Alice: Bride of Rhode Island (American Mail-Order Bride 13) by Kristy McCaffrey Page B

entered and sat on the sofa. The butler appeared with a tray and set it on the table before them. He poured dark fluid into two tea cups, then departed. “Please sit. It’s Alice, isn’t it?”
    “Yes, ma’am.” Alice removed her coat—the butler hadn’t offered to take it—and set it on the settee beside her, then sat down.
    “Do you like tea?”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    Edith folded her aging hands into her lap. “Why is your last name Martel? Are you married?”
    Edith’s forthright manner took Alice aback. “Yes, newly so.”
    “Then I suppose congratulations are in order,” her grandmother added, her gravelly voice not steeped in any sentimentality. “Did your stepfather, Daniel Endicott, arrange it?”
    Lying to her grandmother seemed out of the question. “No, ma’am. I was a mail-order bride.”
    “A what?” Derision coated her words.
    “I was in Massachusetts but returned to Rhode Island with the promise of a marriage to a respectable fisherman in Tiverton.”
    Her grandmother’s composure faltered. “I suppose Gavin would have appreciated that.”
    Alice was sorry that she’d upset the woman but took the crack in her armor as an opening. “I know it’s not my place to ask, but why did you stay away from our family all these years?”
    Edith hesitated and looked across the room. Just when Alice feared she’d overstepped her bounds, the woman spoke. “I’m not a perfect woman. Sometimes, in anger, one sets a course, and then time takes one even further upon it.”
    “Were you mad at my father?”
    Edith set her cup and saucer onto the table and smoothed her gown. “We disagreed about his passion for the sea. You see, I wanted him to be a minister. I raised Gavin alone, as my husband had died from illness when Gavin was only a boy. My father was a pastor, and it was an honorable duty for him, just as it would’ve been for Gavin.” She sighed. “But oh, how my boy loved the sea. I can see that now. Back then, I was desperate that he do my bidding, but he ran off and lived the life of a vagabond, jumping from ship to ship.”
    “I’m told he was a revered captain during the War, that he blockaded the South on the ocean.”
    “Yes,” Edith answered softly. “I’d heard that too.”.
    “Did you ever come to visit us?”
    “A few times, after Gavin and Hazel married, after you were born. But the distance between my son and me was still great. He had little to do with me. And now, I sit here looking at you, and I hardly know you.” Her voice broke. “Why did you come here?”
    “I saw you at Papa’s gravesite earlier. One of the caretakers told me who you were.” Alice reached into the left sleeve of her gown and pulled the paper she’d found the previous night. “I recently found this letter that was written by my mother before she died.”
    Alice unfolded it and handed it to Edith.
    Edith’s eyes swelled with tears when she finally looked up. “I’m so sorry for Hazel’s passing. I had no idea. I’m touched that she would even think of me during such a difficult time.”
    “I still have the pearls you gave me so long ago.”
    “You do?” Edith’s gaze widened in surprise.
    “Yes. They mean a great deal to me.”
    A warm and genuine smile lit her grandmother’s features. “I’m very glad to hear that. I’m not sure how I can possibly help you, but I’d be honored to have you back in my life.”
    “Thank you. I wonder if you’d like to meet my husband?”
    “I’d be delighted.”

 
    Chapter Nineteen
     
     
    L iving in Daniel Endicott’s home was the last place James desired to be, but he wouldn’t leave Alice. Their belongings had been transferred from the hotel and they were both now settled, albeit in separate rooms.
    William Evans and Lillie Jenkins were gone, having returned to their respective homes. It had surprised James to find Lillie here, engaging with a man like Daniel. She and Stephen knew of the history between the Martels and Endicott. Her