Touch the Sun Read Free Page A

looks? What the hell is wrong with my looks?"
    "Absolutely nothing, and that is the problem. You look too spectacular to have any serious intelligence."
    "That's absurd!" he exploded, coming halfway out of his chair.
    Franklin held up a veined hand, smiling. "I never said that I subscribe to the theory, my boy. Yet I fear that it is quite widely held. In your case, however, I would say that the other points I mentioned are more important. If you are serious about being a member of Congress, Lion, you will have to put in some time and build a name for yourself. Not that you don't have a name of sorts now, but..." He smiled at him, eyes dancing behind the gold-rimmed spectacles.
    Lion sat back, raking a hand through his hair. "I'm not used to playing waiting games."
    "It is not a simple thing to turn one's whole life around overnight. I realize that you are used to getting what you want, but my advice to you is to cultivate some patience and lay your plans carefully. However... there is one thing you might do to speed up the process of achieving respectability."
    "What's that?"
    "Take a wife."
    Lion looked as if he'd been struck. For a moment, speech failed him, but finally he managed to choke, "What? You say that as if it is in the same category as ordering a new coat from the tailor!"
    "It can be."
    "Are you mad? A wife? Me?"
    Franklin merely reached for his teacup, arching a faded eyebrow in a way that told Lion he had never been more lucid.

 
     
     
    Chapter 3

     
    Morning sunshine streamed into the dining room where Lion was sharing a late, leisurely breakfast with his host, Dr. Elisha Dick. The two men had not seen each other for thirteen years, since their days together at the Academy of Philadelphia, and were pleased to find their friendship intact. Dr. Dick had chosen the quieter life of a dedicated physician and family man, but was not surprised to hear that, for his devil-may-care friend, the intervening years had been crammed with adventure.
    "I can't tell you how happy I am that you searched me out last night!" he repeated. "It's amazing that you remembered I was here in Alexandria! I am especially pleased since I am sure James Wade must have been most anxious to have you stay at West Hills."
    Lion sampled the fresh coffee. "That is putting it mildly! It was all I could do to persuade him to travel on to Virginia ahead of me. He wanted to wait and show me the way. I was afraid that if I stayed at his plantation he might chain me to his sister! Besides, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to look you up. I had a feeling you would not have strayed far from your family homestead."
    "Lion... I know that you have plans to ride out to West Hills this morning, and I don't want to make you late, but—" The doctor's sensitive face reflected his search for the right words. "I don't mean to pry, but I know the Wades quite well, and this news concerning you and Priscilla comes as quite a shock!"
    Lion's smile was wry. "Because I've never met the girl?"
    "Well, of course... and then there is the matter of Priscilla herself!"
    "Don't tell me she's homely! Her brother described her beauty to me until, to my great relief, the port he was swilling did him in for the evening."
    "No, no, she's a lovely creature—well-bred and all—but supremely shallow and narcissistic. I am simply at a loss to understand how all this came about! For God's sake, Lion, I expected you to marry the most charming, delightful female on earth..."
    "Shallow, you say? Splendid. Perfect." Lion grinned enigmatically before taking pity on the curious Dr. Dick. "Don't worry so; this entire affair is my idea. James Wade just happened to arrive in Philadelphia at the moment when I needed him most. We met at the Indian Head Tavern; he learned that I was, ah—eligible, and proceeded to make me an offer that was tailor made to my current need."
    "Which is?" Elisha prompted, his courage mounting.
    "An ornamental wife. You needn't look so baffled! My motive is