Joseph wanted to stop her and insist that Sarah be left where she was for the time being, undisturbed. Yet he sensed that doing so would only make matters worse for both Mercy and Sarah. Instead, he gathered the tonic and ointment he’d used to ease Sarah’s discomfort.

As Mercy passed by, bearing the weight of the drowsy girl, he pressed the items into her free hand. “Reserve the medicine for when Sarah is especially sick. And if she gets worse, be sure to bring her to me again.”

Mrs. Robb spun sharply at the blatant disregard for her instructions.

Mercy nodded briefly, not daring to look at him.

After Mrs. Robb exited and closed the stateroom door, Joseph could only shake his head at the strangeness of his morning. Although part of him wanted to rush after Mrs. Robb and insist that she treat Mercy and Sarah with leniency, another part of him hesitated.

In some ways, the matron was right. The bride-ship women weren’t his concern. He hadn’t taken on the ship’s surgeon position to champion the cause of these poor women. But even as he attempted to shove aside all thoughts of the would-be brides, he couldn’t dislodge the image of Mercy Wilkins’s compassionate face.

She was clearly doing her part to make a difference.

What was he doing?

ten

Oho! Those are some real fine ladies,” Ann remarked, peeking out their cabin door.

Mercy scrubbed at the stains in Sarah’s shift, attempting to remove the spots along with the smell. After lying abed most of yesterday, the sweet girl was sitting up today. Mercy had helped her shed her clothes, wrapped her in a clean blanket, and now was trying as best she could to wash the garments in the floral washbasin.

“Strike me blind!” Ann said. “Fancy clothes, fancy shoes, and fancy hats everywhere!”

Kip sprawled out on her bed while Flo and Minnie scrambled behind Ann in the doorway to get their first glimpses of the ladies who were joining their group.

While the other girls had been in and out of orphanages most of their lives, Sarah was the exception. She’d lived with her mum until only a year or two ago. From what Mercy had gleaned, Sarah’s mum had been loving, the kind of mum that made them all envious.

Like Mercy, they’d all lived in London’s slums their whole existence, never going beyond their neighborhoods much less beyond the city. Everything about their journey so far had been new and exciting—including seeing the wealthy passengers.

Mrs. Robb had instructed the women already aboard to remain in their cabins until all the newcomers settled in. Mrs. Robb didn’t want them getting in the way of the other bride-ship women, as well as the additional second- and third-class passengers who’d paid for passage.