Amanda’s father had been nothing short of furious when they had arrived at her home and explained the days’ events. On the way home, in the carriage, she had begged Nathaniel not to tell her parents of her involvement, pleading and saying that her life would never be her own again. Nothing had moved him. Nathaniel had stubbornly insisted, and now Amanda had a permanent footman at her side. They had a Bow Street runner assigned to watch their home, and she was not to go anywhere without an additional footman.
“Why must I have two footmen, Father?” she had asked. “I will be a spectacle everywhere I go! Think of the gossip this will arouse.”
“You think a bit of chatter amongst the birds of the ton will sway me? Two footmen, or you don’t leave this house.”
And that had been the end of it. Even while she was sleeping, Thomas, footman number one, stood outside her door. And given the incident with the window last year, she also had men patrolling the gardens in shifts below her room. It did not make her feel any better that her mother was under the same lock-and-key treatment. Only their father seemed to be able to come and go as he pleased, unencumbered. She had been tempted many times over the last week to mention the unfairness of it all, but had wisely held her tongue.
She still had to find a way to get some additional drawings to Mr. Taylor for the first issue of The Manchester Guardian. And she hadn’t seen Charlie yet to find out what had happened at the home office or to hear if there was any news of Bender’s capture. If she did not hear something by the week’s end, she was determined to march herself down to whatever magistrate knew what was going on and ask him herself.
The one bright spot to the past week was the nearly constant presence of Nathaniel. She smiled, looking at the flowers he had brought with him last time. Lilies. They were the first thing she smelled in the morning before she opened her eyes and the last thing she noticed before she succumbed to sleep at night. Her stomach jumped a bit just at the thought of him.
The hour was growing later, and it was long past time for breakfast or tea. She opened her bedroom door and nodded at Thomas. He followed her down the stairs and took up his position again outside the door to their family dining room. She sighed. Perhaps the newspapers her father read every morning had printed something interesting for today. Two o’clock, the hour of her deliverance, couldn’t come soon enough. She and Molly and her entire entourage would make their way to Mayfair, with the hopes of Molly encountering Jonathon Taylor to give him more drawings.
She was about to nod to the footman to open the dining room door when Nathaniel and her father entered the hallway, their faces lit with smiles. Amanda’s hand went to her heart. How could one heart sustain so much love? She reached her hand out to each and kissed her father on the cheek. “Father. Lord Nathaniel.”
Lord Nathaniel bowed over her hand and kissed it properly. His eyes spoke of adventure. She quirked her brow at him in question, but his smile just became wider, and he took her hand in his and placed it on the crook of his arm. They both turned to her father.
“It is good to see you this afternoon, Amanda. I feel it will be a wonderful day.” The duke reached to rest his hand on her shoulder. “I must go prepare for my meetings with our steward this afternoon, if you two will excuse me.” His face was full of sunlight.
As soon as he was out of earshot, she turned to Nathaniel and asked, “What is going on? You two look like cats with your mouse.”
Nathaniel raised his eyebrows in question. “I don’t know about your father, but I am happy whenever I see you. Can a man help it if he responds to your charm?” He raised his eyebrow, and his eyes held a hint of a teasing twinkle in them.
She laughed. “I’ll let it go, but I can tell that something is afoot with you both.” She gestured to the closed doors in front of her. “Would you like to join me for late luncheon or later tea? Whichever you would like to call it?”
Nathaniel shook his head. “Sadly, I too have appointments this afternoon that I must hurry off to meet, but did I hear you will be visiting Mayfair a little later?”
“Yes, Molly and I and a couple of footmen, the coachman, and possibly someone else just because the servants need more things to do.”
Nathaniel laughed and patted her hand on his arm. “Amanda, my dear. Enjoy your shopping. Meet up with friends. Your father is trying to keep you safe. And grateful I am for it.”
Amanda sighed. “I know. I just can’t help looking at it more like oppression than protection. I don’t even know what is going on with the investigation. Did Charlie talk to the Bow Street runners? Are the men still on the hunt? Where is Bender?”
Nathaniel laughed again. “Amanda. You needn’t be troubled with these kinds of things. Your father and I will take care of everything.” He stepped closer and looked into her eyes. She felt a thrill course up and down her center. Nathaniel leaned down and spoke softly in her ear, “You have worried enough for one lifetime. Let me protect you from all the rest of your cares.” He kissed the area just below her ear and then pulled her to him, resting his chin on the top of her head.
Amanda melted into him. She loved this feeling. She loved this man. But safe in his embrace, a niggling thought that seemed far away at first disturbed her peace. The closer it came, the more it upset her until by the time Nathaniel pulled away and said goodbye, it was a fully recognizable worry and frustration. Would Nathaniel never take her seriously? Could he never confide in her? Or she in him?
She drew in a fortifying breath. Two o’clock was fast approaching. She would just have to bide her time. She nodded to the footman to open the double doors, and she entered the dining room. At the other end of the table, a newspaper hid her mother’s face. Amanda stopped and swallowed. The Manchester Guardian, in bold black, was written across the top of the first page.
Amanda ached to know her mother’s thoughts. She cleared her throat. “Good morning, Mother.”
Her mother shifted the paper to see her and smiled in welcome. “Hello, my dear. I was hoping you would join me. This is awfully late for you, isn’t it? Did you sleep well?” The duchess rose with concern to place a hand on Amanda’s cheek and look into her eyes.
Her mother’s love brought a lump to her throat. She swallowed. “I did sleep well, but there is nothing to do around here, so I put off breakfast and luncheon as long as possible so that my shopping venture will come all that sooner.” Amanda shrugged in what she hoped was a carefree way.
Amanda’s mother smiled indulgently and gestured toward the side table. “Do get something to eat and come join me. A new paper arrived this morning. I would love to hear your thoughts about a most interesting drawing.”
As she sat with her food and began to sip the chocolate a footman had brought, she waited to hear her mother’s thoughts. Sifting through the scattered pages on the table, on the second sheet, she read words that made her heart pick up in excitement. It was the speech! Henry Hunt’s speech that she’d heard in the church square. Someone had printed the whole of it right there in the paper.
Her mother said, “What are you enjoying so? Your smile could blind us all. Do tell me, my dear.”
Amanda looked up in surprise. “Was I smiling?” And then her mouth spread even wider. “Yes, I suppose I was.” She ate another bite. “I was just reading the words of one Henry Hunt here on the second page.” And suddenly she wanted very much for her mother to understand, to feel the same way she did about freedom, for her heart to be stirred. “He is quite a talent. We should invite him to one of our readings some time. He would be magnificent!”
Her mother looked at her quizzically. “You can tell all that by his speech?”
Amanda blushed. “Well, no, but his words are so stirring that I can just imagine him speaking them. Surely he would be magnificent.”
“I too was quite moved by them actually.”
“Were you, Mother?”
“Well, it seems right, doesn’t it? That all people have the same rights.”
Amanda nodded excitedly. “Exactly! Including a voice in the government. And the servants! It is very difficult for them to be educated without money. And many people here in England are without work. Some of them barely have enough food to eat!”
Her mother considered her for a moment. “You seem to have given this much thought, much more than a few moments’ glance at a paper.”
Amanda looked into her mother’s eyes, praying she would understand. “I have, Mother. I, ah, stumbled upon these very same ideas months ago, and they have been seeping into my soul.” She put her hands over her heart. “I don’t always know what to do with this burning ember, but I have the biggest desire to be free.” She reached for her mother’s hands and squeezed them, hoping to send all her thoughts straight into her mother’s heart. “And I want most desperately for everyone else to be free as well.” She held her breath.
Her mother’s eyes glistened and she said, “Amanda, my dear. These are noble thoughts. You have a good heart. It speaks well of you that you should care for others so. Remember, my dear, should you have a son, he will one day be the heir to your father’s dukedom. Guard these desires. Keep them.” She looked more intently into Amanda’s eyes. “Don’t let your passion dim with the passage of time. Pass these feelings on to your children, should you be so fortunate as to have many; they will be powerful people here in England.”
Amanda shook her head. Generational change was not the kind of change she was working for. “No, Mother.”
But her mother spoke before she could continue. “Be patient, my flower. Change takes time. But don’t underestimate the power of one.” She held Amanda’s chin in her hand.
Everything in Amanda wanted to shout for immediate change. She wanted to tell her mother all about how that very paper she was reading had one of her own fliers on the front. She was making change right now. It was happening. But she held her tongue. Amanda had said enough for now.
She also had the nagging feeling that her mother was right. But Amanda didn’t want to think about whether or not change would come quickly or slowly. She just wanted to be a part of it. Her heart leapt with excitement as her mother turned back to the front of the paper and said, “This drawing is what drew me to the paper to begin with . . . something so familiar about it.”
Amanda placed a bit of bread in her mouth. “Oh?”
Her mother glanced at her. “I really looked closer, I was intrigued by it.” She ran her fingers over the figures in the drawing. Amanda felt pleased that Mr. Taylor had decided to use her Seeking Liberty drawing first.
He mother said, “I love the women the most. All different kinds of women. It is as if dear Martha and your Molly and your old governess, Miss Tildy, and I and others—all women—are walking together.”
“I can see you, as a young girl, right here.” She pointed. “This whole drawing is so like you.” Then she snapped her head up, finding Amanda’s eyes, her own much wider. “Amanda.” Her mother paused, searching Amanda’s face and then smiled a wide, proud smile and gave her a knowing look.
Amanda just stared back at her, unsure just what her mother was thinking.
“Well,” she continued. “Whoever the artist is, she is brilliant, darling. The emotion, the depth, the expressions on these women’s faces. She carries me right into the drawing. I wish I were right there”—she tapped the paper emphatically—“marching along with them.” A single tear spilled down her mother’s face.
Amanda leaned into her, throwing her arms around her mother. “I wish that too, Mother.”
As they silently embraced from their chairs, Amanda’s mother wrapped her arms around her and rested her cheek on her head. She gave her an extra squeeze. “I love you, Amanda.”
Parsons entered a moment later, clearing his throat. With a smile, he said, “Excuse me, Your Grace, my lady, but the carriage is ready for Lady Amanda.”
Amanda kissed her mother’s cheek and stepped away. “Off I go, Mother. Would you like me to get you anything while I am out?”
Her mother wiped her eyes with her handkerchief and smiled. “No, my dear. I am quite pleased with all that I have.” She and Amanda shared another look. Amanda felt her heart almost burst with the joy she felt in her mother’s approval. She tried to share the joy with her returning smile and then turned to take her cloak and bonnet from Parsons.
Molly was waiting in the hallway with the latest drawings wrapped in brown paper. Amanda nodded at her, and they turned to exit through the opened door, where two footmen waited and would escort them down every street and to the front door of every shop.
They visited the usual stops first. It must appear that Amanda was only out to pick up several yards of new ribbon and another bonnet and also to pay a visit to the modiste to pick the fabric for a new gown. But they both longed to be sitting at Mirabel’s Tearoom table in the back corner, discussing The Manchester Guardian with the tearoom’s owner. She hoped that Miss Tanner would be able to join them. She had not seen her dear friend in a couple of weeks, at least. They turned the corner, and she nearly walked right into Charlie. “Oh!”
His mouth immediately turned up into a grin, which lit his eyes. “Lady Amanda. Miss Molly! What a diverting surprise! Already my day is much more wonderful than before. And Miss Molly, how is my very favorite and loveliest adventurist doing this fine afternoon?” He bowed over their hands.
They curtsied in return, Molly giggling. “Adventurist? How so, good sir?”
Charlie stood up and winked at them both. “I believe our adventure involved an outing in deliveries for one young artist, did it not?” And he stared at them expectantly, eyebrows up in question.
Amanda arched her own eyebrow, eyes twinkling. “I am sure we don’t know what you are talking about.” The ladies moved to walk on either side of Charlie.
Amanda said in a hushed voice, “I have been so anxious to hear. What is going on with the search? Has Bender been found yet?”
Charlie turned to her in surprise. “Hasn’t Lord Nathaniel told you? He stops by every blasted morning, doesn’t he?”
“Told me what, Charlie? What is it he hasn’t told me?” She grabbed hold of his lapels in her fists and tried to shake him, but she did little besides wrinkle his clothes. When had he become such an immovable force?
He gently placed her hands in his and said, “Bender has been captured!”
Amanda reached for Molly, embracing her tightly, and she let the relief wash over her in waves.
Then she turned back to Charlie and included Molly in her question. “Then why am I still being followed about by footmen?” She waved her hands in exasperation.
Charlie looked at her with sympathy but answered in his sternest voice. “Because, Amanda. Bender had an extensive reach. Two of his underlings were traveling in Wales last week and are still about someplace, and in all honesty, London is not a safe place even without Jack Bender lurking about.”
Amanda stared at him in exasperation. “You mean, capturing Bender was not the end? You think his gang will continue?” Amanda could not believe it. She had naively thought that her life would return to normal as soon as Bender was out of it.
Charlie interrupted her thoughts. “It will take them many months to regroup and to gather their numbers. Someone would need to rise as leader. They may never recover what they once had.”
Charlie tweaked Amanda’s nose. “You did well, my lady. You almost devastated the whole mass of them.”
Amanda felt a bit mollified. And then she gritted her teeth. “I don’t suppose I will ever rid myself of these extra men.”
Molly laughed and shared a look with Charlie. “No, my lady. I don’t suppose you will ever lose the men who follow you everywhere.” Molly’s grin nearly split her face.
Amanda squinted her eyes as comprehension dawned. At that moment, Baron Michael Kenworthy appeared in front of her and bowed. Charlie and Molly laughed even louder, and Amanda surprised herself as she felt her cheeks go red. How unfair of them to tease her so. She only sought attention as it served to further her disguise, and they both knew it.
She dipped a quick curtsy and said, “Oh hello, Lord Kenworthy, how are you this fine afternoon?” She looked at Charlie and Molly for help, but they had stepped back a few paces from her, as befitted their station. She huffed in frustration. Now was not the time to entertain another round of flirtations with the man, as jolly as he was. Charlie and Molly, still finding great humor in the situation, stared at her with raised eyebrows. Suddenly she was filled with an old childish desire to stomp her foot. And just at the peak of her annoyance, while trying to maintain an interested expression on her face, her eye caught another figure coming toward her, and her eyes narrowed.
Nathaniel strolled with class, his abundant charm rolling off him. He cut such a fine figure. Her frustration heightened because she noticed. How could she avoid noticing? His shoulders seemed broader every time she looked at him. His hair was tickling his forehead as the breeze blew across his face. The sharp lines of his jaw and down his neck and his whole person emanated such a strong feeling of masculinity and power that her knees went weak for a moment.
Lord Kenworthy reached a hand over to steady her. He searched for the cause of her distraction and grinned wryly. “Ah, the man who leaves us all with little hope. Shall I leave straightaway or amuse myself just a bit at his expense?”
“Oh, don’t restrain your humor on my account. He could use a little torment, I am sure.” Her eyes narrowed farther as she tried to shoot daggers at Nathaniel. His face was all smiles and his body relaxed.
No more hand patting—and if she heard one more placating word from him, she just might throw her tea in his face. She laughed at the thought.
The baron turned to her in surprise. “Am I that amusing, my lady? I’m pleased to hear it. I shall attempt to do something else of great hilarity so that I might once again hear that lovely melody from your lips.”
Nathaniel arrived at that moment and made a face of dread. “Melody? Has Lady Amanda been singing? I do hope you are mistaken.”
Amanda bit back a laugh while the baron looked much like a stuffed bird—puffed out, feathers ruffled. He said, “Any lovely note to come from our dear Lady Amanda is to be as the sound of heaven, Lord Nathaniel, and I long to hear it.” He turned back to Amanda. “Another poem, my dear? Do you have it in you? Is your muse speaking?”
Amanda bit the side of her cheek. When she felt her laughter sufficiently suppressed, she answered, “Oh, my baron. I am terribly sorry.” And she waved a fan in her face, looking despondently out across the park to their left. “I feel completely without my muse, much like a bird in a cage, really.”
She turned her eyes to Nathaniel, scowling at him with as much menace as she could muster in polite society.
He choked on what sounded suspiciously like laughter as he made strange noises into his hand.
The baron surprised them all. “Did you hear? Oh! This is news indeed! Come, Lord Nathaniel, I’m talking to you as well. Step closer. Did you hear? They have captured Jack Bender!”
Amanda and Nathaniel shared a quick look and then stared at him, mouths open. The baron continued.
“What? You have heard of Jack Bender, have you not? That awful rogue terrorizing all the nobility? Broke into your uncle’s home? Hmm?”
Amanda nodded. “Yes, of course I have heard of him. I am amazed at the news of his capture and at your knowing of it.”
Lord Nathaniel said, “Yes, Lord Kenworthy, how did you come across this information?”
The baron’s voice sounded almost smug. “I have it from a good source—could never reveal who, mind you—but my source says he is locked up for good.” The baron had an almost reckless air about him. “We are free from the oppression of Jack Bender forever!” He waved his arms about with a dramatic flair.
Amanda took a step back to avoid contact with her face.
The baron stopped. “And the best part is . . .” He leaned closer to them, his voice lowering in a conspiratorial whisper, and Amanda smelled whiskey on it. “We have a hero to thank for it!”
Amanda’s curiosity piqued. “What do you mean?”
The baron said, “Sources say, and I cannot reveal—”
“Yes, yes, we know you cannot reveal your source. Out with it, man!” Nathaniel’s face had become a bit red, perhaps from irritation or impatience.
Amanda had little time to ponder his moods, however. “Who is the hero? I am all a flutter with anticipation!”
The baron smiled at her in appreciation. “They call him Red.”
Nathaniel became very still at her side. She glanced at him. His expression blank, she turned back to Lord Kenworthy.
Filled with curiosity, she asked, “Red? That’s it? Just Red?”
Nathaniel rolled his eyes and glanced in annoyance at Charlie.
Peculiar, she thought.
The baron shrugged. “That’s all I know. And the story goes that this Red person came riding in with a mask over his face and a red cap of liberty on his head. He carried a pistol and fired it into the air. The pub downtown cleared in an instant, all coming out to see the masked man with the gun. He rode straight into the middle of the crowd, right alongside Jack Bender and knocked him to the ground with the butt of his pistol.”
Amanda gasped. “Did he deliver him to prison across the back of his horse?”
The baron said, “He did indeed—carried him off to the magistrate.” Lord Kenworthy nodded decisively.
Amanda sighed. “I would love to know such a man.”
The baron continued. “That’s the version I like best.”
Amanda blinked. “What do you mean, the version you like best? Isn’t it true?”
Lord Kenworthy said, “Well of course it is true, my lady. He either burst into the crowd on his horse, or he rescued a couple of children from the evil man himself and tossed him in the clinker.”
Nathaniel snorted into his fist. Charlie pounded his back as if helping him clear a cough.
Amanda stared for a moment at the baron. “Well, which is it? Is there such a person as this Red? Or is all of this just some yarn you have spun to amuse yourself?” Amanda couldn’t explain why she felt such a surge of annoyance, but she folded her arms across her chest and stared at the baron until he responded with hands in the air, palms toward her.
“It’s true, Lady Amanda! All of it! A man they call Red saved us all from Jack Bender.”
She said, “And grateful I am there is such a man.”
Lord Nathaniel grunted. “We all said he would be caught, did we not?”
Amanda whirled to face him. “No, you did not. You have not said or explained anything to me in days! I only learned in this instant from Charlie that he was caught!”
Charlie turned sheepish eyes to Lord Nathaniel and shrugged.
The baron took a flask out of his pocket and drank a long draught, wiped his mouth, and hid the flask again in his coat. Noticing Amanda watching him, the baron started. “Oh, beg your pardon. Would you care for a refreshment? Could I fetch you a lemonade or an ice?”
Amanda nodded. “Yes, thank you! Either would be lovely.”
Lord Kenworthy looked surprised at her immediate acceptance, but he did not say anything. He bowed and left in search of her refreshment.
Amanda whirled on Nathaniel. “How could you? How could you not say anything at all to me?”
Nathaniel’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth.
She continued. “You knew! This morning you knew. You were there in my house and yet you said nothing! I assume my father knows?” Nathaniel nodded. “My mother?” He nodded again. “Does everyone in the whole house know but me?”
Nathaniel thought for a moment. “Molly didn’t know either, until now.” He called over to her, standing four feet away with Charlie. “I assume, Miss Molly, that you heard the lot of it. Jack Bender captured, finally in jail where he belongs.”
Molly nodded and curtsied. “I did, my lord, thank you, and much relieved I am to hear it.”
Amanda tried to keep her fury in check. “And why is it that everyone knows but us?”
Nathaniel stepped closer and took her hand in his. He gently patted the top of her hand.
Something about the gesture infuriated Amanda all the more.
He said, “There, my dear. You do not need to be so concerned about all of this. I was hoping you could take a step back, focus on other things—”
“Take a step back?” She yanked her hand free of his grasp. “I cannot take a step back as you call it! It . . . concerns . . . me! If you will recall, it was I who sent in the Bow Street runners, I who gathered the magistrate and his men.” Amanda threw her hands about her. She stepped closer to Nathaniel, hissing right in his face, inches away. “This is my battle as much or more than it is yours. You don’t even care about any of this. You and your rakish pretend act, all your parties and your swooning ladies. Why do you pretend this matters to you all of a sudden? This is my life. This is what I have dedicated my last breath to: liberty. And I stand with all efforts to support it. And against anyone and anything that tries to take it away.”
Nathaniel’s eyes shone with what looked like pride. But he said, “What could you possibly have done in the capture of Jack Bender? Go out with your gun in the air, shouting for him around every corner? Please, Amanda, leave these kinds of worries, these dangers and risks, to those who take care of them best.”
“But can’t you understand that I would want to know?”
He moved again to caress her hand, but she pulled it away and crossed her arms. He tried again, his voice low and pleading. “I was hoping we could get past all of this excitement and start planning other simpler, happier things, like courtships and . . . well, marriage. I would think there would be much on your mind. I am sure a few visits to the modiste and . . .”
His voice faltered, and he wisely abstained from completing the rest of his sentence.
Amanda had never felt so misunderstood or hurt in her life. He had proven quite soundly that he had no idea of the inner workings of her mind or heart. She didn’t know how she could ever entrust either into his keeping, let alone her dowry and freedom or her children.
Nathaniel amended, “Maybe you could create more of your drawings. They seem to set you at ease, calm your worries, give you some helpful manner in which to express your thoughts.”
Amanda’s eyes turned to steel and she said, “That is exactly what I will do. Thank you, Lord Nathaniel.” Burning fury rose inside. And she turned to walk past Molly, who followed behind her, eyes on the pavement.
Amanda would work on her drawings. And gone was the time to be careful and humorous. It was time to be bold and powerful. It was time to unsettle some people, to offend and prod. She wanted heads spinning and tongues wagging.
She needed to get home and start drawing. If all went well, she would have her first fliers out tomorrow morning.
She climbed into her carriage and almost yelped in surprise to see Charlie sitting on a bench. “What are you doing here, Charlie?”
“You misunderstand Lord Nathaniel. He has the best intentions, and he cares more for liberty than you can possibly guess.”
“Intentions mean very little to me. He obviously knows nothing about me at all.”
Charlie shrugged. “Or he knows you too well. But that’s not why I’m here. I’ve come to talk to the Sparrow. I have a commission for you.” Amanda opened her mouth and stopped. She didn’t know what to say.
Molly asked, “A paid commission? As in, someone wants Lady Amanda to draw for them?”
Charlie nodded. “Exactly.”
Amanda closed her mouth and swallowed. “What exactly does this person need? I have specific goals for my fliers, you know.”
“Liberty Seekers needs some publicity.”
A big grin spread across her face. “How soon do you need it?”
Charlie grinned in response and handed her a sheet of paper. “Here is an example of the information we need on the fliers. Liberty Seekers wants to have a peaceful rally. A well-known orator—”
“Henry Hunt?”
Charlie raised his eyebrows. “The very same. He will be there, and we are gathering to ask for universal sovereignty.”
Amanda and Molly shared a look. Amanda said, “We will do our best.” She read over the paper for a moment and said, “August 9. That’s very soon.”
“Yes, it is. Everything is in place. We just need to invite the masses.”
As the carriage neared Nathaniel’s home, where they had agreed to drop Charlie, he said, “Amanda, you need to try and understand Lord Nathaniel. He is a far better man than you know.”
Amanda grunted. “When did you become such an unfailingly loyal employee, I wonder?”
Charlie looked upward and closed his eyes. “Just try, Amanda. Try to think the best of him. He just might have reasons for the things that he does.”
Amanda scowled and folded her arms across her chest. “I would love him to be the best of men, but I am disappointed at every turn. Besides, he thinks of me as a child.” Tears threatened to fall, and she blinked them back furiously.
Charlie’s eyes held sympathy. “Believe me, he is fully aware you are not a child.” He reached for her hand. “Thank you for helping with the Liberty Seekers, my lady. I cannot stress how important your drawings are. Educating the people is everything. This newspaper is everything.”
Amanda reached out to stop his movement to exit the carriage. “Charlie, I must know. Is there such a person as Red? Did he really capture Bender?”
Charlie looked thoughtfully into her eyes. “He is as real as you and I. A true man and a hero. He is more of a gentleman than any I have ever met.” He squeezed her hands then turned to step down from the carriage.
She said half to herself as she watched the back of him turn a corner, “Is he a gentleman then?”