"No, I'm not dead, my dear sister. But not for lack of trying," he tried to explain, but knew that if she was to believe him, he had to tell her everything. "Eward must have lied to you, unless he was told different. I.. well I was stabbed in the back by a fellow passenger and pushed overboard before the ship sank. I have been in France for the past six years re-learning how to walk."
He closed the gap between them and looked at her directly in the eyes. "This is real, Edith. Ask me anything if you do not believe me." He wiped her tears from her cheeks and waited to see if he was going to have to cover her mouth when she screamed, or hug her when she accepted him.