The light in the small space grew brighter as the sun edged up from the horizon and I could see him clearly. He was fully dressed, although his shirt was unbuttoned from collar to waist. I stared at the black hair that spread across his bare chest, suppressing the urge to run my fingers through it. I forced myself to look at his face instead. He was staring at me as if seeing me for the first time. I flinched under his scrutiny, aware of my unbound hair spread across the pillow, and that I wore only my nightgown. In her sleep, Lily had drawn all the bedcovers around herself, leaving me fully exposed. I took in a deep breath and prayed he would look away. Instead, he drew closer, bent down and kissed Lily on the forehead.

“I expect you are correct,” he said, “she is missing her mother.”

He gathered the sleeping child in his arms and lifted her up. I thought he was taking her back to her berth. But instead he laid her down on his own bed. Then he turned and came toward me. I had hurriedly pulled the bedcovers back over me. He sat down on top of them and, taking my hand in his, fixed his eyes on me.

“I was wrong to be angry with you, Delia,” he whispered. “I see the love you have for Lily and she has for you. I was being selfish.”

He began to finger the strands of my hair. “I was very hurt when you told me you’d lied to me. I tried telling you that my anger was because you had violated my strong principle of truthfulness, but the irony is I was lying too. What really hurt was that I had become very fond of you, Delia. I’d dropped my guard for the first time since Mary died and let you get close. And when I found out you’d lied to me about who you really were, I felt like a fool.”

I waited for him to finish; I could find no words to reply. All I could do was gaze at his face in the early morning light.

“Daddy? Miss Delia?” Lily’s small voice broke the spell.

Aidan pulled away and spun around.

“It’s all right, Lily, I’m here,” he said, his voice husky.

“I want to get up now,” she said. “It’s morning.”

“You’re right. Let’s go back to your berth and get you dressed.”

He reached up and drew the curtain between our berths closed.

* * *