The moment Edith finished braiding my hair, I climbed into my bed and pulled the covers up to my shoulders.
“Good-night,” Edith said as she backed out of my room.
“Good-night.” I closed my eyes, willing myself to fall asleep.
5
WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA
MAY 24, 1774
It was impossible to find a quiet moment to talk to Mama until late afternoon. With the prestige of the new public printing contract, we had several new customers come into the print shop to place advertisements for that week’s paper. I could hardly keep up with them and still see to the daily needs of the shop. I hoped and prayed it was a taste of the business to come, but there were still people in Williamsburg who would stop at nothing to see us fail.
The extra income was needed, but it did not satisfy all of our financial debts. We were able to pay most of what we owed to Mister Jennings, but there was still the matter of the final portion due in a week. Not to mention the sum we owed to the butcher, the cobbler, and the apothecary, who were all putting pressure on us to pay.
When I finally had a quiet moment near the supper hour, I was ready to close business for the day. My back was stiff from sitting at my desk for the past ten hours, and my eyes were blurry from reading through half a dozen newspapers fromNew York, Philadelphia, and other cities. Each week, these papers were sent to us. Some articles and news we chose to print in theVirginia Gazetteto keep our subscribers informed. We also sent copies of our newspaper to the thirty-five other printing presses in the colonies for the same purpose.
But it was a time-consuming process. On days like today, I thought about how quickly news moved from one source to another in 1914. Telephones, telegraphs, automobiles, airplanes, trains, and even motion pictures made news readily available and almost instantaneous. So much of how we transported information from one person to the next in the colonies was painstakingly slow and arduous. Parliament used this to their advantage, trying to keep the colonies as separate as possible, knowing that if we united as one force, we would be difficult to control. If we were fighting amongst ourselves, better still.
I pushed away from my desk to find Mama. She had left the office hours before to attend to Hannah’s and Rebecca’s schooling.
I went to the front door and turned over our shingle, indicating that the print shop was closed. Even at this late hour, the capital was still buzzing with excitement. People moved in and out of the blacksmith, the Prentis Store, and the many taverns lining the street. I stood for a moment, reveling in the comfort and familiarity of Williamsburg. Though I had lived equally in two eras and longed for some of the conveniences of 1914, this was where I belonged. Where I felt the most at home. I wanted to stay just as I was and not have to worry about Mother Wells, Lord Cumberland, and the twentieth century ever again.
Just thinking about Lord Cumberland made me step back inside and close the door with purpose. I needed to find Mama.
She was not in the sitting room, so I made my way into the backyard. Mama knelt there, working in one of her flowerbeds while Rebecca and Hannah sat on the grass beside her, eachtaking turns reading from a primer. No time was wasted on idleness.
The day was warm, and the air was fragrant with the scent of spring. Colorful tulips and irises grew in the cultivated beds. Mama took such pride in her flowers and had often told me that they were one thing that did not change throughout time. Her mother in the 1990s had been a master gardener and had shared her love of flowers with Mama. With Papa’s illness and the additional work from the shop, there had been little time for her to devote to the flowerbeds of late, so it did my heart good to see her working there now.
Rebecca glanced up. Her brown eyes were filled with the innocent delight of childhood. She was the only one of us who had Papa’s brown eyes. Her hair was also very dark and as straight as Hannah’s was curly. Rebecca did not look anything like me or Hannah, but she possessed the same curiosity and confidence that we shared with Mama.
“Libby,” Rebecca said in greeting.
Mama’s head came up. She sat back on her calves and wiped a piece of hair away from her forehead. Her hands were covered in dirt, and there was a pile of weeds at her side, but she had a wide smile on her beautiful face.
“I’ve closed the shop for today,” I told her, “and I was wondering if I might have a word with you.”
“Aye.” Mama wiped her hands together as she nodded at Rebecca and Hannah. “Take the book inside and help Mariah get supper on the table.”
The girls quickly obeyed, eager to be done with their studies for the day. I brushed my hand over Hannah’s curls as she ran past me. She smiled, a giggle on her lips.
Mama stood, her eyes soft around the edges. “They’re growing much too fast.”
“Aye.” The need for new clothes was but one reminder.
A blackbird sang from a branch overhead as Mama tooka seat on the bench under the elm tree and patted the spot beside her.
I could not sit. I had been sitting for most of the day. The question I had for Mama kept me on my feet, pacing the crushed-shell path. I placed my hands on the flare at my hips, and my feet poked out from under my skirt as I walked.
“What’s troubling you?” Mama asked.
I glanced around the yard to make sure we were alone. To my left, the kitchen windows were open, but I could hear Mariah singing as she moved pots and pans around. Louis and Glen were still in the printing room, and Abraham was at the Yorktown harbor, retrieving a shipment of supplies. If I was going to discuss this with Mama, I must do it now.
“Mother Wells has decided upon a suitor for me. His name is Reginald Fairhaven, the Marquess of Cumberland.”
Mama lifted her eyebrows. “You’re certain this is the one? You thought that once before in New York.”
“Lord Cumberland’s political aspirations include becoming prime minister of England.” I crossed my arms as I continued to pace, feeling the need to shield myself, though Mother Wells and Lord Cumberland were thousands of miles and hundreds of years away. The interest I had gained in New York from some of the wealthiest and best-connected young men was probably the reason Mother Wells had decided to set her sights higher.
