Innocent Libertine (Heirs of Acadia Book #2)

Davis Bunn T., Isabella Bunn

Description

Davis and his wife, Isabella, are continuing the historical saga of a pivotal time in America's past with descendants of those courageous Acadians. In The Innocent Libertine, the impulsive young American Abigail Aldridge becomes increasingly outraged by the chasm between her Christian ideals and the plight of the poor. A well-intentioned social outreach puts her right in the middle of disaster, which turns into a scandal, and soon she is on a ship headed back to America. The broad expanse of the American landscape and an encounter with a brilliant young scholar open Abbie's heart to a new understanding of her divine destiny. The sequel to the bestselling The Solitary Envoy.

Sujets

• Historical fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 septembre 2004
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781585585687
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Innocent Libertine
H EIRS OF A CADIA - T WO -
T. DAVIS BUNN & ISABELA BUNN The Innocent Libertine
© 2004 T. Davis Bunn and Isabella Bunn
Published by Bethany House Publishers 11400 Hampshire Avenue South Bloomington, Minnesota 55438 www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a Division of Baker Book House Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Ebook edition created 2013
Ebook corrections 03.26.2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher and copyright owners.
ISBN 978-1-5855-8568-7
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.
Cover design by UDG Designworks, Inc.
This book is dedicated to Susan & Ken Wales Our gifted and exuberant friends
T. DAVIS BUNN is an award-winning author whose growing list of novels demonstrates the scope and diversity of his writing talent.
ISABELLA BUNN has been a vital part of his writing success; her research and attention to detail have left their imprint on nearly every story. Their life abroad has provided much inspiration and information for plots and settings. They live near Oxford, England.
By T. Davis Bunn
The Gift The Messenger The Music Box One Shenandoah Winter The Quilt Tidings of Comfort & Joy
Another Homecoming * Tomorrow’s Dream *
The Dream Voyagers Drummer in the Dark The Great Divide The Presence Princess Bella and the Red Velvet Hat Return to Harmony * Riders of the Pale Horse To the Ends of the Earth Winner Take All
S ONG OF A CADIA * The Meeting Place The Birthright The Sacred Shore The Distant Beacon The Beloved Land
H EIRS OF A CADIA † The Solitary Envoy The Innocent Libertine
* with Janette Oke
† with Isabella Bunn
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
About the Authors
Other Books by the Author
Part One
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Part Two
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Part Three
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Book Three/HEIRS OF ACADIA: The Noble Fugitive
Back Ads
PART ONE
Chapter 1
Abigail Aldridge tried to ignore the thrill she felt stepping off Shaftesbury Avenue and entering the forbidden world of Soho. Three paces were enough to cast her into another realm. The rutted cobblestones led her into a place deep in shadows and adventure. Here even the laughter was different.
Abigail stepped carefully over a water-filled trench, her skirts held in one hand. Thankfully the rain had finally ceased. But the sky overhead remained blanketed by clouds turned orange in London’s evening lights. Though it was early July of 1824, they had scarcely known any summer at all. Abigail could see her breath as she walked. There were even reports of snow covering the Scottish dales. From the countryside came accounts of yet more ruined crops, the third such season in a row. The previous year the harvests had been particularly disastrous, bringing much of rural England to the brink of starvation. A pair of fancy ladies approached with arms linked, dancing their way around a puddle. They giggled meaningfully and spoke a man’s name with the derisive calm of women who knew things Abigail dared not even consider.
The two deserved the title of fancy, for they both wore dresses with far more frills than Abigail’s. But their petticoats were bedraggled, and the silk trimmings were stained and frayed. Abigail had selected her plainest gown for this outing. Her abundant red hair was primly tied back in a new ribbon, and her face and hands were scrubbed clean. Unlike the pair who now were directly in front of her.
They drew up sharp on catching sight of Abigail. One of them said, “Here now, what’s this? Down for a bit of slumming, are we?”
The two could not have been older than Abigail’s own eighteen years. Yet their eyes were as ancient and world-weary as the crumbling buildings to either side of where they stood.
“I-I’m here meeting a friend, actually,” Abigail murmured.
“Oh, a friend, is it?” The one who spoke was the shorter of the pair, with pale locks spilling out from beneath a frowsy hat. “That what we’re calling ’em these days, a friend?”
“Bet she don’t have a clue how to keep her friend happy.” The second woman smiled to reveal several missing teeth. “We could show you a thing or two, couldn’t we, darlin’. Oh my, yes.”
Abigail smelled the gin on their breaths as they giggled. Added to this was the odor emanating from their clothing old perfume and smoke and something rank. “D-do either of you ladies know the saving grace of Jesus Christ?”
The two of them seemed to find that hilarious. The smaller woman took in the street with a grand sweep of her arm. “Don’t recall seeing him ’round these parts before.”
The other agreed. “If you’ve spied ’im in Soho, missy, best you believe ’e’s got ’imself good and lost.”
“But He is everywhere,” Abigail declared earnestly, “and always.”
“Abigail!” Another young woman ran breathlessly toward them. “I feared I had lost you entirely! Why did you not wait for me to arrive?”
The two ladies realized their game with Abigail was over. The smaller woman’s face hardened. “Take your manners and your religious chatter and get back where you belong, missy. There’s danger stalking these roads. Perils the likes of which you can’t imagine.”
The newcomer waited until the pair had departed to say, “I fear they are correct, Abigail. We do not belong here.”
“If we do not try, how are they to hear the Word?” Abigail tugged her friend Nora’s arm. “Remember, the harvest is great and the workers few.”
“But ”
“Come!”
Abigail was well aware that Nora would have much preferred to remain safe in the West End. Nora had been Abigail’s friend since their school days. A quiet girl by nature, she was a perfect daughter and the light of her mother’s life. Nora was in love with a young man earning his charter in accountancy, and her face bloomed every time his name was mentioned. She loved him so much she almost wept with joy whenever she spoke of their coming wedding. Everyone said she would make a splendid wife and mother.
Abigail, however, had never loved any young man as Nora did this one. She could not imagine what it might be like. The only time she ever gave such feelings a second thought was when she listened to Nora prattle on. To give up her independence was unthinkable. She was not jealous of Nora. How could she be, when she had no interest in living a life tied to some man’s interests and future? But Abigail prided herself on her honesty. Abigail was forced to admit that she was a bit jealous of this young man for stealing away her best friend.
“Do hurry on, Nora,” she said as she moved forward.
“Oh, all right.” Nora took hold of her skirt with one hand and the printed pamphlets with the other. “I suppose it would be too much to ask you to hold to the main roads for a change.”
“You know where we’re going. We’ve had this planned for days and days.”
“ You’ve had it planned.”
Abigail did not respond because there was nothing to say. In the past, Nora had willingly gone along with all of Abigail’s plans. That was how their relationship had always been. Abigail was the person with ideas, Nora with the steadfast support. Abigail was impetuous and eager and bursting with a great desire to improve her world. Nora was calm and unwavering in her friendship. Even Abigail’s mother, who worried constantly about her willful daughter, always said that Nora would keep them out of harm’s way.
Only now there was a change in the wind. Nora’s husband-to-be, Tyler Brock, did not approve of Abigail Aldridge.
Abigail’s father ran a trading concern that was a major client of Tyler’s accountancy firm. Samuel Aldridge initially had been brought to England as deputy minister plenipotentiary for the United States. But when his stint with the government was concluded, Samuel had remained on to open a British arm of his family’s highly successful trading empire. Since her arrival here as a young child, Abigail had traveled back to the United States only once, four summers past. England was where she had spent most of her life. If she stopped to think about it, Abigail Aldridge would have had difficulty determining which was more of a true homeland. Then again, Abigail rarely stopped and thought deeply on much of anything. Abigail was one for action and forward motion, with loyal Nora by her side.
Only Tyler was quietly intent upon changing all this.
Tyler was never direct in his criticisms. He was a cautious man with an accountant’s way of examining things, picking them apart with delicate precision and wearing a body down with his unending questions. Abigail found Tyler to be a most trying sort of person. She tolerated him only because Nora was so deeply in love. At first she had expected this particular romance to follow the path laid down by all of Nora’s earlier infatuations. First there was a great flame of dreaming and yearning and sighing and talking. Then came niggling doubts which mounted until the romance died. Poof. Like a candle snuffed. There one moment, mere smoke and forgotten brilliance the next. Only this particular romance had remained and even strengthened. Now Nora approached her long-sought goal of marriage and a family. With Tyler Brock, of all people.
Tyler had the irritating habit of asking Abigail questions she could not answer. For instance, were he here now, he would be inquiring in that mild voice of his about why she insisted upon walking down a dark street in the