* * *

Mrs. Bennett was calling for Elizabeth, who rose and reluctantly put the paper aside on the chair. But as she was turning away, a word caught her eye and she picked up the paper again.

* * *

WANTED. Any word on the whereabouts of the old Indian Sachem Chingachgook, known also as Great—Snake or Indian John. To settle a debt.

Jack Lingo. Leave a message at the Trading Post, Stumptown.

* * *

Elizabeth stood reading this advertisement again and again until Katherine knocked at her door impatiently.

"Coming," she called, and with cold hands hid the paper among her things.

* * *

To Elizabeth's great surprise, Julian was waiting with the ladies at the foot of the stair. He bowed to her most formally and then grinned.

"Good morning, sister," he called. "I understand we are to go to the shops. I could use your excellent advice, as I would like to have a new coat made."

Katherine was so pleased to have Julian along for this outing that she barely allowed Elizabeth time to answer her brother before she overwhelmed him with fragments of at least three different questions and requests. Once again Elizabeth realized that Katherine's single—mindedness was sometimes a boon: it provided her with time to think through awkward situations, and for that reason alone she should be thankful.

While Elizabeth's enthusiasm for the expedition into the town was even less than it had been before, she did not mind the walk at all and she managed to hold a polite conversation with Mrs. Bennett as they moved along, thinking most of the time about her brother, and managing to keep thoughts of Nathaniel at bay. Now that she was in Johnstown, she had no idea how she would ever make her way to Barktown to seek him out at the Midwinter Ceremony. Elizabeth was only a little disappointed, and she reasoned to herself that it would be only a few days before she returned to Paradise, to her school, and to Nathaniel. It all seemed very far away and strange now. But real. Nathaniel was real, and what she felt for him was real. She was here because of him, and what she might be able to do for him, and for herself in the process.

Katherine had taken the arm Julian offered, and the two of them were far ahead when Mrs. Bennett took up a new topic of conversation which demanded Elizabeth's entire attention.

"Your brother is kind to spend his morning with us," observed Mrs. Bennett. "When he must have other business to attend to."

There was a small pause, and then Mrs. Bennett surprised Elizabeth greatly.

"You must make allowances if Kitty seems sometimes overly ... absorbed. She has suffered a quite crushing disappointment in the past year, and although she may seem to be insensitive, I assure she is just the opposite. She had hopes of Dr. Todd, until quite recently. Has she spoken to you of him?"

Elizabeth walked without answering for a moment, and then she began carefully.

"No," she said. "Katherine does not speak to me of her personal affairs."

"And Dr. Todd? Did he mention this to you?"

Elizabeth pulled up short, and found the older woman's brown eyes steady and unapologetically inquisitive.

"I wonder why you think that Dr. Todd would speak to me of such personal matter," Elizabeth said. "I assure you there is no cause for him to do so, nor would I welcome such a cause."

"I see." There was a new tone in Mrs. Bennett's voice, whether of relief or disappointment, Elizabeth could not tell.

"You see the Grant mansion," Mrs. Bennett pointed out in passing. "What gardens they keep. You must come and see them in the summer. Mrs. Grant's roses are the envy of all of us." And then, with a small drop in tone, Mrs. Bennett took up her previous topic again: "Please forgive my forwardness," she said. "I forget you are here so recently from England, where things are perhaps not so direct. But I do worry excessively about Katherine. Her mother was my dearest friend."

Mrs. Bennett stopped suddenly and grasped Elizabeth's arm. "Look," she said with great animation, directing her attention across the road. Mrs. Clinton is in town, do smile, do nod, Miss Elizabeth. The governor's wife. I wonder what the Clintons are doing in Johnstown. They must be visiting with the Dubonnets."

Katherine and Julian had turned back to join them, and Elizabeth had a moment to reflect on Mrs. Bennett's sudden switch of topic. She wondered whether the lady was as flighty as she seemed, or if this was a calculated attempt to distract Elizabeth and to disarm her. She thought ahead to her conversation with Mr. Bennett, and hoped that he would keep the topic of her visit to himself.

* * *

It wasn't until the contents of three shops had been inspected that Elizabeth was able to slip away and find her way to Mr. Bennett's offices. Julian and Katherine were so much enjoying themselves that they were best left to Mrs. Bennett's animated direction, and barely seemed to register her departure. She was let go once she promised to meet them at home for dinner, and with a great deal of relief Elizabeth made her way into the street.

Johnstown was a good—sized town with a great deal of business, and Elizabeth found it possible to lose herself in the foot traffic. This was the first time she had been on her own since leaving Paradise and she felt the pleasure of it. As they had spent very little time in any of the towns on their trip north from New—York, Elizabeth was interested in everything she passed, from the black—smithy and tannery to the impressive homes of the town's first citizens.

Mr. Bennett's offices were in a street off the main business area. Elizabeth stood contemplating her errand when the door of a tobacconer's opened and Galileo emerged with his arms full of packages.