The Fall of York Ch. 25-39

"Stand on the battlefield in your colours and let the musket balls and cannon balls fly where they may?" Abigail asked with a grin.

Lawrence remembered exactly how his commanding officer had died. "I know better than to argue with my wife. What were your thoughts on his sermon?"

"He has York at his feet. He means to keep it that way." Abigail ignored Millie's gasp of shock. "I think amnesty may work best with most traitors. Others may require a harsher treatment, but that is best left to the magistrate."

"That's a lot of work for one man, Abigail." Lawrence nodded at some of the militia officers as they passed with their wives. The lesser officers saluted and he returned the salute. "You were quick to volunteer to help the less fortunate, now that the Americans are leaving."

Abigail had been first to stand and volunteer when the Reverend made the suggestion. His sincere and grateful smile to her had let her know that her community spirit had been well noted.

"We have more food than we need, even with Jacob staying with us for awhile. Did I volunteer too quickly, do you think?"

"No. You showed determination and a giving heart and I think most of our neighbours will appreciate and recognize that."

"I liked his comment that 'while some of our protectors fled at the first sight of the enemy, others stayed at great personal risk'. He was pointing at the militia officers, but his eyes sought you out of the crowd, Lawrence. You must have noted the people who turned to look your way..."

"Hmm."

"Ever the humble soldier, eh husband?"

"You know I was trapped here in York."

"I know that you were loathe to leave your wife and her young maid alone in York, shortly after the Americans had taken the town. And today you were adamant that you had to wear your uniform in public. Do not forget: I know how you think."

The two laughed easily.

"Millie?"

"Yes, ma'am"

"There are some wildflowers over there. Can you fetch some for our table, please?" Millie skipped towards the flowers.

Lawrence glanced in the direction of Lake Ontario. "Some of the ships have moved out of the harbour and others are preparing to do so. I think that American General really is upset about the behaviour of his troops. Jacob may be with us for quite awhile."

"Do you think he's upset about the fires that were set?" asked Abigail, pointing at the largest of the ships.

"Not the ones in public buildings. We would do the same if we temporarily captured an American town. You make sure the people get out and then torch the town hall, garrison and fort. There's no blame to them for that nor for running off with the Clerk's money. It's the attacks on civilians and their homes that he deplores, as any officer should."

Millie returned with a bouquet of wildflowers, showed them to Abigail and then the trio strolled home, enjoying the pleasant spring day.

34

The weather warmed as the days went by. Jacob showed a rapid recovery from his 'set-back', at least to Millie's innocent eyes. Abigail knew the truth and informed Lawrence that the American was recovering and was, in fact, almost whole again.

With the enemy departed, Lawrence was able to travel about town on various chores and errands. Jacob began to accompany him on the chores, chopping firewood and hunting, but the errands had to do with the York militia and the rebuilding of the town, and Jacob was kept well away from those activities.

The neighbours quickly became accustomed to seeing the Orr's American prisoner around their home and unguarded and soon enough they relaxed around him. Jacob even struck up a few acquaintances, especially with people who had family across the border and were eager for news or information.

Lawrence gave himself ten days to help get York in order, before he was required to leave for Kingston to report to Major General Sheaffe. He only required eight days by his estimate, but he treasured the extra two days as a chance to spend time with Abigail.

York itself returned to normal. The Americans were gone and the damage was being repaired. Those that had lost goods to looters shrugged their shoulders, bemoaned the loss of their belongings and cursed the Americans for being lawless, liberty-loving anarchists.

The citizens of York who had aided the Americans became friendless. Homes were vandalized. Insults were traded. Fights broke out in public. Many who had run to the Americans and reported on the most vocal British supporters now were vehement in their loyalty and support for the King.

Arrests were made and men were hauled up before the magistrate, accused of treason and then given prison sentences. All a conviction took was a couple of witnesses, and there was no shortage of witnesses. Many citizens who had worked hand in hand with the invaders had done so proudly, foolishly believing the Americans had been there to stay.

Lawrence was called up to give testimony regarding the disappearance of Mr. Arnold Henry. He confided to Reverend Strachan exactly what had happened that night and the minister stood beside him before the magistrate. Word was sent out by the reverend for John the smith's son to appear, but there was no word of him. The whole proceeding took about ten minutes and it was decided that Lawrence was innocent of murder as he had been defending himself and his wife from a traitor. Jacob's presence in the Orr home was brought up by Strachan and Lawrence gave a brief explanation of the reason for that. In the end, the magistrate's decision was that Lawrence had acted with honour and a brief cheer went up from some assembled militia officers. Captain Orr had no idea why several officers from the militia had been present at that time, nor why they left immediately after the magistrate's verdict, but he did suspect the smug minister of some involvement.

Upon returning home, Lawrence hoped to surprise Abigail with the good news. Annoyingly, she listened with vague interest and a small, knowing smile upon her lips.

"Of course you were going to be fine: you acted with honour. And the good reverend has plans for himself and you are involved. He has no interest in seeing your public record damaged," was all she would say in way of explanation for her lack of surprise or excitement.

35

After breakfast on the first Saturday following the departure of American forces, Lawrence announced that he was going to hunt up John and confront him over his absence at the magistrate's court.

"You should just let it lie, husband," warned Abigail.

Lawrence frowned at her uncharacteristic answer and searched the faces around the table. Millie and Jacob seemed surprised by Abigail's response, as well.

"What's wrong, my dear?" he asked, placing his hand over hers.

"Something's wrong, Lawrence. I'm getting the cold shoulder from many of our neighbours and some have been actually rude to Millie," his wife explained.

"What?" asked Jacob, with anger in his voice.

"What's all this about?" interrupted Lawrence, ignoring Jacob.

Abigail bit her lip. "As the Americans were leaving I noted that some people seemed less inclined to respond to my greeting. It has become worse. I assumed it was because Jacob is in our house."

"But this doesn't make any sense, ma'am," answered Jacob. "Everyone seems very polite with me. If my presence here is making trouble for you and Millie then why do people treat me so well?"

"Something else is going on." Lawrence rubbed his chin in thought. He wondered silently if Mrs. Henry could be causing trouble for his wife and maid. It made little sense though, considering that the decision of the magistrate had been made public only three days earlier and Lawrence, himself, had heard many derisive comments made about Mr. Henry since then. His wife had an ample list of targets, but this problem seemed specific to his family.

"Sir, if someone is bearing false witness against Mrs. Orr and Millie, perhaps it might help to know who were the first people to be impolite to either?" asked Jacob.

"That's damn good thinking!" responded Lawrence, slamming his hand down on the table. Both women jumped at the sudden noise. Then he remembered the language he had just used. "Uhm...sorry, ladies."

"Well, the first odd behaviour I saw was with the Bennets and the MacDonalds. They do live near each other, over by the smithy." Abigail covered her mouth as soon as she voiced the last word.

"The smithy..." said Lawrence with disgust.

"I don't understand..." hinted Jacob.

Millie sighed. "John's family owns the smithy and they live right by both of those families."

Lawrence stood and threw back his shoulders. "I really do have to have a talk with that militiaman."

"I'm coming with you, sir," said Jacob, rising to his feet.

Abigail shot her husband a worried look. Lawrence nodded to her and then turned to the younger man. "No, you're not coming with me, son. This is family business and you are just a guest."

And an American invader, thought the younger man. Jacob scowled, sat down again and stared at the table top.

"Take your weapons, husband," advised Abigail.

36

Lawrence marched up to the smithy in full uniform and an older man, with a clear paternal resemblance to John, came out to meet him. Lawrence wondered if all smiths were well-muscled by nature, or if the nature of their labours made them so.

"You'd be Captain Orr, then? What do you want here...sir?" asked the middle-aged man.

"I'm looking for your son John. I have some questions for him."

"You'd best be watching your wife and maid, rather than minding where honest folk are. John's a hero! He didn't surrender to the Americans, nor did he hide in his home behind his wife's skirts." The smith narrowed his eyes and started to turn around.

"You'll answer my questions, smith, or I'll drag you before the magistrate to answer for slander!" The smith turned to face Lawrence again, his face contorted with fury. Lawrence answered by making a show of putting his hand on the pommel of his sword. "I am not the type of man who is accustomed to being insulted in the street by a man of your class!" He hated saying it but felt it necessary to defuse the situation.

"John's not here."

"As surly as you've been to a King's officer, I've no reason to believe you to be honest and forthright. I'll search your home for him." Lawrence took a few steps forward.

"He's not here! He goes to the tavern by the lake on Saturdays, especially now that the Americans have left."

"Very well. If he returns here, please inform him that Captain Orr is looking for him."

The smith gave Lawrence a confused look.

Lawrence did not know exactly where the tavern was, but he was able to find it easily enough as there were only about three-score buildings in the whole town and the one he was looking for had a new sign in front proclaiming the place as The York Tavern. The building had the look of once having been a residence and he could hear laughter echoing from the interior.

He marched up the steps, onto the wooden veranda and then opened the door. The interior was dark and, even with the bright sunlight splashing in it took Lawrence's eyes a few seconds to adjust. In that time the laughter died down to be replaced by whispers.

Lawrence spied John surrounded by four other men of similar age, one of whom he recognized as the other militiaman, Pierre.

"John, we need to have words," stated Lawrence in a commanding tone.

John looked unpleasantly surprised and then seemed to muster his bravado.

"I've got nothing to say to you," John took a long drink from his mug, "sir." He gave a mock salute that had his friends laughing, all except Pierre, Lawrence noticed.

"It was requested that you be before the magistrate to give information concerning the death of Mr. Henry. You were truant, John."

"You killed him and I helped you hide the body. What else could I tell the magistrate?"

Lawrence decided to try a different tack. "You were privy to discussions in my home prior to Mr. Henry's death, since you were hiding there. The magistrate may have wanted to hear what had been said before and after the event."

The other youths looked at John uncomfortably. "I wasn't hiding! You ordered me to stay there. You wanted help guarding a prisoner who couldn't even crawl out of bed. How's your Yankee friend doing, by the way?"

"So you have no explanation for not appearing before the magistrate other than laziness? And as I remember it, the pair of you volunteered to remain at my house. Isn't that correct, monsieur?"

Pierre opened his mouth to answer.

"You shut your mouth or I'll shut it for you!" shouted John. Pierre's face went red and Lawrence detected a look of disgust that was quickly concealed.

"Pierre doesn't have to speak, John. Clearly you are concerned about other people giving honest testimony. Don't you trust your memory?"

"Oh, my memory's good, Orr. I remember Millie making suggestions to me. She was eager and warm and she screamed out several times."

"Millie is a respectable young lady, sir. Have you been telling falsehoods about her?"

All the young men, except for Pierre, chuckled evilly. Lawrence noted another look of disgust on Pierre's face.

"Oh, she was one step away from whoring herself around town when your wife pulled her into your home, sir. Millie's eager and willing to service any young man. Has she spent a night in the American's bed? I took my turn with her and so did Pierre..."

Pierre spat out a few French words. "I did not sleep with that girl and she did not sully herself while we were there, John! You were never alone with her long enough to..."

John raised his fist and snarled. "I told you once!..."

"So you have been slandering an innocent woman, John!" shouted Lawrence, saving Pierre from being struck by his large companion. "Sir! I believe you to be too cowardly a rogue to publicly admit your falsehoods and restore Millie's good reputation so I demand satisfaction! Are you man enough to face me with pistols or swords?"

Everyone in the tavern went silent. Pierre let out a quiet and triumphant laugh.

"Well?" asked Lawrence in as impatient a tone as he could muster.

"Duels are for nobility and officers. I'm a militiaman! I don't have to duel you!"

"I give you three days to change your mind. If you are still too much of a coward to face me and have still refused to admit your deceit, then I will ask the magistrate to summon you to his court."

Lawrence turned to the barman. "I am sorry to have disturbed your other patrons, sir." Then he walked out of the now silent bar. Once outside, he took a deep breath of cool air blowing from across the lake. He liked the idea that he was a problem solver. Millie had a problem and he was going to solve it in three days, one way or the other. Even if John did duel him and kill him, the people of York would think Millie innocent of the charges against her simply because her employer had laid his life down for her reputation.

Then he frowned as he thought of Abigail's reaction to what he had just done.

37

Abigail seemed surprisingly calm over the whole matter. Millie and Jacob, on the other hand, were furious.

"Sir, I will go and tell John that there is to be no duel!" explained the maid with her eyes flashing. Abigail merely shrugged her shoulders helplessly at the girl's uncharacteristic behaviour and then sat back on the couch.

"Now, see here Millie," began Lawrence, wagging a finger before her face.

She batted his hand away. "You could be killed! Where would that leave your wife? And over me? I'm no-one! Until Mrs. Orr took me in nobody cared one whit for me and I won't have you risk your life over something of no value like my reputation!"

Lawrence knew he would lose this battle if he allowed it to be played out fairly. "SILENCE!" he shouted.

Millie shut her mouth and her eyes went round.

"You are our servant," began Lawrence, in as calm a voice as he could muster. "You have no family so it falls on Abigail and me to look after you and protect you. John has dishonoured you and ruined your reputation. It's my responsibility to take care of that matter and I am! Now I will not listen to one more word from your mouth on this!"

Millie opened her mouth for a rebuttal, but Abigail grabbed her arm and shook her head silently. The maid frowned and seemed to shrink.

"Now as for you..." said Lawrence, turning on the American.

"I will say my piece, even if it means you throw me out of your home, Captain Orr," interrupted Jacob.

"Very well," acquiesced his host.

"Sir, you have a wife to care and provide for. Millie is correct in that your responsibility lies there. I, on the other hand, am a guest in your house and although I am on foreign soil I still owe you my life." He nodded towards Millie. "It falls on me to face John. If I should fall, then you can always issue another challenge to him. I think it's unlikely that he would silence his slander should he kill me, so there would be ample chance of his re-offending."

"Abigail and I have both noticed that you are very fond of Millie." Jacob and Millie's cheeks reddened. "However, you have made no promises to her that we are aware of. So your status is simply that of a foreign guest in this house. I appreciate that you wish to do the honourable thing, but it is my responsibility. I will hear no more on this matter."

Lawrence turned tiredly to Abigail. "And what have you been saving up to say to me, dear?"

"I could expect no less from you than how you have behaved, husband. I don't want you to be hurt, but I also don't want you to be less a man than you feel you must be."

Lawrence relaxed.

"However, you are under a great deal of stress and I think it wise if we were to have a picnic lunch. Just you and I, Lawrence."

Lawrence stared at his now-unpredictable wife as she sent Millie off to collect everything the two would need.

38

The Orrs had left a short time earlier and Millie set out lunch for herself and Jacob. They ate quietly, with Millie only responding with a curt "thank you" when he mentioned his approval for the meal.

As they finished, Jacob decided that it would be an ideal time to talk of intimate matters to the maid.

"I think you were very generous to be willing to throw away your reputation as long as it kept a man you respect safe from harm, Millie."

Her eyes rose from the table and blazed as she stared at him.

"Uhm, I mean that I don't believe the stories for one second. I thought you were...I mean, I thought your concern for Captain Orr very..." he wilted under her glare.

"Jacob! I am no less upset at you for being willing to take part in this stupid men's game of honour!" she spat out at him.

"I don't understand..."

"Of course you don't! All you men do is strut around, shooting at each other over honour and insults. What do I care for my reputation?" She pounded her breast with her fist. "I had no reputation a few months ago; I was merely that girl who was always around and begging for work or food. Did anyone look at me and say 'she's penniless but she's honourable"? No!"

"But things are different now, surely..."

"I'm the same person! I know things I didn't know before, but my soul hasn't changed. God gave me that! What is honour? A man lies about me and people believe him! Tell me how honour stopped that!" Tears rolled down her cheeks and she shook with rage.

"It isn't like that, Millie! Honour gives you standing. Honour allows you to...well, it allows you to marry into a respectable family."

There was silence for several minutes, while a bird chirped in the garden.

"No-one ever spoke to me of marriage, except to try to get something else first," she said, venomously.

"Not all of us are like that, Millie."

Again there was a silence, but this one was broken up by Millie's sobs. Jacob was nonplussed. He sensed that Millie's emotions were dominating their conversation, but he couldn't fathom why. He knew she had feelings for him so why was she being so hostile now?