“I can see that my suggestion for a return voyage doesn’t appeal to you.”

“No, sir. I’m expecting my sister on the next ship. I cannot be a-going back.”

“Ah, I see.” Something lit in the man’s eyes, something that told Mercy she’d made a mistake by mentioning anything having to do with Patience. “Then you will indeed give me your fullest cooperation on the morrow as I go ashore and pick for you a husband.”

The desperation inside Mercy tightened, nearly strangling her. “Please, Mr. Scott, I beg you, sir. I vow I’ll not be speaking with Joseph—Lord Colville—ever again. I have no thought to marrying him. Not now. Not ever.”

Mr. Scott started to retreat. “The news of your marriage to a local will surely come as a relief to Lord Colville, freeing him from any obligation he may feel toward you.”

Joseph had told her he would be jealous of the other men claiming her affection. But would it come as a relief to know she was married, that he was no longer obligated to her but was free to live as he chose? Maybe it would.

Whatever the case, she couldn’t let Mr. Scott trap her into marriage. Worse than the idea of marriage was the idea of marriage to a complete stranger.

She had to find a way out of her predicament and quickly. If only she had the slightest inkling how.

twenty-five

James Bay ahead!” came a call from the quarterdeck.

Mercy clutched the railing of the Royal Navy gunboat HMS Forward alongside the rest of the women. The view of Victoria proper was just around the bend.

In moments they’d arrive at their new home, hopefully a place where they could finally eke out a new life that was better than what they’d left behind.

When they’d boarded the gunboat a short while ago, Lieutenant Robson had greeted them and informed them they had a three-mile trip from the Tynemouth at Esquimalt to the town of Victoria.

Thankfully, for mid-September the afternoon was mild, even sunny for the last part of their journey. They’d gathered at the railing to watch the passing scenery—the evergreens that seemed to go on forever in all directions with their boughs outstretched over the water as if to claim both land and sea.

Gentle waves lapped the rocky shore, the low tide revealing boulders thick with barnacles and stained shades of brown and red from seaweed. Across the strait, the mainland spread out for miles, small bays with sandy beaches, along with rugged inlets carved out of giant jutting stone.

Mercy hadn’t expected the three miles to go so quickly. But it seemed only minutes had passed before the lieutenant called out that they were entering the inner harbor where they would drop anchor.