Dreams of Glory (45 page)

Authors: Thomas Fleming

BOOK: Dreams of Glory

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HUGH STAPLETON SPENT THE NIGHT dozing in a carriage on the New Jersey side of the Hudson. He awoke in the dawn as Major Benjamin Stallworth pulled open the door and dropped into the seat opposite him. The major's face was a strange combination of grief and rage. “They killed him,” he said. “The goddamn whore called for the watch and they killed him.”

“IâI wish I'd had a chance to thank him,” Stapleton said.

Stallworth glared at him. For a moment the congressman thought he was going to say something insulting. Instead the major drew his cloak around him and said nothing for the next two hours as the coach jolted and rocked along the road to Morristown.

Beyond Hackensack, the noon sun proclaimed a beautiful April day. Stallworth glared at the greening pastures and orchards as if he somehow disapproved of them. “Land of milk and honey,” he said.

“I beg your pardon,” Congressman Stapleton said.

“That's what a friend of mine called this country in the last letter he wrote to me.”

“Was he killed in battle?”

Stallworth shook his head. “The British hanged him as a spy in '76.”

They were silent for another mile. Stallworth continued to glare out the window at the bountiful landscape. Then he spoke again in the same snarling voice. “Why do bastards like you and me survive this business and the bestâthe bestâdie?”

“I'm afraid only God can answer that question,” Congressman Stapleton said.

“It'll be the first thing I ask Him if we ever meet,” Stallworth said.

They rode on toward Morristown to renew the struggle for that scarifying prize, victory.

Also by Thomas Fleming from
Tom Doherty Associates

Remember the Morning
The Wages of Fame
Hours of Gladness

Praise for Thomas Fleming's
Dreams of Glory

“Entertaining in all of the ways readers have come to expect, the prolific Fleming's newest historical fiction concerns a British scheme to kidnap George Washington. A literally explosive twist at the end shows exactly where each character's true loyalties lie. It's been two years since Fleming has produced a straightforward historical novel, and his fans will cheer his return to the genre.”

â
Publishers Weekly

“Set during the frigid, bone-creaking winter of January 1780, when the Revolutionary War had seemingly quieted down, this rousing tale is based on an actual plot to kidnap George Washington. Historian/novelist Fleming relates personal stories on both sides of the conflict, bringing his characters alive by flawlessly weaving together emotions and actual events. Fleming does not stoop to patriotic prose but uses the despair of his characters to show that the âdubious proposition called the United States' survived because of courage, love, and perseverance.”

â
Library Journal

“Betrayal, passion, and murder; acclaimed historian and New
York Times
bestselling author Thomas Fleming's new book
Dreams of Glory
has them all. This adult tale, darker than Fleming's previous work, should be an entertaining read for fans of historical fiction, especially for those who care about historical accuracy and attention to detail. If you blush easily though, read Thomas Fleming's
Dreams of Glory
where you won't be conspicuous; it's a scorcher.”

â
The Wichita Times Record News

“Acclaimed historian and novelist Thomas Fleming rates a big âAbout time!' for
Dreams of Glory,
a spy story that ranks with the best of Len Deighton and Gerald Seymor.
Dreams of Glory
is the best novel of intrigue to be set in the American Revolution since Kenneth Roberts's,
Oliver Wiswell.
As in that great book, Fleming points out that the Loyalist cause was alive and well throughout the Revolutionâunlike in the
movie
The Patriot,
which in its weakest moments presented them as a tiny evil minority. And
Dreams of Glory
is likely to earn loyalty for Fleming among those who like their historical fiction to have more than a passing resemblance to real history.”

â
The Flint Journal

“Thomas Fleming has written a wonderfully spellbinding novel of suspense and intrigue set during the climax of the Revolutionary War. British and American secret agents clash as the war reaches a critical point in 1780. The plot twists and turns. Will keep readers captivated for hours. A great book to read on a long winter's night.”

âThe Historical Novel Society

“The desire for fame, fortune, conquest, and personal advancement were present thousands of years ago just as they are present today. The novel is a great tale of intrigue, strategy, affection, bravery, and true life during a very confusing period of American history. It is good historical fiction presenting real characters from the era, a good story based upon actual journals from 1780, and truthful representation of living conditions 220 years ago in New York and New Jersey.”

â
The Utica Sterling Heights Source

“Intriguingly set during the Revolutionary War â¦ well anchored in accurate historical detail, the novel offers a provocative fictional take on spying and counterspying while General Washington and his ragtag army are holed up in their winter encampment struggling to survive the harsh conditions. The many characters, even the great Virginian himself, emerge well-rounded and many-sided.”

â
Booklist

AFTERWORD

THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN UNDER a grant from the Principia Foundation. It continues a series of personal histories drawn from the diaries, journals, letters, and memoirs of the Stapleton family. The author wishes to thank James Kilpatrick, director of the foundation, for his support and encouragement.

After the war Hugh Stapleton served two terms as a senator from New Jersey. He continued to flourish as a merchant, becoming one of the pioneers in the China trade. Hannah Stapleton had two more sons by her husband. She died a month after celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary, in 1819.

Among the other principals, George Washington's later life needs no summary. Colonel John Graves Simcoe, whose published journal corroborates the plot to kidnap Washington, became governor of Upper Canada, where he did his best to make life miserable for Walter Beckford. Resigning his army commission, Beckford drifted from Canada to the West Indies in minor civil service jobs obtained for him by his mother's family. He died of yellow fever in Jamaica in 1790. Benjamin Stallworth became a congressman from Connecticut and in his old age wrote a book arguing that American independence was won through the intervention of divine providence. Brigadier Birch died in London, a full general. Repeated searches of New York newspapers, police records, and burial reports failed to produce any mention of Flora Kuyper.

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

DREAMS OF GLORY

A Forge Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010

www.tor-forge.com

Forge
^Â®is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

eISBN 9781466821415

First eBook Edition : May 2012

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 00-031810

First Forge edition: December 2000
First mass market edition: February 2002