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“The largest city in the world! The richest nation! Yet their every street is knee high in horse shit.”
Helen nodded and opened her mouth.
“If you’re not slipping on that, your nose burns from the piss. Soot everywhere. My eyes smart from that river, nothing more than a floating privy! My throat, closed from the smog!”
Helen waited for his tirade to wind down. Eventually, Elijah noticed her gown—her finest blue day gown, the one she wore to meet prospective investors—and tensed.
“We have but one hope left,” she said firmly. “And it goes by the name Irons.”
His mouth flattened. “What time is our appointment, then?”
“We haven’t one. Irons never responded to our letter. It is time to act.”
He frowned. “Did Hughes suggest this?”
“He identified this firm as our last chance. You’ve said it yourself. We can’t tarry if we’re to make it to China for the first tea of the season.”
He closed his eyes; his head dropped back. After a moment, their eyes met, and he nodded.
“For as much as we’re engaging in an ambush,please, Elijah, let us refrain from offending Mr. Irons. Undoubtedly, he’s one more ancient and disapproving Englishman, but if we can just behave for once, Iknowwe have a chance.”
He opened his mouth as if to argue, but she raised an eyebrow.
“Very well,” he said, resigned.
“Even if he questions you being a captain at such a young age?”
“I’ll hold the reins on my temper.”
Helen gave him a warning look. “Reins may not be enough. Commit your temper to a cell and do not let it free. No more lectures to the English about their bloated, backwards ways. No more expositions on Americans choosing leaders not by birth or age, but by ability.”
His teeth ground audibly. “Helen, youknowtheir captains aren’t selected based on merit! Even in the merchant fleet, they choose old men who can barely stand upright on deck. British ships are the first to put into port for fear of a storm. The first to stop and rest after hardly any work at all!”
“Yes, yes, and you’ve yet to mention that their oversized, sleepy ships are nothing but floating warehouses.”
“Amen!” He added a clap for good measure.
“If additional lectures are accumulating on your tongue or in your mind, I invite you to share them with the looking glass, your favorite audience.”
“I do understand the import of this,” said Elijah quietly. “I shall comport myself as impeccably as I possibly can.”
That’s what I’m afraid of!Helen thought, but she reached out and squeezed his forearm. “Thank you.”
He lifted an auburn eyebrow. “Asyoushall.”
She straightened her spine. “Of course!”
“You know they don’t fancy a woman speaking on matters of trade. Especially an old goat like this Irons.”
“Iknow,” she replied icily. “I said I’ll behave. I’ll leave the speaking to you.”
“Of course.”
“You sound as though you don’t believe me!” Her voice rose higher in pitch.
“Helen, I—” Sighing, his gaze dropped to his boots. “We’re a matched pair, you and I. And it seems the English don’t like the cut of our jib. Let’s hope this Irons is different.”
“I doubt he is, sowemust be, Elijah. ”
He nodded, then went upstairs, his steps tired.
Helen’s face fell. She had spoken of change, yet how close had she or her brother ever come to being something they weren’t?
You can do it for the duration of a meeting—that’s all that’s needed.
