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"Not so brave, Mistress Wyeth I’ as he reatly, and he is ht become a man of means about this town"

"And that’s important to you?"

He looked at her, and the words slipped from his mouth "You are important toat hi your pardon!" he said hastily

"But you have not offendedno pardon"

He was horrified to find himself speechless

He was customarily the one who teased and flirted He had confidence and ease, and he loved to le and speculate

Bartholoure His shoes were buckled and bore heels, his hose didn’t display a single knot, and his breeches were impeccable He wore a ruffled shirt, red vest and black jacket His hair was jet-black and neatly queued beneath his tricornered hat His eyes were light and bright and bore a sparkle ofas his grin and his dirateful that he’d always ed to keep the friendship of his fellows, as well He enjoyed life, and was fascinated by events and people

He’d been lucky in living a life that had brought hi he’d received at the hands of the British Navy It had prepared hih he had been born and bred in Liverpool--admittedly in an area that was the cesspool of the city, he’d discovered a passion for a wild new country in the western he was new to hi, this sense of wonder just to be near a woain, just the sound of it was like ood fellow, this is Aht have his chance?" Bartholomew asked

"Of course," she said

"I don’t think your father would agree," he said

"I’nity in her eyes

He was touched and aht be attracted to him, as well

But he had been around the world

And he knew many a man like her father

"Let me walk you home with this parcel," he said

They walked, and she asked hi, about the exotic ports he had known, and the ht When they reached the house--a huge clapboard with a grand porch and beautiful veranda--she laughed and insisted that he coreed, and he carried in the parcel, depositing it in the foyer where she directed, and then following her into the parlor She rang a little bell, a ht their repast, and they sat together on the sofa, still talking She and her father had come down from New York City, where her father had been a successful banker, allowing hi a vast shipping empire Bartholomeas familiar with New York, but not as she knew it, and she talked about life south and north of Wall Street, and the sadness in the Five Points area, where is often ruled the street

Their fingers touched, their voices were quick and hurried, and they were close, so close he knew that he wanted her more than ever, and he said, in theI have loved you so froine life without you I cannot believe that you would even consider a man so humble in station as I"

She held his hand between her own "I believe in the dream of our country," she said She smiled "I have met many of my father’s business friends and acquaintances, and most are snobbish fops But you, Bartholorandeur, you don’t talk of choice and honor, you have lived in search of it You are the man hom I can find what I seek in life--dreams of our own creation, a world in which we make our lives ish them to be and are heedless of a friend’s position or his money"

She smiled, and turned away, and pointed to a small framed likeness on thewas lovely, and her daughter was in her io She believed in dreams She believed that an Irish washerwoman could earn her way andwith several sea and wonderful I loved her so one," Bartholomew said He didn’t remember his own mother He had never known his father His surname had coht him the sea, out of kindness He had died the first year that Bartholomew had been with the British Navy

Before either could say more, the front door opened and closed Victor Wyeth, Victoria’s father, had come home