31 Bond Street

31 Bond Street by Ellen Horan Page A

Book: 31 Bond Street by Ellen Horan Read Free Book Online
Authors: Ellen Horan
Tags: Fiction, Historical
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among the fashionable crowd. When the thoroughbreds thundered the course, a current of excitement surged through the spectators, but Dr. Burdell paid more attention to Emma than to the horses bursting from the gate. Emma bet on several and she clapped her hands with delight when her horse won and her wager yielded a small sum.
    He invited them on rides through the countryside and to recitals at the gazebo in the square. On rainy days Emma and Dr. Burdell played cards in the hotel library while rain spattered the windows, and guests wandered in, looking intently for something to read. While dealing rounds of whist, he confided in her, filling her in on his occupation. He told her that his dental office catered to the teeth of a wealthy uptown clientele. He spoke of the tinctures that he concocted in his small dentistry laboratory. She nodded as she played, not listening much, until he spoke of gold—he said he had replaced gold with an amalgam for filling teeth and the technique had made him rich. He used new metals that were less expensive yet just as effective for fillings, and he could charge his patients as much as others were charging for gold.
    “How clever you must be,” she said. With her cards spread outbefore her, Emma calculated her next move and landed the winning card.
    “I have created a concoction of chemical powders that I mix with various drugs in doses that have quite eliminated the pain in dental treatment.”
    “I have never had a tooth pulled,” she said, shuddering at the thought.
    “You would hardly know that it was happening. My patients remain quite happy. They experience a feeling of euphoria, a sensation of flying, accompanied by a sense of well-being. Afterward there is soreness, but there are potions to eliminate that, too.” Dr. Burdell dealt again. He shuffled deftly, his surgeon’s hands moving across the table with the slickness of a card shark.
    “Have you thought any more about your finances?” he asked. “I might advise that you consider an investment in open land. Right now there is much activity in the areas surrounding the city.”
    “Well, first, I must secure a new home, for my current lease expires in the fall,” she said. “Augusta is almost nineteen, and I shall need a suitable address to entertain.”
    “I have never understood the need for ladies teas. It seems to me to be a frivolous waste of an afternoon,” replied Dr. Burdell.
    “The entertainment is to attract suitors,” she responded.
    He dealt again, with a slap of cards against the table. “In New York, it’s a large checkbook that makes a man suitable, or so it seems,” he said. “The rest of the courting ritual is a waste of time and money. And as for your finances, I suggest that this is not a wise time to purchase a house in town,” he warned. “Manhattan is much overpriced, and even the houses in the lower wards are asking huge sums.” Dr. Burdell drew a card and then leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Recently I purchased several hundred acres of marsh across the harbor, in Elizabeth, New Jersey. I believe one daythe area will be as important to shipping and commerce as the port of New York. The city’s wharves are rotting, and boats are lined up out to the Narrows with no place to berth.”
    Emma reflected upon his words, shifting the fan of her cards. She wondered if he thought that she and her daughters should move to the swamps of New Jersey. “My, I had no idea!” she said brightly. “To think that our city shall just expand forever outward, unfurling like the sails on a ship! But I am looking for a home, not a wharf, and I am afraid I do not have enough knowledge to speculate in land,” she said politely, for such speculation did not include a parlor for afternoon tea.
    “I only suggest this venture to those who are wealthy enough or clever enough to take such a risk. I have already seen my own money return a profit four-fold, and there is more to be had. Of course I

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