Page 58 of Mail-Order Lady

“Anythin’ that needed doin’.” The lift of his shoulder wasn’t quite a shrug but close. “I was taken with four other boys. We did as we were told.”

She could only imagine what that might include at the hands of men who’d killed a ship full of people. Likely none of it was proper dinner conversation.

“How did you get away?” Enoch’s voice came from the end of the table. Not quite hostile, but close. Every word he’d spoken since Nathan arrived had carried that edge.

Nathan reached for his cup and took a drink before answering. Like he needed time to measure how much to say. Or maybe just giving himself a moment to decide if these people—his brothers, supposedly—were safe enough to hear the answer.

“Mutiny.” He set the cup down with the same deliberateness he’d used with the fork. “Captain got himself killed. The crew split. Some went one way, some another. My mates and I went with a man who knew a cargo ship captain in need of hands.”

The silence that followed felt heavy. Clara made herself take a bite of bread, though it tasted like dust in her mouth.

“And you’ve been on cargo ships since?” Robert’s voice came gentler than Enoch’s. Not quite warm, but not hostile either. Just...careful.

“Most of the time.” Nathan’s gaze moved to Robert, then away again. That constant sweeping motion, like he couldn’t rest easy. “Worked my way up to navigator eventually. Good with maps.”

She shot a glance at Robert. In the same way he was good with maps? Was it a family trait? Likely not, as cartography didn’t seem to be of particular interest to Enoch, James, or Thomas. Perhaps this would bond Robert with his new brother. Or maybe he’d see it as a threat.

At the moment, his expression was too hard to read. Too many calculations working through his mind for any single thought to settle, no doubt.

“Did you have a regular route you traveled?” Thomas leaned forward a little. “What ports did you visit most?”

Nathan’s gaze swept across Thomas’s face and down to his plate before answering. “Varied. London to Calcutta most often. Singapore. Port Said. Wherever the cargo needed to go.”

“What kind of cargo?” Thomas seemed to be trying to create a picture in his mind like she was.

Nathan shifted in his chair. “Textiles mostly. Spices. Tea.” A pause. “Whatever paid.”

Clara reached for her cup and took a sip, using the motion to study him without staring outright. His hands rested on either side of his plate, but they weren’t relaxed. The fingers stayed curved slightly, like he was ready to grab something at a moment’s notice. Maybe to defend himself.

“Did you enjoy the work?” Rose’s voice came soft as she leaned around her husband to see their guest.

Nathan’s gaze slid to her face, and his expression shifted. Not quite softening, but not quite as guarded. “It was work.”

Beside Clara, Kate had stopped attempting to eat bread and returned her grip to the table edge. Clara raised her brows at her sister. Her face had lost a little more color.

But Kate didn’t look at her, just gave the smallest nod. The kind that meant I’m managing, don’t fuss. She needed to lie down, but they’d already had this discussion. Kate was determined to be present for this first meal with the new brother.

She refocused on their guest as Mandie sent a question this time. “Did your friends work with you on that ship? The ones who’d been taken with you as boys?”

Something flickered across Nathan’s face—too quick to name before it was gone. He reached for his fork again and speared a bite of meat, but didn’t lift it to his mouth. “Yes, ma’am. We’ve always stayed together.”

Clara’s chest tightened. Boys who’d managed to cling to each other through impossible hardships. “Where are they now? I imagine it was hard to leave them.”

He met her gaze for the first time. Just a flash of connection before his focus dropped to her food, then to his own. “Yes, ma’am. The ship was being repaired for sale.” Nathan’s voice had gone quieter. “Captain decided it wasn’t worth keeping. Crew all went their separate ways.”

The way he said it—flat, like he was reading a fact from a ledger—made her chest press even tighter. Those boys he’d grown up with, the ones who’d kept each other alive through six years of slavery and however many more years at sea.

Just...scattered. Gone.

“I’m sorry.” The words slipped out before Clara could stop them. “That must have been difficult.”

His gaze flicked to hers again. Held a beat longer this time. Something moved behind his eyes—surprise maybe, or wariness, like he wasn’t quite sure what to do with kindness offered without conditions.

“It was time.” He lifted the fork and took the bite he’d been holding. Chewed. Swallowed. “We all knew it couldn’t last forever.”

But knowing a thing and having it come to pass weren’t the same.

Enoch eyed him. “So you went to claim your birthright.”