Phantoms In Philadelphia (37 page)

Guinevere lifted her skirt and ran, disappearing
through the trees at the back of the cottage. I followed; my heart
pounding as I pushed myself hard. Knocking my way through the low
branches, I came upon a clearing. She was waiting for me.

“Raven, I have been awaiting this moment for some
time.”

“No more than I,” I said in a growl.

Pushing off the balls of my feet, I ran at her,
keeping my fists up to guard my face as she threw a punch. I
tackled her to the ground, and she threw her foot against my
stomach. My fist hit her jaw, but not hard as her hands were flying
all over, pulling at my coat, my hat, whatever she could grab. She
ripped off my mask before throwing her head against mine. The pain
was sudden as black spots danced before my vision. I rolled off of
her as we both rubbed our foreheads. The world above me spun, but I
tried to ignore it as I reached over, grabbing her hood. She jerked
away from my hand, and her hood came off, her hair along with
it.

So that is it
.

Her hair was ebony, not
red
. She scurried to her
feet, but my hand flew out and caught her leg. I wrapped my arm
around it, pulling her down. She turned and threw her fist against
my left eye. Pain shot through my eye and down my cheek. I saw more
black spots floating around joined by white ones, but I kept my
hold on her leg even as she pulled my hat from my head. My hair was
tied back, but pieces of it were loose and hung around my face. I
slammed my fist into her side. She bent over me with a groan. My
hand grabbed her hair, wrapping it in my fist, and pulled her head
toward me, but then froze as the barrel of her pistol met my
temple. I released my fingers one by one from her hair. She
stumbled back. Her left hand held the pistol out before her without
shaking, but her right hand wrapped around her side where I had
struck her, and she winced. I pushed to my feet, facing
her.

“Let us finish this. I know you, and you know me,”
Guinevere said as she held her side.

“What do you plan to do with your knowledge?” I
asked in my own voice. What was the point in pretense now?

“What do you plan to do with yours?” she retorted,
as her smug smile dawned.

“Shoot me. We waste time talking.” I held my back
straight, ready to take what she dealt out.

“I do not want to shoot you, Raven,” there was true
regret in her voice, “I want to pretend like this never happened,
but alas I cannot, and neither will you.”

“It appears we are at a standstill,” I said,
crossing my arms. The action sent aches dancing along my shoulders
and down my back.

“No, indeed, for I have an offer to make you.” I
raised my brows, and her smile turned frightening. No one who knew
her would ever suspect that her lovely purplish eyes could look so
deadly. “I will keep my knowledge to myself in exchange for you
doing the same.”

I released a harsh laugh. “Why would I do that?”

“Because the moment you speak against me is the
moment I speak against you.”

She had me backed into a corner, so I did the only
thing open to me. I agreed. When Jericho’s voice yelled for me,
Guinevere grabbed her wig and backed away before disappearing
through the trees.

My pain hit me like a whip’s lash, and I sagged
forward as Jericho burst into the open.

“Raven, are you well?” he asked as he came up beside
me. When I looked up at him and nodded, he winced. “Loutaire will
not be pleased when he sees your face.”

“Is it that noticeable?”

Jericho grimaced. “You look like you engaged in a
battle with a horse, and the horse won.”

“Nearly. Where is George?” Jericho nodded toward the
trees, then gave me my mask and helped me to walk back to the
cottage.

George was waiting for us, and when I reached him,
he put a hand to my cheek, searching my face. “My dear Raven, are
you well?”

I fought back tears. The relief in knowing he was
safe brought me close to the edge of hysterics. “I should be asking
you that,” I whispered, as I laid my hand over his. Tears were
clogging my throat.

George’s bushy eyebrows lowered in a scowl. His
white hair at the sides of his head, as the top was bald, was
puffed out and sticking in all directions. He had a faint,
greenish-yellow bruise beneath his right eye, but all else looked
unharmed. “They did not harm me other than a fist to my eye when I
tried to escape.”

Smiling caused pain my eye to hurt.

George had always wanted to be a
spy, ever since he was a lad and helped his father, a Culper spy
during the Revolutionary war, to thwart a message being passed to
the enemy. The way George told the story to us it was
his
doing that turned the
tide of the war and brought down the enemy.

Jericho and I escorted George to my mother’s country
house where we found Jack waiting for us. He was pacing outside the
front door as we rode up. Jericho, whom I was riding with, helped
me down as Jack ran forward. He had not yet noticed who was riding
Pegasus. He grabbed my shoulders, and I cringed as pain shot down
my back. Jack released me immediately. His gaze met George’s and
widened in amazement.

“John, it does my eyes good to see you.”

It took Jack a moment to snap out of his
astonishment, but he met George’s hand and clapped his other hand
around George’s arm. “I am so relieved to see you safe, George.
Pray, come into the house.”

I walked with Jack and George into the house as
Jericho went to stable our horses.

When my mother saw me, she shrieked and ran to me.
She reached out to touch the skin around my eye, but I jerked away.
Jack gently laid his hand on my shoulder as he led me into the
library. Mother and George followed, and once Jericho, Mariah, and
Leo had joined us, George told us what had happened.

He was in his carriage on the way to Baltimore to
take a ship to Charleston to visit his nephew, when he was
captured. The mention of Joutaine brought our encounter back to my
mind. I bit my lip and shoved away thoughts of that kiss that made
my stomach flip in an annoying way.

George turned to my mother. “I wonder, my dear Nell,
could you ask your cook to make me something decent to eat? I have
been fed nothing substantial in weeks.” When Mother was out of the
room we questioned him more closely.

“Was it Levitas?” Jack asked.

“Yes, though, I never once saw
Richard Hamilton. It was always Nicholas Mansfield and that
chit
.
”

George had nothing flattering to say about
Guinevere. He did not know who she was. One look at Jack’s mutinous
face kept my mouth sealed shut. That and what Guinevere had said to
me in the clearing. I would not be the first to break our
agreement.

Jack and I told George about what had been happening
since he was gone. He was outraged when he heard about my mother’s
betrothal. Not only because Richard was a villain, but I suspected
that George had deep feelings for my mother.

When we spoke of the artifacts,
George grew anxious. He wanted them turned over to him immediately.
The way his brown eyes stared at us made me feel uneasy. There was
wildness to his eyes, like he knew what the artifacts did, and he
wanted the power. It was ridiculous to think of George in such a
way, but I could not shake the feeling.

“I will be keeping the artifacts for the time
being.” All eyes turned to me.

“That is not your call, Raven,” George barked out.
My team stiffened.

“On the contrary, it is my call. As
the leader of this team, I decide what is best—
as
my father directed.”

George openly glared at me. He
hated the fact that a woman was the leader of our team. He thought
it should have been him or Jack, or even Levi would have been
preferable to me. The subject turned to what our plans were, and
when we told George about the attempts against Monroe, he was
furious. He was a little relieved when Jack said that the
Washington Phantoms had arrived. Jack tossed me a look that
promised a
discussion
later. Then, we told George what we needed from him. After we
had laid our plans before him, he rose.

“I will do my part and we will meet at my house in
four days’ time.” My mother came to tell him that food had been
laid in the dining parlor. When everyone else left but Jack, he
looked me over.

“It is not as terrible as I first thought, but you
will have a black eye.”

Oh, the joy.

***

Three days had passed since rescuing George, and
neither Jack nor my mother would let me leave the house due to the
state of my face. I had a scratch across my right cheek, and my
left eye had a black circle around it.

Jack came to me last night to tell me that he had
gotten George to tell him about Guinevere. She had only come to see
him after Nicholas could get nothing from him. She assured him that
he would not be harmed. There was always a man there to guard him,
but they never hurt him other than when he tried to escape. They
provided food and books for him to read, but they would not tell
him what they were going to do with him. Then, Guinevere arrived
with the news that he would be moved soon, and that was when we
attacked.

I had told Jack a short version of the truth,
leaving out my little chat with Guinevere. Jack was displeased, and
he did not want me to go anywhere out of the house without him,
Leo, or Jericho. There would be no more rides through the woods
where Levitas could attack, and Jack was going to stay with me
until he was convinced I was safe.

As I went downstairs to partake of breakfast, I
found my mother and Jack there before me. Mother cringed when she
saw my face, the same as she had done every day since it happened,
but there was nothing I could do, and I was not going to hide in my
chamber until my eye healed.

I had only just sat down and taken a bite of food
when Arnaud entered the room and announced, “Mr. Madison has called
to see Miss Elizabeth. I have shown him into the parlor.”

We turned to stare at Arnaud. Andrew? In the house?
I could not believe it to be so. When he stared back impassively, I
rose in one swift motion, my hand moving to my hair and my eye as I
stared at the door. The pain assaulting me was stealing my ability
to breathe.

“She will be there directly,” Mother said for
me.

Arnaud bowed out of the room, and once the door
shut, Jack laughed. “He has come again.” He sounded too triumphant,
but I could not find the words to ask what he knew. I looked from
Jack to the door, but could not get my legs to move. What was I
going to do? I could not allow him to see me with a black eye.

Mother walked around the table to me. After securing
some loose strands of my hair in place, she placed a hand on my
shoulder. “We know not why he has come.”

“Oh, yes we do,” Jack retorted but was ignored.

“He could simply be paying a morning call. Go to
him. Act yourself and all will be right.”

I looked at the door again. “What of my eye? I
cannot allow him to see me like this.”

“Tell him a horse kicked you,” Jack instructed
unhelpfully.

“You must decide what you want him to know. Now,
courage my daughter.” She gave me a little push, and my legs
finally moved.

Outside the parlor door, I gave my
skirt a shake, took one deep breath, and opened the door. Andrew
was standing by the window but turned smiling—until he saw my eye.
The smile faded and within a few heartbeats he was before me. His
hand came up to cup my cheek. My eyes closed as a dull ache that
had been my constant companion since the moment he left, melted
away.

“My darling, what has happened?”

Tears burned my eyes, but I would not allow them to
fall. Slowly, I met his gaze. As I searched his eyes, they told me
everything I needed to know.

“I had an accident, but it is nothing serious,” I
said though my voice was deeper than usual. I could not take my
gaze from his.

He smiled intimately, and I was
lost. His head lowered; then his warm
lips
touched mine ever so lightly, like the first stroke of a brush
against a canvas.

He pulled back, clearing his throat. “I am going
about this all wrong.” He smiled sheepishly. “I had it all worked
out. Come.” He led me to the sofa. Once I was seated, he knelt down
before me, and I had to bite my lip and focus on Andrew to keep the
burning tears from falling. All that was going through my mind was
this could not be happening to me.

“I owe you an apology, Elizabeth.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, one that is long overdue. I
believed a lie, which, in my blind folly, led me away from your
side. The more distance separated us, the more convinced I was that
by your side is where I belong. Now and always. Can you ever
forgive me for being a fool? For leaving you without a word, and
treating you with such disregard?”

Jack had told me about General Harvey, and in a way,
I could understand why Andrew believed him. General Harvey was
known to be a friend of my family. If anyone would know, it would
be he.

“You have my forgiveness, Andrew.” I thought he
might kiss me again, but he only breathed a long sigh before
kissing my hand.

“You have lifted a great burden from my heart, as
your brother did when he granted his permission that I may try to
win you.” Andrew took both my hands in his, and then, after a few
focusing breaths, said, “Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more, men
were deceivers ever; one foot in the sea and one on shore, to one
thing constant never.”

Sweet saints above.