Fortune for St. Patrick's Day by Gina Ardito

Author:Gina Ardito
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gina Ardito
Published: 2021-03-10T00:00:00+00:00

PATIENCE – APRIL 20, 1778

The afternoon sunlight struck her subject at the perfect angle, and Patience Winters manipulated the wax around the bust’s forehead to better capture the man’s noble brow, setting off the hawkish nose above full lips.

“How soon will the work be finished?” the gentleman asked through tight teeth as she worked. “There’s a transport ship leaving at the end of the week.”

“I need a few more days to add the final touches, those little details that make the form come to life,” she replied, keeping the head firmly hidden from his view beneath her apron as she dug her fingers into the wax, “but it should be ready in ample time before your ship sets sail.”

No reason for either of them to clarify that the touches she intended to add were the secret messages he wanted sent to his commanding officer. Since her figures were life-sized replicas, complete with glass eyes, tinted lips, and fake lashes, there were plenty of hollowed areas and crevices to hide maps and battle plans.

This wasn’t her first wax figure for Mr. Brown—not his real name, of course—and it probably wouldn’t be her last. She’d been using her art to help those embroiled in the Revolution back home for years, ever since Benjamin Franklin put the idea in her head during one of their many visits together. Patience was a longtime friend of Franklin’s sister, Jane Mecom.

After a fire had destroyed much of her work in her New York museum, Franklin convinced her to travel to London, where he put her in contact with some of the well-known men and women of the city. The English adored her “rustic American manners” because she wore wooden shoes, kissed men and women alike as a greeting, and spoke to both lord and commoner in the same way. All were delighted with her wax sculptures and scandalized by the manner she used to keep the wax warm for molding purposes—using her body heat, keeping the wax underneath her clothing and between her legs. She quickly found her skills in great demand.

During her time in London, she had created likenesses of King George and Queen Charlotte (whom she called by their first names), Prime Minister William Pitt, stage actors, and members of the nobility. While these important men and women sat for her, she engaged them in small talk, a way to bring out the animation of their moods and capture those expressions in her sculptures. Often, they would become so relaxed in her presence, they revealed secrets they shouldn’t.

At first, she’d passed these secrets on to Mr. Franklin, but after a time, she began sending messages directly to the Continental Congress by hiding letters in the wax figures she shipped to her sister, Rachel, for their remaining museum in Philadelphia.

“Do you think my family will appreciate this gift?” Mr. Brown asked, interrupting Patience’s musings and reminding her of the task at hand.

In other words, would his message get to its intended recipient safely?

“Trust me,” she reassured him with a smile.

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