Alex and Eliza: A Love Story(45)
“How surprising could it possibly be that I have found a suitor with wits to match my own,” announced Angelica, “and a fortune that will sustain me in high society for as long as I may live?”
“Church has proposed at last, has he?” said Eliza.
Peggy turned toward her sister and said softly, “But do you love him?”
“Let’s not overegg the pudding, dear Peg.” Angelica tugged at a ribbon on her younger sister’s nightcap. “Perhaps for me to love and be loved is an impossible quest. I simply know that in John Church I have met my match. And in one way or another, whether by elopement or a fine wedding, he will be my husband.”
Angelica pulled up the covers and stared up at the dark ceiling. “I trust that Papa will be but temporarily dismayed.”
The deal was as good as done. Her sisters knew it, too.
“That’s all fine and well for you, Angelica,” said Peggy. “You have always gotten whatever it is you wanted by sheer force of will. But what of me and my Stephen?” Peggy sounded as though she might burst into tears at any moment. “Surely Papa will be swayed by the Van Rensselaer wealth and the long-held trust between our two families. But do you think he can be persuaded to allow the marriage?”
“My dear little Peg,” said Angelica, “you have always dragged along behind me, imitating me at every turn since you were a child. Be aware that I now have a plan and fully intend to carry it out. So here is my advice to you: Perhaps this is just one more time you dare not hesitate to follow your big sister’s lead.”
“And what about Colonel Hamilton?” said Peggy.
“What about him?” said Angelica.
“He means to take our Eliza away,” said Peggy.
“Does he now?” said Angelica impishly. “And what say you, dear sister? Shall you allow yourself to be swept off your feet?”
Eliza hid underneath the covers. “I have no idea what you both are going on about. You are both the ones with secret romances, not me. He has not even announced his courtship yet.”
“Maybe he is shy,” said Peggy.
Angelica snorted. “Of all the things he is—I don’t think shy is quite the word.”
“Perhaps,” said Eliza, muffled from under the blankets, “we are just friends and he does not fancy me at all.”
“Oh, Eliza,” said Angelica. “You really are dense sometimes.”
“He was very kind to me this evening,” said Peggy loyally. “Said I should tell you both how I feel about Stephen so you can stop your taunting. I think you should accept him, Eliza, if he asks. You can do worse than to marry a kind man. I think kindness, out of all the virtues, is the best quality to have.”
“He does have a good heart,” said Eliza, popping up from the pillows. “The men love him.”
“But he lacks a great fortune and has no name and no family,” reminded Angelica.
“Well,” said Peggy. “We have name and family, if not fortune, enough for him, don’t you think, Eliza?”
For once, Eliza had to agree with her sweet younger sister rather than her smart older one.
20
First Comes Friendship
Continental Army Barracks
Morristown, New Jersey
February 1780
Laurens and Lafayette remained in town for three more days, but the snows were still so bad that there was no possibility of sleigh rides to dancing assemblies or dinner parties. Work was busy, and Alex’s time was split between taking meetings with General Washington and the rest of the top brass, and carousing with his comrades till all hours of the night. Several times Alex attempted to pull rank as the aide-de-camp to the commander in chief of the Continental army in order to be alone with his friend before he left, but General Washington was almost as fond of the son of Henry Laurens, Washington’s southern counterpart in the Continental Congress, as Alex was, and always invited him along to meetings and inspections.
On the afternoon of the third day of Laurens’s visit, a messenger arrived from Charleston. Reports had come in that General Clinton, the commander in chief of the British forces, was shifting the focus of the war to the South. After being driven from Philadelphia a year and a half ago, General Clinton had holed up in New York City, but since Ambassador Franklin and the Marquis de Lafayette had persuaded the French to enter the war on the side of the Americans, Clinton had come to the conclusion that the northern states, with their close proximity to French Canada, were increasingly vulnerable to a combined French-American attack, and he should shift their efforts south.
The South was the engine of the American economy: Much of its food came from below the newly surveyed Mason-Dixon Line, as well as two of its most valuable exports, tobacco and cotton. If Clinton could cut off the South from the North, the cash-strapped nation would soon run completely out of money.
Even before the messenger had finished delivering his news, John Laurens was shifting about in his seat. As soon as General Washington dismissed them, he raced out of the building. It was all Alex could do to keep up with him.
“Laurens!” he called after his friend, fleeing out of headquarters without even bothering to put on his coat amid the winter chill. “Laurens, wait!”
At the sound of Alex’s voice, Laurens halted, panting wildly. He waited until his friend caught up to him.