Page 32 of The Tides of Time (Storm Tide #1)

A rmitage pulled the door open to find Captain Travert on the other side. The usually affable man looked absolutely livid.

“I need to borrow ton phare .”

“My lighthouse?” Though Armitage was confused, he motioned the captain in.

“I need to search the water for Le Charon .” The anger that punctuated that odd declaration could not be missed.

“Did your ship come unmoored?” Grandfather asked as they stepped into the parlor. The captain had spoken loudly enough that Grandfather had most certainly overheard.

“ Non. The Frenchman you have staying here stole it.”

That pulled Lili’s eyes to the captain.

Grandfather looked as shocked as she did. “I’ll take you to the tower.”

“The man’s a Parisian, no experience sailing in open water. He’ll sink my boat if I don’t find him.”

They stormed from the room. What was Géraud thinking? He’d manage to get himself killed attempting to cross the Channel on his own.

Lili’s breaths seemed to come in snatches. Her eyes were wide, but her mouth was no more than a tight line.

“Us’ll find Géraud,” Armitage assured her. “And the ship can be boarded from a rowboat. Captain Travert’ll have it all in hand soon enough.”

She shook her head, then turned the open photograph case around so the image faced him. “ Je les connais, Armitage.” She held the photograph a little closer to him.

Armitage closed the distance between them and set his hands lightly on her arms. “It’s disconcerting, seeing an image like thissen when you’ve not—”

“I know them.”

What was she talking about?

She pointed at his father. “Monsieur Romilly.” She pointed at Mum. “Madame Romilly.”

Armitage shook his head; she was a little confused. “My father’s given name was Romilly, not his surname.”

“He is a tailor in Paris, in 1793. He and his wife run the tailor shop where I worked. They helped me rescue people from the Tribunal . They helped me escape Paris.” The intensity with which she watched Armitage seized hold of his heart and mind and lungs. “I know them, Armitage. I have known them for two years.”

“That’s impossible. They drowned in the Channel a decade ago.”

A tear formed in the corner of her eye, but she didn’t waver. “I would know them anywhere. They were family when I had no family. They were fearless when the rest of Paris cowered.”

No thoughts could find purchase in his mind. Was it even possible? They’d drowned. Of course, the people on the boat Lili had been swept off of likely thought she had as well. If it was true ... “Them aren’t dead,” he whispered. Except they were. 1793 was eighty years ago. He pushed out a breath as he rubbed at the tension in his forehead. “Dad and Mum were together?”

She nodded.

“Are them—Were—” He didn’t know how to phrase any of the questions rushing through his mind. He couldn’t prevent himself from pacing. “Were them happy?”

“No one in 1793 Paris was happy.” She hugged the now-closed photograph case to her heart. “Your father was an Englishman in Revolutionary France, a situation fraught with peril. And they both helped people escape—” A little quieter, she amended, “They helped me help people escape.” She met his eye, anguish filling their gray depths. “I put them in danger. Armitage, I put your parents in danger. How could I do that?”

He was struggling to comprehend that they hadn’t died on the Channel a decade ago, as he’d always believed. Trying to wrap his mind around anything beyond that felt impossible.

Lili shook her head. “Their names aren’t in the book.” She seemed to be speaking to herself more than to him. “They were in danger, but their names aren’t in the book.”

“What book?”

“Your Révolution book. I looked for their names on the list of executed people. They aren’t on it.”

“Them weren’t dragged to the guillotine, then.” There was some comfort in that. Mum and Dad hadn’t drowned, and they hadn’t been beheaded in the Reign of Terror. And they had known Lili for two years before he’d ever met her.

Grandfather poked his head inside the room. “Us spotted Géraud. Him’ll be running the boat aground near to the lower light if somewho don’t convince he to hand it over to the captain.”

“What is the plan?” Armitage asked.

“Everyone in the rowboat. Us’ll board and do what needs doing.”

Lili set the photograph back in its place on the bookshelf and hurried out of the room with them. “I’ve known him all his life,” she explained. “I might be able to reason with him.”

“Boarding a ship, even a small one like Travert’s, is a dangerous thing if a person hasn’t done it before.” Armitage didn’t want anything to happen to her.

“And sailing that ship into the lower light would be a horrible thing too.”

In the end, there was no turning her away from the task. The sea was calm despite the clouds, and there were cork vests in the lifeboat. It was the safest conditions they could have to attempt such a complicated undertaking.

Grandfather would be watching with his telescope from the shore. He made a check of Lili’s and Armitage’s cork vests. Then he checked them a second time.

Armitage climbed into the rowboat, then turned back to hand Lili in. But Grandfather kept her back for the length of a hug. “You’ve been brave before, Lili. You need to be again.”

She climbed into the rowboat and sat. Armitage took up the oars and began rowing them out toward the boat, whose prow was aimed at the outcropping.

“Keep Lili safe,” Grandfather shouted. “Her is important!”

“Yes, her is. And I will,” Armitage called back as he pulled the oars through the water.

Captain Travert watched the ship they were nearing, giving Armitage directions to correct their approach. Though the ship wasn’t moving at full sail, there was enough movement to create small waves. Boarding would be tricky. And Lili had Armitage worried. Her stoic expression held a bit too much distress for his peace of mind.

Captain Travert talked Armitage through the difficulty of getting the rowboat close enough to tie for him to grab hold of the rope ladder Géraud had thankfully not known to pull up. With the rowboat’s mooring rope slung over his shoulder, the captain carefully climbed from the rowboat and up the side of his sailing ship. He would tie them to it once he reached the top.

Being so close to the larger vessel knocked the rowboat around a bit. But Lili didn’t look afraid. She looked heartbroken.

Armitage reached forward and squeezed her hand.

“My family and I have caused no end of trouble to yours,” she said. Misery touched every word.

“You are family to me, Lili Minet. My mind’ll need time to comprehend what happened with my parents, but I’m not upset with you over any of it. None of it was your doing.”

“I put them in danger,” she whispered. “Just as my brother has put you in danger now.”

The large boat shifted, bumping hard into them. Armitage held tight to her hand, evaluating their situation as best he could. If he needed to snatch up the oars and put distance between the mismatched boats, he would.

They were rammed again. Then again. The collisions drastically dipped the boat, soaking both Lili and Armitage.

“We need to pull back from the ship,” he said.

But before he could release her hand to take up the oar once more, another crash threw the rowboat sideways, dumping them into the water. Everything around him grew instantly jumbled and topsy-turvy.

He’d still had hold of Lili’s hand when they’d been thrown into the water. So, where was she?