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moved through the crowded taproom. He may have given all these men the impression that she belonged
to him, but she did not belong to him. She was no man s property. At least, not foi! ong.
It wasn t even as if he thought of her as a col-league. His light, mocking words came back to her, and
Katie set her jaw stubbornly.You may not trust me yet, Ethan , she thought, watching him disappear
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through the door out of the taproom. She pressed her fingers to her lips, which still tingled from his kiss.
But you will. Before this is over, you ll trust me completely .
Chapter Nine
Because they had met this way so many times before, Ethan knew which of the tavern s bed-rooms
Dorothy would be in. The light of only one candle illuminated the room at the end of the up-stairs hall, but
he could see Dorothy was already there, seated on the edge of the bed. As he stepped inside and closed
the door behind him, she rose to her feet.
 Who is that girl with you? she asked in an anxious voice.
 She is working with me. 1 brought her along so that you and Joshua could meet her.
 Working with you? What do you mean?
 I have heard certain things, and I want to in-vestigate them. Katie is going to help me.
 Katie? Dorothy frowned, clearly skeptical.  But who is she? Where did she come from?
 She s a pickpocket. I found her hiding from British Regulars at the Mermaid. She got a job working
there for a time, but now she is working for me.
 I don t like it, Ethan. Is she trustworthy?
That idea amused him.  Trustworthy? No, I m afraid not.
Dorothy started to speak again, but he fore-stalled her.  Don t worry, Dot. Katie has verv pow-erful
incentives to remain loyal to me it she wants to stay alive, that is.
He could see that did not satisfy her, but he didn t care overmuch about that.  Forger about her. We are
wasting precious time. What news have you for me?
She stepped closer to him. In a low voice, she said,  The officer I was talking with justarrived from
Londonto be under Gage s command, and he says the news there is that Parliament is tired of what they
call our childish tantrums. Word is that Lord North will soon be sending specific orders to Governor
Gage to arrest Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and all other principal leaders in the Massachusetts
Provincial Congress. In addition, anyone caught in possession of aLibertymedal will be arrested for
sedition. Her round face creased with worry.  Ethan, please throw that thing away. If you are caught
wearing it 
 Your brother wears one, too, he reminded, and watched her shoulders slump in weary
acknowl-edgment.
 Aye, she murmured.  I have not forgotten.
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 And has he tossed his in the gutter?
Wordlessly, she shook her head.
 And he will not do so. Nor will I. It is some-thing we wear with pride, regardless of what dan-ger may
ensue. Throwing it away would be as unthinkable as turning aside from our families. He knew he was
starting to give a damn speech, and he had no time for it now.  Did this officer say anything else?
 They want all the weaponry of the colonial militia confiscated.
 That is nothing new. Gage just doesn t know yet how to mount an effective campaign to steal it.
 Well, this Captain Montrose told me North is becoming increasingly infuriated with Gage for not taking
more aggressive action against us. In any case, Gage has not yet formally received these or-ders to arrest
Whig leaders, and until he does, he cannot very well act on them.
 Even when he does receive them, he will take his time in carrying them out, Ethan replied,  be-cause
he will be reluctant to move against people he considers to be fellow Englishmen. He also knows that for
every Whig arrested, there will be ten more to take his place.
 True, she agreed, and glanced past him at the closed door.  We should not linger here, and I have
more to tell you. She took a deep breath.  Will you be attending the Governor s Ball?
 Aye. He gave her a brief smile.  Ethan Hard-ing is invited to all the social events of the season, my
dear.
 Good. There is talk that a certain Jean-Paul Chevain will be there. He is a French aristocrat, though I
don t know his title. More important, he is an official emissary of King Louis, though his stated purpose in
Bostonis supposed to be a friendly one.
 The French and the English are never friends, Ethan said with some humor.  But what is said to be his
true purpose here?
 Evidently, he has been in secret correspondence with Benjamin Franklin about gaining French support
for our cause. Loans, in particular.
 Excellent. I have been wondering how we might approachFrance. TrustFranklinto have done so
already.
 There are those who think you might perhaps talk to him about the possibilities. Perhaps even
ne-gotiate the terms of a loan for us if war breaks out.
Ethan thought about that for a few seconds.  The French love to irritate the English, especially at a profit, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]