The Abolitionist’s Secret Read Online Free Page B

wasting our time discussing the issue?”
    David turned his gaze from Heather, finally, and glanced at Jasmine. “What would you prefer to talk about, then, Miss Fitzpatrick?”
    As Jasmine and David began to talk about the latest musical on Broadway, Heather and her mother exchanged another furtive glance over their teacups. Heather knew they must keep David from finding out about their part in assisting the slave woman they found in the alley, along with her baby. They must send David back to Savannah without his missing slave.
    Jasmine kept attempting to capture his attention, but Heather noticed more than once David’s gaze left Jasmine and raked over her instead. Could he tell she was hiding something? Oh, she wanted nothing more than to prop her book in front of her face so he would stop staring at her and making her stomach do such funny things.
    Charlotte cleared her throat, causing Jasmine to stop her coquetry mid-sentence. “Let’s discuss the Cotillion, which happens tomorrow evening. Now Lieutenant, despite the fact that your family owns slaves, I did invite you here, so I expect you to claim your two dances each with my daughters before their cards fill up for the evening.”
    David’s gaze moved from Heather, who continued to furiously fan herself despite the chill of April in the air, to Jasmine, who looked up at him from under her lashes. He smiled at Charlotte. “I am looking forward to dancing with both of them, Mrs. Fitzpatrick.”
    And for entirely different reasons,
he thought, as he set down his cup and rose from his chair.

Chapter 6
    David had only one month to decide what to do with the rest of his life. His options were to renew his commission with the Army and Continue to corral the Indians onto the reservations, or return to the plantation outside Savannah and toil alongside his father. He knew there were advantages to both choices, but he needed to thoughtfully weigh the pros and cons of each. His mind ran back and forth between the two lifestyles, and his body tossed restlessly in the hotel bed.
    He sat up and punched his feather pillow before he lay back down. Tonight, the evening before the Cotillion, was not the night to be concentrating on his career path, or on the mission his father had given him to find the runaway slave. Tonight was the time to ponder his delightful dilemma of choosing between the Fitzpatrick twins. Heather and Jasmine. Jasmine and Heather. He rolled over and punched the pillow again. There was really no choice to make. His body did the picking even before his mind began to weigh the advantages of each woman.
    The moment he had spied her in the restaurant his heart actually stopped for one second as he and Heather locked eyes. He totally blanked out what the men he was with were saying. It was as if everyone and everything in the restaurant came to a standstill as they stared at one another. Then, as Heather broke their gaze and raised the menu in front of her face, David was able to breathe again. But he knew his life’s pattern had just shifted. If he hadn’t had the good fortune of already knowing her parents, he would have manufactured a reason to be introduced to her. When he walked into the parlor today the room shifted again, just as it had at the restaurant. As if in a trance, they stared at each other like they were the only people in the room.
    He had no desire to flirt with Jasmine. Although she was the more flamboyant of the two sisters, who were so identical on the outside, down to the dimple in each one’s right cheek, she had not inflamed him with desire. He had grown up with southern belles at every turn, and they were much more adept at captivating young men than Jasmine could ever be. Even Blanche Beaufort, with her buck teeth, who lived on the Whitman’s neighboring plantation, could run circles around Jasmine in the charm department.
    Nor did he want to talk about slavery with Mrs. Fitzpatrick, or with Heather, for that matter. What he wanted