She shook her head in protest. “Everyone who needs help has already taken on the younger girls. If they hire me, maybe they’ll have to let one of the girls go. And I don’t want to chance that.”

Joseph was quiet again.

“I’ll be right fine. You’ll see.”

“I know you will. You’re a strong and capable woman.”

She would miss his confidence in her abilities. No one had ever believed in her quite the same way Joseph did, not even Patience.

Another long moment of silence spread between them. Mercy had a hundred things she wanted to say, but for some reason the words wouldn’t come.

“If you ever have need of anything,” Joseph said haltingly, “I hope you’ll count me as your friend and contact me.”

Although she was trying to move past her insecurities, she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to contact Joseph if she had a need. Even so, his offer was as kind as always.

“I am most sincere in my suggestion,” he added, reaching for her hands and grasping them. His gloved fingers surrounded hers firmly.

“You’re a good man, Joseph, and I thank ye for your friendship.”

He shook his head as if in disagreement. “You’ve thanked me now and in the past for friendship, but ’tis I who should be thanking you. I’m a better person for having met and known you.”

“You’ve taught me to be a better person too.”

His grip tightened on her hands. “While I am still riddled with the arrogance of my station, perhaps these years of wandering have not all been in vain. After living aboard a ship and experiencing life in new places and among different kinds of people, God’s beginning to humble me, though I still have much to learn.”

“You are already the humblest man I’ve ever met.” In fact, she didn’t know of any other man who’d do all that Joseph had done. Perhaps Dr. Bates from the Shoreditch Dispensary. But there was still something about Joseph that was different, something that spoke of the greater things God would do through him someday.

“Please forgive me for ever insinuating I am better than you,” he said softly.

“’Course I will, Joseph.” She wanted to argue that he was better. But she couldn’t now, not with so little time left.

The night air was balmy for the end of September, and a soft gust of wind brushed against Mercy’s overheated cheeks. She shivered less from the breeze than from the realization Joseph was leaving and this was the last time she’d ever see him.

As if reading her mind, he expelled a sigh. “I regret I must be on my way. I need to return to my hotel to retrieve the last of my belongings before the boat takes me out to the Tynemouth.”