Wink and Olly snicker, proof that they are not the ones Jamie is worried about. Bo glares up at the docking bridge, as if he can’t be bothered to look at me anyway.

Olly ties his thin arms into a knot. “Why didn’t you ever tell us you had a twin?”

“Does no one know about me?” Well, that is a knife to the gut. I tie my own arms together.

“You never told us you were rich, either.” Wink reaches out a finger and touches a bit of lace on my sleeve.

Jamie slaps his hand away. “We call this one Wink. He blinks a lot, but nothing gets past him.”

Wink puffs up his bony chest and lifts his nose.

“And this eager fellow is Oliver. When I first met him, he didn’t have two words to rub together, and now we can’t shut him up.” Jamie pushes the lad away by his bony forehead. “They’re our boiler monkeys, sweeping up coal, fetching water. But mostly they just get underfoot.”

The lads protest, but Bo knuckles them on the head.

I’d imagined the men of Jamie’s company would be, well, men, grizzled and hard-boiled, like Fong. Certainly not this young. Jamie rarely mentioned his mates in his letters. Yet, as I watch them horse around, I can’t help thinking that these lads are more than mates. They’re behaving like brothers. Why keep them a secret from me, and me a secret from them? I am not only his twin, but also his best friend. At least, I was.

“This classy gent is Chow Bo Wah.” Jamie claps Bo on the back. “He’s a fireman like me, but he shovels coal twice as fast. The muscles are all an act, though. Inside, he’s a kitten.”

Bo scowls. “You are a fool.”

Jamie laughs. “Now out with it. Why are you here and not with the Sloanes?”

I muster a smile, despite Jamie having sidestepped my question. I will beat it out of him later. “Mrs. Sloane died, and her son and his wife went to Scotland to tour her ashes.”

“Why didn’t they take you with them?”

“They wanted to, but . . .” My mind flies back to when Mrs. Sloane’s daughter-in-law launched a potted fern at me after I gave her my notice. Never mind that my main duty was to watch Mrs. Sloane and she no longer needed watching. I never told Jamie of the abuse I suffered there.

“But?” He cocks an ear toward me, as if trying to make my response come faster.

“But I quit. They didn’t need me anymore. See, I read your letter about your leaving on the Titanic, and with Mrs. Sloane departing and you departing, it all made sense.”