Hancock.”
Mercy looked up at him with eyes full of confusion. “Mr. Berkeley? Was it Mr. Berkeley?”
A smile tugged at his lips and he acted like he hadn’t heard her. “Not only that but the three ships Mr. Lawman sold yesterday have been given back to Mr. Creed.”
With wonder in her eyes she looked at her mother who stared back at her with a dumbstruck expression. “Here,” Mr. Brown announced as he set a pile of seven dollar bills down on the table. “This is for incidentals you may need.”
Mercy gazed down at the ivory colored bills with red and black ink and then picked the pile up and counted them. With astonishment, she remarked, “There are ten bills here. This is seventy dollars.”
“Yes, seventy dollars.” She noticed bemusement on his face that she thought this was a great sum of money considering the vast amount that had already been given to them.
; Looking closely at one of the bills, she read the inscription in Latin, “ Serenabit . That means, ‘It will all clear up.’ What a strange thing to be written on these bills.”
“Why is that strange? Things often have a way of clearing up. And by the way, a pianoforte is being brought here tomorrow, so make sure you are here to receive it.”
“My…you…I get a pianoforte again?” She couldn’t believe it. She just couldn’t believe it.
“Yes, you get a pianoforte again. And I’m glad. You are far too talented to not have the opportunity to play.” Slapping his hands onto his knees, he proclaimed, “Well, I must be on my way, but I’m terribly happy I will not lose you as my neighbors. If you have started packing, go unpack. Your financial problems are over. Your debts have been paid.”
Understanding Mercy Page 28