oaths or epithets.
Angela Ferrers shrugged. “Whatever else Captain André is, he is a shrewd spymaster. He will be alert to espionage. And unfortunately for us, most of our allies will flee with Congress. Philadelphia will be entirely in the hands of Quakers and Loyalists.”
A chair screeched over the floorboards. Kate realized belatedly that it was hers. “I will go,” she said. She said it without thinking, only dimly aware that she had stood up, moved by the same spirit that had called her, only very occasionally in her life, to speak at the meeting.
Washington looked at her closely. “I’m sorry? You will go where, Miss Grey?”
The Widow and Hamilton were watching her as well. Kate wished the spirit had more staying power. She sat back down and turned to Angela Ferrers. “You told me there are other ways to fight, without killing. You said Philadelphia is full of Quakers. I’m a Quaker. I can go to Philadelphia and watch General Howe.”
“The Quakers of Philadelphia are not like the country Friends you grew up with,” Washington said gently. “Howe’s circle is dissolute. His officers drink, gamble, and chase women. Such a task is not something I would ask of any gently raised woman. Mrs. Ferrers is…unusual.”
“You don’t need to ask me. I’m volunteering. Manners and fashion can be learned, like Latin or Greek. No one is born like that. It’s all artifice: beauty, and grooming, and fine clothes. I can learn to be like Mrs. Ferrers.”
Mrs. Ferrers’ flash of annoyance was quickly replaced by amusement. “Yes, I rather think you could,” she agreed. “But your father would never consent.”
“He thinks I’m at home.” It was the truth, but it would lead to a lie, which Reverend Matthis said tarnished the soul. But silver also tarnished from disuse, and after what she had seen tonight, Kate did not think she could keep her soul clean in a cupboard. “My father does not know I am here. Since we arrived in camp, Mrs. Ferrers has not spoken my name outside this room. And if I leave for Philadelphia tonight, my father need never know I was here.”
Washington and the Widow exchanged glances. “If you go to Philadelphia and spy on Howe, you will be in constant danger,” he warned. “Mrs. Ferrers knows and can tell you that the British will not trouble themselves to try a woman caught spying. They fear losing what popular support they have.” Washington looked uncomfortable. “There are other dangers for a woman, as well. You would do well to consider your future, and how it might be altered, your prospects changed by this undertaking.”
Kate didn’t need to consider. Her mind was made up. Tonight she had glimpsed something of the life she might have led as the lover of a man with a lively intellect and a passionate nature. Circumstances had closed the door on such a connection, almost as soon as it had opened. Tremayne was her enemy, and after what she had seen his countrymen do, she could not think of him otherwise.
“By prospects, you mean marriage. I have none to alter. As for the other dangers you speak of”—she took a deep breath and tried to banish Milly and the dragoons from her mind—“they are as likely to befall me in my home as in Philadelphia. In which case, I would rather meet my enemy by day than find my door battered down in the middle of the night.”
“Miss Grey,” said Washington, with something approaching amusement, “you have had the great good fortune to inherit all of your father’s character, and none of his looks. I am only sorry we have not met before.”
“It was an unlikely circumstance while my mother was alive,” Kate answered honestly, aware that Washington had come north on business in the past, and her father had been forced to meet him in a tavern. “She would not abide slaveholders in the house.”
Angela Ferrers raised her manicured eyebrows. Hamilton looked discreetly away. And Washington stood and bowed. “Fortunately for me,
Angela Ferrers shrugged. “Whatever else Captain André is, he is a shrewd spymaster. He will be alert to espionage. And unfortunately for us, most of our allies will flee with Congress. Philadelphia will be entirely in the hands of Quakers and Loyalists.”
A chair screeched over the floorboards. Kate realized belatedly that it was hers. “I will go,” she said. She said it without thinking, only dimly aware that she had stood up, moved by the same spirit that had called her, only very occasionally in her life, to speak at the meeting.
Washington looked at her closely. “I’m sorry? You will go where, Miss Grey?”
The Widow and Hamilton were watching her as well. Kate wished the spirit had more staying power. She sat back down and turned to Angela Ferrers. “You told me there are other ways to fight, without killing. You said Philadelphia is full of Quakers. I’m a Quaker. I can go to Philadelphia and watch General Howe.”
“The Quakers of Philadelphia are not like the country Friends you grew up with,” Washington said gently. “Howe’s circle is dissolute. His officers drink, gamble, and chase women. Such a task is not something I would ask of any gently raised woman. Mrs. Ferrers is…unusual.”
“You don’t need to ask me. I’m volunteering. Manners and fashion can be learned, like Latin or Greek. No one is born like that. It’s all artifice: beauty, and grooming, and fine clothes. I can learn to be like Mrs. Ferrers.”
Mrs. Ferrers’ flash of annoyance was quickly replaced by amusement. “Yes, I rather think you could,” she agreed. “But your father would never consent.”
“He thinks I’m at home.” It was the truth, but it would lead to a lie, which Reverend Matthis said tarnished the soul. But silver also tarnished from disuse, and after what she had seen tonight, Kate did not think she could keep her soul clean in a cupboard. “My father does not know I am here. Since we arrived in camp, Mrs. Ferrers has not spoken my name outside this room. And if I leave for Philadelphia tonight, my father need never know I was here.”
Washington and the Widow exchanged glances. “If you go to Philadelphia and spy on Howe, you will be in constant danger,” he warned. “Mrs. Ferrers knows and can tell you that the British will not trouble themselves to try a woman caught spying. They fear losing what popular support they have.” Washington looked uncomfortable. “There are other dangers for a woman, as well. You would do well to consider your future, and how it might be altered, your prospects changed by this undertaking.”
Kate didn’t need to consider. Her mind was made up. Tonight she had glimpsed something of the life she might have led as the lover of a man with a lively intellect and a passionate nature. Circumstances had closed the door on such a connection, almost as soon as it had opened. Tremayne was her enemy, and after what she had seen his countrymen do, she could not think of him otherwise.
“By prospects, you mean marriage. I have none to alter. As for the other dangers you speak of”—she took a deep breath and tried to banish Milly and the dragoons from her mind—“they are as likely to befall me in my home as in Philadelphia. In which case, I would rather meet my enemy by day than find my door battered down in the middle of the night.”
“Miss Grey,” said Washington, with something approaching amusement, “you have had the great good fortune to inherit all of your father’s character, and none of his looks. I am only sorry we have not met before.”
“It was an unlikely circumstance while my mother was alive,” Kate answered honestly, aware that Washington had come north on business in the past, and her father had been forced to meet him in a tavern. “She would not abide slaveholders in the house.”
Angela Ferrers raised her manicured eyebrows. Hamilton looked discreetly away. And Washington stood and bowed. “Fortunately for me,
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