am very glad to see you—we feared you would be in gaol for months.”
Claire made a movement as if to stop him from telling her the truth, then thought better of it. Davina may look as though a gust of wind might blow her away, but under the tightly laced corset was a spine of steel. “He was not in gaol, my dear friend,” she explained gently. “They imprisoned him on top of one of those stone pinnacles and left him to die. If not for Alice here coming to the rescue with the Mo—with the girls, his remains would be up there still.”
“No!” Davina laid a hand on her pristine Flanders cutwork blouse. “Shocking—distressing—how could they? And … Alice? Which of your party is she?”
Out of the corner of her eye, Claire saw Jake give Alice a shove in the small of her back. She stumbled out of her hiding place behind Andrew.
“Pleased to meet you, ma’am. Sir. Lordships. I’m Alice Chalmers.”
Davina rose and shook her hand, followed by the earl. “You must call us Davina and John. We’re among family here. We are so grateful. How did you accomplish such a daring rescue?”
Alice hunched her shoulders, as though Davina’s wide eyes and guileless smile were a plague she might somehow catch. “I just flew the Lass overhead and we winched him up.”
“It weren’t quite so easy as that,” Lizzie interrupted, ever factual. “They was firing cannon at us and those poor Cantons got blown up and that mucky great engine were flingin’ railway coaches at the pinnacle to try and break it in pieces and—”
“Great Caesar’s ghost!” the earl exclaimed. “Can this be true?”
“It’s quite true, sir,” Andrew replied, backing Lizzie up before she did something foolish, lw.
“But wait, did you say the Lass?” Davina asked. “The Stalwart Lass, Ned Mose’s ship?”
Alice nodded. “Ned Mose is—well, the truth is, he—”
“He was her stepfather,” Claire put in smoothly. “They became estranged when Alice took possession of the ship in order to pursue the girls and me to Santa Fe and save our lives.”
“Ah,” said the earl thoughtfully. “I am astonished that this is the first time we have met.”
“Circumstances conspired to keep us apart, but I am glad they have brought us all together again,” Davina said. She reached up and hugged Alice. “I for one am delighted.”
Alice blushed again, and after a moment, gave her ladyship a squeeze before she stepped back. “I’ll get your blouse all dirty, ma’am.”
“Nonsense. Rather a dirty waist than no hug, as any mother of a boy will tell you.”
There was a pounding in the corridor outside the salon and Willie burst into the room. “Lady!” He dashed over to Claire and flung himself against her skirts. “I knew you’d come back!”
“Yes, I do seem rather like the proverbial penny. I’m very glad to see you, darling.”
“Mama and Papa are going into town for dinner. Are you going?”
“I’m afraid I have nothing to eat dinner in, and their company would be scandalized if I turned up in this poor old navy skirt.”
“Mama and Papa will send their regrets to the lieutenant-governor,” Lord Dunsmuir told his son with a smile. “I can’t imagine any society dinner would be more interesting than hearing about your travels, though I must say any dinner with Isobel Churchill at the table will not be dull.”
“Isobel Churchill?” Claire let Willie go and he ran to his mother. “She and Peony are still here? Oh, I hope I can send a message to let them know I’m all right—we were to have met some days ago, you know, and they are likely wondering why I did not arrive as planned. There have been some rather, er, alarming reports in the papers lately.”
“I should say so,” said a voice from the gangway. Captain Hollys stepped into the room and offered Claire his hand, his face alight in a way that would have been most disturbing had Andrew not been standing right behind her. “May I say I am very glad that the reports have been exaggerated?”
“Thank you, Captain. And may I say that the lessons you gave Jake in navigation and aeronautics have more than repaid the time you took to give them. Hsengive the has been Captain Chalmers’ first officer on the Stalwart Lass in everything but name.”
“Captain Chalmers? The Stalwart Lass?” The captain of the Lady Lucy looked over the little party, his gaze darkening. “I’d like a word with him, and then perhaps he’d like a quick trip