His deep, languid voice struck me. I felt like I’d heard it only yesterday. As the greetings unfolded, the realizations kept exploding in my mind.

Asa was here.

This was his ship.

He was the judge’s nephew.

Time had polished him. He was dressed like a gentleman, in a dark blue coat and breeches cut close to his tall figure. The buckles on his shoes shone in the dusky light, as did the silver-headed cane he held idly at his side. In spite of such fine trappings, there was something toughened about him. Something darker and distant.

“And this is Miss Emmeline Coates,” said the judge, arriving to me.

Asa looked at me, finally. No shred of recognition. “Your servant, Miss Coates,” he said, and bowed deeply.

I curtsied, but couldn’t find the words to reply. I’d fallen off a cliff and I had yet to land anywhere solid.

A hard tug at my neck startled me. Daniel had snapped the chain of my pocket watch. Before I could stop him, he hurled it to the deck.

Duncan shot over as it rolled away and scooped it up. “Who’s this little mischief-maker?” he said, bringing the watch back to me.

“Daniel.” Thankfully, I’d finally found my tongue. “Daniel Winters. But I’d keep a safe distance.”

Duncan laughed. “Yes—I see he has spirit. Firing at officers. Theft of property. Vandalism.” He tugged gently on Daniel’s foot. “We shall have to reform you, little chap. Won’t we?”

Daniel clapped his hands. “Chap, chap!” he said. Then he wriggled out of my arms and toddled after his siblings, who, like the rest of the party, were following a young ship’s captain with a slight limp up to the quarterdeck.

“I feel as though I’ve not seen you in an age,” Duncan said.

It had seemed a long time to me, too. But not nearly as long as three years.

Before we sat down to dinner, Mr. Asa Latimer gave us a tour of the Endurance.

As he led us through the various parts of the ship, his stride slightly uneven, his voice steady, I struggled to catch up.

Was he really a Loyalist shipowner now? How could such a passionate patriot be aligned with the British—especially after what they had done to him? And had he known all this time that I knew the judge? Surely not. This had to be a coincidence, or he’d have sent me a message.

Our tour brought us to the captain’s cabin, where we gathered before the stern windows. Though it was smaller than the Ambrosia’s cabin, my mind raced back to long dinners and to longer nights talking, whispering, kissing. Then to the time Asa had said, “Marry me. I dare you.”

“Pray tell, Mr. Latimer,” Charlotte said. “Where have you sailed the Endurance?”

“To enough places that I will surely bore you if I name them.”