Tales of Timeless Romance

Prologue

Late Autumn 1775

“L ook, Liddy! Do you not see him?” Liddy’s friend Phoebe tugged at her sleeve.

Lydia Fennell lifted her gaze from the broadsheet tacked to the wall of Little’s Bookstore near the courthouse. She brushed back a loose curl and waved her hand in front of her face. “I can scarcely see anything for the humidity in the air today. To which him are you referring? There are at least two dozen hims marching about the square at the moment.”

“The lean one on the end. Taller than the others.”

Liddy squinted just a bit in the sunlight of the late-fall afternoon. Indeed, she did see the man to whom Phoebe referred. At least she assumed so. He was the only one who interested her. While she did not see him at all well from this distance, she could make out enough to know he was not too much older than her and his hair gleamed almost blue-black in the slanting rays of the sun.

When he turned, as if suddenly aware she was watching him, Liddy blinked, wide-eyed, feeling a blush steal over her cheeks and make her even warmer on an already too-hot afternoon. His sudden grin revealed even white teeth. Liddy sighed. Such a lovely contrast to Iain MacGill, who had caught her father’s fancy as first choice for a future husband.

“What are they doing marching about in the heat?” Liddy asked, shifting her gaze away from the penetrating stare of the handsome stranger on the square.

“I believe they might be part of the local militia,” Phoebe whispered as if someone might jump up behind them in chastisement. A distinctly possible event if either Phoebe or Liddy’s fathers were anywhere in the vicinity.

Liddy turned her attention back to the broadsheet. It was well written. In addition to some of the local happenings around Wilmington, there was a strongly worded article urging the people of Wilmington and the surrounding areas to resist the purchase of British imports. While she understood the reasons put forth in the article, one glance around town clearly showed many of Wilmington’s citizenry were far too happy to spend their money on imported goods. Her father was chief among them, particularly since a goodly source of his income was due to his importing and exporting of said goods.

“Good day to you, ladies.” The deep voice came from just behind her, startling Liddy from her perusal of the paper. Phoebe was already giggling as Liddy turned to meet the brightest blue gaze she had ever seen. Close up, she saw how handsome the man they’d been watching really was.

“Allow me to introduce myself.” He swept off his hat and bowed with a flourish that might have made Liddy laugh on any other occasion, but at the moment, she was remarkably short of the breath needed for laughing, let alone speaking. “I am Alec Kirkwood, at your service.”

Phoebe giggled again. Liddy took a deep breath in hope her heart might slow down. Raising her brows and her chin she asked, “And just how might you be of service to us, Mr. Kirkwood?”

He tilted his head toward the broadsheet. “I see you reading the broadsheet I posted this morning. Perhaps you have questions?”

Liddy did. She had a lot of questions, but in the distance she spied her father walking their way, a frown on his face.

“You are a printer?” she asked.

“I am. Although my primary business is the bookshop behind you.”

Liddy smiled now. “You must be the new owner. I had feared that the shop might close when Mr. Little decided to move farther inland.”

“May I assume then that you and your friend are customers?”

“Yes,” Liddy responded, feeling enthusiastic at the knowledge the bookstore would remain open and that its proprietor was so young and handsome. “Whenever we are in town.”

“Liddy. We should go. Your papa...” Phoebe was tugging at her sleeve again.

Alec Kirkwood smiled. “Liddy... a shortening of Lydia, perhaps?”

Liddy saw her father’s scowl much more clearly now as she curtsied to the man in front of her. “Indeed. Lydia Fennell. And this is my friend, Phoebe Stokes. I’m afraid we must go.”

“I hope we shall meet again, Miss Lydia Fennell. Miss Stokes.” He stepped out of their path with another bow. Liddy smiled over her shoulder as she and Phoebe hurried away.