Light Before Day (Nantucket Legacy Book #3) , livre ebook

Baker Publishing Group - Woods Fisher Suzanne

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179 pages

English

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After three years on a whaling voyage, Henry Macy returns to Nantucket to news that his grandmother has passed, bequeathing her vast fortune to him and his sister, Hitty. And it was truly vast. But Lillian Coffin was no fool. The inheritance comes with a steep cost, including when they should marry and whom--a Quaker in good standing, of course. But if they relinquish the inheritance, it all goes to Tristram Macy, their father's thieving business partner.As Hitty and Henry seek a way to satisfy the will's conditions, they'll be faced with obstacles on every side--and it may be that Lillian Coffin will have the last word after all.Bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher surprises and delights with this story of hope and renewal, love and redemption, arriving just when most needed.

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Historical romance

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Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	02 octobre 2018
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781493415090
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	2 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0461€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
© 2018 by Suzanne Woods Fisher
Published by Revell
a division of Baker Publishing Group
PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.revellbooks.com
Ebook edition created 2018
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-1509-0
Scripture used in this book, whether quoted or paraphrased by the characters, is taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Praise for Phoebe’s Light
“Fisher weaves together a pleasing romance that sets a high standard for future series installments.”
Publishers Weekly
“Fisher’s superb command of her historical setting is particularly commendable as she launches her Nantucket Legacy series, and many readers will find themselves fascinated by how the Quakers were treated when they first arrived in the New World.”
Booklist
“Based on actual historical events and people, Suzanne Woods Fisher has taken her research to the next level and brings to life the forgotten beginning of Quakers on Nantucket Island.”
RT Book Reviews
“A book that will sweep you up and take you away.”
Interviews & Reviews
“In this brand-new series, bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher brings her signature twists and turns to bear on a fascinating new faith community: the Quakers of colonial-era Nantucket Island.”
Fresh Fiction
Dedication
To my mother, Barbara Benedict Woods (1927–2018), who first sparked my interest in Nantucket with memories of her visit to the island as a girl in the 1930s.
Her treasured antique lightship basket is shown on the cover of this book.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Praise for Phoebe’s Light
Dedication
Cast of Characters
Glossary of Nantucket in the 18th and 19th century
Part One: 1840–1842
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
Part Two: 1843–1846
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Discussion Questions
Author’s Note
What’s True and What’s False in The Light Before Day ?
Resources
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Books by Suzanne Woods Fisher
Back Ads
Back Cover
Cast of Chacters
17th century
Mary Coffin Starbuck: daughter of one of the first proprietors of Nantucket Island, highly revered, considered to be like Deborah the Judge of the Old Testament
Nathaniel Starbuck: son of proprietor Edward Starbuck, husband to Mary
Peter Foulger: surveyor, missionary to the Wampanoag Indians of Nantucket Island, joined the proprietors
19th century
Hitty Macy—daughter of Reynolds Macy, twin sister to Henry
Henry Macy—son of Reynolds Macy, twin brother to Hitty
Jeremiah Macy—father of Reynolds Macy, grandfather to Henry and Hitty
Reynolds Macy—sea captain, father of Hitty and Henry
Daphne Coffin Macy—wife of Captain Reynolds Macy, stepmother to Henry and Hitty
Anna Gardner—teacher, social reformer, abolitionist
Benjamin Foulger—law clerk to Boston-based attorney Oliver Combs
Marie-Claire Chase—secretary to Benjamin Foulger
Isaac Barnard—experimental inventor
Maria Mitchell—astronomer
Tristram Macy—cousin to Reynolds Macy, uncle to Hitty and Henry
Glossary of Nantucket in the 18th and 19th century
come aboard: a greeting or welcoming for visitors
coof: a Scottish term for an off-islander, generally meant for one who lived on Cape Cod
First Day: Quaker word for Sunday—the Friends did not use the days of the weeks, nor the months, as they had pagan origins; instead, they numbered days and months
greasy luck: originally used to wish a whaleman a good voyage and to return with many casks full of whale oil; on the island, to wish friends well in any venture
headwind: difficulties to overcome
mad as huckleberry chowder: equated with craziness
Old Town Turkey: Martha’s Vineyard
on deck: meaning “up and around”
rantum scoot: a day’s expedition with no particular destination; from “random” (unplanned) and “scoot” (to move quickly or freely)
skimming the slicks : a fishing expression that indicates securing the full limit of return from any effort (comes from the smooth, oily patches seen over a school of surface-feeding fish)
“Twist not my words”: “Don’t misunderstand me”
watching the Pass: observing people on the street
wild as a Tuckernuck steer: beef cattle, raised on Tuckernuck Island, troublesome if brought to a populated area like Nantucket town
“ Wind, weather, or whales permitting”: “If there are no obstacles”
weather breeder: a warning that things are too still, too good, too calm, and trouble is ahead
Part One: 1840–1842
1
“By the deep twelve!” The seaman called out soundings high above Hitty Macy as the schooner eased toward Nantucket Island, a thick mist shrouding the ship’s path. Hitty yanked her brother Henry’s coat sleeve and hurried to the starboard bow as the Grey Lady—their beloved home—in all her beauty emerged in front of them. The island wore the fog draped over her shoulders like a Quaker lace fichu.
The twins leaned against the railing of the schooner as it sailed through Nantucket Sound, barely mindful of the bracing salt air that stung their faces, or the people who milled around them on the deck. They were still dumbfounded by the news they’d just received from their late grandmother’s attorney in Boston: Lillian Swain Coffin had made Hitty and Henry sole heirs of her vast estate. And it was truly vast.
Hitty gathered her bonnet strings with one hand to keep them from whipping against her face. “Why us, Henry? She didn’t even like us!” They’d been going round and round on the inheritance since the schooner left Boston Harbor.
Henry shrugged. “Grandmother Lillian didn’t like anyone. She kept changing her will to disown relatives. Mayhap she died before she could cross out our names to add someone new.”
Hitty felt as if someone had taken her insides and shaken them up. She and her brother might soon become full owners of the Grand House that their grandmother had built on an exclusive cove, and her investments of stocks and bonds, cash and cattle, as well as deeds to multiple properties. Why, even a small island! For most of their lives, Grandmother Lillian had scarcely acknowledged Hitty and Henry, never without disdain or criticism, yet she bequeathed to them her entire fortune.
And they didn’t want it.
Henry turned around, his back against the railing, and crossed his arms against his chest. “We didn’t sign anything yet, Hitty. We don’t have to accept a single pence.”
She pivoted, heartened to hear that he was waffling in his thoughts about it. The crusty old lawyer had told them they must accept the inheritance together or refuse it together. He was a stickler for details, that Oliver Combs. “What did Oliver mean when he said there were conditions to the will? And why couldn’t he have just told us what they were? Why wait to send a law clerk to Nantucket?”
“Transferring titles can’t just happen overnight, Hitty. Paperwork takes time. Oliver said that the law clerk would finalize all the estate holdings. It could take a long, long time, he said. And forget not,” Henry swept the deck with a distracted gaze, “Oliver’s an old man. He must be sixty. He doesn’t want to spend months on a fog-drenched island copying over documents. A law clerk can handle it.”
“Still, those mysterious conditions he alluded to. What were they called?”
“Codicils.”
Hitty made a sour face. “It sounds like a rare and foul-tasting fish.”
A laugh burst out of Henry, and Hitty’s spirits lifted a little. How she had missed her twin brother! Henry had returned just days ago from coopering on his father’s whaling ship, the Endeavour . He’d shipped out three years ago in a great hurry, without confiding to her the reason for it, though Hitty knew his haste had something to do with Anna Gardner, his childhood sweetheart.
Ironically, Henry had sailed back into Nantucket Harbor on the very day of his grandmother’s funeral, only to be promptly summoned to Oliver Combs’s office in Boston. Her brother barely had time to catch his breath, much less be welcomed home with any fuss or fanfare.
“Henry, this . . . fortune, this sudden wealth . . . I fear it will change our lives. And I don’t want my life to change.” That wasn’t entirely true. There were a few things she’d like to change, but they didn’t have anything to do with money. She would like for Isaac Barnard to declare his love and propose marriage to her, for one. She frowned, mulling over how barely conscious Isaac seemed of her. But that deficiency, she believed, was part and parcel of being a genius . . . and Isaac was indeed a genius. She had a unique insight into brilliant people because of her enduring friendship with Maria Mitchell, also a genius, also not terribly sociable.
At times Hitty wondered why the Lord God had placed so many overly intelligent people into her life, and why she felt such a fondness for them, as they could be immensely frustrating. She considered her brother Henry, in his own way, to be one of those types.
Hitty assessed the changes she noticed in Henry, how much broader and bigger his shoulders had grown, how the creases were etched into the corners of his eyes. A result of squinting from the sun, she thought, like all seamen. Twenty-four now, and a very handsome man, she realized with surprise, as he turned to face the wind, elbows on the railing, his legs braced in the mariner’s wide stance. He’d left Nantucket as a grown