Free Silver Dreams by Cynthia Thomason Page A

downstairs with the article she'd written on Mrs. Beswick's tea for the Duchess of Essex. She supposed it was as good a story as could be expected under the circumstances. The duchess turned out to be a snooty, uncooperative royal pain in the neck. The tea was stuffy, with the exception of a sudden shower which dampened the duchess' moiré taffeta gown and her hostess's spirits. And added a welcomed bit of tartness to Elizabeth’s account of the event.That evening, to please her father and earn the headline on the lady’s page, Elizabeth managed to add a footnote to her article which put Catherine Sutcliff in a much exaggerated good light. It was quite an accomplishment considering that for much of the time she'd written the piece she'd been fretting about the release of Max's story on the Delancey Street raid.
     
    "I'm going to the newspaper office, Bridey," Elizabeth called as she crossed the hallway to the front door. She was just reaching for her straw boater when she heard a knock on the door. She opened it and stared into the face of the very man who had plagued her thoughts for days.
     
    "Max Cassidy! What are you doing here? Have you come to wreck more havoc?"
     
    He stood on her front steps with his arm propped against the door frame as casually as if he'd actually been invited. "I've come to talk to you, Betsy.”
     
    "We have nothing to say to each other," she snapped back, and attempted to close the door.
     
    "Yes, we do." Max's foot prevented her from slamming the door in his face. "May I come in?"
     
    "No, you may not." Elizabeth turned away from him, but he only opened the door wider and remained on the threshold. She grabbed her hat from the hall tree, placed it on her head and busied herself with tucking loose ends of hair under the ribbon. But she carefully watched Max in the hallstand mirror.
     
    "Stand there like a fool all evening if you like, Max Cassidy," she said with pretended self assurance. "But there is no chance that I would invite a viper into my par..."
     
    She never finished her sentence because a strong hand grasped her wrist and pulled her onto the steps. Max shut the door behind them and gave her a determined look that said he wasn’t about to leave until she’d heard him out. "You are going to listen to me," he said.
     
    "Take your hand off me right now, Max, or I'll scream, and we'll see how much you have to say from the back of a paddy wagon."
     
    He apparently believed her, because he let go of her hand. Elizabeth crossed her arms over her chest and faced him squarely. "All right, if you're through being a bully, you can tell me what you came to say. And hurry. I have an appointment at the Courier News ." 
     
    She hoped she'd said the name of her father's newspaper with just the right amount of haughtiness. It wouldn’t hurt to remind Max of the differences between her father's paper and the True Detective Gazette .
     
    He gave her an infuriatingly smug grin very much like an adult would bestow upon an impertinent child. "In that case, your highness," he said, "allow me to escort you to the royal publicist myself." He bent at the waist in mock chivalry. "I'll even treat you to a cab." Then rolling his eyes at the elegant Georgian facade of the Sheridan's East Fifty-eighth street residence, he added, "Though in all fairness, you really should offer to pay."
     
    Before Elizabeth could get out the words to express her outrage, Max took her elbow and marched her to the corner where a line of carriages waited. He hailed one of them and opened the door for Elizabeth. She gave him a stern look of warning over her shoulder and then climbed inside.
     
    "This had better not be a waste of my time," she said when he was seated next to her and the cab was heading toward the Courier News building.
     
    He took a copy of the Gazette out of his pocket and handed it to her. "It's today's edition. I've marked the article I want you to read."
     
    Elizabeth forced herself to take the