Then she said that Daniel had never protested strongly enough for her to understand he was suffering.
Nathaniel reminded her of the accusations she threatened whenever he asked to leave.
She had described those threats in an earlier conversation with him as a way to keep the household orderly.
Catherine realized he remembered.
She demanded to know whether he intended to shame her publicly.
Nathaniel said he intended to protect the child and the people she had harmed.
He would not promise silence in exchange for her cooperation.
Catherine asked what he wanted.
He requested a truthful written account of the birth and the sale of Daniel.
He also asked her to stop sending men to seize him.
Catherine refused the first demand and hesitated over the second.
Nathaniel rose to leave.
At the doorway she called him back and said Richard had threatened to take Eleanor to a distant estate if he found her.
She claimed a former physician could identify the child from a distinctive mark on her shoulder.
Nathaniel answered that any mark could become another excuse for a hunt.
He asked her to identify the physician and explain what he had been paid.
Catherine wrote a name on a card, then warned that Nathaniel was making enemies he could not defeat.
He answered that the people she considered enemies were already living with dangers she had helped create.
Thomas had carried a compass since childhood, though its needle no longer pointed reliably north.
His father had given it to him before the family was sold apart.
Thomas kept it because the object reminded him that direction could be learned even when an instrument failed.
During the escape, he used landmarks rather than the needle.
Now he wanted to repair it so he could guide other travelers.
Daniel examined the brass casing and found a tiny sliver of iron lodged beneath the needle.
He removed it with a sharpened wooden point and tested the compass beside a window.
The needle moved freely for the first time in years.
Thomas watched it settle and laughed with a joy Daniel had rarely heard from him.
He said the device had probably been working badly because of a problem small enough to escape notice.
Daniel answered that not every broken thing could be repaired so simply.
Thomas agreed and said he had never intended the compass to stand for people.
The conversation continued after supper.
Thomas confessed that he feared becoming responsible for every person who asked him for help.
