“Aye, but the man with whom I was to meet is surely gone by now. He’s no fool.”
“If he was there at all.”
“We must determine a system to exchange at varying times and places. Inconsistency will aid in the effort to make our work appear innocuous,” William said. “Tell me who is in charge at Plymouth, and I shall deliver both the goods and the report of what has happened.”
“You will do no such thing,” Thomas said. “Are you really so ignorant to believe you wouldn’t be caught?”
“I’ve never known anyone as reckless as you, William.” Nathaniel said. “Nor so courageous. But I will not permit it.”
“Someone must—”
?
?I will do it,” Nathaniel interrupted. “I know the man in charge and my work as a physician allows for less suspicious night travel.”
The conversation in the parlor quieted and Anna turned as she felt Kitty’s gaze on her. “We must not speak of what we know.”
“Why would they wish to keep this from our knowledge?”
“’Tis not a desire to keep us uninformed. Rather, I believe they wish to keep us safe.”
Anna’s palms began to sweat, anxiety jolting through her limbs. How could William do this? She needed him. If anything were to happen…
Just then a soft knock tapped on the door. “Anna?”
It was William.
“Aye, come in.”
He opened the door cautiously, as if he wished to find her sleeping. How could she possibly sleep? She stood and Kitty did the same.
His smile broadened when his gaze fell on her, and she scolded her heart for the way it regained its hold upon him.
“Forgive us for needing to stay a bit longer.”
Kitty trailed her hand across Anna’s arm as she made her way to the door. She smiled as she looked back, leaving the two of them alone.
“I understand,” Anna said. But she didn’t.
He motioned behind him. “Mr. Wythe will escort you home. You will sleep more comfortably in your own bed. I should like to return with you, but I have other business to attend to before—”
“Other business?” She snapped her mouth shut before she could say more. Had they spoken of something she hadn’t heard? More things he wished she didn’t know? In a flood of panic, the burden she’d carried since her time at the shop surged like a storm in winter. If he knew whom she had seen in town it might change what he planned to do.
She gripped his arm. “William, I must speak with you. I—”
Joseph peeked around the door then ducked away. “Oh, forgive me.”
“We are just coming.” William turned back to her, his expression a puzzle of thoughts and emotions she couldn’t decipher. “What is it?”
The intensity in his eyes and the way his fingers wrapped her elbow, as if to say he truly wished to know, made her chest pinch. Why must he appear to care so much when he surely did not. Engaging in such perilous activities with the patriots, no matter how valiant their cause, only put their lives in unspeakable danger. Danger he didn’t even plan to warn her of.
She pinched her lips, the heat of scorn searing them shut. If he cared so little, what would speaking of her encounter at the shop accomplish? The cutting answer made her turn away.
“’Tis nothing…I’ve forgotten.”
He dipped his head sideways and hummed low in his throat before placing a hand at her back and leading her to the parlor. He whispered to her ear. “Keep the door latched until I return. I should be home by morning.”
Morning? That was hours away.