Page 50 of Miss Whittier Makes a List
“Very well,”Hannah muttered and let Spark pull her back into her chair.
The first lords rose and left the chamber.“They could be gone all afternoon deliberating,”Spark said.
“Then they are perfect idiots,”she replied.
“Hannah, be quiet,”he said, but he was smiling.“Thank you for all you have done.”
The clerk announced the return of the first lords, who filed right back into the chamber almost immediately. Captain Spark rose to his feet on their command. Lord Tichenor took Spark’s sword, which lay on the table before him, and turned the hilt toward the captain.“You are exonerated of all charges, Captain Spark. The lords admiral are of the opinion that your defeat of theBergeronand subsequent removal to the Azores showed the sort of verve and pluck thatEnglandexpects of its navy. You are honorably acquitted, sir. You need only wait for further orders.”
Spark smiled and stepped forward for his sword. He saluted, then put the sword back in his scabbard. He bowed.“Thank you,my lords admiral.”
Lord Tichenor bowed in return, then gestured to Hannah.“Thank you, Miss Whittier, for your service to our nation,”he said, his voice softer now and his eyes more kindly.“Perhaps somewhere inLondon, Captain Spark can find you some shoes.”
Chapter Fourteen
Triumphant in victory, Daniel Spark rescued Adam Winslow from the clutches of thenavy.“Sirs, he had to create a diversion to get beyond the porter,”hetold the first lords, when he stoodwith them in the antechamber, looking atthecharred draperies.“MissWhittiertold you how hard it was to do a favor for the British, my lords,”he added.“And after all, they are Americans, used to dealing with problems on a more primitive level.”
Lord Tichenor leveled his most ferocious quarterdeck stare at Adam, who grinned back.“You appear to be most unrepentant, young man,”he began, the words rumbling out of him.
“I think this little bonfire is just recompense for being impressed and forced to sail to England entirely against my own wishes,”Adam said, returning stare for stare.“And I think Captain Spark should pay to replace the draperies.”
Lord Tichenor rumbled again, but it sounded more like a laugh desperate to escape from his insides.“You are as cheeky as this young lady.”
“Almost,”Adam replied, grinning at Hannah.“I think it is in the blood,my lord. And we want passage home from thee as soon as it can bearranged, don’t we, Hannah?”
She took a dee breath and nodded,not looking at Captain Sir Daniel Spark.“Yes, we do,”she whispered.
Lord Tichenor threw up his hands.“Very well! I will arrange for vouchers to be sent to ... My dear Miss Whittier, where are you staying? I would certainly prefer that the American ambassador, God bless his fractious soul, not get wind that you are inLondon.”
“They will stay with my mother and me onHalf Moon Street,”Spark said. He looked at the draperies again andsighed.“And I will replace the draperies in the antechamber.”
“Excellent!”Lord Tichenor declared.“Then we can call this matter closed.”
“You two are expensive, indeed,”Spark grumbled as he helped Hannah into the hack after Adam.“And you, Lady Amber, I suppose you will expect me to find some clothes for your back.”
“And shoes, please,”Hannah said, laughing at the expression on his face.“Above all, shoes.”
Thee has found me shoes and too much more, Hannah decided as she sat crosslegged on her bed in the Spark mansion on Half Moon Street. A week has passed and I have more dresses and hats than all myNantucketfriends put together. She looked around her at the unopened packages on the bed, delivered only moments before and borne triumphantly past the butler and upstairs by the maid that Daniel Spark’s mother had loaned her. Only a day or two ago, she would have pounced on the packages and opened them, to exclaim over the beauty within. Now she could only shake her head at such extravagance as a vague feeling of unease gnawed at her Quaker scruples.
She sighed as the maid closed the door behind her. Soon Lady Spark would come up the stairs to exclaim over her son’s latest purchases for Hannah Whittier.“He is usually such a clutch-fist,”she had earlier told Hannah with a pout.“He keeps my household expenses on a tight rein, and I find it such a restraint! But look, he has bought you morning dresses and walking dresses, and hats that are much handsomer than my own!”
On Captain Spark’s command, a French modiste, complete with sneer and superior manners, had arrived the very next morning, when Hannah still lay in bed,wearing one of Lady Spark’s nightgowns and contemplating the handsome plaster swirls in the ceiling. It was a view far removed from the plaster and beams of her own little bedroom under the eaves onOrange Street.But Madame LeTournier could not be ignored, especially when she threw back the covers and demanded that Hannah rise and do her duty. Protest that all she needed was one or two serviceable dresses was useless argument, Hannah soon discovered. Madame LeTournier walked around her, taking measurements and announcing her plans for Mademoiselle’s complete wardrobe.
“But I do not need so much!”Hannah exclaimed.“Oneor two dresses, some shoes,and perhaps a cloak ....”
“I have my orders fromlecapitaine,”Madame LeTournier insisted.“‘Rig her out like a ship of the line,’he said, and so I shall. Hold still, MissWhittier. How can I measure your foot?”
She resumed her protests two days later when the first of the lovely confections began arriving, sure indication the seamstresses at LeTournier’s salon were burning their candles right down to the holder to fulfill their commission fromCaptain Sir Daniel Spark,‘hero/span>of theCaribbean, savior of England from the hands of traitors,’as Madame had put it.
“Oh, I cannot accept these,”she demurred as Lady Spark buttoned her into an especially attractive blue morning dress of the lightest wool. It hung in neat folds to her ankles, with slippers of the softest Moroccan leather, dyed to match.
“Don’t be missish,”Lady Spark insisted.“Now, turn around. Perfection!”
She went into the hall and called her son, who arrived in shirtsleeves, with a physician trailing after him, who was trying to resplint his arm. Holding his arm, the captain walked around her, spending more time in the back than she liked, and then faced her.“Shipshape from all points of the compass, Hannah,”he pronounced.“By God, you are enough to stop a man’s breath! Just keep eating that stuff Mama’s cook thinks we need, and you’ll soon have sufficient meat on your bones. The cut of your jib istruly a marvel.”
“I wish thee would be serious,”she said.
“I am, you silly nod!”he replied, his eyes merry.“Ask Mama how tight I am with her accounts. I expect a good return on my investments, and you have amply fulfilled that promise.”
