Nancy Whiskey

“I speak it, of course, but not the crude jargon of sailors. I think I made them understand me, but I could not follow half of what they said, and no one appreciates being insulted in a foreign tongue,” she said, disregarding her own brutal attack on Genet.

“Well, that is a blessing, if you did not understand. Even so, allow me to submit my most humble apologies.”

“Apologies? What good are your apologies now? I want your assurance that such an event will not occur again”

“Impossible!”

“Ah, I see, you have no influence.”

“Quoi?”

“No power with your government.”

“Non—oui! I have power to act for my government.”

“Ah, you could do the right thing, but you will not.”

“La Petite Démocrate will sail under the French flag as soon as she may be refitted,” Genet said angrily.

“A grave mistake, I assure you, sir. For the first English ship it encounters will blow it out of the water.”

“They will not even know.”

“Once my letters reach England, they will. Though, now that I come to think of it, I should perhaps protest to the American government, as well. Trueblood, who is the American equivalent to our foreign secretary?”

Trueblood rolled his eyes in mock reflection, keeping his mouth tightly compressed.

“Oh, never mind,” Nancy said. “I will write to the president. He will know who to forward the letter to.”

“President Washington?” Genet asked in a panic.

Nancy saw Daniel’s eyes flash at her in delight. Norton sat immobile, his chin resting on his fist as he gazed at her in fascination.

“I believe the ladies will withdraw now,” Elise said with a prim smile, “and leave the gentlemen to their wine.”

“Mon Dieu, you do not really—” Genet broke off as the women whisked out of the room.

“A trifle more wine?” Daniel asked Genet, and filled his glass unbidden. The French ambassador drank deeply.

“Will she really…?”

“Perhaps I may be able to talk her out of it,” Trueblood offered dubiously.

“I doubt it, brother.” Daniel shook his head slowly. “She is a bit more headstrong than the English ladies you are used to. A loose cannon is what she is. Best keep your distance so you do not get blasted.”

“My apologies, Monsieur Genet,” Norton offered. “I had no idea the young lady would take things so amiss.”

“Ah, I was forgetting.” Genet tapped his forehead. “She is English. That explains it. An American lady would never take offense at our privateers.”

“No!” the three men murmured in unison, shaking their heads and relaxing into a camaraderie of sex against sex.

“Unless, of course, she happened to be on an English ship,” Trueblood offered.

“Yes.” Daniel sighed sadly. “Those are the dangers of getting civilians involved in a war. One has no idea of the ramifications.”

“But I apologized. Why would she not accept my apology?”

“I doubt there is any way to conciliate a woman whose undergarments have been mauled,” Daniel said sagely, “whether she was in them or not.”

Norton coughed and Trueblood turned to the sideboard to reach for a decanter of brandy. “Vraiment? But I am the French ambassador, Citizen Genet, and she made me feel such a…such a maladroit.”

“Do not give it another thought,” Daniel said, thumping him on the back. “It happens to me all the time. Besides, it will never leave this room.”

“No,” the others murmured in assent.

When the gentlemen came into the parlor, Daniel glanced toward the door, and Nancy rose on that cue to thank the Nortons and take her leave of them. Genet, emboldened by the wine, came forward with another profuse, but tangled apology, swirling his French and English together like brandy and water in a glass. Nancy retrieved her hand and said, “I will…I will consider it.”

They were not half a block from the Nortons when Trueblood’s mirth bubbled over to the point where he had to lean against a hitching post for support.

“Daniel, I do believe you have let Trueblood drink too much.”

“I keep forgetting these Indians cannot hold their liquor,” said Daniel, taking him in tow.

“Daniel, have you ever seen the like?” Trueblood gasped. “I believe she could have had Genet on his knees if she had tried.”

“And to a sergeant’s daughter,” Daniel taunted. “A lady would have graciously accepted his apology.”

“That did cross my mind. After all, he is an ambassador. But then I remembered he is French. Even a sergeant’s daughter must have some standards.”

Daniel cracked into laughter and took her hand to draw it through his arm. “You will be wasted on the frontier, Nancy. Stay in Philadelphia.”

“I am sure it would be more amusing, but I am a person who is used to employment. On that we will never agree, I know,” she said as his grip on her arm tightened. “So it is very much better if-1 go where we cannot argue about it”.

“Would you like to go to the theater tomorrow?” Daniel asked abruptly, interrupting Trueblood and causing Nancy to shake her head in despair. “They have just built a theater on Chestnut Street.”

“I thought perhaps you were not best pleased with me tonight,” Nancy returned.

“I put you in an awkward situation,” Daniel said.

She cocked her head at him. It was not an apology. She decided if she were waiting for him to admit she had been some help to him she would wait in vain.

“You did not mind my making sport of Genet, then?”

Daniel’s eyes glittered again, but only in amusement, not conspiracy. “I want to make it up to you.”

“So tomorrow I am not to impress anyone or taunt anyone?”

“No, it will be for your pleasure alone. Do you want to take Trueblood for propriety?”