Evening Star (Star Quartet 1)

She drew a smile from him. “You win, Giana. I promise to show you my concern only at night.”

Alex waved his thanks to Captain Duffey and guided Giana down the wooden gangplank. They both swayed a moment when they reached the unmoving ground.

Anesley O’Leary was a younger man than she had thought, his serious brown eyes browed with thick streaks of carrot-red hair.

“Good to see you, Anesley,” Alex said, shaking his hand. “My wife, Giana Saxton.”

“A pleasure, ma’am. Welcome home, sir.” He grinned widely. “I should have known better than to think you were bowed with business for the past months.”

“I managed to survive both the business and the pleasure, my dear fellow. I trust, Anesley, that the shipyards are still intact?”

“Jake Ransom needs your advice about the mainmast of the Eastern Star. Mr. Saxton’s foreman at the shipyard,” he added for Giana’s benefit.

“What seems to be the problem, Mr. O’Leary?” Giana asked.

“The wood, ma’am. Ransom thinks it wasn’t properly aged.”

“Was it not part of your shipment from the Baltic?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Anesley said, blinking at her.

“Sounds to me, Alex,” Giana laughed, “like you’ve been bilked.”

“Well, we will see to it Monday. Have Jake in my office first thing in the morning. Thank you for meeting us, Anesley. I’ll see you on Monday, with Jake.” Alex helped Giana into the carriage and swung in after her.

“I will likely see you on Monday too, Mr. O’Leary,” Giana called back to him.

“I don’t think I’ll wait for tonight,” Alex said. “Making love to you appears to be the only way I can shut your mouth.”

She did not answer him, her attention already engaged elsewhere as their carriage pulled onto Broadway.

“Behind you, Giana, is the Battery, and beyond, Brooklyn. We’ll head up Broadway, then swing over to Washington Square.”

“That is Trinity Church?” Giana called out, pointing toward the tall spire.

“It was finally rebuilt some years ago,” Alex said. “Hopefully, you damned British will not gut it again.”

When they reached the south end of Washington Square, Giana waved excitedly at a formation of brightly uniformed soldiers marching on the huge green, their bayoneted rifles held at attention.

“Daily exercise,” Alex said. “It is the Seventh Regiment performing their drills.”

Their carriage skirted the lovely homes that surrounded the square, and turned onto Fifth Avenue. Alex was delighted to hear her draw in her breath.

“So many trees, Alex. And in the middle of the city.”

?

?It is the only street in all of New York to boast this much greenery.”

The homes grew more imposing as the carriage rolled northward. Finally, they drew to a halt in front of a graceful, thick-columned white mansion, with a wide portico, trellised with rosebushes. Bow windows adorned all three floors, and the bright afternoon sun glistened off their sparkling glass.

“Alex, I wasn’t expecting a log cabin, but neither was I expecting another Carlton House. It is truly beautiful.”

“I would not expect the stepdaughter of an English duke to live in a house beneath her touch. Wait until you see the garden in the back. It’s not so impressive now that it’s fall, but in the spring it’s one of my favorite spots. I do a lot of my work there. I’ve managed something of a greenhouse in the attic, with wide skylights, but I haven’t had as much success here as in my greenhouse in Connecticut. Don’t look so ill-used, Giana. You may still find the inside of the house as tasteless as your fondest hope.”

A graceful wide staircase swept upward from the central entrance hall, to two diverging hallways at its landing. Solid oak chairs and tables, set beneath paintings of ships and shipyards, lined the foyer, as did three women and one tall, crookedly smiling man with curling gray hair. The women dipped slight curtsies as Alex introduced them to their new mistress: Agnes, the cook, a monstrously wide woman with a white-toothed smile; Bea, the downstairs maid, her Germanic face more restrained and curious; and Ellen, the upstairs maid, a young girl who seemed nervous at meeting her.

“And last, Mrs. Saxton, I would like you to meet Herbert. He keeps the place running smoothly.” He added in an aside for Giana’s ears, “He is more English than you are, Giana, and the biggest snob in New York. He does marvelous things for my reputation.”