Free Duel of Hearts by Anita Mills

you.”
    â€œThey found your ship afloat, and ‘twas but rumor it sank,” she ventured to guess, intrigued in spite of herself.
    â€œAlas, no, but I think you will be pleased.”
    â€œHumph! How can I be expected to be pleased when my only nevvy’s wasted his fortune on a leaky ship?” she queried tartly. “And don’t tell me you ain’t in dun territory, Tony, because ’tis all over town that you are.” Out of the corner of her eye she noted Mrs. Buckhaven’s acute interest and put a damper to it. “Bucky, see if Mrs. Cox has any of those sweet cakes left over in the kitchen. I’ll be bound that Tony’d have one or two if he was offered ’em.”
    She waited impatiently for the woman to reluctantly lay aside her needlework and go in search of the dessert. “And pray close the door behind you.” Turning back to Tony as the latch clicked shut, she fixed him with those sharp eyes of hers. “Now, I’ll not be put off, Anthony—out with it.”
    â€œPoor Bucky,” he murmured, drawing out the suspense. “If you do not take care, you’ll find yourself alone one of these days.”
    â€œHumph! Much you know of it then,” she retorted. “If you was around here more, you’d know I am more of a companion to her than she is to me. Poor thing cannot seem to do anything but sew, you know. But I did not send her away to speak of her—’tis you who concerns me.”
    He appeared absorbed in adjusting his coat sleeve for a moment, and then he looked up, flashing her that engaging smile of his. “Have you ever heard of Jeptha Cole, Aunt Hester?”
    â€œCole? Oh . . . I collect you mean the fellow who made all that money building ships,” she decided.
    â€œNot building them, Aunt—sailing them. He speculates on rich cargoes, trading at ports all over the world. Rich as Croesus, by all accounts.”
    â€œShows you that you ought to leave trade to men of his class,” she sniffed. “They know what they are doing.”
    â€œWish me happy, Aunt Hester.”
    She blinked, unable to quite assimilate the sudden shift in the direction of his conversation. “You are getting married Tony?” she asked blankly. “But just last week—”
    â€œJeptha Cole is to be my father-in-law.”
    â€œ What !” she gasped in shock. “You cannot be serious ! The man is a Cit!”
    â€œA rich Cit,” he reminded her bluntly. “I thought you’d be pleased,” he added untruthfully.
    â€œ Pleased ?” Her voice rose in a shriek of displeasure. “You cannot have thought such a thing, Anthony Barsett! Do you not know what you owe your name, Boy? No, I won’t have it—I’ll not countenance such an association with my family!”
    â€œHe offered forty thousand in settlement.” He had the satisfaction of seeing her eyes widen in shock at the enormity of the offer. “Just so—a man in my circumstances would be a fool to reject such a sum.”
    â€œForty thousand ?” Her mouth made a round O, emphasizing the “thou,” and she sank back in her seat. “Surely not,” she managed weakly. “ ’Tis a fortune.” Her bony hands gripped the padded arms of the chair until the veins stood out even more prominently than usual. Then, as the initial shock waned, she exhaled heavily and shook her head. “Even so, you should have come to me if your pockets were let that badly, Tony.”
    â€œYou said you would not help me,” he reminded her. “Jeptha Cole will.”
    â€œYes, I did say that, didn’t I?” she admitted. “But I also told you I’d not let you go to Newgate. If you’d only explained the extent of your losses, Tony, I’d have seen you come about—and you cannot say you did not know it.”
    â€œI did not want to know. ’Tis not your responsibility