Read Online One Glorious Ambition by Jane Kirkpatrick - Free Book Online Page A

had recently been painted, and the flower and herb gardens on either side of the steps were well tended.
    Dorothea knocked, and after a pause the door flung open.
    “Thea!” Charles bounded out and grabbed her, swinging her or attempting to, but he was still an inch or so shorter than she. “You’ve come at last!”
    “I have. Let me look at you!” She held him at arm’s length, then pulled him to her. “Oh, how I have missed you.” She whispered in his ear, their cheeks together, the bones of his narrow shoulders like handles she could hold.
    “And I you.”
    “You look … like a young man. So grown up.”
    “I am grown up.”
    “Where’s Joseph?” she asked as the two separated, Dorothea dabbing at her eyes, gazing at her brother.
    “Walking out back. He’s a favorite of Grandmamma.”
    “I’m sure you are as well.”
    Charles flicked his thick hair on either side of a center cut back behind his ears.
    “I haven’t seen Joseph since he was a baby.”
    “I’m no baby no more.” Dorothea turned to the quiet voice. Joseph led his grandmother from around the side of the house.
    “No, you aren’t,” Dorothea bent to be face to face with him. “You’re a young man.” A small dog waddled beside him.
    “I see you made it at last. Come inside,” Madam Dix directed. “You too, Benji.” Strings from her black cap hung on either side of her wide jaw. “Charles should have brought you out back without my having to come get you. Take the eggs inside, Joseph. Charles, lend a hand.”
    Charles slipped beside his grandmamma. She leaned against the cane as much as against Charles. Joseph smiled over his shoulder at Dorothea as he handed her the egg basket. He patted his grandmother’s waist with his little hand.
    “Hello to you too, Grandmamma,” Dorothea mumbled. A night breeze cooled her warm face as she followed her family, including Benji the dog, inside.

Eight
A Touch of Friendship
    Over Cookie’s hearty rabbit stew, Madam Dix informed Dorothea of the change in circumstances that led to the leasing of Orange Court.
    “I’m well into my seventies, and my knees are not so good. Being in the cottage seemed better than climbing the stairs to bed each night. And Orange Court offers an income necessary to care for all of you.”
    Cookie placed fresh bread before the family in the small dining room, then she pulled up a chair and joined them. Butter from an iris mold was passed around.
    “Papa died,” Joseph said.
    “Yes, he did, and that’s very sad.” Dorothea watched Joseph. He didn’t appear to need comforting, and yet their father had died and Joseph was separated from his mother. He must feel sadness just as Dorothea had when she had been sent to Worcester.
    Joseph stuffed his mouth as he spoke, and Madam Dix said nothing about his lack of manners. If it had been Dorothea makinga mess as a child, her grandmother would have corrected her. Things were different with boys.
    “So we came to live here,” Charles added cheerfully. “We’re closer to the wharfs. I love going there to watch the ships. They bring in blue porcelain from China and silks from I don’t know where. I’m going to go to sea one day and find out.”
    “After Harvard,” Dorothea told him.
    Madam Dix raised her eyebrows to Dorothea. “That’ll be our hope, at least.”
    So finances were more strained than she had realized if even Harvard wasn’t a certainty.
    Dorothea was about to say something more about her father’s death and the promise of a future with him in heaven when her grandmamma said, “According to my daughter, your school was successful even if our hopes for your marriage were not.” Dorothea nodded. “I’ve already conferred with Mrs. Hudson, and having a school here will be fine. We can advertise in the circulars. The income will be useful. We can hope you’ll meet suitors at church and thus enter the Boston social scene.”
    “I did enjoy the children.”
    “Not necessary to enjoy what