Page 21 of The Empire and the Wolf King

I clinked my mug against his.

Then he whispered, as he put down his mug, “I hae also been told that Master Thomas Jefferson is here.” He glanced around the room. “So we are blessed with a miracle.” He pulled apart a hunk of bread and buttered it thickly.

I said, “Thomas Jefferson, here? Right now, in this room?” I gestured with my head. “That’s him, then, right there, writing. I noticed him right away, don’t know why…”

Magnus wiped his fingers off on a napkin, took another sip of his ale. “Ye are certain, ye think tis him?”

My eyes swept the room, there was no one else that came close. He had that aura of being well educated and confident, kinda like the ‘celebrity glow’ we used to talk about in Los Angeles. I had immediately noticed him, he seemed almost familiar. “Best guess, having only seen him in paintings, yes.”

“Och, I wish I were dressed better, but twill hae tae do.”

Magnus rose from his chair, strode to the table, and bowed. I couldn’t hear as they spoke in low voices, but a few moments later they shook hands and Magnus returned to his seat.

Magnus grinned. “I just met Tommy.”

“Seriously,really?”

“Aye, he is right there. I canna wait tae tell Master Cook, he will be furious he wasna here.”

“Damn right, he’s going to be so jealous. What did you say, what did you do?”

“I introduced m’self as the Duke of Awe, and said that I had been on a journey tae meet with him.”

“Oh my, what are we meeting with him about, what did you tell him?”

“I daena ken, we hae about ten minutes tae come up with it — he is going tae come join us as soon as he is done with his meal.”

My eyes widened. “What…? I... I’m about to meet Thomas Jefferson?” I felt flustered like I had just heard I would meet one of the Beatles. “Okay, so…great.” I patted my bonnet and smoothed the apron over my dress. “How do I look, do I look okay?”

“Ye look beautiful.”

“You’re my husband and while that is a perfect answer, I meant how do I look to meet Thomas Jefferson?”

“I would prefer finer clothes for both of us, but these can be explained as our traveling clothes. He kens this was an accidental meetin’. We just pretend tae hae our finery in our trunks in our room…”

“Good point, yes, these are my travel clothes.” I straightened my back. “This is going to be fine.”

Magnus asked, “Remind me, which king are they fightin’?”

“George the Third.”

Magnus nodded. “We had the Acts of Union in 1707, the Scots will be expected tae be loyal tae England, but,” he whispered, “If they hae moved here, they are likely tae side with the Americans, I think. We all canna stand an English king. How far along in the revolutionary war are we?”

“I truly wished I had paid more attention to the history books.”

“Or I had asked more questions of Siddall, but I dinna want him tae be wary of me as we were sleeping on his land.”

“Yeah, I get it… Guessing, I think there has been a battle, but we’re at the beginning. But also the news is fairly slow. I bet if you say that you haven’t heard the latest news he will believe you.”

“Which leads us tae the question, what was I goin’ tae meet him about?”

We were interrupted by plates of food placed in front of us. I said, “I gotta eat to think,” and sliced a piece of roast chicken and shoved it in my mouth.

Magnus kept glancing at Jefferson’s table. “Nae pressure, mo reul-iuil, but we need a reason, somethin’ worthy tae get our names written down.”

I swallowed hard. “Okay, um... how about this? You’re here to discuss... trade agreements — Scotland wants to trade with the colonies, independent of England maybe, I think that’s a thing...”

Magnus nodded slowly. “It could work. Twould explain our presence and give us somethin’ tae talk about, but he is likely tae put us off for a future meetin’. He is travelin’, dealin’ with thoughts of war, I daena ken if he will think trade routes are urgent enough.”

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