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them?”
    â€œI’ve walked past homes in that area. Most assuredly I don’t belong to the same social circle as your family.” Nate tried unsuccessfully to keep scorn from his voice.
    â€œLike you, I am opposed to slavery. Perhaps I will have little in common with their social circle too.” Finished with the sandwich, she rose and walked to the window overlooking Water Street and the wharves beyond. “You mentioned you’re from the Blue Ridge Mountains. Is there a high point in town where I might catch a glimpse of these peaks?” She smiled prettily over her shoulder.
    He chuckled. “I’m afraid they are four hundred miles to the west. It would take a week to reach them by coach, probably the same by train since the armies keep tearing up the tracks.”
    â€œFour hundred miles? Yet we would still be in North Carolina?”
    â€œYes, ma’am. America is huge, not like that little island you call an empire .” He winked impishly.
    â€œI will allow you that insult and permit one more before we’re even. But I’m keeping you from your noon meal. I should have insisted we dine together. Why don’t you eat while I entertain you with tales about my home?”
    Nate shoved his hands into his trouser pockets. “As delightful as that sounds, I’m afraid it’s impossible.”
    â€œWhy? Since you own this mercantile, you have no one to answer to and can eat a meal when you wish.” She cocked her head to one side. “Are you too shy to eat in front of a stranger? I thought we were halfway to becoming friends.”
    â€œIt’s impossible, Miss Dunn, because you ate my lunch.” He leaned back against the counter.
    Her amused expression changed to abject horror. “I did? Why would you permit such a thing?”
    Nate shrugged. “Because you were hungry and I wasn’t at the moment. I enjoyed your company and didn’t wish to cut our conversation short. Besides, if I sent a starving woman down the street to the hotel, what would that say about American hospitality?”
    Miss Dunn fumbled in her purse with trembling fingers. “I have gobbled up a man’s sole meal until sundown while insulting him at every turn.” She placed several coins on the counter. “My sister left these for me on the hall table, but I’m not familiar with American currency. Please take whatever is fair for the meal.”
    â€œAbsolutely not. The sandwich was a gift.”
    â€œMy embarrassment will only increase if you refuse my money. I entered your store with the express purpose of buying something to eat.” She pushed the coins across the glass top.
    â€œYour embarrassment is baseless. I wouldn’t have given you the sandwich if I didn’t want you to have it. And gifts don’t require payment.” Nate shoved the coins back.
    â€œYou are a very stubborn man, Mr. Cooper,” she said, returning the money to her purse. “Is that a Wilmington trait or something you brought from the impossible-to-see Blue Ridge Mountains?”
    â€œIt’s a trait which bodes well for our potential friendship because we have it in common. Is yours an English tendency or perhaps a genetic disposition inherited from a Dunn ancestor?” He selected a shiny red apple from a bin and took a bite.
    She paused to consider. “It must be the latter because my twin sister isn’t the least bit stubborn. Impulsive, yes. Maybe even flighty, but Abigail is as amenable and pliable as they come.”
    Nate’s apple stopped inches from his mouth. “Are you saying you have a twin? That there are two of you?”
    â€œI am. We are identical in size and feature, but Abby is now a Carolina belle with hoops and frills and ostentatious hats. I compare poorly in my taste for clothes.”
    Nate studied her while eating the apple. “In my opinion, much of ladies’ fashion seems better suited to a theater