Read Online With Autumn's Return (Westward Winds Book #3): A Novel by Amanda Cabot - Free Book Online Page B

pleased by her attention to the young attorney.
    Apparently unaware of the tension among her guests, Miriam nodded at Mrs. Chadwick. “Tabitha was one of your sister’s best customers—after me, that is.”
    Tabitha Chadwick turned back toward Miriam and Elizabeth. “Charlotte is indeed a talented seamstress. I don’t know what we’re going to do without her.”
    “Wear gowns more than once.”
    Tabitha gave an exaggerated shudder at Miriam’s suggestion. “Never,” she declared as she reached for her husband’s hand. “Nelson would never allow that.”
    An hour later, Elizabeth’s cheeks hurt, not from being pinched, for as Miriam had predicted, there had been none of that, but from the effort of smiling. She must have been introduced to a hundred people. All were polite. Most were curious. If there was one thing Elizabeth had learned by the time the reception line disbanded, it was that no one here had met a woman doctor. Though they’d said little about her profession, she had seen their puzzled expressions when they’d complimented her on her gown. Had they expected her to wear trousers and a jacket like Dr. Worland? Surely theyrealized that being a doctor didn’t make Elizabeth less than a woman. But perhaps they did not. Even Mama had warned that Elizabeth might have to sacrifice the most fundamental aspects of her femininity, becoming a wife and mother, if she wanted to pursue her dream of being a physician.
    “My feet hurt,” Miriam admitted as the last of the guests made their way into the parlor. “I need to sit down before the dancing starts.”
    Though Elizabeth would have appreciated the rest, the sight of Gwen seated at the opposite side of the room, looking a bit forlorn, perhaps because Harrison was engrossed in what appeared to be an animated conversation with Nelson Chadwick and his foreman, led her in that direction. There had to be something she could say to boost Gwen’s spirits.
    Keeping a smile firmly fixed on her face, Elizabeth made her way through the crowds. Although she tried not to eavesdrop, her ears perked when she passed two middle-aged women, their expressions telling her the subject of their discussion was unpleasant.
    “The man is as handsome as can be,” the woman in the deep purple dress announced.
    Elizabeth’s curiosity was piqued as she speculated on the identity of the handsome man. In her estimation, Jason Nordling was the most handsome in the room, but perhaps the woman was referring to someone else.
    Her companion, clad in a lemon-yellow gown that did not flatter her coloring and that was definitely not one of Charlotte’s creations, nodded. “True, but Mama used to say ‘handsome is as handsome does.’ I couldn’t ever trust him. I mean, what kind of man defends a murderer?”
    The subject of the women’s discussion was indeed Jason.
    Purple Lady nodded. “You’re correct. No one with any honor would do that.”
    “It’s a matter of principle,” Yellow added.
    If she were prudent, Elizabeth would have continued on her way, pretending she had not heard the women discussing Jason Nordling. And yet, no matter how she felt about him personally, she could not let them malign the man who’d done nothing more than uphold the Constitution.
    Elizabeth wasn’t certain when her opinion had shifted. Perhaps it had occurred when she’d been so appalled by the vigilante justice that had ended Adam Bennett’s life. All she knew was that she had wakened one day with the realization that, whether or not he’d known the truth of Bennett’s guilt when he’d accepted him as a client, Jason Nordling had been right to defend him, for in doing so, he’d guaranteed Adam Bennett one of the rights that made America such a great country. Now these women were denying that.
    “I know it’s rude to interrupt,” Elizabeth said as she inched her way between the two ladies, “but I couldn’t help overhearing. I agree with you,” she said, inclining her head toward