Page 47

“I be sorry,” she said softly.

Poppy glanced up at Morvoren then, tipping her head to the side curiously. “Do ye remember anythin’ ’bout your parents yet?”

Morvoren swallowed, shifting against the thin cushion Mrs. Honeysett had laid down for her atop the bench. “A little,” she responded, not wishing to lie to the girl any more than she already had. “I do remember that they’ve passed on, too.”

Poppy’s brow rose. “Both of ’em?”

She nodded. She’d kept such knowledge away from the family on purpose, but what with her leaving tomorrow morning, what was the harm in allowing the girl such information?

“Did ye ’ave any brothers or sisters?”

“No, ’fraid not.”

Poppy looked away in a sort of daze. “No brothers or sisters. That be a tragedy, that.”

Morvoren gave a half-smile. “Well, ye only have the one.”

“Yes, but I could’ve ’ad more. Mother lost three babes ’tween ’avin’ I and Trevik.”

“Oh. Oh, I be sorry to hear that.” She’d had no idea the woman had suffered so great a loss three times over. Such heartbreaks were not unheard of—though it didn’t make them any less excruciating to suffer through.

“I s’pose that be why she be so grateful for Trevik and I,” Poppy continued, pulling off the lid of her jar of paste set beside the wood and shells. “And why I be grateful for Trevik, as intolerable as ’e can be at times.”

Morvoren gave a short laugh. Intolerable was putting it politely. “Like when he won’t let ye speak with whom ye wish to speak?”

Poppy’s smile faded away, her voice falling to a whisper. “Trevik be a good man. ’E be a fierce protector over I and Mother. But…’e can be daft, as well. ’E still thinks I be a child, too young for an ’usband.”

Morvoren had a great deal to say in regard to Mr. Honeysett, but criticizing the man Poppy held in such high regard would not be wise—nor kind. Instead, she held her tongue and broached another subject. “Tell me ’bout Lieutenant Harris. When did ye first meet him?”

Instantly, Poppy’s expression lightened, an airy smile stretching across her lips. “I met ’im a few months back, when ’e was shipwrecked near Golowduyn. Mother and I began work there last May, same time as ’im. That be when I first saw ’im.” Her cheeks glowed pink. “’E do be the most kind, most ’umorous, most ’andsome man I ever saw.”

Morvoren’s smile grew at the admiration in Poppy’s words. “And he loves ye, too, then?”

“Love?” Poppy pulled back, her blush deepening. “Oh, I could ne’er ’ope as much. I only wish ’e’d stay in St. Just for longer, rather than goin’ back to sea.”

“He has plans, then, of goin’ back?”

Poppy shrugged. “I s’pose. I can’t ask ’im, too afeared o’ the answer, see.”

She fell silent, her eyes taking on a distant look and appearing much older than her sixteen years of age. After another moment, she sighed, shaking her head and staring back at her shellwork. “Anyway, they just be fanciful ideas. It’d be only a dream, for no man such as ’e would e’er wish to be with I.”

Her dejected words pierced Morvoren’s heart. Mr. Honeysett clearly did not believe Poppy was old enough to have a suitor, but was his reluctance on the matter causing Poppy’s confidence to falter?

Unwilling to allow such a thing to occur, Morvoren leaned forward, focusing intently on Poppy as she spoke. “No woman, no matter the age, should e’er believe she ain’t worthy of receivin’ all she desires.” She paused. “’Sides, I noticed your Lieutenant Harris watchin’ ye, and I saw more than simple admiration in his eyes.”

Poppy pulled her lips together to hide her smile. “Ye must’ve mistaken ’im for lookin’ at ye. I don’t ’ave your looks. And I sure as anythin’ can’t flirt.”

Morvoren didn’t believe that for a second. After all, she’d thought Mr. Honeysett had been unable to flirt, and she’d been proven wrong tenfold. But then, why had he been able to flirt with Morvoren and not Mary?

She shook the thought from her mind, convincing herself she didn’t need to know the answer. “Sure ye can flirt, Poppy. All it takes is practice.”

But Poppy shook her head. “I s’pose if I did learn, Trevik’d just disapprove.”

Morvoren leaned closer. “All the more reason to do it, then.”

The girls stifled their laughter when Mr. Honeysett glanced at them from the kitchen. Morvoren knew she was skirting around an open flame by teaching Poppy to pursue the lieutenant. But if Morvoren left the girl happier and with more control over her own life, then she would not stop her encouraging.

Besides, what with her leaving tomorrow, she didn’t have to deal with any of the repercussions anyway.