Jack and Annalisa are married only five months when, enroute to France, a shipwreck separates them. On different shores, each believes the other dead. But when Annalisa learns Jack is alive, she returns to America and discovers much has changed. After a betrayal, she flees town as her alter ego, Benjamin Cavendish, and joins the Continental Army.
Unbeknownst to Annalisa, Jack has also joined the Continentals, harboring shameful secrets from his days in mourning. Against the backdrop of war with Britain, façades mount between Jack and Annalisa, and the merry minuet of their adolescence dissolves into a masquerade of deceit, one which threatens to part them forever.
Muskets
and Masquerades
With
Candlemas upon them, Twelfth Night felt to be years ago, not mere weeks.
Annalisa and Mary sat in the parlor. Her sister worked on her needlepoint, and
Annalisa reread Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. The pamphlet was now two
years old, but the radical words still rang true. She harkened back to the
night at the Black Water Inn when Jack, William, and Quinnapin gathered about
to read the pamphlet for the first time; before any of them, save George, had
left for the army.
George
was returning from the Black Water today, and would be home within the hour,
she supposed. Three years had passed since he last stepped inside his own
establishment, and two years since Annalisa had seen Elisha Porter.
She
glanced at Mary and smiled. Her darling younger sister would have her debut
come spring. Annalisa pondered the kind of gentleman who would ask Mary to
dance, and perhaps, court her. My little sister, my dearest Mary. She can’t
be courted by just anyone. But who remains to attend these local balls?
What young, eligible gentleman hasn’t joined the war?
Mary
seemed unaffected. Her little needle pointed up, then down, her fingers fast at
work embroidering a rose. Mary was far better than she or Jane ever purported
to be at needlepoint. Annalisa bit her lip to hide her smirk. Her own stitching
was base at the best of times, and Jane had always been the accomplished one
among them. Now, Mary seemed to surpass even Jane.
“You’re
quite good,” Annalisa said.
Mary
looked up. “I suppose with you and Jane gone I’ve had much time to master these
old, hackneyed patterns.”
Annalisa
set aside her pamphlet. “I’m sorry I left you alone here.”
“Don’t
be. You were married, and then terrible things befell you. I could never blame
you for any of it. I’ve only missed you, ’tis all. Would that I could’ve joined
you.”
“Mary,
you know ’tis too dangerous.”
Mary
set down her canvas. “What makes you think I don’t wish to partake in this war?
What makes you think I couldn’t learn to fire a musket as you have?”
“I
wouldn’t wish what I’ve seen upon anyone, especially you. Battle is full of
horrors. If you wish to partake, then weave your own textiles, as other ladies
are wont to do—”
“How
can you rebuke me so? You of all would scoff at such trite displays of
rebellion.”
Annalisa
frowned. Mary was right. She could hardly sit by and spin her own fabric while
the men left for battle. “Well, if you don’t fight, and you’ll not weave or
spin, what will you do?”
“I
go with Henry every other week to George’s tavern. I’ve taken to listening.”
“Listening?”
“Aye.
I’ve come away with quite a bit of information,” Mary replied.
“And
to whom have you relayed such knowledge?” Though Annalisa chuckled, she
remembered the few times she’d been at George’s tavern and overheard Loyalists
speaking of British generals and such. A tavern was an easy way to garner
intelligence, but it was a matter of ensuring the news ended safely, and in the
right hands.
“I’ve
told Henry, of course,” Mary replied.
“Ah,
then he takes it to his contact?” Annalisa asked.
“I
suppose. I know not where he takes my information.” Mary picked up her canvas
and continued with her perfect rose.
Espionage.
’Tis what Mary does. She spies. Perhaps she could be employed by someone within
the Continental Army. No one would suspect her… The thought covered her in
goosebumps. Spies, if uncovered, always received capital punishment. No, I
can never involve her. The dangers are too great.
She
suddenly understood the fear George felt all these years about her masquerading
as a man. He cared too much for her to see her languishing in a prison, or
potentially hanged.
The
front door swung open, and George strode into the parlor. “My two favorite
sisters,” he bellowed. “I come bearing gifts from Elisha.” He handed them each
a parcel wrapped in paper.
Annalisa
tore it open and sniffed the beef mince pie. Her mouth watered at the buttery
crust. “How I’ve missed these.”
Mary
carefully put away her canvas then ripped open the paper, and bit into the pie
without moving to the kitchen.
Annalisa
and George laughed.
“These
pies are so delicious, George,” Mary said, her mouth full and her eyes rolling
back into her head.
“Careful,
with such vulgar manners, Mother won’t let you have your debut this spring,”
George howled. He sat beside Annalisa and drew up the pamphlet she’d been
reading. “I’ve read this thing nearly a hundred times.”
“I’ve
but read it twice.” She leaned against him and closed her eyes.
A
knock sounded at the door, and Annalisa lifted her head.
Abigail
hurried inside the parlor with Louisa clutched to her breast, her eyes wild,
and frantic.
“What
is it, Abbie?” Annalisa asked. “You look a fright.”
Shaking,
Abigail handed her a letter. “Read it, I don’t mind.”
Annalisa
unfolded the page, and George leaned in to read alongside her. When they
finished, they peered at one another, then to Abigail, who bit her lip.
“He’s
here. He’s coming for me,” she whispered.
“Who?”
Mary asked.
“Lord
Essex,” Annalisa and George said in unison with Abigail.
“What
should I do? Where should I go?” Abigail cried. Louisa shrieked in her arms,
and George reached for the girl. How much smaller she looked tucked against his
strapping chest, snuggled within his bulging arms.
“We
can go to the Black Water,” Annalisa said. “He won’t know to look for you
there.”
“No.”
George rose from the sofa with Louisa. He paced for several moments, then
turned to face them, huddled together with Mary. “Come with me to Valley Forge.
You, too, Annie. Essex will never know you’re there. ’Tis a secluded place, a
day’s ride from Philadelphia—”
“But
the British hold Philadelphia,” Mary said. “What if he travels yonder?”
“A
sound thought, Mary, but unlikely,” George replied.
“Let
me come, too,” Mary said.
“No,”
Annalisa said with George. They looked at one another, then Annalisa added,
“You’re more valuable here. When Essex comes for Abigail, listen to everything
he says, but play the unwitting coquette, then write to us. Can you do that?”
Mary
nodded.
“No,
don’t involve her,” George barked.
“She
wishes to help. Whyever can she not?” Annalisa asked.
Abigail
added, “’Tis true, George, no one will suspect her.”
The
way George looked upon Mary with devastation, made Annalisa’s blood run cold.
“She
and Henry are the last of us to be removed from this war. I wish to keep it
so,” he replied.
Mary
crossed her arms. “I’m hardly removed from it, George.”
George
towered over her. “Is that so, young miss?”
“I
can keep to myself, I swear it,” Mary said. “We don’t even know for certain
Lord Essex poses any threat to us. Should he call here, Mamma and Papa, and
Henry and I shall host him as fondly as we ever hosted gentry.”
Annalisa
asked, “Is William leaving with you, too? Or can he remain here?”
George
shook his head. “Wilhelmina has been honorably discharged. After the
year he’s had, I doubt he wishes to sign on for another.”
“What
is this?” William asked, stepping into the parlor.
“Lord
Essex has written,” George replied. “He’s landed in Boston and means to come
for Abigail. I’ve insisted she, Louisa, and Annalisa return to Valley Forge
with me. Mary has offered to garner intelligence on Lord Essex should he come
to the house seeking Abigail.”
“Why
should Annalisa go with you and leave me behind?” William said with a scowl.
“Surely I’m of greater assistance at Valley Forge than here—”
“No,
you’ve been honorably discharged,” George said. “You’ll be better help here.
You and Henry can guard the house should anything suspicious arise because of
Lord Essex’s presence within the province. I doubt it not he has allies within
the colony and means to use them.”
“But
why would he call here? Should we not warn the Perkinses?” William asked.
“My
papa already knows, and Ollie is aware,” Abigail said. “They’ll ensure he does
nothing to compromise my family.”
“Only
until Congress reconvenes,” Annalisa added. “Then your father will be away.
Think you Ollie and Andrew will be sufficient?”
“Of
course, which is why William and Henry must remain here,” George said.
At
this, William nodded. “Aye, but when will you, Quinn, and Jack return?”
“Jack’s
been ill since Twelfth Night, else he’d be here now, perhaps to remain. Quinn
won’t return until Jack’s beyond his convalescence.”
William
sighed. “Aye, sir.”
“Mary,
you’ll be in charge of writing to us with any information. I’ll put you in
contact with an individual I met while stationed at York Island. He’ll instruct
you on learning to write in cypher and will supply you with sympathetic stain.”
Mary
nodded. “Aye, sir.”
George
kissed Louisa’s forehead, then regarded Annalisa and Abigail. “Ladies, we ride
at dawn.”
