He left the Virginia Street mansion on foot with an odd comingling of emotion. Dawn gilded the eastern horizon and the windows beyond where Juliet slept. He cast a look upward before rebuking himself to mind the day’s business. He had much to catch up on and more than a little to enlighten his fellow lords.
“Buchanan!” George Spiers was the first to arrive at the foot of King Billy’s statue, his excitement almost amusing since he was usually stoic. “I’ve been waiting for word ofyour return ever since you set sail last autumn. How I’ve missed your blunt, irreverent company. No one challenges the existing order of things like you do. By Jove, we’ve a lot to discuss!”
His echoing words seemed to summon every tobacco lord in Glasgow, including a few red-gowned magistrates. All were soon strutting over the plainstanes with more arrogance than Leith remembered. He endured their backslapping if not the customary kiss on each cheek, but it was Euan he was most glad to see.
“We must make time for the coffeehouse before the countinghouse,” his brother told him as Leith found himself surrounded. “I canna wait for our usual meridian at the Sarry Heid this afternoon.”
“Nor can I.” Leith looked toward the Gallowgate, where their usual haunt, the Saracen Head, beckoned. “For now, coffee is what I need. I developed something of a taste for it in the colonies.”
“Whiteford’s, then,” Euan said, looking about for a quick escape. They broke away from the crowd with difficulty, matching strides as they passed the tolbooth, the sun poking a wan finger through pewter clouds. “When I got your message that you’d arrived, I left Paisley immediately. Lyrica wanted to come with me given your glad news.”
“My marriage, you mean.”
“Aye, what else? We want to meet the newest Mrs. Buchanan once she’s settled and welcome her to Scotland. But your note was terse. What’s this mystery that she’s arrived with company?”
“Her sister is with her. A verra marriageable lass with a dowry of five thousand pounds. Feel free to spread that abroad.”
Euan chuckled as they approached the century-old coffeehouseat the corner of Trongate and Saltmarket, the aroma of the hot, bitter brew snaking out onto the street. The door groaned open, and they sought a corner table as other tobacco lords followed. Colonel Whiteford’s was the place of many a political debate with an unrivaled collection of newspapers.
“So, tell me everything,” Euan said, setting his cane aside and dangling his cocked hat atop it.
Leith did the same, then reached for a copy of theGlasgow Journal. “Virginia is as comely and contentious as ever.”
Euan frowned as their coffee was served. “Details, Brother, details.”
“I arrived in under a month. Got into a fistfight in York Town over billiards.” Leith took a drink of the scalding, black brew as his brother rolled his eyes. “Made my way to the capital, Williamsburg, then Forrest Bend, where the Ravenals are in residence.”
“You visited Buchanan stores amid all this.”
“Aye, and warned our storekeepers and clerks at Farquair and Culpepper that they’re becoming overly familiar with the planters and allowing them too much credit.” Leith glanced at Edinburgh’sCaledonian Mercury. One phrase caught his eye.
Familiar dialogue between Americus and Britannicus on the nature of human liberty.
“Let’s get to the best part,” Euan said impatiently, pushing the papers aside. “Virginia’s renowned hospitality.”
“I was fêted by the Catesbys at Royal Vale, then spent Christmas in Williamsburg, where I succumbed to a vile fever.” At the mention, Leith stifled a stubborn cough. “Ravenal’s doctor wrote me off as dead, but not before I’d stated my intentions, in a manner of speaking, to Juliet Catesby.”
Euan looked smug. “Which were favorably received.”
“Nae.” The raw memory dogged him still. “She declared herself genteel if in debt and said she’d never imagined being so reduced as to become affianced to a tobacco merchant.”
Euan leaned back in his seat, looking dazed. “Wheest!”
“Which only increased my determination to have her.”
Euan’s rare laugh took some of the sting away. “And then...”
“I returned her miniature through Ravenal, ending our fractious relationship ... or so I thought.” Leith took another drink of coffee. “Determined as I was to return home—or die—I made it to York Town and boarded theGlasgow Lass, but there was an unexpected delay with the cargo. The night before we sailed, I was called to the quarterdeck to find the lass and her sister in a lighter asking permission to board.”
“And you let them.”
“On the condition she marry me on the spot, aye.”
Euan still looked astonished, his hard veneer cracking a bit. “Why on earth did she change her mind?”
“She said she wanted to honor her father’s wishes that we marry and have the Catesby debt cleared. She also insisted on a generous dowry for her sister, believing her marital prospects brighter here in Scotia.”
“She sounds like a competent businesswoman in her own right.”
