The library in the Ascot mansion¹ was usually quite cozy², but Helen Kingsleigh shivered in her seat at the wide oak table. Her eyes were fixed³ on the two men across from her.

Hamish was tapping his fingers impatiently while James, his clerk, shuffled⁴ slowly through a stack of papers.

"In the end, it's about what Alice needs, Mrs. Kingsleigh," Hamish said. His voice was as oily as his skin. "Whether she ever returns or not—"

"When she returns," Helen interrupted. She would never give up hope.

"Now, please, the ship's deeds—just sign here," Hamish said, waving his hand toward the papers James held.

"Mr. Harcourt, please," Hamish snapped. "Time is money!"

Reluctantly, the clerk placed the deed in front of Helen just as a new voice rang out:

"I'm afraid he most certainly is not!"

Everyone's heads whipped around to see Alice standing⁵ in the doorway⁶. She strode forward confidently.

"Time is many things," she continued. "But he isn't money, Hamish, or our enemy, Mother." She nodded at each of them. "But he is real and we must take account of him, Mr. Harcourt, if we are to spend the days he grants us wisely—"

Helen dropped the pen as Alice reached her side.

"—and with those we love most," Alice finished, taking her mother's hands in her own.

flustered⁷, Hamish widened his eyes. "Where did you come from?" he asked Alice.

"I walked right through the walls," Alice said mischievously⁸. "Poof!" She flicked⁹ her fingers at him.

As Hamish jumped back, his chair squeaked¹⁰ against the floorboards. James quickly hid a snicker of amusement behind his hand.

"I may not be able to change the past, but I can learn from it." Alice gazed down at Helen. "Sign the papers, Mother," she added calmly.

"You ... want me to sign them?" Helen asked in confusion.

Nodding, Alice picked up the pen and handed it to her mother.

"But what about your dreams?" Helen asked, pressing her.

Alice shook her head slightly. "I used to think the Wonder meant everything, but it's just a ship. There is always another ship. But you and your well-being¹¹ mean everything to me." Alice squeezed her mother's shoulder gently. "You're my mother, and I only get one."

Helen and Alice smiled at each other, their eyes full of love and forgiveness.

"So, you've decided¹² to be a clerk?" Hamish asked Alice. He turned to his own mother without waiting for an answer. "She decided to become a clerk. I knew she'd give in." His mouth twisted in a smug sneer¹³.

"You're not a nice man, Hamish," Helen said unexpectedly. She glared at him fiercely. "I'm glad my daughter didn't marry you."

Alice's face broke into a grin as Hamish pulled back, stung, and Alexandra let out a startled gasp¹⁴.

Helen rose to her feet and lifted her chin proudly. "Alice can do whatever Alice chooses to do," she said. "And so can I!"

Linking arms, Helen and Alice swept from the room, heads held high. The Ascots could do nothing but stare after them, their mouths agape.

 

Some Time Later

Alice hunched¹⁵ over a worn desk, carefully making notes in a ledger¹⁶. Behind her, a wall held cubbyholes filled with samples of different silks. The door across from her opened and James entered, holding up a marine¹⁷ chronometer¹⁸.

Alice shut the ledger and headed for the door, avoiding the enormous Chinese vases in the room. James followed her out to a busy wharf¹⁹ overlooking the Hong Kong harbor.

She turned to see two men attaching a new sign above the building she'd just left.

KINGSLEIGH & KINGSLEIGH TRADING CO.

"A full cargo²⁰ aboard," James said as he stepped up to her side. "Do we commence with Kingsleigh and Kingsleigh's maiden²¹ voyage?"

"Best check with the commodore," Alice answered.

They wove through the crowd on the pieruntil they found the commodore, who was gazing out at the sea.

"Commodore, shall we head out of harbor?" James asked politely.

Smiling, Helen Kingsleigh turned to answer him. "Time and tide wait for no man, Mr. Harcourt," she replied cheerfully. Her face was tan and she was not wearing a corset.

"Or, indeed, woman," Alice added.

Alice led the way up the gangplank of the Wonder, her mother and friend at her back.

"Captain aboard!" James called to the crew. "Full sail, lads! Full sail!"

Alice leaned over the edge of the deck to watch as a royal Indian barge²² floated by.

In the center of the barge, a tall Indian prince, dressed in pure white pants and an embroidered²³ red tunic²⁴, sat cross-legged on a pile of cushions. He was pouring a glass of wine for his companion—none other than Alice's aunt Imogene!

"I'm sorry I was so late," the prince was saying.

Aunt Imogene waved her hand and took the glass. "Don't worry, my dear," she said. "I always knew you'd come."

Alice laughed. She carefully hung first the chronometer and then James's watch in front of her, smiling at the comforting tick-tick-tick of the watch's second hand.

She would never take time for granted again, and she meant to savor²⁵ every minute of it.

Alice placed her hands on the wheel and swung the Wonder into the harbor, ready for her next adventure. Only time would tell what the future held, but she couldn't wait to find out.

 

阿斯科特公馆的图书馆还是那样的舒适，可是海伦·金斯利却颤抖着坐在一张宽橡木桌旁。她的目光锁定在对面两位男士身上。

哈米什不耐烦地在桌上敲着手指，而他的职员詹姆斯正慢慢翻阅着一摞文件。

“最后，就是关于爱丽丝的需求的部分，金斯利女士。”哈米什说道。他的嗓音和他的皮肤一样油腻，“不论她是否回来——”

“她会回来的。”海伦打断他说。她绝不会放弃希望。

“现在，请你在船契上——就在这里签字。”哈米什说道，用手指向詹姆斯拿着的那份文件。

“哈考特先生，快点。”哈米什厉声说，“时间就是金钱！”

詹姆斯不情愿地把契约放到放到海伦面前，就在这时，一个声音响了起来：

“恐怕时间才不是金钱！”

每个人都转过头，只见爱丽丝正站在门口。她自信从容地大步走来。

“时间是很多东西。”她继续说，“不过他不是金钱，哈米什，也不是我们的敌人，母亲。”她朝大家点了点头。“不过他真实存在，而且我们必须重视时间，哈考特先生，如果我们要合理地利用时间赋予我们的每一天——”

当爱丽丝走到海伦身边的时候，海伦手里的笔掉了下来。

“——那就和那些我们最爱的人在一起。”爱丽丝说完，把母亲的手握在自己的手中。

哈米什惊慌地瞪大了双眼，“你从哪里回来的？”他问爱 丽丝。

“我穿墙而来。”爱丽丝调皮地说，“咻！”她向他弹了个响指。

哈米什向后跳了一步，他的椅子咯噔地一声倒在了地板上，詹姆斯立即掩着嘴偷笑。

“也许我不能改变过去，但我能从过去中学到很多。”爱丽丝低头看着海伦。“签约吧，母亲。”她平静地说。

“你……要我签约？”海伦不解地问。

爱丽丝点了点头，她捡起钢笔，放到母亲的手里。

“那你的梦想呢？”海伦追问道。

爱丽丝轻轻地摇了摇头。“我之前觉得‘仙境号’就是我的一切，可它只是一艘船。总会有别的船的。而你和你的幸福对我来说才是一切。”爱丽丝温柔地抓着母亲的肩膀说，“你是我的母亲，而我只有一个母亲。”

海伦和爱丽丝相视而笑，眼中充满了爱意和宽恕。

“所以，你决定做一名普通员工了？”哈米什问爱丽丝。他也不听回答，直接就对着他的母亲说：“她决定要做一名普通员工。我就知道她会放弃的。”他的嘴角浮现出一丝得意的冷笑。

“你真不是个君子，哈米什。”海伦出人意料地说。她狠狠地瞪着他，“很高兴我的女儿没有嫁给你。”

爱丽丝咧开嘴笑了，哈米什缩了回去，又陷入痛苦之中，亚历山德拉惊讶得倒吸一口冷气。

海伦站起身来，骄傲地扬起下巴说：“爱丽丝想做什么就做什么。我也可以！”

海伦和爱丽丝手挽着手，高昂着头，走出了房间。阿斯科特母子只能目瞪口呆地看着她们离去。

一段时间以后

爱丽丝伏在一张旧桌子上，认真地在账簿上做着笔记。她身后墙上的分类架上堆满了各式各样的丝绸样品。她对面的门开了，詹姆斯拿着一只航海经线仪走了进来。

爱丽丝合上账簿，小心地避开屋里几只巨大的中式瓷瓶，朝门口走去。詹姆斯跟在她的后面，朝一个繁忙的码头走去，从那里可以俯瞰香港湾。

她转过身来，看到两个工人正要把一个新的标志装到她刚才离开的那栋建筑上。

“金斯利&金斯利贸易公司”

“一艘满载货物的船。”詹姆斯走到她身边说，“让我们开始金斯利的第一次航行吧？”

“最好和船长再确认一下。”爱丽丝回答道。

他们在码头上的人群中寻找船长，最后发现她正凝望着大海。

“船长，我们可以出港了吗？”詹姆斯礼貌地问道。

海伦·金斯利微笑着转过身来，高兴地回答说：“时间和潮汐是不等人的，哈考特先生。”她的脸被晒得黝黑，也没穿束腹衣。

“而且，更不等女人。”爱丽丝补充道。

爱丽丝率先踏上了“仙境号”的跳板，她母亲和朋友跟在后面。

“船长登船了！”詹姆斯对船员喊道，“满帆前进，兄弟们！满帆前进！”

爱丽丝倚在甲板的边缘，看着一艘印度皇家驳船驶过。

船中央有一位高大的印度王子，他身着纯白色的长裤和刺绣的红色上衣，盘着腿坐在一叠垫子上。他正在为女伴倒上一杯红酒——正是爱丽丝的伊莫金姑妈！

“抱歉，我来晚了。”王子说。

伊莫金姑妈摆了摆手，接过酒杯说：“别担心，亲爱的，我就知道你会来的。”

爱丽丝笑了。她先小心地将航海经线仪挂起来，然后将詹姆斯的表放在面前，听着秒针嘀嗒嘀嗒的声音，微笑着。

她再也不会将时间当成理所当然的东西，她要尽情享受每一分每一秒。

爱丽丝的手搭上船舵，将“仙境号”驶入了海港，期待着下一次的奇遇。只有时间能告诉你未来会怎样，可是她已经迫不及待要去发现了。 

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