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Donaldson? She couldn’t be the wife of the man she’d met in camp, could she? Captain Donaldson’s wife?
Hannah grinned, struck by the woman’s unbound beauty. “’Tis a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Donaldson.”
“Such a beautiful name you have. And please, you must call me Anna.” The lovely woman lowered her chin, her striking pale eyes beaming with warmth belying their color. She shifted the basket and rested a hand on the slight swell of her belly. “How good it is to meet you. Are you visiting? I have not seen you in town before.”
“I am just leaving, in fact. I must return to Plymouth before dark.”
“My goodness, you did not travel alone, I trust?”
The polite question niggled against her already sore conscience. “’Tis not so very far.”
“Well, I hope you will travel safely. And do come back. I should be glad to get to know you better.”
Such sincerity from a stranger? Light beamed from the inside out. “I should like that very much indeed.”
Perhaps leaving Eaton Hill would not be so terrible. Her father might be here, but with such good friends to be had? She might find the distraction was just what she needed.
Anna moved her attention to Caroline, voice slightly more somber. “I must speak with you. Do you have a moment? I shan’t keep you long.”
Caroline glanced to Hannah, and she immediately insisted. “Oh, please. Take what time you need.”
Turning around to allow the women privacy in what they spoke, Hannah focused on the street and shops behind her. Sandwich had changed little in the ten years she’d been gone. The print shop was new, but the rest seemed almost as she’d left it.
Absentmindedly, she strode a few paces away, looking into the window of the shoemaker’s at that lovely red pair of shoes Caroline went on about. A movement inside caught her attention, and she glanced up, her spine instantly rigid.
Lungs refusing to take air, Hannah’s fears careened down the slope of her already banked emotions. She would know that profile anywhere, with or without the red coat.
Greene.
Had he seen her? Lord, no. He seemed so interested in the conversation with another soldier and the shop owner, perhaps he hadn’t.
Her pulse raged, and she took a step back when he turned and stopped, just as abrupt as she had, his glare crashing through the glass.
Racing away from the door, she grabbed Caroline at the arm. “I need to go.”
Both women must have seen the way her blood drained from her head, the dizziness almost stealing her balance.
Caroline stilled, voice thin. “Of course.” She nodded to her friend in parting and grabbed Hannah by the arm, racing around the first corner, stealing home the back way through the wood.
Not stopping for breath, they reached Caroline’s house in a handful of minutes.
Gasping, Caroline spoke before Hannah did. “What happened?”
Hannah pressed a hand to her chest, unable to speak until she’d gained more of her breath. “I think I was seen.”
“By whom?”
Dear God, what had she done? She froze, unable to answer. The foolishness of her actions bit her skin like the end of a snapped whip. If she were caught, Joseph might be discovered as well…
“Hannah.” Caroline shook her at the shoulders, her attentive, wise eyes pouring strength into Hannah’s empty vessel. “Are you sure? Perhaps ’twas just a trick of the glass. I heard no footsteps behind us.”
That meant little. The man was wily, tenacious. Murderous.
Her mind refused to calm. “I don’t know. It seemed as if he looked directly at me.”
“I pray he did not.” Again, Caroline tried to persuade her. “Should you not stay here? At least until tomorrow. Perhaps—”
“Nay.” Hannah glanced around, her foolishness in staying overlong berating what bliss she’d enjoyed. “I must get back as soon as possible. If I do not, I fear Joseph will come searching for me.” Her mind shook, winds of fear and foolishness stripping bare her former strength. “I…” Shaking her head, she hurried to the barn for her horse. “I must go.”
