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Page 225
"He's pretty closed mouthed about his background," she replied. "Tell me more."
Maitland gave her a dirty look, and she was glad when he joined some men at a table. Apparently he wasn't interested in Thorn except to harass him.
"We were from Essex, east of London." Ainsley's voice was slurred. "Thorn was the third son in a wealthy family from an estate near the town of Rayleigh." He hesitated. "Second son, after a time. There was an unfortunate incident with his older brother. . . . Well, never mind. I was the eldest son in a not-so-wealthy trades household from the town. Thorn and I got into mischief together from the time we were tiny lads, and when it came time to seek our fortunes, we decided we'd join the army and venture to the colonies together."
"That's wonderful!" She wanted to ask Thorn's old friend about how they'd arrived at Fort Pitt. More, she wanted to know how Ainsley had perceived the incident with the kidnapped child and suicidal woman that had led to Thorn's disgrace, but she kept those questions to herself. Maitland's table wasn't far away, and he could be eavesdropping. The room was filled with other soldiers who might also listen in. Instead, she asked, "What kind of mischief did you get into?"
Thorn, fortunately, was taking his time. Between her duties as barmaid, she laughed at the escapades described by Ainsley, who grew more and more drunk: stories of two rowdy young men who'd taken advantage of their good looks and important families. "Thorn had a tutor and his father allowed me to study with him. We went through . . . oh, I can count five offhand. Not one appreciated the snakes we stuck in their beds, the wenches we paid to show up at inopportune times, crying for the fathers of their brats. Good thing old Thorn had gone through his own list of tutors when he was a boy, or he'd have kicked me out and made Thorn buckle down alone." The stories graduated from practical jokes to wenching of their own, and Mariah couldn't help smiling sadly for the carefree youth Thorn had once been.
But then Thorn himself came into the room. "We've just

 
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