From Chapter 2
Nathaniel entered the room and nearly turned around to walk out again. Helen Crofton was standing at the fireplace, back turned to him.
Helen didn’t bother to hide her disappointment when she turned and caught sight of him. She dipped into the barest of curtsies. “Do you wish to sit?”
“Thank you.” Nathaniel settled in a corner chair he’d not seen on previous visits. Helen settled onto the couch and arranged her skirt. Every time he saw her, he was reminded that she was very pretty — not that it held any weight with him. Had the pink silk of her gown been made in Pennsylvania? It was very becoming. Perhaps there was something to American silk after all.
They sat in silence for some minutes, long enough that it became amusing to Nathaniel to imagine who would speak first.
“Do you care to explain your smile, Captain?”
“I’m not currently the captain of a vessel,” he corrected.
She glanced at the mantel clock. “I thought once a captain, always a captain,” she retorted.
He shook his head but didn’t elaborate. Helen raised her eyebrows. Did she expect him to raise another topic of conversation? He wasn’t sure what courtesy demanded.
“Captain Carter! Thank you for coming to celebrate my husband’s birthday.” Nathaniel was relieved by Cassandra’s rescue. At least someone was happy to see him.
“The pleasure is all mine, I assure you.” He bowed over her hand. She wore a blue silk only a few shades darker than the color of the living room walls. He supposed David favored the color.
David stepped into the room after her. “Ah! Do you like my new chair? It’s a Chippendale.”
Nathaniel hadn’t noticed anything special about it. “Very nice.”
“I believe dinner is laid out if you care to follow me?” David had changed into a white coat embroidered with a gold scroll pattern and a very expensive-looking wig. Maybe Nathaniel should have changed his coat.
He wondered if he ought to offer Helen his arm, but she stepped past him without glancing his way, so he was left to trail after her. Her scent wafted in the air as they stepped down the corridor to the dining room; Nathaniel found the lemony smell very appropriate for her sour disposition.
Cassandra attempted to make conversation with Nathaniel by inquiring about his three merchant ships.
Helen tried to seem concerned. “Any chance of leaving on a prolonged voyage?” David and Cassandra exchanged a look.
“Now that I own three ships, I must coordinate the business of all, and I can’t do that separated from the post for months at a time.” He could remain civil despite Helen’s obvious rudeness.
Cassandra spoke before Helen could. “Do you miss sailing?”
Nathaniel considered the question. “I miss the order of my ship, and always knowing exactly what I must do next. I don’t miss the hard tack. This is far more to my taste.” He held up a fresh roll. Westing seemed to take it as a sign he wanted more bread and rushed to offer more.
“How was the Young Society Ladies Meeting?” David inquired, turning to Helen.
“Philadelphia Young Ladies Charitable Society,” Helen corrected. “It was excellent!” We’ve agreed to buy out the indenture of a young lady who is in a very desperate circumstance.”
“I suppose that means I should expect to be asked to make a donation?”
“No!” Helen protested. “We young ladies mean to earn all the money ourselves, for it is certainly not just gentlemen who can find success in business.”
“We mean to sell gooseberry tarts at the city market,” Cassandra explained. “Helen is in charge of the entire scheme. She was elected president today!”
David approved. “Excellent! Gooseberries are very fashionable.”
“Just what I said!” Helen beamed at David.
“An indenture is quite dear,” Nathaniel could not help saying. He wasn’t in the habit of purchasing desserts, but they couldn’t be very expensive. He started to do some calculations in his mind. “You must mean to sell a great quantity of pies.”
“Tarts,” Helen corrected stiffly. “I’ve not precisely calculated how many we must sell, but I’m certain we can manage it. Our friends and families will buy many tarts, and the market is always crowded.”
“A market stall can be very expensive to rent,” Nathaniel pointed out.
Helen shrugged. “We’ll have to raise the money for the stall somehow.”
He persisted. “Where will you get the gooseberries? I don’t know much about fruits, but I can’t imagine they are in season.”
“We’ll use preserves. I thank you for your help, but I’m certain we’re capable of managing everything without assistance.”
Why was she so averse to a bit of advice from someone far more experienced in business matters? Nathaniel thrived on sound advice when he was starting out.
Nathaniel was taken aback. He’d only been trying to help.
“I attended a meeting today,” David interjected. “Of a private organization that wants to free the colonies from unfair taxation.”
Helen scoffed. “We all know you speak of the Sons of Liberty!”
David narrowed his eyes. “This private organization means to host an assembly to determine what to do about the Tea Act which Parliament saw fit to pass.”
Nathaniel wasn’t impressed. “I know of the Sons of Liberty, and I would not trust a one of them to keep his word, not after what happened in Boston a few years ago.”
“That was unfortunate,” David admitted. “Though most of the merchants did stick to the agreement not to import the English goods.”
Nathaniel took a sip of wine. “I won’t be making any decisions based on the paper promises of that lot. You were still in England then.”
“I think most of them are very sincere, and only a handful of merchants went back on their word. Most of the Sons of Liberty believe in promoting freedom.”
“Aye — freedom for themselves, to make as much money as they can,” Nathaniel replied. “Though perhaps that’s the noblest cause of all.”
Helen watched the debate closely. “You don’t seem to believe anyone can accomplish anything! You must have had a very sad upbringing. Were you orphaned as a small child?”
Cassandra blanched. “Helen!”
“No,” Nathaniel refuted. “I had a perfectly normal boyhood with a mother and father.” He didn’t add that his father died when Nathaniel was only seven, or that his mother had given him to his uncle to employ on a ship shortly after so she could marry a local widower. It hadn’t been detrimental to his development at all.
Helen only sniffed and stayed silent for the rest of the meal.