Of Noble Birth Read Online Free PDF Page A

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 behind them.
    “‘Ere I am,” she laughed. “Did