to make of Perry.
Perry nodded.
Lucy really hoped he was better with the written word.
"I see," Jane said though clearly she
didn't.
"He was telling me how he and Belle met,"
Lucy said just as Mae stepped into the kitchen.
Fully dressed in suburban casual chic, with every
hair in place and appropriate subtle make-up perfectly done, Mae slipped into
hostess mode without missing a beat. "Hello, I'm Mae Taylor," she
said stepping up to the table and offering her hand.
Perry half-dropped his cup onto the table, sloshing
coffee over the side in his haste to free his hand for shaking. "Uh, Perry
Thiel."
"Pleased to meet you," Mae said.
Lucy and Jane exchanged "can you believe
this?" looks.
Mae took her hand back from Perry and straightened.
"Looks like we could use a little breakfast. Any preferences?" She
looked at Perry, the guest, when she said it.
Perry, who probably didn't give much thought to
food other than how fast he could get something that wouldn't drip on his
papers, looked perplexed.
"No? Well I'll just take a look and see what
we have," Mae said.
Jane couldn't stand it another second. "Honest
to God Mae, you are such a Stepford wife. You walk in, find a complete stranger
in the kitchen, and all you can think about is serving refreshments? You don't
have to cook. We can toast a bagel or something. As for Perry here, I don't
think Lucy's decided what to do about him just yet."
Mae looked completely nonplussed for a second
before realization dawned and she laughed. "Oh my, that was a little Sally
Field in Steel Magnolias wasn't
it?"
"No, I'm sticking with my Stepford wife
analogy. Maybe you should say 'fuck' one time to make sure you got it out of
your system," Jane said.
Perry goggled and, for the first time since Lucy
opened the door, seemed to realize he might be in over his head.
"How about if we all sit down, have some
coffee and find out what Perry and Belle were working on," Lucy said.
"Fine by me," Jane said.
Mae looked like she wasn't sure what to do with
herself if there wasn't cooking or cleaning to be done but she nodded her head
and joined them at the table.
"Okay, Perry you were saying?" Lucy
prompted.
"I'm writing my dissertation on the events
surrounding the drafting and publication of the Declaration of Independence. I
have some new theories about the fate of the original document signed by John
Hancock and Charles Thomson."
"I'm beginning to get it," Lucy said. The
Declaration of Independence. That was the connection she'd been looking for.
"You're here about that old family legend."
Perry looked hopeful. "So you do know about
it."
"Just some old family story about my many
times over great-grandparents. He was a shop boy or an apprentice or something
for the printer who printed the first copies of the Declaration of
Independence. She was the daughter of a tavern keeper. They were both
supposedly around the print shop on the night the Declaration was printed and
family legend has it they kept a copy and passed it down to their oldest son and
so on."
"There's a lot more to it than that but you've
got the basic story right," Perry said.
"Well, if you talked to Belle about this then
you know our family doesn't have the Declaration anymore if we ever did. It was
lost during the Civil War," Lucy said.
"Belle thought she had a lead on where to find
it," Perry said. "And I'm not talking about the printed version
turned out by John Dunlap--the Dunlap Broadside, which is rare enough--the last
one to surface sold for nearly ten million dollars. I'm talking about the
signed draft Dunlap received from John Hancock. The document from which he set
the type."
"I thought the original Declaration of
Independence was on display in Washington. Didn't they just make a movie about
that?" Mae said.
Perry shook his head. "How much do you know
about the Declaration of Independence?"
"Clearly not as much as I thought," Mae
said.
Lucy and Mae nodded their encouragement for him to
continue.
"Okay,
Perry nodded.
Lucy really hoped he was better with the written word.
"I see," Jane said though clearly she
didn't.
"He was telling me how he and Belle met,"
Lucy said just as Mae stepped into the kitchen.
Fully dressed in suburban casual chic, with every
hair in place and appropriate subtle make-up perfectly done, Mae slipped into
hostess mode without missing a beat. "Hello, I'm Mae Taylor," she
said stepping up to the table and offering her hand.
Perry half-dropped his cup onto the table, sloshing
coffee over the side in his haste to free his hand for shaking. "Uh, Perry
Thiel."
"Pleased to meet you," Mae said.
Lucy and Jane exchanged "can you believe
this?" looks.
Mae took her hand back from Perry and straightened.
"Looks like we could use a little breakfast. Any preferences?" She
looked at Perry, the guest, when she said it.
Perry, who probably didn't give much thought to
food other than how fast he could get something that wouldn't drip on his
papers, looked perplexed.
"No? Well I'll just take a look and see what
we have," Mae said.
Jane couldn't stand it another second. "Honest
to God Mae, you are such a Stepford wife. You walk in, find a complete stranger
in the kitchen, and all you can think about is serving refreshments? You don't
have to cook. We can toast a bagel or something. As for Perry here, I don't
think Lucy's decided what to do about him just yet."
Mae looked completely nonplussed for a second
before realization dawned and she laughed. "Oh my, that was a little Sally
Field in Steel Magnolias wasn't
it?"
"No, I'm sticking with my Stepford wife
analogy. Maybe you should say 'fuck' one time to make sure you got it out of
your system," Jane said.
Perry goggled and, for the first time since Lucy
opened the door, seemed to realize he might be in over his head.
"How about if we all sit down, have some
coffee and find out what Perry and Belle were working on," Lucy said.
"Fine by me," Jane said.
Mae looked like she wasn't sure what to do with
herself if there wasn't cooking or cleaning to be done but she nodded her head
and joined them at the table.
"Okay, Perry you were saying?" Lucy
prompted.
"I'm writing my dissertation on the events
surrounding the drafting and publication of the Declaration of Independence. I
have some new theories about the fate of the original document signed by John
Hancock and Charles Thomson."
"I'm beginning to get it," Lucy said. The
Declaration of Independence. That was the connection she'd been looking for.
"You're here about that old family legend."
Perry looked hopeful. "So you do know about
it."
"Just some old family story about my many
times over great-grandparents. He was a shop boy or an apprentice or something
for the printer who printed the first copies of the Declaration of
Independence. She was the daughter of a tavern keeper. They were both
supposedly around the print shop on the night the Declaration was printed and
family legend has it they kept a copy and passed it down to their oldest son and
so on."
"There's a lot more to it than that but you've
got the basic story right," Perry said.
"Well, if you talked to Belle about this then
you know our family doesn't have the Declaration anymore if we ever did. It was
lost during the Civil War," Lucy said.
"Belle thought she had a lead on where to find
it," Perry said. "And I'm not talking about the printed version
turned out by John Dunlap--the Dunlap Broadside, which is rare enough--the last
one to surface sold for nearly ten million dollars. I'm talking about the
signed draft Dunlap received from John Hancock. The document from which he set
the type."
"I thought the original Declaration of
Independence was on display in Washington. Didn't they just make a movie about
that?" Mae said.
Perry shook his head. "How much do you know
about the Declaration of Independence?"
"Clearly not as much as I thought," Mae
said.
Lucy and Mae nodded their encouragement for him to
continue.
"Okay,
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