Alex and Eliza: A Love Story(34)
“I do not follow your meaning, Aunt Gertrude.”
“It is like the poultice we have been administering to our brave soldiers. By only scratching the surface of the skin rather than drawing blood, a less potent infection arises. There are many young men who dally with love or even engage in activities that would be improper for me to describe, and by so doing, harden their hearts to the gentleness that love requires.”
Now Eliza understood what her aunt was referring to. As the daughter of a general, Eliza had absorbed more of the cruder details of a soldier’s life than even her father would have suspected. She had seen the soldiers staggering in and out of the unpainted house on Whitelawn Street in Morristown, whose occupants numbered five single women. Aunt Gertrude explained that the women were war widows, but Eliza noted nothing mournful in their countenances.
“At any rate,” Aunt Gertrude continued, “I hate to retreat behind the privilege of age, but permit me to say that one day after you have been married for a few years you will understand what I mean. Suffice to say, love is not a business to be attended to haphazardly, no more than medicine. You must research the matter as you would a disease and make a plan of attack and follow through with all possible rigor.”
“A disease! An attack!” Eliza exclaimed. “Aunt Gertrude, you run the risk of confirming every assumption about scheming women that the most belligerent bachelor has ever concocted. Oughtn’t love appear of its own accord and on its own terms? Isn’t anything else not love, but mere manipulation of certain social conventions?”
“Men are already manipulating them, Eliza. We women must formulate our own strategies or risk our entire future happiness on a man’s emotional intelligence. And that, my dear, would be akin to letting one’s horse choose one’s hotel based on the quality of the straw in the stables!”
Aunt Gertrude ended her diatribe with a little snort.
Eliza was not entirely sure she followed her aunt’s comparison, but the older woman’s next words put it completely out of her mind.
“There are still a few more inoculations to perform. We have not yet administered to the officers in General Washington’s headquarters, Colonel Hamilton being the exception. Therefore, first thing in the morning that will be your duty. Dr. Cochran has requested my presence for his rounds tomorrow, so would you be so kind as to attend to the officers yourself? You are certainly capable of it.”
Eliza was determined to keep her aunt’s respect. “It will be an honor, Auntie. Thank you for your confidence in my work.”
“You have earned it, my dear.”
Eliza discovered her aunt’s motivation as they discussed the preparation of a small basket of supplies containing the necessary bottles of inoculum and the tools Eliza would need to administer it.
“Pay attention, Eliza. No doubt several of the officers will try to tell you they’ve already received the treatment, but if a name doesn’t appear in my record books, it is not so. They may need some encouragement. So hold up Colonel Hamilton’s voluntary inoculation this afternoon as a brave and shining example for the rest of them. Tell the officers it is Dr. Cochran’s orders, which is akin to an order from General Washington himself.” Aunt Gertrude waved her hand toward her niece. “You’re a clever girl. You’ll know what to say . . .”
But before Eliza could protest, the butler announced that they had unexpected guests.
And standing in the doorway were none other than Angelica and Peggy themselves.
“Eliza!”
“Angelica!”
“And Peggy, too!” said Eliza, jumping up from her chair to give each of her sisters a warm hug. “What are you doing here?”
The sisters exchanged a look with Aunt Gertrude, who did not seem a bit surprised to see them. Angelica batted her eyes with forced innocence. “We wanted to help the cause.”
“No, really,” Eliza said drolly. “What are you doing here?”
Angelica was only able to keep a straight face for a moment. “Albany is so boring!” she exclaimed. “Mama is always fretting about money, and Papa orders the servants about as though they were troops, and the same four families throw the same four parties.”
“It’s true!” Peggy assented. “If I have to dance with Cornelius Van der Toothless one more time!”
Eliza laughed. Cornelius Van der Shoot was a notorious bachelor in his mid-fifties whose fortune was only matched by his inability to get anyone to marry him for it, not least because of the dental issues Peggy’s nickname alluded to.
“Have you heard the latest?” Angelica chimed in. “He got a new set of false teeth—made out of real teeth! He is chewing with someone else’s teeth in his mouth!”
“No!” Eliza gasped. “That is too foul!” The sisters fell into each other’s arms in a fit of giggles that went on for several moments. At length Peggy pulled free. “There is also this,” she said in a more serious tone. She handed Eliza an envelope addressed in her mother’s familiar handwriting. “You might want to sit back down, Eliza.”
Eliza tore open the envelope and caught her breath at her mother’s tortured first words.
Dearest Elizabeth,
How it pains me to bring you this news. The burning of our Saratoga estate by that vile General Burgoyne seems to have no end to its cruel spiral into our lives. As much as your father endeavored to revive our precious second home, it has become clear that due to the total devastation of the house and most buildings on the property, the Schuyler finances have been dealt a crippling blow. Indeed we have had a glimpse of what it must feel like to be poor and struggling. Papa says it is only temporary but with so many mouths to feed, a real depression has descended on us all. To that end, my Darling Girl, your loving parents have decided you three sisters would be more satisfactorily engaged this dreary winter in the generous arms of Uncle John and Aunt Gertrude. My heart swells with pride at what a team you’ll make, lifting the soldiers’ morale with your fresh countenances and unblemished hopes. Oh, that I were only young and spry enough to work alongside you—