New York - The Novel

that behind his good manners, he was ambitious.
    “A governor should leave his mark,” I once heard him say.
    In particular, he was anxious to build up the Anglican Church. The vestrymen of Trinity, who included some of the greatest merchants, were often with him, and he gave that church a big stretch of land running up the west side of the city. And he had Broadway paved with fine cobblestones all the way from Trinity to Bowling Green, in front of the fort. He also put Anglican clergymen into some of the churches of the Presbyterians and the Dutch—which those people did not like at all. But that didn’t trouble him. “Gentlemen,” he told them, “I am sorry, but it’s what the queen wants.” It was all part of his plan. I was in the room one day when he addressed the Trinity vestrymen. “New York is English in name,” he said, “and we look to you and to the Anglican clergy to make it so in fact.”
    He wasn’t proud, but he liked to do things in style. The governor’s residence in the fort had some good rooms, but it wasn’t elegant. “This house really won’t do,” he would say. One day we took a boat across to Nut Island, which is only a short distance from the tip of Manhattan, and as he walked about among the chestnut trees there, he said to me, “This is a delightful place, Quash. Delightful.” And in no time at all, he had them building a beautiful house on a knoll out there. Soon they were calling it Governor’s Island after that.
    Of course, it had to be paid for. But a tax for the city defenses had just brought in over a thousand pounds; so he used that. Some of the merchants that paid the taxes were angry, but he didn’t care. “No one is attacking us at present,” he said.
    During this time, I would still see Miss Clara and the family now and then, but there was no further word about the Mistress—until one day in Wall Street I saw Jan. “She came back, Quash,” he told me. “She cameback and discovered all the governor’s been doing for the Anglicans against the Dutch, and in three days she was gone to Schenectady again and says she’ll never return.” He was laughing. “God bless Lord Cornbury,” he says.
    And I had reason to be grateful to His Lordship too. For one day, seeing me looking sad, he asked me what was the matter, and I told him I was wondering what became of my Hudson. And what did he do, but cause letters to be sent to every port in the world where the English traded, and every English naval vessel, to make inquiries for him. “It will take time, and I promise you nothing,” he said, “but we can try.” He was a kindly man.

    I had been with him more than a year when he surprised me.
    Lady Cornbury was a slim, elegant lady. She and I did not have occasion to speak much, but she was always polite with me. I knew she gave His Lordship some anxiety. I’d find him standing by a table piled with her unpaid bills, muttering: “How are these to be settled?” For His Lordship was not as rich as people supposed. But when he and Her Ladyship were alone, you could hear them laughing together.
    One day His Lordship told me that he and Her Ladyship would be supping alone with two friends who were just arrived from London. That evening, after I had shaved him carefully and laid out his clothes, he told me: “I shan’t need you now, Quash. I want you to go down to open the door for the guests, and wait at table.” Accordingly I opened the door to the English gentleman and his wife, and took them into the main reception room where Her Ladyship was waiting, before His Lordship was yet down. After a while, Her Ladyship informed me that there was to be another, secret guest, a great personage, and that I was to open the door and announce her. And when she told me who I must announce, I almost fainted. But I did as she said, and opened the door, and sure enough the great personage was there, so I turned and announced loudly: “Her Majesty, the Queen.”
    And before my eyes, in walked Queen Anne. Except, as she passed me, I realized it was His Lordship.
    He was wearing a dress that belonged to Her Ladyship. It was somewhat tight, but he carried it very well. And I must say he moved gracefully.He was wearing a woman’s wig. And after I had shaved him, he had so powdered, rouged, and painted his face that he really might have passed for a very handsome woman.
    “By God, Corny!” cried the English gentleman. “You gave me a start. Your height gives you away, but