It was our usual crowd, the same as the first night in the captain’s dining room, but now we were in the main dining room with the rest of the first- and second-class passengers, though a velvet rope divided the two classes. On the other side of the rope, the gentlemen adventurers who had put on such an intriguing display of the proper gold-panning technique were standing with a group of young swells who had earned a reputation as spoiled and frivolous young men. I avoided them at all costs.
Lady Persephone was speaking with Mrs. Burk and a few other women over in a corner, but I felt like I needed a bit more fortification before I approached them. I gladly accepted a glass of wine from the waiter and wandered over to the table where Sir Richard and the other men were playing cards.
When Sir Richard saw me, he called to the waiter for another chair—“Be quick about it, we can’t leave this lovely lady standing”—and I sat down between him and John Crossman. I nodded at Captain Hellyer, and Reverend Burk sitting opposite. Dr. Carson arrived, Scotch in hand, and pulled up his own chair. He looked exhausted and said he was content just to watch the game.
“Nice to see you again, Miss Harding,” Reverend Crossman said. He smelled of shaving soap and the earthy aromas of cigars and Scotch.
I smiled a greeting, and my hand trembled ever so slightly as I tipped my wineglass to my lips.
“Do you play, my dear?” Sir Richard asked.
“I do, but perhaps this is not the time or place.”
“Nonsense, I know my wife thinks ladies shouldn’t play with men…” He caught Lady Persephone’s eye. She frowned almost imperceptibly but nodded. “We’ll deal you in,” he said with unforced glee.
One person tended to dominate in most marriages, usually the man, but not always, and it seemed that Sir Richard took his marching orders from Lady Persephone. I couldn’t help but think it a shame that more marital unions weren’t shared partnerships, but I supposed the chances of that were slim to none.
We settled into a game of whist, but there were too many distracting thoughts swirling in my head, and I made several blunders the first round. In spite of being my partner, Reverend Crossman gave me a sympathetic look. After making a few more silly errors, I offered to take over the role of dealer from Captain Hellyer, and I picked up the deck.
As a child I had spent many hours perfecting my shuffle, and it came back to me easily now. I fanned the cards first forward and then back with the skill of a professional.
“I’m impressed,” Captain Hellyer commented. “Clearly you did not spend your youth in traditional female pastimes.”
“My mother and her friends loved cards. I was often called upon to be their dealer. I made it a childish game to try to impress them with my skill.”
“My wife tells me you are off to the colonies in search of a husband,” Sir Richard said. “A good thing too. Men cooped up together with no women. It leads to, ah, unhealthy behaviour. Anyway, marriage shouldn’t be a hard task for a girl like you.” He looked wistful. “Ah, if only I were thirty years younger and unattached…”
I took his words as the innocent flirtation of an older man but stole a glance at Lady Persephone. She appeared not to have heard, or perhaps she chose to ignore it. I guessed she was used to this sort of behaviour from her husband. Was it his way of pushing back against her expectations? I dealt out the hand. Captain Hellyer chuckled as he looked at his cards while Sir Richard groaned. The two reverends appeared stone-faced, giving nothing away.
“There’s need of English settlers, I’m told. I feel it is my duty to the empire to help to settle the colony of British Columbia.” I recited Hari’s words with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.
Reverend Burk gave me a condescending look over his fanned cards. “The colony of British Columbia is not where we’re going.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“It’s a common mistake,” Captain Hellyer said. “You’re headed to Victoria in the colony of Vancouver Island. The mainland and the island are separate colonies.”
“I heard talk of a merger,” Reverend Crossman said, tossing a card faceup into the centre of the table.
“You’re right there, lad,” Sir Richard said as he played a trump card to take the first trick. “I’m coming to broker the deal. And after that? Who knows? Looks like there may be a whole new federation in the works. They’re thinking of calling it Canada, of all the daft names. It would be a great joining-together of all the British colonies in North America. We’ll push the damn Yankees out of the north once and for all. Pardon my French, my dear.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever met an American,” I said. “Are they so very different from us?”
“Oh, frightfully different. Nothing like us. They have the strangest notions.”
“How so?” I asked.
“For one thing, they’ve done away with the class system. No more Sir This or Lady That; everyone’s a commoner. One’s station in life is not determined by the class one is born into. Can you credit it?”
Dr. Carson coughed. “It’s an idea that has its merits,” he said, before adding, “in my opinion.”
I caught John nodding, but Sir Richard’s brows knit together in annoyance.
“In America they’re letting in hordes of penniless people from all over the world. Have you ever heard of anything so humbug? They think they’re building a great country. Stuff and nonsense. We have to protect our values and the empire and
