to wear,” Ben said, eager to steer the conversation away from Alice. “Seventeen bodies, you say?” he asked Derek. “You think there will be more?”
“Hard to say. It’s possible, I suppose.”
“Derek, was there nothing on the victims to indicate who they were?” Hannah asked, her expression sorrowful.
“Just the clothes they’d been wearing at the time of the storm,” Derek replied. “Several appear to be sailors, and the others looked prosperous enough, but they could have been anyone, from anywhere.”
“Were there any women or children?” Hannah asked, her voice cracking with distress.
“There were two women,” Derek replied. “Both of middle years. No children, thank God.”
“One of those women may have been traveling with Alice,” Hannah pointed out. “They might have been her mother, or mother-in-law, or even her servant.”
Derek raised an eyebrow at that. “What makes you think she had a servant?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Hannah replied. “It was just a thought.”
“Was she wearing a fine gown? Silk stockings? Jewelry?” Derek inquired, his interest piqued. Hannah paused in thought for a moment.
“Mother?” Ben asked. “Did you notice the quality of her clothes?” He hadn’t paid much attention to what Alice had been wearing, his only objective to get her warm and dry as soon as possible.
“I soaked the gown and stockings in cold water to get the salt and the smell out,” Hannah said. “The stockings are plain cotton but good as new. They’d never been darned. And the gown is of fine wool, the color not yet faded. She wasn’t wearing any jewels when I undressed her, except for a silver chain with a small cross,” she added as an afterthought.
“No wedding ring?” Derek asked.
“No, but I suppose it might have slipped off when she went in the water.”
“The other women still had theirs,” Derek pointed out.
“I certainly hope no one has helped themselves to any of their valuables,” Hannah said. “I wouldn’t put it past some to steal from the dead.” Josh chose this moment to apply himself to his food, hoping his mother wouldn’t bring up the watch he found on the beach.
“No, of course not,” Derek rushed to assure her. “They will be buried with whatever they had on them at the time of their death. They will be given every respect. Mr. Tate has asked that everyone attend the funeral, as a mark of respect.”
“When is it to be?” Hannah asked.
“Tomorrow. They’ve already started digging the graves,” he added.
“Will they have individual graves for them?” Hannah asked. Seventeen graves made for a lot of digging.
“There will be three mass graves,” Derek replied. “With markers.”
Hannah nodded, her eyes filling with tears. “How sad to be buried in a strange place, with not even a name to put on a marker. The families of these people will never know what became of their loved ones.”
“Ships are lost at sea all the time,” Derek said. He pushed away his plate. He’d hardly eaten anything, Ben noticed, which was unusual. Maybe his pragmatic, stoic brother had been more affected by the disaster than he was letting on.
“Has Alice eaten anything?” Ben asked.
“I took up a bowl of broth and some bread,” Hannah replied. “Dr. Rosings said she was to eat lightly for the next few days. She managed some broth and a few bites of bread, but then she began to feel ill.”
“Did she puke?” Josh inquired, his face alight with curiosity.
“No, she didn’t,” Hannah answered him. “But she was tired, so I let her sleep. I left the bread and a cup of water, should she wake in the night.”
“I do wonder who she is,” Derek said. “Imagine not being able to remember anything about your life, not even your name.”
“She’s very fragile,” Hannah said. “Be mindful of her feelings, boys.”
“Yes, Ma,” they answered in unison.
Chapter 12
Alice woke to find sunlight streaming through the dormer window, bathing the small room in golden light. She suddenly realized that she didn’t even know what month is was, much less what day. She’d lain awake long into the night, struggling to recall something of her life, but after hours of frustration had finally succumbed to sleep. She did feel marginally better. Her head still hurt, and her stomach roiled as if she were standing on the deck of a ship, but she felt a little stronger. A wave of dizziness assailed her when she tried to get up to use the pot, her legs folding beneath her as if they were made of straw.
“Come on,” she said through gritted teeth. “You can