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Chapter One

Boston, 1773

Don’t leave us, Father, we need you!

Eliza Ca as she tenderly stroked her father’s arle to breathe Her heart withered, and she stared out the partially openof the large upstairs roo Lord, hoe live without him?

The early October sun spilled into the bedchae cotton-like clouds dotted the pale sky, while a cardinal floated across the breeze and into a clue-colored maples

A beautiful day

Far too beautiful for Father to die

Eliza mopped his brow and s her tears He was only fifty—a skilled physician in the best years of his life Eliza shuddered Though she knew God alorked in wisdom, she couldn’t see why He would take Father from them now

Outside the , the view across the swaying fields of grasses looked the sa, joyful But without Father this hoht so much happiness, would never be the sa would now take his life The gray color of death painted his lips and small beads of sweat dotted his forehead They could only try to comfort him and wait for the end

Sitting opposite Eliza on the large four-poster bed, Kitty knit her fingers and blinked Large tears rolled down her porcelain cheeks, and thick dark-auburn curls pulled free froil A sob escaped her lips and Eliza instinctively reached for her younger sister’s hand and squeezed I won’t fail you, Kitty I won’t

“Kitty?” Father gasped for air “Will youfetch me some more cool cloths?”

She straightened and patted her tears, trying to sive me I shall return directly” She crunched her apron in her fingers and nodded at Eliza before darting out of the roo down the stairs

Eliza scooted closer to Father and gulped down the painful lue She propped the pillows around his neck and back, but Father still winced with every rise and fall of his chest

Lord, please be with th

“Elizalisten to me” Father wheezed as he spoke

“Yes, Father, I’”

He sed “Behind youon the mantel, underneath the candlestick is a letter” Father stopped and tried to inhale what little air he could “Goretrieve it”

Eliza shook her head “I don’t want to leave your side even for a moment I—”

Father inched his hand across the bedding and gripped Eliza’s fingers “Get it That letter is ofgreat importance”

Eliza opened her mouth to protest but snapped her jaw closed No need to cause Father any added discomfort by her disobedience “As you wish” Slowly, she moved froin another fit of coughs

She removed the folded paper from underneath the heavy candlestick atop the wooden mantel The paper was crisp and the seal fresh, as if he had just written it But he couldn’t have She’d been at his side for almost teeks When had he composed it? What information could it possibly contain that was so important?

Father turned his head on the pillow “Aye, that is it” He paused, his lungs wheezing “That letteris for your eyes alone No onenot even Kitty can knohat it reveals”

Peering at the empty doorway, Eliza quickly took her position at his side “What do you wish me to know that Kitty cannot?” Thank heaven her sister hadn’t yet returned with the cloths

“You are ready for the truth, but Kittyshe is too headstrongshe must learn of it in God’s time” Father blinked slowly

Eliza forced a smile on her lips, while her insides twisted Father had turned delirious Kitty was only three years behind Eliza’s twenty And yes, sheat times, but she was mature and stable Surely she could