City of Glory by Beverly Swerling Read Free Book Online

back with only Morgan, his first mate, and a crew of three. And the hold dead empty. Morgan said they hadn’t taken a single prize. Since the Maiden had made most of the men who invested in her a good deal richer than they’d been before, his investors accepted that this time fortune hadn’t smiled. Except for the few who said Morgan lied. There were rumors that because one of the investors in that voyage was Squaw DaSilva’s—” Andrew broke off. “You know about my aunt, your grandmother?”
    “Jennet Turner DaSilva. Whoremistress to the city and my father’s mother. I know.”
    “Jennet was many things, not all of them what they seemed, but undoubtedly the best hater I’ve ever known. Forgiveness wasn’t in her vocabulary. She detested Caleb Devrey with a rare passion, and he was indeed one of the investors in that voyage. He thought she didn’t know that, but it appears she did. And so did Morgan. It’s not difficult to believe he would rather bury the profits of that cruise than see Cousin Caleb reap any gain from it.”
    “My father would have been taking an incredible risk.”
    “Indeed. If they could have proved anything, they’d have strung him up from the nearest tree, and cut him down before he was dead so they could hang him a second time. But that wouldn’t have stopped Morgan. Not in those days. Especially not if the thing could cause Cousin Caleb harm.”
    “In God’s name,” Joyful whispered, “how could you all have hated each other so much?”
    “I didn’t hate Caleb. I’d no reason to. If your father wanted to tell you his reasons, he’d have done so while he was alive. Just accept that they were sworn enemies.” Andrew leaned forward and tapped the note lying on the table. “That’s why I believe this is the answer to the puzzle of the voyage of ’59.”
    “Did my father give it to you?”
    “He did not. I took it from Caleb Devrey’s—”
    “But if Caleb had it, if he knew what had been done and where the profits were, why didn’t he go after them?”
    “You didn’t let me finish. I took it from Cousin Caleb’s dead hand. My assumption is that by the time he got this—however he got it—it was too late for him to do anything with it. And if you’re wondering, he died of natural causes. A malign tumor in his belly, I suspect, though he was never my patient.”
    “I see. Cousin Andrew, forgive me, but I have to ask. Did my father know you had that paper?”
    Andrew didn’t avoid Joyful’s gaze. “No, he never did.”
    For a time the two men sat in silence, the enormity of all the old hatreds and betrayals heavy between them. Finally, Joyful said, “This treasure…If it exists, you could have gone after it any number of times over the years. Why didn’t you?”
    “I had many excuses. No opportunity, no knowledge of seafaring, no captain I’d trust…The plain truth is, I always knew it wasn’t mine to claim.”
    Joyful stood up, the tension making his chest tight and every muscle quiver. “But it is mine. The blood legacy belongs to me.” His heart was pounding and he could feel the sweat running down his back.
    “That’s what I’m saying.”
    “Why now? I lived three years under your roof. Until a month past, I’ve been a constant visitor in this house any time I’ve been in the city. In good Christ’s name, Cousin Andrew, why now?”
    Andrew took a deep breath. “Because,” he said, “I believe the Union, everything your father and I and so many others fought for, to be in peril.”
    It took a few moments for Joyful to take this in. “Are you speaking of the United States?” he asked finally.
    Andrew nodded.
    “But we’ve bested the British in a number of battles this year, and even if they do invade New York, we—”
    “I’m not talking about the redcoats, Joyful. I’m talking about a far worse danger. The kind that comes from within.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “You must have heard the talk. New England and New York to secede,