Muddied Waters - Coda

Chapter Eleven - Persona Non Grata

Dawn rose on the Moore estate, the sun muted by dark grey clouds. It was a colder morning than normal with dew forming on the plants and trees around the house as if from a recent rainfall, though it had yet to. Alger walked through the empty house his father had built, no doubt with the hope that it would remain full of descendants for many decades long after he left this earth. It pained Alger to see it so barren. He'd wanted to make his father happy and had hoped that life would make it so he could raise a family there, though it wasn't something he had ever really wanted for himself. People are born, if they are lucky, into one type of loving family or another. They grow and learn and take on the basic virtues and world views of their parents. Some accept these things whole-heartedly while others reject them when they become old enough to seek out what suits them better. Disappointments and prideful satisfactions may dot each child's life as they pick and choose what they inherit and what they decide to strike out for on their own, but the love always remains in one form or another. Before he died, Alger Sr. must have seen that if he had built this house for Alger to receive and to fill with his own things that it would not come to pass. Some men might become resentful that their child would refuse to carry on the enterprise they had built, and for good reason – they built it with their family's future in mind. But there is an element of selfish pride in that as well, as if they believed the world they grew up in would remain the same, long into future generations. Alger saw in his father a sense of pragmatism that had helped him rise above the disappointments his son had handed him over the years – disappointments that in the end had turned into great sources of pride. This worldly sagaciousness helped Alger survive his stint on the Sweet Liberty as much as it had helped his father survive his absence, and in the years following their reunion, it had helped them both navigate each other's preconceptions and meet somewhere in the middle as a team. Both grew and learned together and had built something much more long-standing than a brick-and-mortar building. There were no loose ends between them. Their understanding was complete.

"I'm sad to leave this place," lamented Mathias as Alger met him at the front entrance. The two looked back at the house. It really was a beautiful home. He hoped the buyers would treat it with the veneration it deserved.

"Nothing ever lasts."

"True enough, sah."

"Are you set then, Mathias?"

"I suppose so," the housekeeper sighed. "Are you sure you don't want to take the carriage?"

Alger shook his head. "I don't have far to go, and you have all of your things. I'll be horseback to the docks."

"Alright."

"Make sure not to lose that contract," said Alger as the pair embraced. "You carry this house in your pocket."

"I know, sah...I don't know what to say."

"There's no need. Remember, it's the bank off the corner of Fleet and Fetter. Ask for Nigel. All sale funds have been transferred to your name. You just need to present the papers."

"I'll do as you ask, though I don't know why you decided to give me so much."

"I don't need it. I'm taking enough to keep me comfortable while I figure myself out, and it is as much yours as it is mine."

"I'm not so sure your father would agree."

Alger smiled ruefully. "I think he would."

"Yes," Mathias smiled back, "on second thought..."

"Alright, get in the cart before we start blubbering like a pair of old crones."

"Right away, sah, right away. Safe voyage to Jamaica."