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Unsure of his full meaning, Hannah decided on a half smile and turned away. “That and working forward in the cause of unity for England.”
“Of course.” Was that disappointment in his voice, or did she imagine it? “Are you ready?”
“Aye.” She dipped the quill in the iron-gall ink.
“If I speak too quickly, you need only tell me.”
“I will, sir.”
Stockton took a long sip of his drink before resting the cup on the table. “General Howe.” Stockton strode around the room as if the tiny room were a grand hall. “Our men are to remain stationed here to keep watch over the Patriot activity in the small towns skirting the coast. I have just had word that more troops are expected to arrive by week’s end. I can only hope that is true.” He stopped and once more came behind her.
Hannah frantically finished writing the last. “Is that—oh!” She turned and jumped at his nearness, laughing away her surprise before motioning to what she’d written. “Forgive me, Major. Is that all right?”
“Perfect,” he answered, his eyes on her, not the paper.
Her cheeks were no doubt a shade of scarlet dark enough to rival his coat. She turned back toward the paper. “Do you wish me to do anything different, sir?”
“I wish you not to change anything at all.”
Her stomach churned, and her palms began to sweat. “Shall we continue?”
He spun away, taking the stale scent of tobacco with him. “Pitman informs me that the troops in Boston are in dire need, with only five thousand fit for duty. It is my recommendation that we quit the city and make for New York. But if you insist we move ahead with our previous designs, I need only your word to do so.”
What designs? Where will your men engage? A billowing quiet careened against her back, and she gripped the quill so hard she feared it would snap. Hannah finished scrawling the last words, hanging on, praying he would speak the very words she needed. But he did not.
“Miss Young.”
Forcing her back straight, she pivoted in her chair. “Aye?”
Hands behind his back, Stockton peered at her from his place beside Ensign’s favorite chair. He lowered his chin, as if gathering his thoughts. When he looked up, ’twas no more the face of a man but more of a youth, whose wide eyes and expression was bathed in unabashed infatuation. “Forgive me. I should not like to seem overly bold, nor cause you any discomfort.”
“Nay, of course not.” A cliff above a rocky sea would have been more welcome than enduring whatever he was about to say. But she must invite it. She inclined her head with a shy grin at her mouth. “I should like to hear what you have to say.”
Her reply must have surprised him, for the softness in his features grew ever more wanting. “You…are you sincere in your wish to attend the ball? I had feared lest our guest forced the idea upon you.”
Dottie had indeed done exactly that, but there had been no way to decline. Hannah squirmed behind a calm exterior. This was not how this interlude must go. Lord in heaven, how could she once again bring the conversation around? Only a few more words and she would have what information they needed.
Acting the demure woman, Hannah knitted her hands in her lap and tossed him a half smile. “You are most gracious, Major. I hardly know what to say?”
“Say you will come with me.” He inched nearer. “I would be the happiest of men to have a woman of such beauty at my side.”
The way he seemed to peer into places he shouldn’t made her squirm.
“You are most kind, Major. I am humbled that a man of your station would take interest in me. The only impediment is that I fear I haven’t anything fine enough to wear to such an occasion.”
“Nonsense, my dear.” Closing the remaining distance between them, he loomed over her chair. “I am sure you have something suitable. It need not be so fine. For truly, you have a way of making anything appear—”
“I shall see what I have.” She cut off his words before their sickening nature made her physically ill. Tossing a last look, she turned back to the paper. “I am almost so overcome I don’t know what to say.”
He shuffled back a step. “Your humility is one of your brightest qualities.”
She couldn’t bring herself to do anything but stare at the paper as his voice continued to scroll on behind her. “We shall ride to Duxbury at four o’clock and I daresay return just before the sun rises.”
“Oh my.” Hannah’s hands began to sweat again, as they always did when she was faced with a detestable situation. She pressed them on her skirt. “Well, I have no doubt ’twill be a…a remarkable evening.”
“You do not feel you are being unfaithful to your seaman?”
Hannah stared at her hands atop her knees. This could be a way out. Then again, if she were to refuse, she might lose the opportunity to gain the additional intelligence that would aid the cause. Gripping to the standard of courage, she lifted it high.
