A Lady to Lead by Audrey Glenn

Author:Audrey Glenn [Glenn, Audrey]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2020-07-31T21:00:00+00:00

“Nathaniel!” David called out, waving him over to a table in the coffee room of City Tavern. “Well met.” David indicated for Nathaniel to sit across from him. He motioned to a man to bring Nathaniel some coffee. “No tea, I’m afraid.”

The servant hurried over to pour coffee and offer a baked good. “Ah, my Sally Lunn bread. Excellent.” David scrutinized the contents of a jam jar. “What kind of preserve is this? Not gooseberry, I hope? I’ve had enough gooseberry to last a lifetime.”

“I wasn’t certain the city needed another tavern,” Nathaniel observed, “but I see the appeal of having such large rooms.” He snagged the jam after David set it down.

“Yes, the subscription room provides all the broadsides, journals, and latest news from England, while the bar room provides all the libations a man can stomach. There are some very large meeting rooms upstairs. Large enough to hold a ball, so I understand, which has brought great joy to my household.”

Nathaniel snorted. “A strong endorsement. Are you trying to get me to invest in this place?”

“No, though I wish I had done so myself.”

Nathaniel tried to spread jam — raspberry — on his bread without allowing the knife to touch the blisters on his hands. He was no stranger to hard work and had many calluses, but shoveling twelve hours a day had taken a toll on him.

David leaned forward conspiratorially. “Have you secured a location for the, er, cargo?”

“I have.”

“Very well.” David kept his voice lowered, though the two other tables seemed engrossed in their own conversations. “I’ll escort Cassandra and Helen to the governor’s ball, then give some pretense for leaving after securing another ride home for the ladies. Being seen at the ball will give me the perfect alibi should anyone question my involvement.”

“Are you still invited to the ball after that argument you had with Winthrop?”

David smirked. “Nothing short of my being convicted of murder would keep them from inviting the son of an English marquess to their ball. I lend them consequence!”

“And Helen doesn’t mind attending after all that’s transpired with Winthrop?” Nathaniel hoped he sounded casual. He didn’t want David discovering that he thought of Helen all the time.

“Blast Winthrop! I’ve been witness to such drama as even Shakespeare couldn’t conceive. My wife’s cousin Temperance boasted to all in her acquaintance that Winthrop asked her to open the ball with him, so Helen has been in agony trying to decide if she should tell Temperance of Winthrop’s perfidy with the taxes.”

This was far too much trouble over a small matter. Couldn’t Helen enlighten her cousin and be done with it?

“I envy you, Nathaniel, I really do, for traversing the Delaware with the rankest thieves couldn’t possibly be more dangerous than the pit of lions I’ll be dropped into on Friday evening.”

He chuckled. “Surely it can’t be that bad?”

“Ha! Again you reveal your ignorance of women. I’ve tried to guide Helen so that she doesn’t cause offense to her aunt and uncle, but she refuses to see reason.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.