A Simple Deception

XXXIX

"Though a lifetime of listening to the music of the world has passed, even now the tone of the rain on the roof of my home is the sweetest sound I have ever heard." Kensi Brianne Smith

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XXXIX.

After weeks, or some months, at sea, Susanna finally spotted land off in the distance, and was promptly informed by the crew that they were soon to sail past the coast of Ireland.

Ireland.

They were nearly home! Susanna felt nerves of anticipation in her stomach at the very thought. She was excited. Of course, she was. She was excited to be home, and to see her family, and to be in familiar surroundings. But then she was certainly anxious about the changes that were to come. It was hard not to be. Susanna had spent a great deal of her life as a terribly naïve debutante. That was how it was meant to be. Women of her position were deliberately kept that way until they were transferred into the homes and hands of their husbands.

But in taking this journey, Susanna had succeeded in finding the worldliness that she had long desired, and she had succeeded in finding a partner. Not a husband, but a partner, a man for whom she would cross oceans, quite literally, and she knew that the feeling was reciprocated. Alex had lied his way into the Palais du Gouvernement to rescue her, after all.

Susanna loved him. She was not entirely certain when she had fallen in love with Alex. Perhaps it was when they had known each other in England, or at least the start of it was. By the time Susanna realised it, she simultaneously realised that she had been in love with Alex for a long time. When she focussed on this, and this alone, the changes that were to come, and the troubles that they would no doubt face, did not seem so frightening.

"We are ..." Belle paused, furrowing her brow in concentration as she searched for the English word in her head. "Near?"

Belle's spoken English had improved dramatically throughout the voyage, and her reading and writing were improving as well. Conversations could sometimes be broken with French when she could not remember the word that she was searching for, but Susanna was genuinely impressed with her.

She and Belle had indeed become friends during their journey. In spending time with Belle, Susanna could understand why Alex had been so determined to protect her. Belle reminded Susanna a little of a bird with a broken wing. There was a helpless fragility to her that warranted protecting. But at the very same time, behind her golden stare, Susanna could also see great strength ... a strength that she indeed kept hidden. Belle guarded her secrets well, and never let anything slip out of her mouth that she did not intend to share.

Susanna never pried. She could not even begin to imagine what someone like Belle had been through in her life. She did pray that Belle would find some peace and happiness in England.

Susanna was determined to help Belle find it. She had talents and ambitions, even if she was not entirely forthcoming about them. She liked to draw and create, and often painted with her index finger on the deck of the ship in between words when Susanna used water and a paint brush to help her write. She was also a talented seamstress, though Susanna was loathed to guess as to how and where she had developed that skill. It did not seem to bother Belle, however, and she enjoyed sewing. It was one of the first things that she had articulated to Susanna in English. Susanna had torn her hem on a loose board on the deck, and Belle had sourced a needle and thread and had mended it like new. Susanna possessed her own sewing skills that she could have handled a fix like that, but Belle was insistent, and seemed quite content with needle in hand.

"Yes," confirmed Susanna. "We are near. We will be home soon."

Belle focussed for a moment as she translated what Susanna had said, before she smiled. "Good," she said gladly.