Chapter Thirty-TwoMaria
Jacob and I savored a midday meal of roast duckling, red potatoes and asparagus tips. We lingered over chocolate pudding topped with whipped cream, and a savory blend of Colombian and Brazilian coffee beans. He then insisted I play some of our favorite Bach and Mozart pieces on his wife's Stradivari violin. An intense chess match followed, with some lively discourse about who President Washington's successor should be. We settled on John Adams, the most likely candidate anyway. We got along so well, I wished we'd find something to disagree about.
At dusk, Jacob helped me into one of his carriages with two matched grays. As I pulled my heavy wool skirts inside after me, he offered use of the conveyance for as long as I wished. Too embarrassed to tell him we could i
