Twin Willows: A Novel by Kay Cornelius

changed since you went away.”
    Anna untied the pocket around her waist and produced her letters. “I need to post these.”
    “Have you any hard money? The post hardly ever barters its fees.”
    Anna smiled faintly. “I have no barter, but I’ve still got a few bits left from my travel money.”
    James pointed to Anna’s neck. “That gold necklace would fetch a great deal, in cash or barter either. I don’t recall seein’ it before.”
    Anna stroked it lightly “My father sent it to me for a graduation gift. It’s worth far more than gold to me—I’d never willingly part with it.”
    “Then you’d best not show it around here,” James advised. “There’s a bad lot of men around the market these days. One of them might just try to relieve you of it.”
    Anna tucked the chain inside her bodice without question. “I understand. Is the post still in Tom Gray’s tavern?”
    “Yes. I’ll walk along with you—I have business with his son.”
    Anna paid for her letters to be posted, then went back to the market for a while before she returned to the livery stable where they had agreed to meet. At the door, Anna heard her name being called and looked back to see Helen Barfield coming toward her, holding her wailing baby.
    “Where on earth have you been?” Helen asked, obviously irritated. “I’ve been lookin’ high and low for you for the last quarter hour.”
    “I was walking through the market,” Anna replied.
    Helen spoke quickly, all but shouting over her child’s cries. “Silas Duward wants to see you—he’s probably one of richest men in these parts. After his wife died last year, he brought his family out here and took up the Elliotts’ old tract. He’s been lookin’ for someone to teach his five young ones ever since. He’s agreed to talk to you about it.”
    Helen must really want to get rid of me to go to this much trouble
, Anna thought.
    “What makes you think I’d be interested in doing that?” she asked.
    A strange look came over Helen’s face. “Seems to me like you don’t have much choice, missy. That fancy school oughter at least given you a way to make a livin’ for yourself.”
    “I’m sure that my father intends to provide for me,” Anna said stiffly.
    “Then let him do it, but in the meantime you’re gettin’ your bread an’ board from us for free. I’d think you’d at least want to pay your way.”
    Anna felt her anger rising , but decided not to speak her mind. “Where is this man?”
    Helen shifted the baby from one hip to the other, momentarily quieting him. “Master Duward’s at Tom Gray’s tavern. Hurry—don’t keep the man waitin’ any longer.”
    Anna stood motionless for a moment, considering what she should do. Although it galled her that Helen Barfield had taken it on herself to find her a position, Anna knew she’d be foolish to cut off her own nose to spite her face. She would hear the man out. If Mr. Duward had a place for Anna, it would not only serve to get her out of a house where she wasn’t wanted, but might also allow her to acquire enough money to pay her way elsewhere.
    All right, I’ll talk to him
, Anna decided, and for the second time that day she made her way to Tom Gray’s tavern.
    The interior of the building was so poorly lighted that Anna had to go all the way inside and wait for her eyes to adjust the smoky dimness before she could make out the shadowy figures seated around the rough-hewn plank tables. When a male voice called her name, she turned and saw a dark-haired, middle-aged man an inch or so shorter than herself.
    “Miss McKnight? I’m Silas Duward. Your cousin said you might be interested in teaching my children.”
    “Perhaps,” Anna replied.
    “We can discuss the matter outside.”
    Anna blinked in the daylight and tried not to stare at Mr. Duward’s pockmarked face. His clothes were obviously made from expensive material, but he did not wear them well. His waistcoat gapped over his ample stomach, and