The Coffee House

Grandma Lu said, "You know centuries ago women couldn't go to many of the same places as the men could. Like we found out, women couldn't work on a ship so that's why Marlee had to be dressed like a boy. Well, now the same thing is happening. Many of the pirates on shore were friends or at least knew Lady Kathleen. They didn't know Lexie of course, but since Lady Kathleen vouched for her, they helped them find a clean place to stay some distance away from the Pirate Cove."
"Lady Kathleen had thought ahead and had  gold coins in her pocket. She needed clean clothes for her and Lexie, so she sent a runner to do this errand for her. She ordered the sizes she guessed in men's clothes.
Lady Kathleen ordered a wash tub with warm water so that they could take a bath. They had to share the water and one towel and just a sliver of soap. But it felt like Heaven. Being clean and having clean clothes felt so good even if they were men's clothes."
(The children couldn't believe that they had to share a little bitty tub of water and only one towel. They were used to having running water and lots of towels.)

 "Now they needed a plan to find Lady Bonita and Marlee. They left their nails dirty and broken so no one would suspect that they were women. Plus they wore gloves on their hands as was the fashion in those days. There were so many things to think about. Their hair had to be completely covered as well. It was also the fashion for many men and women to wear wigs even here in the United States in the very early days."  Grandma Lu pointed to a picture she had of a man in the clothes that men wore. "The hats looked like women's hats do now, don't they? So it would be fairly easy to fool other men, wouldn't it?" The children kind of giggled. They knew their daddies would never wear an outfit like that. Grandma Lu smiled and said, "Oh, I agree, but Lady Kathleen and Lexie were now ready to be seen in public posing as men. In those days coffee was something new to drink. In fact it had been brought to England by ship in the middle sixteen hundreds from a country called Turkey. Well, people immediately saw a way to earn lots of money; selling coffee. There was a very famous coffee house in London called Whites. At the time our ladies were in England it was open to all classes of men. Later on it would be a private club, but at this time men went there to gossip and learn the news."

"The very smart and the very rich and the very poor all shared the club for a penny a cup. Yes that's right, coffee only cost a penny. They used to call those coffee houses Penny Universities because of the cost of a cup of coffee as well as the many things that men learned from each other there. Just like our colleges nowadays."
"Lady Kathleen and Lexie ordered a cup of coffee. As they sipped their coffee they listened to the conversations that were going on around them. They both heard some men talking about a Lady Bonita and a little girl called Marlee. It seemed that Marlee girl was a sad little girl and nothing that the servants or Lady Bonita gave her would make her smile."
"Their hearts started beating faster. They couldn't believe their luck. They were fast approaching their goal. They had to find a way to know where Lady Bonita's home was. They needed to be quiet and listen some more. One of the men mentioned the House of Taylor. Lexie's eyes got big and whispered, "Lady Kathleen, that's me last name. I'm sure of it. Me mum told me a long time ago, that her husband's, my da's (dad) last name was Taylor." Lady Kathleen's eyes narrowed and said, "Lass that is me last name too.What are ye trying to pull? There are very few Taylors in this land in me way of knowin'. Lady Kathleen was looking mean at Lexie, but felt sorry for doing that when she saw a tear running down the lass's face."
"The men continued to gossip about Lady Bonita. "I have heard that there is a reward being offered to anyone that can make the lass smile and be happy."
Lady Kathleen motioned to Lexie to stand up and act like they were leaving. They stopped at the table where the men were talking about the reward. Lady Kathleen said, " Sirah, could ye be tellin, me where this Lady Bonita's House of Taylor might be? I'd like to give it a try." The men all laughed at them but one man that was not wearing a hat. He
said, "The notice is tacked to the board by the door as you go out. Good luck to ye. No one has made her smile to my knowledge. Tis a sad little lass, that's fer sure."