“Pray that we’re half as hardy.” Mae checked her sewing kit to make sure she’d packed the lovely pincushion she’d suspected was from Lucy. “They provide a valuable service no matter what they’re called or thought of.”
“Doxies, Eben says, shouting and cursing with sluttish shrills—”
“Coralie, please!” Mae chastised sharply. Did she believe these women were prostitutes?
“They even loot the fallen after battle, thieving their personal belongings and then wearing their coats.”
“Some, perhaps. But I feel the best of those who follow the army are indispensable and quite brave. Some risk coming into the line of fire, even taking their soldiers empty canteens and refilling them with water during the hottest parts of engagements.”
Coralie rolled her eyes. “I shan’t be doing any of that as an officer’s wife.”
So far Coralie hadn’t mentioned Lieutenant Gibbs’s latest letter, the one Mae had left on the hall table. She played along, asking, “Has he told you where he’s stationed? You’ll need to know if you’re to surprise him with your sudden arrival in New York.”
“At a captured fort along the Hudson River north of New York City,” she replied. “I plan to post a letter to him right before we depart.”
Mae listened absently as she sorted through her petticoats. Suddenly the redcoated officer was the furthest thing from her thoughts. Should she give her extra garments to Lucy?
“Do you have any regrets about leaving Jersey?” Coralie asked quietly.
“I worry about leaving Hanna at such a time.”
“Why? Hanna has family from Morristown to Pequannock to help her.” Coralie sat down on the bed’s edge, brow furrowed. “I wonder what officers’ wives do in the same condition.”
Mae looked up from packing. “Once wed you may soon find out.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh my stars and garters, imagine being far from home, thick as a brick, and not a midwife to be had in the middle of the wilderness!”
Mae smiled at her colorful phrasing. “Marrying often begets children, no matter where you happen to be.”
“I try not to think of such ... complexities.” Coralie’s gaze narrowed. “You’ve seen little of General Harlow of late, have you? I suppose he’s extraordinarily occupied with preparations to decamp.”
Mae chafed at the triumph in her sister’s tone. “Given he has charge of so many men, I don’t doubt it.”
“Or has he finally realized you’re far above his station?”
“I’m hardly the duchess of Chatham, Coralie.” She skewered her sister with a glance. “Nor is the general a lowly lieutenant.”
Coralie frowned and bristled all at once. “Venom doesn’t become you, Mae.”
“I’ve made little fuss over your alliance with Lieutenant Gibbs. I expect you to respect mine.”
For a few moments silence reigned before Coralie said, “Alliance? Lately I wonder. Eben’s last letter was rather terse. He hasn’tbeen writing as often as he used to. I hope nothing has happened to him and he’s not fallen ill. How I wish his family hadn’t left Chatham for the city and I could keep better informed about him.”
Below, the foyer clock resounded five times. Mae wished Rhys would happen by—or even James. She had so many questions ahead of their setting out. And she couldn’t push down the notion that Rhys might be more right than Jon and staying in Chatham would be wiser.
Finished with her trunks, Mae moved on to her saddlebags. “What books shall we bring?”
“Books? As if we’ll have time for reading on the trail?”
“Once we get there we shall. I want to bring Father’s Bible. Also,Poems by Mrs. Robinsonand the new novel Hanna and Aaron gave me for Christmas I’ve not had time for.”
“Travels for the Heartby Pratt?”
“That, andA Voyage Towards the South Poleby Captain James Cook.”
Did Rhys have these volumes? Mae meant them more for him, an addition to their future library. Thoughts of his newly built Virginia house, a firelit hearth, and two Windsor chairs on a snowy winter’s night warmed her even now. Though they would be traveling the wrong direction, she held on to hope that the Shenandoah Valley was where they’d end up eventually.
twenty-two
