“Martha always comes to stay with George when he settles into his winter quarters. And you—you need to come.”
“I haven’t been asked,” Amanda said stiffly. “I don’t think that he believes me yet.” She sighed. “I know that he does not completely trust me, no matter how far it seems that we have gone. God knows, I might betray something were I to be there!”
“You need to be there!” Damien persisted.
“Why?”
Damien stuttered and then cleared his throat. “Anne Marie is there.”
“Anne Marie Mabry?”
“She has followed her father to war. And she cooks often for Eric. And—”
“And what?” Amanda demanded.
Damien lifted his arms and dropped them. “I don’t know. But you need to be there.”
She felt as if giant icy fingers gripped her heart and squeezed, and then she felt an awful fury rip through her. How dare he judge her when he…
Anne Marie had always cared for Eric. Always. Amanda had known that the night she had first met him.
The cold, and then the heat, settled over her. She tried to breathe deeply. If he meant to have another woman, she told herself, he would do so. She could not walk with him everywhere.
She could not force him to love her.
But she could discover the truth of it, and if he was determined to have Anne Marie, then he would not have her at home waiting eagerly for his return!
“I—I think that I will accompany you to Valley Forge, Damien. When you’re ready to go.”
He smiled. “That’s my darling, daring cousin. What of the babes?”
How could she leave them? Danielle would care for them. They were old enough now to eat food, and though it would hurt her, she would find a wet nurse. They would be well. She would be the one to be empty without them.
“They will be fine here,” she assured Damien softly.
He smiled again. “Well then, I am glad that you will ride with me. We should leave within the week. I’ve some business in Williamsburg…and then there’s Lady Geneva.”
“Lady Geneva?”
“Cousin, even I was destined to fall in love.”
“With Geneva!”
“And why not?”
Why not, indeed? Geneva was beautiful, sensual, and perhaps just right for Damien. “No reason. How long has this been going on?”
“Affairs of the heart move slowly in wartime, Mandy. And sometimes quietly. This, as you call it, has been going on for several years now.”
Amanda started to laugh. Damien cast her a hard warning glare and she laughed all the harder.
“Amanda—”
“I am delighted, Damien. Absolutely delighted. And a week will be fine. I need time to leave the twins and time to gather supplies to go. I cannot imagine that they are overly endowed with food and blankets for the winter.”
“Hardly,” Damien said dryly, then smiled. “Laugh away at me, then, cousin, if you will! I shall be eager to see the show once we arrive.”
Amanda sobered quickly. He winked her way, taking full advantage of his own turn to be amused. He lifted his brandy glass.
