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mother’s maiden name. “It’s Wentworth. Dag…er…Marie Wentworth. I’m named for my mother, who was the only child of the Duke of Leesbury.”
    The sailor looked impressed at her late grandfather’s title. She didn’t have the heart to mention that the dukedom was now extinct and her mother’s only living relative was the destitute Josiah. “As for transportation Miss…er…Lady Marie, you might speak with Colonel Stewart.”
    â€œAnd where might I find him?”
    â€œ The Elephant , normally. That’s the Admiral’s flagship. But I happen to know that the colonel came into town to oversee the parole of the prisoners. You’ll find them at Holmen.”
    Dagmar’s shoulder’s slumped. Holmen was a group of small islands that formed the Royal Naval Base. She’d have to hire someone to take her out there, but with no money and nothing she could barter for a ride out, she stood little chance of achieving that goal.
    â€œHowever, I did hear tell that they were coming into the town proper this afternoon.”
    â€œIndeed? That is excellent news.” She glanced around the dock, and deciding that there was no sense in dragging herself and her filched goods to the Yellow House only to have to turn around immediately and trek back to the dock, she planted herself and her bounty on the nearest crate. “I shall await his arrival here.”
    The man looked scandalized. “But, ma’am…my lady…this is no place for the granddaughter of a duke.”
    She gave a delicate shrug and turned her attention to the busy comings and goings of the English, who, she recalled hearing, had been given the freedom to come and go in Copenhagen as part of the armistice treaty. “I have no pressing engagements today. It suits me to sit here and watch the activity.”
    What she didn’t say was that she’d be keeping an eagle eye out for an opportunity to speak with the admiral or to anyone else who had the potential to help her.
    To that end, she spent an hour formulating and discarding any number of plans of what she would do once the British navy transported her and Julia to England.
    â€œI will most definitely not go to Cousin Josiah. His circumstances sound entirely too mean and uncomfortable,” she said aloud, watching absently as two small lads in dirty uniforms stopped to gawk at her. She frowned at them until they scampered off upon their business, her gaze moving beyond their slight figures to the rows of storefronts that lined the harbor. “Hmm. Perhaps Julia and I should open up a shop of some type. The trouble is that it takes capital to open a shop. Hmm.”
    She wrestled with various ways of finding that capital during the second hour that it took the colonel to arrive. By the time his small dinghy docked and the friendly sailor informed her of his arrival, her bottom was going numb, the pig’s head was attracting more flies than she thought reasonable, and her cheese was beginning to give off a pungent odor that made her growling stomach want to roar with hunger. She swatted the flies, promised her stomach dinner just as soon as she got it home, and stood up to allow the blood back into her numb backside.
    â€œColonel Stewart?”
    A group of four men approached. One of them paused, giving her a curious look. “Yes?”
    Dagmar phrased her statement carefully. “I am a young, innocent maiden stranded here in Copenhagen without family or resource. My father died last year, and although I have appealed to the crown prince for help, he has told me to contact you about seeking transportation to England. My mother, you see, was the only child of the Duke of Leesbury, both of whom I regret to say are also no longer with us. I would like to find a place for myself and my companion on whatever ship is leaving the soonest, so if you could direct me to that ship, I will see to it that our things are