A Distant Shore by Kate Hewitt Read Free Book Online Page B

said. She clapped one hand on her bonnet to keep it from flying away in the wind, the strings whipping against her wind-reddened cheeks.
    “You see the name of it?” Henry asked, and Charlotte squinted, making out the black letters painted on the side of the ship.
    “The Charlotte Rose !” she finally proclaimed in triumph. “That’s me!”
    “It certainly is,” Henry affirmed, swinging her back down. He kept one arm around his little girl as he nodded towards the ship. “I’ll think of you every day while I’m on that ship. I’ll have to, won’t I, with your name right there on the side.”
    “Every day?” Charlotte wrinkled her nose. “But how long will you be gone, Papa?”
    Henry exchanged a quick, guarded look with Margaret; she kept her face as expressionless as she could. Henry already knew her opinion on this subject; a year was an incalculable amount of time to a child. Charlotte might not even remember him when he returned. If he returned.
    “I shall bring you a present next Christmas,” Henry finally said.
    “Christmas!” Charlotte exclaimed. “That’s ages away.”
    And more than she even knew, Margaret thought sourly, for Henry did not mean this
    Christmas, but the one next year. Seventeen months away. Forever, especially to a five-year-old girl.
    “Never mind, Charlotte,” she said briskly, drawing her daughter close. “We’ll have fun plotting Papa’s journey on the big map in his study. You know the one I mean, don’t you? And the time will go by quickly enough, I promise you.”
    Charlotte frowned, still trying to comprehend such a large amount of time. Margaret squeezed her shoulder. “Say goodbye now, sweeting,” she said softly, and Charlotte dutifully stepped forward.
    “Goodbye, Papa.”
    “Goodbye, my precious girl.” Henry enveloped his daughter in a great big bear hug before turning to his wife. “Margaret...”
    “Godspeed,” Margaret said, blinking hard. “You are in my thoughts always.”
    Mindless of the crowds of stevedores working the docks, Henry swept his wife into his arms and kissed her soundly on the mouth.
    “Henry !” Margaret tried to sound scandalized, and failed. She needed that kiss to sustain her for many long, lonely months to come.
    With one hand pressed to her lips, her other holding tightly onto Charlotte, she watched as Henry boarded the Charlotte Rose , and as the ship pushed off from the dock, she felt her heart die a little within her.
    Both she and Charlotte were quiet on the carriage ride back to their home in Back Bay. Charlotte rested her head against her mother’s shoulder, as if to absorb the pain Margaret felt coursing through her. She stroked her daughter’s soft cheek, grateful for her company at least in the long months ahead.
    Back at the house, Margaret listlessly sifted through the post that had been left on a silver salver as she waited for their maid, Ella, to bring tea. “A letter from Prince Edward Island,” she said aloud. Her sister-in-law Harriet wrote her regularly once a month with all of the family’s news, but since she’d only received a letter from her a week ago, Margaret was surprised to find another sent so quickly after. She hoped it did not bring ill news.
    “What is it, Mama?” Charlotte asked as she perched next to Margaret on the settee.
    “It’s from your aunt...” Margaret scanned the letter, her frown of concern quickly turning into an excited smile. “She’s asking if your cousin Maggie can come to stay for awhile, perhaps even until Papa returns. Keep us company, hmm?” She smiled at her daughter, the pain in her heart lightening just a little. Company, at this moment, would be most welcome.

    Isobel sat in one of the uncomfortable chairs pushed to the side of the ballroom and tapped her slippered foot in tempo with the lively waltz that was playing. She watched, feigning a disinterested air, as several couples waltzed by her, the woman’s bright skirts brushing Isobel’s tapping foot