Rebel Enchantress by Leigh Greenwood

of the competition. He talked about bankers, shipowners, factors, and lawyers. He talked of rates of interest, margins of profit, costs of doing business, and the difficulty of finding cheap raw materials. He explained how a man could begin with just himself and end up with hundreds of people working for him.
    “Everything depends on the cities,” he finally explained. “There people can’t grow or make all the things they need and want, so somebody has to do it for them. The more of something I sell, me more money I make.”
    Delilah wondered if Reuben had thought of that. Probably not. All he wanted was a chance to live out his days in the familiar ways. He would be lost in the world Nathan Trent wanted to create. Jane, too, though she would get along better. Jane could adapt. She doubted Reuben could.
    But what about herself?
    She knew the answer immediately. She hardly understood any of what Nathan had said, but it sounded like a challenge, possibly even a dangerous one. And that excited her. She liked challenges; she even looked forward to them.
    A thought struck her. Had she agreed to spy on Nathan because it represented a challenge?
    No. Spying was deceitful, and she hated dishonesty. She had agreed to spy on Nathan because she’d had no other choice. But she was aware of an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, a feeling that had appeared sometime after she’d given her word that she would act as a spy.
    What was it? It made her nervous and apprehensive but not uncomfortable, wary and distrustful but not afraid, excited and expectant but not pleasured. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she knew instinctively it was dangerous and it had something to do with Nathan. Something about him was a threat to her.
    Delilah pulled her mind back from these thoughts. There would be plenty of time for soul-searching later. They were approaching Maple Hill. She felt as though the bars of debtor’s prison were about to close around her.

Chapter Four
     
    “What’s she doing here?” Serena Noyes stood squarely in the middle of the hall.
    “She’s here to help Lester” Nathan explained.
    “Then take her back where she came from. I won’t have her kind here.”
    Delilah resisted a desire to draw close to Nathan. Though she hadn’t been willing to admit it, even to herself, the closer they had come to Maple Hill, the more apprehensive she’d become.
    To be met by a shrill harpy the minute she stepped inside the dark hall was almost too much of a test of Delilah’s courage. She remained rooted to the floor, unable to retreat or move forward to meet Nathan’s aunt.
    “She’s doing it to pay off her brother’s debt.”
    “I told you I won’t have her in my house,” Serena repeated. “She’s poor, dirty, and probably stupid.”
    Delilah tensed, her gaze riveted on Serena’s angry face. All thoughts of running away were forgotten. She might be poor—she had never expected to be anything else—but she wouldn’t stand for anyone calling her dirty or stupid.
    “I bathe regularly,” she said, looking squarely into Serena Noyes’s watery blue eyes. The challenge was unmistakable. “In fact, one of my requirements is that I have the use of a tub and hot water every evening.”
    “The cheek of her,” exclaimed Serena, but her voice betrayed a note of uncertainty.
    “Neither am I stupid,” Delilah continued. “My work will soon give you reason to know that.”
    “I doubt you’ll find much scope for proving anything in the wash shed,” retorted Serena spitefully.
    “Miss Stowbridge will work with Lester,” Nathan stated firmly. “Now that he’s got someone to help him, you and Priscilla can entertain more frequently.”
    Serena directed a venomous look at her nephew. “I won’t have that girl serving my friends.”
    “As you wish,” Nathan replied, unperturbed. “We need to settle on sleeping quarters. Which room should she have?”
    “The loft above the laundry.”
    “I thought one of