Aaron came nearer the bed, a leather bag in hand. “A favorable sign, perhaps.”
“What more can be done?”
“I don’t know, General Harlow.” Aaron sighed. “I wish I did.”
Rhys’s attention returned to Mae, his pressing need to take in as much of her as he could. One never knew—
“Her fever has been quite high, though she’s not as flushed as when I saw her earlier. She has no lesions yet, though they might appear at any time. It’s been a fortnight since she took the inoculation.”
Rhys let go of Mae’s hand. “I’ll leave you with her, then.”
ten
Yonder are the Hessians. They were bought for seven pounds and tenpence a man. Are you worth more? Prove it. Tonight the American flag floats from yonder hill or Molly Stark sleeps a widow!
John Stark at the Battle of Bennington
Mae opened her eyes and remembered General Harlow sitting beside her.Rhys.Now her bedchamber was empty. Doubly empty since he had gone. Had she only dreamed it? The intensity in his expression? The way he’d said her name and kissed her fingers?
Only a dream.
The chair where he’d sat seemed lonesome. A cup of water rested on the table beside it. Her parched throat craved a long, cold drink, but her arm was leaden. She could only stare at the cup as she slid back into the uncomfortable cocoon of sleep.
Hanna’s soothing voice intruded. “Mae?”
Her eyes came open again briefly, long enough to make out her sister-in-law’s anxious face.
“General Harlow is here. In fact, he stayed the night. He’s working downstairs in the parlor right now. He said he won’t leave till you rouse yourself and convince him you’re still among the living.In fact, he’s never left your side except when your fever climbed and we needed to undress you and pack you in snow.”
Mae gave a slow, drowsy smile as Hanna continued talking. Her hand crept to the pearl heart. Had he noticed she wore it?
“James has brought him his traveling desk and papers. I’ve never seen a man so intent upon his work ... or your recovery.”
Mae felt her face, and all the joy leeched out of her. Beneath her fingers were hard, round bumps. Slightly itchy, they hurt when she touched them. “Hanna...”
“Don’t be distraught. You’ve only a few lesions so far.”
“And Coralie?”
“Coralie is fine. Well enough to protest General Harlow.”
“What?”
“She’s none too pleased to have him here, but he’s put her in her place.”
A twinge of alarm pierced her distress. Had Coralie gleaned anything more to pass on to Eben? If the general’s lap desk and papers were near...
“You need to eat and drink.” Ever the nurse, Hanna plumped the pillows. “Let me help you sit up first.”
Her recovery was slow. But the fact they could be burying her instead checked her impatience. The graveyard behind the Presbyterian meetinghouse had never been busier. On the afternoon she finally roused herself, no one else was in the house save Mrs. Hurst, who had last checked on her half an hour ago and thought her sleeping.
Hanging her bare legs over the bed’s edge, Mae tried to stand by holding on to a bedpost. The effort drenched her in a most unladylike sweat. The odor of illness still clung to both her and the bed linens. Though they’d been changed frequently, they still smelled of medicine and all the unsavory things she wanted to forget.
She spied a glass of water and downed it in a few gulps, though what she craved was herb tea. Her dressing table seemed a world away, its looking glass a hurdle she must reckon with. Lightheaded, she sank to the rug and hung her head till it cleared again, then crawled across the carpet.
Another burst of sweat, a blinding pain in her temples, and a weakness that turned her limbs to jelly resulted in a fierce struggle that finally landed her atop the dressing table’s low seat. For a few moments she just sat, head in her hands, unable to peer in the looking glass. She could feel the hated lesions on her face.
Straightening, she took her hands away and forced herself to confront her fears. Her skin, once pale as milk, bore cranberry-red sores. She looked in horror at her arms, where especially vicious lesions welled. Grabbing at her linen shift, she raised it and saw other lesions marring her legs.
