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“Does everything have to be a mystery to you?”
“She is far too genteel a lady to be traveling with a rough soldier. I cannot believe he is her father. Have you seen the way she blushes sometimes at meals at the language he uses?” Daniel pulled on dry breeches and a shirt, leaving his damp hair tousled.
“That has nothing to say to anything. Any woman might blush who must dine with half-a-dozen men, and Sergeant Riley is not the only one who forgets to guard his tongue. That trader Dupree sneaks in some very rude comments in his French, and they make her blush more than anything her father says.”
“I must know her story or I cannot be easy in my mind about her.”
“What are you thinking?” Trueblood whispered with a twinkle in his eyes. “That she is a spy, like you?”
“Of course not. I only want to make sure she travels with the man willingly, and I do not know how to broach the subject”. Daniel stripped the wet blanket off the bed and stretched out upon the narrow mattress.
“Simply ask her. Riley does not hang about her neck. When he is not off playing cards with that Canadian, Dupree, he is so drunk he pays no attention to her.”
“Yes, Riley is as thick as thieves with Dupree.”
“Who else has he to talk to with you ignoring him and me looking down my nose at him?”
“And Dupree, taking ship with us at the last moment like that,” Daniel whispered. “I think he may be on to me.
“Well, Daniel,” Trueblood said in a quiet voice, “why did you stay in Washington’s employ if you are to be forever looking over your shoulder?”
“You did not think performing secret services such a bad life those last years of the Revolution.”
“It paid well, and someone had to keep you from getting shot or hanged.”
“You did not care about the money any more than I did. I still don’t care about it. We make plenty on trade alone.”
“Why do you do it then, little brother?” Trueblood asked.
“What else do I have? You can go back to Champfreys. Your mother wants you home. She said so in her last letter.”
“As I recall, she begged you to come home as well.”
“Not until Father admits he was wrong, and he will never do that.”
“The war has been over a long time. If Father was a Loyalist then, he is not now. You do not have to keep playing the rebel all your life.”
“That is not why I bolted,” Daniel almost shouted.
“Why then?”
“I cannot tell you.”
“Secrets even from me, Daniel?”
“Do not ask, Trueblood,” Daniel begged in anguish as he closed his eyes. “It was not true, what he accused me of. That is all I can say.”
“I believe you, little brother. But it has been sixteen years, half your life, since you left. Most likely he has forgotten what he said to drive you away.”
“Ah, but I have not.”
“So you remain in service, Captain Tallent, ununiformed, unappreciated and a prey to every suspicion that flits across your mind.”
“What will become of Nancy if Riley gambles away all his money before we reach Philadelphia?” Daniel had put his arms behind his head and was now staring intently at the bulkhead, his blue eyes troubled.
“Daniel, you can take on the affairs of a whole country if you want, but you cannot save every orphan and stray dog in it.”
“I know. She just seems so particularly defenseless.”
“I have a suggestion.”
“I know, mind my own business.” He rolled onto his side and buried his head in the pillow.
“Why don’t you just ask her about her circumstances?”
“At which point she will accuse me of being forward again. You would love that. You seem to take more than a passing interest in her yourself.”
“Good manners should never be mistaken for selfinterest. I really am not trying to cut you out with her.”
“But you always seem to be there to leap into the breach when I have made a misstep.”
“If we are speaking of the Loyalist lady, she was using you, Daniel.”
“Her loyalty to the rebellion was never in question” “Precisely. Her interest in you had only to do with flag and country.”
“That’s not the way I remember it,” Daniel said as he drifted toward sleep. When his breathing became regular, Trueblood threw a blanket over him and got out a book to read in the uncertain light from the lamp.
Daniel was at the rail the next morning, feeling rather better since he had foregone breakfast. The rock and creak of the ship was restful, the rush of water against the Sarah’s side benign in contrast to the previous night. When Nancy came on deck she pointedly ignored him, and he looked away, remembering the slap. But one of his furtive glances in her direction caught her looking at him, and she smiled, so he made his way over to her.
“How is your father?” Daniel asked.
“Better, now that the weather is fair and the wind is causing no more than a gentle roll to the ship.”
“I am not much of a sailor myself.”
“I love it,” she said, taking a deep breath and smiling. “I never thought I would set foot outside of Somerset.”
“You don’t seem as though—I mean, you seem so gently bred. I would almost take you for…”
“For a lady?” Nancy asked in amusement.
“I did not mean anything by it, but there is such a contrast between you and your father.”
“Not unlike the disparity between you and Trueblood.”
“I had that coming.”
“If I am not prying, why Trueblood’?”
“His mother named him. He carries the blood of the great Oneida, Shenandoah, in his veins.”
“Shenandoah.” Nancy pronounced it wistfully. “What a musical name.”
“A legendary Indian chief who brought corn to the starving troops at Valley Forge. Though Trueblood and I are only half brothers and ‘not much alike,’ we are very close. Now, if I am not prying, why is there such a difference between you and your father?”
“I was raised by my aunt and uncle. I never saw my father until last month, when he came for me. It is strange. I have waited for him all my life, waited for him to come and take me away to wars in strange lands. I have taught myself everything I imagined a soldier’s daughter should know. But now that it is really happening, I find I cannot quite believe it.”
“And the strange land he is taking you to is America. What does he mean to do there?”
“He speaks of buying an inn.”
“He may do well for himself then.”
“If he does not drink all the profits.”
“Where does he mean to settle?”
“Pittsburgh.”
“I lead pack trains to Pittsburgh,” Daniel said eagerly, his eyes alight. “Perhaps we can travel together. If you need temporary lodgings in Philadelphia, I am well known at Cook’s Hotel there. Until you decide what you mean to do, it is as good a place to stay as any.”
“I should be glad for your advice. I did not mean to sound so angry last night. I did not know how much danger I was in.”
“It doesn’t matter. I have been slapped before.”
“Indeed? With good reason?”
“How am I to answer that?”
“Carefully. I am quite sure Trueblood would be able to turn this conversation to his advantage. I have scarcely ever seen so much social adroitness packed into one person, albeit a large one.”
Daniel gaped at her and then smiled appreciatively. “You have his measure, then.”
“I do not mean to offend you. Your brother has been most kind to me, besides helping to save my life. But I always find myself wondering what is going on behind those dark eyes.”
“A great deal, I assure you.”
“If I were a hostess, I would always invite Trueblood, for I would know I could depend on him to handle any social disaster that might arise, or at least, dispose of it skillfully.”
“But you would not invite me,” Daniel concluded, his eyebrows furrowed delectably.
“Oh, yes, I would, for one always needs a brooding, mysterious man about.”
“To create the sort of social disasters Trueblood is adept at handling.”
“You make an admirable pair. I am sure the English ladies adored you.”
“We were invited everywhere, but then Trueblood has many friends in England. Do you entertain much in Somerset?”
“My aunt does. She could have turned me into a nanny for the children, but she raised me almost like a daughter.”
“Rather terrible of your father to tear you away.” Daniel tried to sound regretful.
“I assure you he came just in the nick of time,” Nancy replied with an impish smile.
“What?” asked Daniel, who had been watching for the dimple that lurked at the left corner of her mouth.
“I lived in momentary dread of Reverend Bently making an offer for my hand. Both Aunt and Uncle seemed to think I would make an admirable wife for a man of the cloth, seeing as I have a bent for nursing.”
“And like a dutiful and grateful niece, you would have accepted him.”
“Oh, I don’t know. If I could not have thought of a way out of it. But it does seem so often, when I am in the most desperate straits, that a solution will pop into my head from nowhere.”
“Desperate straits?”
“He nearly proposed to me one Sunday, but I fainted.”
“But how do you know then—”
“I didn’t really faint, of course, but only pretended so I would not have to accept or refuse.”
“That bad, is he?”
“I have no particular aversion to Oliver Bently. He is rather more than twice my age, but he is not ugly by any means. There is only this, that having regarded him as my spiritual leader, I could not imagine myself crawling into bed with him.”
Daniel broke into laughter, and Nancy admired the way his blue eyes lit when the corners crinkled.
“It is nearly time for the midday meal, if I am counting the bells aright,” she said of the muffled clanging. “Would you be kind enough to lead me in, sir?”
“I would be honored, Miss Riley.” Daniel took her arm with great ceremony.
“What do you suppose is the correct protocol for a stairway that is little more than ladder? Shall I go first so as not to expose my ankles?”
“No, I must go first. In case you should fall, I will catch you.”
“We will try it your way. I am sure when I query Trueblood he will say the opposite of whatever you have done.”
“Undoubtedly, Miss Riley.”
They were expecting to see land within the hour, and Nancy had been hugging the rail to get the first possible glimpse, her golden hair licked about by the wind. She was not used to being idle, so the whole trip had been in the nature of a tour for her, though the hardships of being confined with little privacy, frequently tossed about a small cabin and fed on boiled peas and salted meat would not have seemed a treat to many young women.
“Trueblood,” Daniel shouted from the deck to his brother perched in the rigging, “do you see anything?”
Trueblood turned from his scrutiny of the horizon. “A ship,” he called down through cupped hands, risking a fall from the ratlines, where he clung by his legs.
“What flag?” the captain called, handing a telescope to a seaman and sending him climbing the lines to the top of the mainmast.
“I cannot make it out,” Trueblood shouted.
