Historical Romance Boxed Set Read Online Free PDF Page A

Trenton gone, Nathaniel left Tiny and John to their revelry and went below, where his first mate was already scratching numbers in a large black book.
    “Not bad,” Trenton said as Nathaniel entered the captain’s cabin. “Eighty crates of tobacco. Should bring a good price.”
    Nathaniel didn’t answer. He was still thinking about Mary and Bridlewood and, as always, his father. “What?” he asked, glancing up.
    “I said, according to the ledgers, we’re doing well. If every ship goes like the Nightingale and the one we took a few days ago, it won’t be long before we’re both rich.”
    Nathaniel smiled. Rich had a pleasant ring to it. Not that he knew from experience. Before Martha was killed, he had grown up in a small shack with her sister, Beatrice, and Bee’s eight children. Bee’s husband had run off after the birth of their last son—Nathaniel had never known why—but the formula of so many living off so few, namely Martha, destined all to a life of poverty. Though he loathed thinking of it, Nathaniel would never forget the hard, stale bread, the cold winter days without any coal, and the dark nights when they’d been too poor to buy candles.
    Yes, Nathaniel thought, if one couldn’t be loved, one could at least be warm, comfortable, and full, always. “But it won’t be this easy for long,” he replied. “These ships were no challenge because their crews hadn’t any prior warning. They were at sea before we took our first ship. But word will have gone out now, and things will begin to change.”
    Trenton grunted. “Nothing ever stays easy for long.”
    “Like Mary, for instance.” Nathaniel stretched out on his bed, propping his arm behind his head.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” Trenton’s face showed concern.
    “She wants to meet me.”
    His first mate’s chair scraped the floor as he shoved the ledgers away and stood up. “Don’t tell me you’re going to go along with that. If your father catches you at Bridlewood—”
    “I know, but we can’t lose her. Our whole operation depends on the information she gives us.”
    “To hell with the operation. You go to Bridlewood, and your life will depend on her, too.”
    Nathaniel shrugged and gave Trenton a grin. “You, my friend, have a problem with trust.”
     
    * * *
     
    The hilltop village of Clifton, famous for its pure air and picturesque vistas of the Severn estuary and the Welsh hills, sat one mile to the west of Bristol, high above the River Frome. Nathaniel had long admired its beauty, and he was not alone. Some of Bristol’s wealthiest residents, most of them Quakers, owned homes in Clifton.
    Nathaniel and Richard made their way through Bristol, up to Clifton, and then to the duke’s country estate where they waited by the pond to meet Mary. They stood in silence, patting the noses of their hired mounts to keep them quiet, as the moon’s light peeked through the crooked branches of the many oak trees surrounding the water. Mary was supposed to arrive at midnight, but it was well past that, and Nathaniel was becoming uneasy.
    “Does she usually come on time?” He tried to see through the trunks and limbs and leaves that completely blocked his view of the house.
    “She’s not the most punctual girl I’ve ever met,” Richard responded. “But then, she’s never in much of a hurry to get back, either, ye ken?”
    Nathaniel saw the gleam of Richard’s teeth as his mouth spread into a smile. “I’d find another maid to dally with, if I were you,” he replied. “There’s no telling what my father would do if he found you here. He’s certainly not a man of conscience.”
    “You worry too much,” Richard said. “How could he prove my connection to you?”
    “Entirely too easily. You’re not nameless and faceless when you board his ships, you know—”
    The snap of a twig made Nathaniel fall silent. Someone was coming. His eyes bored into the darkness, but still he jumped when Mary popped out of the trees