Today's Reading

CHAPTER TWO

John Wallis, proprietor of the Marine Library, was not one to miss a chance to be able to add the prefix 'Royal' to his establishment.

—Nigel Hyman, Sidmouth's Royal Connections


With Viola's exhortation echoing in her mind, Emily walked to the Marine Library to speak to Mr. Wallis, respected local publisher and bookseller.

The slight, bespectacled widower in his forties possessed a thin, intelligent face. Single females flocked to his circulating library, but Emily had never seen him show romantic interest in any of them. His attention seemed firmly fixed on his two sons and his many publishing ventures.

While other women cooed over his tales of famous visitors, Emily had always been more interested in the authors he'd met over the years. During the twelvemonth the Summerses had lived in Sidmouth, Emily and Mr. Wallis had enjoyed many conversations about books and authors. Surely the man realized how well-read she was. Was Viola right? Might he be willing to allow her to edit future works for him, perhaps correcting galley proofs when they arrived from the printer? If so, she would enjoy earning a little money of her own while learning all she could about publishing.

Reaching Wallis's establishment, Emily tentatively entered. The jingle of the library door usually gave her a thrill of pleasure. Not today, however. She was too nervous.

Inside, she looked at the desk and among the shelves of games, maps, and periodicals. She saw neither Mr. Wallis nor his usual clerk. Instead, she saw only the older of his two adolescent sons, sitting on a stool, idly swinging his feet.

Perhaps Mr. Wallis had gone upstairs for something and would return any moment.

Approaching the boy, she said, "Good day. Is your father available?"

"No, miss. Gone to meet someone at the York Hotel. I'm to stay here and watch the till."

"I see. Will he be back soon?"

"Don't know."

"Very well. Keep up the good work."

She gave the boy a smile and left the establishment. She wondered who Mr. Wallis might be meeting—another famous author, perhaps? Emily's spirits lifted at the thought.

She continued east along the esplanade toward the large seafront hotel. Not far past it stood Sidmouth's other library, which Emily had never entered. Her family's coffers did not extend to subscriptions at two circulating libraries.

Entering the York Hotel vestibule, she saw no one about but followed the sound of voices to an open door opposite the reception desk. This room appeared to be a private parlour, with blue-and-cream-papered walls, fine upholstered furniture, and a long case clock. Mr. Wallis stood within, talking with three other men. On a table before them were spread two long prints of some kind.

Compared with Mr. Wallis's slender frame and scholarly appearance, the three other gentlemen boasted tall, straight-backed, masculine bearings. She recognized the tallest two from their visit to Sea View—the imposing Captain Conroy and the duke's handsome private secretary. She eyed the third man, on whom everyone's attention seemed to rest. This older man struck her as vaguely familiar, with his broad figure, bald pate, and thick L-shaped side-whiskers. Not a famous author, then. This, she realized, was Prince Edward himself, the Duke of Kent.

She had seen drawings of the former military man in the newspapers—although they were most often unflattering caricatures.

Mr. Wallis said, "Your Royal Highness, please allow me to present to you this engraving of a much-admired panorama of Sidmouth, which I commissioned by the well-known artist Hubert Cornish."

The prince expressed his decided approbation and graciously replied, "It will afford me much pleasure to show it to Her Royal Highness."

They continued their conversation, and a few minutes later the meeting concluded. Captain Conroy was the first to turn toward the door. Emily quickly stepped back, but not before his black-eyed gaze flicked over her with decided disapprobation. As the visiting men exited the parlour and proceeded out of the hotel, the duke's private secretary glanced back at her with a brief nod of recognition.

Mr. Wallis was the last to emerge, looking both exultant and exhausted.
...

Join the Library's Online Book Clubs and start receiving chapters from popular books in your daily email. Every day, Monday through Friday, we'll send you a portion of a book that takes only five minutes to read. Each Monday we begin a new book and by Friday you will have the chance to read 2 or 3 chapters, enough to know if it's a book you want to finish. You can read a wide variety of books including fiction, nonfiction, romance, business, teen and mystery books. Just give us your email address and five minutes a day, and we'll give you an exciting world of reading.

What our readers think...