~.~

Nineteen

~.~

She woke when Edward tried to slip from the bed. Bella spoke his name, her voice low as to avoid waking Rose.

"My apologies. I tried not to disturb you."

Her hearing was too sharp for that. "Apologize not. But why are you rising? 'Tis hours yet until dawn."

"I cannot sleep." Edward rubbed his eyes. Even in this room lit only by the faint shimmer of moonlight through the overcast sky, Bella could see there were purple shadows below them.

"Let's go downstairs, and I will make you some warm cider."

Edward slid his legs into his breeches while Bella buttoned her nightgown over her shift. She smiled because he could have gone downstairs in only his shirt; they were the only ones in the house, after all, aside from the still-sleeping Rose. But the stern faith of his people insisted on modesty in all circumstances.

They crept down the stairs, Edward's hand on Bella's shoulder because it was still too dark for him to see without a candle. He took a seat in one of the chairs while Bella stirred up the fire and poured some cider into the kettle to heat.

"Will you talk with me about what weighs so heavily on your mind, my love?"

Edward put his elbow on his table and propped his chin on the heel of his hand. "The situation with my father. I fell troubled about asking him to leave, though I also feel that I had no choice. I feel so ... disappointed in him. Betrayed. It sounds trite to say, but we expect our elders to make wise decisions. I always looked up to my father. As a child, my mother always told me that God spoke through fathers and husbands, as the head of the family and its spiritual leader. Seeing my father make such a terrible decision ... It shook my faith in him. It shook my faith in everything."

Bella knelt on the floor beside him and laid her head on his thigh. "I understand. Better than you know. I experienced the same thing when I was young. I haven't told you much of my mother, have I?"

"Very little. You said that your mother and father weren't ... wed."

A small smile quirked her lips, a smile that he wouldn't see. " 'Tis a rare thing that one finds their soulmate. I am fortunate in that. My mother still searches for hers."

Edward's hand drifted to Bella's hair and he stroked it as she spoke, loosening her braid so he could run his fingers through the silken strands.

"Old hearts can grow weary of the search. I was young when my mother fell in love. Twenty or thirty or so - I cannot say exactly, for we do not keep track of these things as humans do. But my kind usually remain with their mothers long after yours have families of their own.

"The man my mother wanted was in love with another woman. I saw my mother pining for him and I sympathized. But then something changed. She grew petty and spiteful. She tried to cause discord between the man and his love. I was shocked. I never imagined my mother would behave like that. It was completely contrary to what she had taught me. Her friends began to drift away, but I don't think my mother even noticed, so focused was she on that man and luring him into her arms in any way that she could. I tried to talk with her, but ..." Bella shook her head. "There was no reaching her in the place she was. Eventually, I had to leave, too, because I couldn't bear to watch what she had become. And I remember feeling so shocked, so bewildered, so... betrayed. My mother was supposed to be the wise one I could turn to when I made mistakes, who would always know what to do, who would always steer me toward the right path."

"You left?"

Bella turned her hand to nuzzle a kiss into his palm. "I did. I didn't want to. As I said, our kind stay with our mothers much longer than yours. Not because we are vulnerable, but because the world is such a large place, and there's so much to learn about it. I struck out on my own, though I stayed near to my own kind. Some of the other women sheltered me as a mother would."

"And what happened with your mother?"

"She came to her senses ... eventually. And she realized what she had done. It was a long while before she could forgive herself and then seek forgiveness from those she'd wronged."

"Did you forgive her?"

Bella pressed Edward's hand to her cheek. "Oh, my love ... There is a grace too powerful to name. Forgiveness and redemption are almost always possible for those who atone and learn from their mistakes."

For a moment, Bella struggled for words, because the concept itself seemed too much to encapsulate in sentences. It was times like these when she longed for the communication she had with other selkies, where a touch could convey everything a heart and mind held without the struggle of translating it into phrases.

"The world is a large place. So many different realms, and languages, and climates. There are lands of ice, and lands of fire. Lands where not a drop of rain has fallen for centuries. There places where the green is so deep, it seems to swallow sound, and the scent of it is thick in every breath. It would take countless lifetimes to explore it all."

She could tell Edward didn't understand what she was trying to say. She watched as he blinked, and his brow crumpled. His lips parted as if to form a question, but he didn't seem to know what to ask.

Bella reached up to stroke his face, that face that was part of her soul. That face which would stay with her for centuries. "Love is even larger. And in it too are many places, many different languages and realms. I have seen many lifetimes. I have watched as generations seem to make the same mistakes again and again. Somehow, people never seem to pass on the most important lessons of all to the next generation. Perhaps that's something humans have to do - they have to learn these lessons for themselves, make those mistakes before they can understand. The tales and fables and histories and experiences of others are naught but stories. and they have to struggle through it personally before the moral resonates within them."

"Bella, I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're saying."

"Can you have the grace to allow your father to make mistakes? Oh, Edward ... We see adults as their finished form, as if they have achieved their pinnacle of wisdom before we came along, but they, too are still growing, still learning. There was no malice in his heart. Only fear. Fear born of ignorance, but he can still learn. He is not hardened."

Edward turned his face from her and stared at the fire for a moment. "I cannot accept what he did."

"I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to give him some time. And if he comes to realize his mistake, perhaps you may find there's room in your heart for forgiveness after all?"

Steam curled from the spout of the kettle. Bella took it from its hook over the fire and poured some of the warmed cider into a mug. She set it in front of him. Edward thanked her automatically, but he was deep in thought.

Bella poured a mug for herself and sipped at the hot liquid. She watched as he chewed at his lip, rubbed the back of his neck, and raked his hands through his hair. She hid a smile behind the rim of her cup. She loved watching him, especially when his mind was working something over, but she knew he needed space at the moment. She finished her cider and kissed him on the forehead before heading up the stairs to their room. She laid down in their bed, snuggling into his pillow where she could inhale his scent. The sky was starting to lighten, and Rose would be stirring soon.

A new day was beginning, and ever day brought with it new possibilities.

~.~

Bella must have drifted back off into slumber because she woke when Edward came into their room. He went over to Rose's cradle and scooped her up into his arms. Bella watched from her comfortable spot, nestled amid the blankets, while he helped Rose dress, working the knit stockings over her legs, and pulling her dress on, which he got backwards on the first try and had to work the arms of a wriggling toddler through the proper holes.

Bella giggled into the blankets, but it warmed her heart to see Edward taking care of the little girl. He was starting to accept her as family, as their child. He finished combing her hair and pressed a kiss to the top of her head before tying her day cap in place.

"Pod," said Rose.

"What?" Edward gazed down at her quizzically.

"Pod!" Rose repeated.

"She's saying 'pot,' " Bella said, sitting up. "You didn't take her over to the chamber pot."

"Oh!" Edward looked down at Rose in alarm and set her on her feet.

Bella laughed. "I'll take care of that. Go get the fire stirred up."

By the time they got downstairs, Edward was coming in from the back yard with a bucket in one hand. "I milked the goat," he told her. "Not much this morning, I'm afraid. The kid may have gotten most of it."

Bella shrugged. "There's enough for Rose to have a drink."

A flicker of pain crossed Edward's features as he realized he didn't need enough milk for Emmett, too. "I'll go get the eggs," he said and headed back outside.

Their mornings were certainly quieter with only the three of them in the house. Edward seemed lost in thought as they ate their breakfast, and the scrape of their spoons against their pewter plates seemed loud. Bella told him of her plans to go to the market that morning, but she didn't think he really heard her. After he finished eating, he gave her a kiss and headed out the door, having to return in just a few moments because he'd forgotten his hat.

Bella put on her own bonnet and swung Rose up into her arms. Rose touched her cheek and an image of Emmett flooded Bella's mind.

No, Bella told her. We're not going to see Emmett.

Soon?

Perhaps.

Bella collected basket and set off for the market, locking the door behind herself since no one else was in the house. She heard it as soon as she stepped off the stoop into the street. She stopped stock still, her head cocked to the side.

For a moment, she couldn't understand what she was hearing because it was so out-of-place here. It was something that she hadn't heard since boarding the ship to the New World.

Music.

Bella followed the sound, her steps light and quick as she dodged the traffic in the street, hurrying toward the sound lest it stop before she found the source of it.

She needn't have worried. The men gathered around the warehouse in front of the docks had no intention of stopping any time soon. Jenks was seated on the tree stump where Bella had once seen Alice chatting with Lauren Mallory. Several men had taken seats on the grass around him. One had a wooden tub he was using as a drum. Another held a flute between his fingers. Jenks was strumming on a lute. It was a beautiful instrument he must have brought with him from England, finely crafted. Its face was of smooth blonde wood. The back was ribbed, made of alternating strips of rosewood and maple.

After the last song came to a halt, Jenks began strumming again, the other musicians caught up quickly as they recognized the tune. Bella knew it within the first few notes. Hélas Madame was a song that she had danced to many times at court.

She closed her eyes and she was there again, at Edward's side as they glided and turned, their eyes meeting and clinging with every movement. She could still count the steps in her mind, two to the left, then two to the right, then three to the left and three to the right, then one step back while bending forward ... Beneath Bella's skirts, her feet were shifting, just slightly, in the memory of the steps.

She and Edward hadn't often wanted to go to court with its endless round of festivals, feasts and dancing, but part of Bella longed for the freedom to be able to dance if she chose to. To sing, to recite poetry, and not have to hide her books away. Too many things about this place reminded her of those terrible years of Queen Mary's reign, when she lived in fear of the fire. She wondered for a moment if perhaps the time had come to convince Edward to go back to England, but her mind drifted away as she was swept up by the magic of music again.

Jenks sang the lyrics loudly and boldly. He had a good voice, and his French accent was crisp, like someone who spoke the language fluently, rather than just repeating the sounds of a foreign song. He saw Bella in the crowd and gave her a saucy wink.

The traffic in the street had come to a standstill, and a crowd was gathering around Bella. She heard whispers, but she ignored them. In her mind, she was still in a massive hall, lit by candlelight that glittered from gold plate and the jewels sewn to the skirts of the dancers who swirled around her.

Rose was spellbound. She had her thumb and forefinger in her mouth, but she had forgotten to chew on them, staring at these men who made such strange noises. It was the first time in her short life she'd ever heard music. Bella took her other hand and Rose's sheer delight and wonderment flooded through her. She turned her head toward Bella and they shared a smile.

It was a happy moment not meant to last.

"What is the meaning of this?" Governor Bradford pushed through the crowd until he was standing in front of Jenks. The other musicians faltered to a halt, but Jenks continued to sing just as loudly and boldly until he'd finished the last line, strumming his lute in a wide, dramatic sweep.

"Governor Bradford, I bid you good morn," he said, and tipped the brim of his hat, a small flick that seemed more of a taunt than a mark of respect.

Bradford's face was a furious scarlet. "Surely, you are aware that such frippery is not permitted here."

"Were I aware of it, I wouldn't have done it, would I?" Jenks set aside his lute and smiled pleasantly. "But what of it? 'Twas but a bit of fun."

"You are among a Christian people," Bradford spat. "Worldly music such as that ..." To Bella's surprise, Bradford seemed to lose his usual easy command of speech and began to sputter. "We'll not have it here!" he finally managed.

" 'Tis a good thing I shan't be here long, then," Jenks said, and stood.

"You're leaving?" Bella blurted. People in the crowd turned to look at her, and she wished she hadn't said anything.

"Not far," Jenks told her. "We're setting up a plantation in the abandoned town of Wissagusset."

"I pray only that your partner in this venture is more sensible." Bradford's cheeks still gleamed with that hectic flush. "You have come to a realm where the word of God is supreme, sirrah, and we'll have none of the old, worldly ways."

"I heed you." Jenks picked up his lute and propped it over one shoulder. "I bid you good day." He flicked his hat brim again and gave a deep nod in Bella's direction before sauntering off. His band mates kept their eyes down as they scurried off as well. Bradford watched them, his fists clenched.

The crowd dispersed and Bella went with them, headed for the market. The women staffing the booths served her coldly or tried to ignore her as she purchased her essentials, but Bella's mind was too preoccupied with Jenks and his new colony to pay it any heed. Was this what Jenks had meant about the charter from the king, and his trading venture? What would that mean for Plimouth? Bradford had seemed furious, but he hadn't threatened Jenks with the stocks. Did he feel that he king's favor protected Jenks in some way?

She was still pondering this as she walked to her second destination. Her mood lifted as she rounded the bend and saw the little house but her heart nearly stopped when she heard Alice shriek. The door slammed open and Alice ran out, her bonnet bouncing on her back, her skirts lifted nearly to her knees. But her face was lit up by a huge grin.

Jasper bounded out the door after her, in his shirtsleeves. He was grinning, too, his eyes on his retreating bride as he ran out the door behind her. He was the one who saw Bella first and stopped so suddenly that his shoes skidded in the dirt. He threw his arms up to cross over his body and crouched over, his eyes wide. Alice turned her head to look back over her shoulder and Bella had to sidestep quickly or be knocked off her feet.

"Oh!" Alice pinwheeled her arms and might have fallen if Bella hadn't caught her arm. Her face was flushed from the run, but it got even redder as she stammered. "I - um ... We're ..."

"Yes, I see." Bella couldn't keep from grinning at both of them, looking as guilty as children caught with their hands in the sugar box. Jasper whirled and ran back into the house and returned in a moment, now modestly covered with his doublet.

Alice smoothed her hands down her skirt and made sure her bonnet was straightened. "At least with you here, this one can't pester me and I can get back to my baking." She grinned at Jasper over her shoulder as she headed back into the house. Jasper looked so dejected that Bella had to hide a chuckle by rubbing her hand over her lips as she scurried after Alice into the tiny house.

"God's nightgown, Alice, what are you cooking for? The whole colony?" Bella stared around at the piles of bread rolls cooling on towels on every horizontal surface.

"A good portion of them, I think." Alice slid another pan into the coals by the fire. "Jasper has promised to build me a chimney with a baking oven once we expand the house."

"Are you having a party?"

"Nay, just my meetings. I would feel awful sending people off without some refreshment. So I'm making a stew and bread."

Bella glanced around the little house and pictured people having to sit on the small bed, on the rafters and atop the table.

"We don't use the house any more," Alice said, as if she realized the direction of Bella's thoughts. "We can't fit. So everyone takes a seat on the lawn. Jasper built some benches."

"Benches," Bella repeated.

"I sit in the doorway," Alice said, and her lips quirked in a little smile. "So I'm still technically meeting with people in my own home."

Governor Bradford had thought Alice's marriage would put a stop to her gatherings, but it seemed they'd only gotten larger.

Bella took a deep breath. "I've heard that there may be another colony soon. Jenks is moving his group to the old Wissagusset town. Perhaps we all could - "

Alice shook her head. "We're here for a reason, Bella." She wiped her hands on a towel and came over to pull Bella into a hug. "I know you worry. But I don't think moving is the solution."

"I don't know what's going to happen," Bella said, her words muffled against Alice's shoulder.

Alice drew back. Her smile was gentle. "I don't know, either. But we all must play our parts - even you Bella."

Bella was taken aback. It wasn't so much what she had said but the way she said it. She opened her mouth to speak, but didn't know what to say.

"Don't look so surprised." Alice straightened Bella's bonnet, which had been knocked askew during their hug. "I know that you do not believe as I do. I can feel it. I can see it in your eyes. No ... Please, don't look so worried. I'm sure that no one else can discern it. You're very good at going along with the motions. There are others among us who are the same. Perhaps I've just become more perceptive, but I can see it."

Bella sat down on the edge of the bench by the table. Her knees felt wobbly.

"I had a dream the other night," Alice said. " 'Twas the strangest thing. You and I were at Mass. I've never seen a papist Mass, but somehow I knew that's what it was. We were crossing ourselves and repeating the responses with the rest of the crowd, and your eyes had the same expression in them that they do now ... As though there are a million secrets behind them, and the expression of faith for you is one of fear."

Bella's mouth was dry.

Alice gave a little shake of her head. "A silly dream, but I think I had it because God was trying to tell me something. You should not have to be afraid. I know in your life in England, you saw terrible things, and maybe that's why -"

"I have to go." Bella stood and stumbled her way toward the door

"Bella, tarry, please." Alice put her arm over the doorway. "I love you. That's what I wanted you to know. And you have no cause for fear. Not with me."

Bella let out a strained laugh. "Aye, Alice, I do. But you do not see it. There is no safety for those I love, it seems. Especially when one of them is determined to butt heads with the authorities. You're right - I have seen terrible things. I've seen what happens to those who try to challenge the way things are. I've seen what happens to those who are defiant of the Church. They die."

"We're not like that here," Alice said. "There are no burnings. There -"

"Yet," Bella said.

The word fell like a stone between them.

"Bradford is getting more frustrated." Bella stepped out of the door into the sunshine. She could feel it warming her bonnet. Around her, the grass and leaves fluttered in the wind and the birds chittered their cheerful songs in the trees. But beneath the summer sky, a dark storm was brewing, and it seemed she was the only one who could sense it.

"When he spoke to Jenks today, I could see it in him. He is watching Plimouth change as more Strangers arrive, bringing their own ideas and the old ways. He's going to lash back and try to resume full control of the colony. He wants this place to remain Brownist. And I don't know how far he's willing to go to achieve that end."

"Shun me, then," Alice said, and turned away. "Have nothing to do with me and you need not worry about what Bradford will do."

"You know I won't do that. Our fates are tied."

Alice sat down on the step. "Fleeing to Jenks's colony won't change anything. You know that."

"I just wish ... I just wish there was a place where we could go and live as we pleased without fear. A place where we could read whatever we liked, dance or sing if the mood took us, and worship as our own hearts move us."

This time, it was Alice who gave the humorless laugh. "Oh, my dear. Where is this place? Have you ever heard of it?"

Bella had, but it was not part of the European world Alice knew of.

Alice stood. "So we do the best we can with the world we have. But, Bella... I cannot hide my light beneath a bushel. I wish I could make things different. But I have some destiny toward which God is leading me. One day, we'll look back on this and see that it was all part of the plan, that we had to be here at this time for the story to play out as the great author intended."

If it was a story, it was one Bella didn't wish to keep repeating. But perhaps this time, she could change things. Perhaps this time, it didn't have to end in tragedy.

As she walked back home, she kept that turning that thought over in her mind. Maybe she could break the cycle this time instead of watching helplessly. Maybe she was lying to herself, but it gave her some hope, some small sense of purpose.

~.~

That night, when she mention Jenks's colony to Edward, he already knew about it, and told her that he and Jenks had worked out a contract to harvest lumber from Bella's land to repair the buildings. He was excited by the growth of the colony.

"Think of it, Bella. Two towns within walking distance! His partner, Captain Caius, has about thirty indentured men who are helping with the construction. It should be completed quickly."

"I can't keep track of all the towns now," Bella said. "I keep hearing names. There's Jamestown and New Haven and Providence Plantation ..." She shook her head. The coastline was becoming dotted with towns.

"That's only the start of it," Edward said. "Think of your lands, Bella. How far they stretch, miles into the forest. Land no one has ever seen, let alone mapped."

"Not no one," Bella reminded him.

Edward blinked and a bit of a pink flush grew on his cheekbones. He hadn't been thinking of the Wôpanâak and the other tribes that occupied these lands long before the English ever stepped foot in the New World. "You're right, of course. The area where Jenks and his men are settling is desirable is because the Wôpanâak had already cleared the trees around Mount Caius for farming."

"Mount Caius?"

"Aye, that's what they're calling it now."

Over the next few weeks, they got occasional updates from Jenks as he stopped by to borrow books or chat with Edward and Bella. They had the main town hall completed (Jenks flatly refused to call it a "meeting house") and the market place completed. As it turned out, the mother of one of the local tribal chiefs had been buried near the site of the town. He came with offers of trade in order to be allowed to visit his mother's resting place. Jenks greeted him with more courtesy than he'd ever gotten from the English, and gave the Natives permission to freely visit whenever they liked.

Jenks was happy to report that he was already getting quite a bit of trade from the Natives in the area. They liked him for his friendly, open demeanor and the fact that he took pains to respect their culture. They took him, he said, to see the sites of their old villages, where so many had died that there was none left to offer the funerary rites of their people. Bones still littered these abandoned villages. Jenks called them Golgotha, and bitterly cursed the English for bringing the plague to these shores. Soon, they began bringing their wives and daughters to trade with them, knowing they were in no danger from Jenks and his men.

"And that reminds me," Jenks said, opening his bag to pull out a small parcel of leather bound in twine. "I have a present for you, Bella."

She untied the knot binding it closed and gasped when she saw the necklace inside. It was made of carved shells, brown and white, but their color variation had been subtly matched to create a pattern that flowed across the whole piece.

"I trust you won't be angered that I'm giving your wife jewelry," Jenks said to Edward. "But it's not from me, not entirely. It's also from the Algonquin women visiting our town. They've heard of you, Bella. Apparently, they think of you as a friend."

"Me?"

"Aye. That's why they sent this. When I told them I knew you, it raised my esteem in their eyes, so I need to thank you for that."

"I ... I don't understand."

"You're the only English woman in this area known to be friendly to the Natives. And they very much need friends, especially since the number of English keeps increasing."

"Please convey to them how grateful I am for such a fine gift." An idea struck her and she held up a finger. "Wait for a moment."

Upstairs, in her jewel coffer, she found what she was looking for and carried it back down to Jenks. "Give them this from me."

Jenks turned the pearl bracelet over in his hands. "Are you sure? I'm not certain they'll understand the value of it."

"It's made from the sea, just as the gift they gave me. And I think they'll understand the intent if nothing else."

She never got to ask Jenks how her bracelet had been received, because the next time he came back, he was in a white-hot rage. It was late fall, and when Bella opened the door, cold air swirled in with him. Rose took one look at his red face and the eyes which burned with anger and dove beneath the bench. Later, it would take Bella some time to coax her out.

"Come in," she said, uncaring of the fact it was improper for a married woman to invite a man into the house without her husband present. "What is the matter?"

"Where's Edward?" Jenks demanded. He shrugged out of his cloak and Bella took it, hanging it on the hook by the door.

"He's still out with the hiredmen. They're tapping trees for syrup. Jenks, what is it?"

"I - I apologize, Bella. He sank down in one of her chairs and buried his face in his hands. "May I have some ale? Something to drink, pray?"

Bella had some spiced cider heating over the fire for Edward when he came home. She poured Jenks a mug of it and he swallowed it down.

"Caius sold them."

"Sold who?"

"My men." Jenks's hair was a wild mess and he made it worse every time he raked his hands through it. "My indentured men. They helped to build Mount Caius because they thought they'd be part of the community once their indentures were up. Caius, that bastard ... He took a crew of them with him. Said they were going out scouting for trade and would be back in a week or so. He came back without them ... Had a bag of money. Told me he sold their indentures to a tobacco plantation in Virginia since we didn't need them any more now that the main town buildings have been finished. Why feed them over-winter, he said. God rot his soul."

"Jamestown?" Bella whispered the word in horror. At least half of the indentured servants died there every year. "Can you get them back?"

"You bet I can." Jenks's eyes were grim. "That's why I came for Edward. I want him to come with me."

"No!" Bella had been in the process of refilling his mug. She slammed it onto the table beside him so hard, the liquid geysered out.

Jenks blinked. "What? Why?"

"Edward is not a fighter. Ask Jasper if you want muscle, but not Edward. It's not his nature."

"I don't think there will be fighting."

Bella tilted her head. "For a man who argued in the law courts, you're not a very good liar."

Jenks laughed. "I suppose I'm not. Truth comes more naturally. All right, if you insist, I shan't ask him."

"There are other ways I can support your cause." Bella went to a drawer and opened it, pulling out a purse of coins. She dropped it on the table beside him. "Fighting isn't needed if you can offer gold. Buy them out, if you need to."

Bella could tell by his expression that Jenks considered demurring, probably just for manners' sake, but he nodded. "I'll bring back what's left, and we'll pay back the debt we owe you."

Edward opened the door and the candles nearly went out from the blast of cool air. "Bella, I - Jenks! I wasn't expecting - I mean, how do you do?"

Jenks chuckled. "My apologies for startling you. I was partaking of your wife's gracious hospitality until you arrived. I probably should ... um ... apologize for the breach in etiquette."

"Rubbish," Bella said.

Edward smiled. "As she said. Rubbish. You are always welcome. Now, tell me why it is you look so distressed."

Bella got a mug of cider for Edward while Jenks told him about Caius selling the men's indentures.

"I'm freeing them all," Jenks said. "As of today. I'll get the others back and free them, too."

Edward shook his head. "But what about Caius?"

Jenks tilted his head. "Well, I suppose that's up to him. Though he might not find the accommodations so pleasant after the indentured men return."

Jenks was correct in that. Caius left only a day or so after Jenks returned with the newly-freed indentured men. They had a small bonfire upon their return, burning all of the contracts of indenture.

It was a new era, Jenks declared, and a new colony. He renamed the town Mar-Re Mount, "Mount by the Sea," but most people would come to call it Merrymount. he declined the title of governor, declaring himself the "host" of the colony.

Bradford was, of course, alarmed. Edward told Bella that he had pleaded with Caius to stay and regain control of the town, but Caius boarded the ship that was departing for England. He wasn't about to face the angry men he'd sold into almost certain death.

Bella only hoped that Bradford wouldn't see Jenks's declaration of independence as a declaration of war.

~.~

~.~

Notes:

- "There is a grace too powerful to name" is a line from HAMILTON, the musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

- Hélas Madame was supposedly written by Henry VIII, though the evidence for his authorship is sketchy. It was a common tune at his court though, and it was a song used for the stately "basse dance" Bella describes. These dances were usually done in the early part of the evening and were less-athletic dances that even the older courtiers could participate in (like the pavane.) If you want to listen to it, I suggest the version done by Owain Phyfe & The New World Renaissance Band.

- Jasper acts so alarmed when Bella sees him in his shirt because they thought of shirts as underclothing. For him, it was like Bella saw him in his boxers.

- Captain Caius is the historical figure Captain Wollaston, who was the partner of Thomas Morton (Jenks).