The Fall of York Ch. 17-24

She heard heavy feet cross the room and then stop, just outside her hiding place.

"What do you want?" asked Jacob, gruffly.

"None of your God-damned business, Yank. Have you seen the girl?" asked John.

"I haven't and I wouldn't tell if you even if I had. I heard what you said to her in the hallway, earlier today."

There was a sudden, choking noise.

"You had best watch your mouth, Yank. Captain Orr owes me and he's likely to turn the other way if I break a few of your bones. Hell, I could kill you now and no-one would even care. I heard about what your friends are doing to the militiamen taken prisoner. Maybe I should get a little revenge for that right now."

The choking noise turned into a gurgling noise and Millie's blood went cold as she realized that John was strangling Jacob. She started to push her way to the front of the wardrobe, when she heard the American taking in great gasping breaths.

"Next time I might just finish the job, Yank. So if you see the girl, you tell me."

Jacob coughed a few times as Millie heard John walk to the door.

"Maybe the next time I see Captain Orr I'll tell him you were planning on raping Millie. I'll tell him everything I've heard," said Jacob, struggling to talk clearly.

John's heavy steps approached the bed again.

"Or maybe Millie's in their bedroom right now, telling Captain Orr exactly what you've been saying to her." Jacob coughed three times. "What do you think an honourable man like the Captain would do to a guest in his house who threatened his innocent, young maid?"

Millie readied to rush out of the wardrobe if the choking sounds began again. Instead, she heard John walk out of the room. She waited a minute and then slowly pushed her way out of the wardrobe.

"Are you all right, Millie?" asked Jacob.

"Am I all right? What did he do to you, Jacob? It sounded like he was strangling you." She went to his bed and sat down beside him. "Do you need anything?"

She felt his hand on her cheek and she leaned her face into his palm.

"You're such a brave girl. You're really willing to go out there to get me a glass of water if I ask for it? Even though you know he's out there?"

Millie pushed his hand away, suddenly. "This isn't right. I should return to my room."

"Stay here tonight, Millie. John isn't coming back in here. He knows he can't bully me."

"I can't stay in your room! Alone? Just the two of us?"

"You'll be safe. You're welcome to share the bed and I'm really in no shape to do anything but sleep, Millie. But, if you're concerned about propriety, then sleep on the floor or in the chair in the corner."

"All right, Jacob." She grabbed some blankets from the bottom of the wardrobe and set them down on the floor. Then, she lay down on her back and whispered a quick prayer of thanks for her deliverance. Belatedly, she added a prayer of thanks for Jacob's recovery.

"Thank you, Jacob."

"You're welcome, Millie."

21

Millie heard Mrs. Orr's voice in the hallway and she opened her eyes. "I don't know where she is either, Lawrence."

"Well, none of them are downstairs and the door is unlocked. I cannot believe Millie would have fled in the night, Abigail." That was Captain Orr's voice and it gave Millie a warm feeling to know that her employers were concerned about her.

Then she remembered where she was and she sat up. The room was lit by early morning sunlight and it was well past the time that she should be up and about. She had duties! She hurried to her feet and noticed Jacob was awake, as well. He put a finger to his lips and nodded to the door.

Millie gave him a smile and then crept to the door in her bare feet. The door opened just as she reached it and Abigail and Millie stared at each other in surprise. The maid's cheeks grew warm as she realized what conclusions might be drawn by her presence in this room.

"Have you found her, Abigail?" asked the Captain.

Mrs. Orr's eye travelled to the bed and then returned to Millie's face. A brief smirk appeared. "Yes, husband, I've found her. She must have woken early to check on Jacob."

Millie backed away from the door with her eyes downcast, in shame. Her employers came into the room.

"Did either of you talk with John or Pierre before they left last night?" asked Captain Orr.

The maid wished she could disappear and remained silent.

"I spoke with John last night, but he said nothing of leaving, sir. They both left during the night?" Jacob asked, propping himself up on his elbows.

"They stole away like thieves in the night," answered Mrs. Orr. "And they raided the larder before they went. I would have given them food for their families, if they had told us they were leaving," she added, a little hurt.

"What the...?" Captain Orr bent over to pick up the blankets that had been Millie's bed for the night. He looked at Jacob and then stared at Millie. "You slept here last night, Millie?"

She stepped back and saw all three pair of eyes locked on her. "I...I...I slept on the floor, sir."

"Well I can see that, young lady. Why did you sleep here instead of your own room?" he asked.

There was silence in the room as everyone stared at Millie and Millie wished she could evaporate. A bird called outside.

"Oh, Lawrence, I just remembered! I asked Millie to stay here and keep an eye on Jacob, last night."

Captain Orr stared at his wife thoughtfully and it seemed to Jacob and Millie that something unspoken seemed to pass between the husband and wife. The American and the maid watched the couple without comprehending what had just transpired.

"I guess we can talk about this later, then. Millie, can you fetch the three of us some breakfast, please?" Captain Orr asked her in a soft voice.

"I'll give her some help, Lawrence. Will you spend some time with Jacob?" asked Mrs. Orr.

"Yes, I have a few things to discuss with him. If you don't mind, Jacob?"

The American nodded and watched as the women left the room. Captain Orr pulled the chair over to the bed, sat in it and stared out the window for a few minutes.

Jacob waited patiently, fairly sure he was going to receive at least a verbal thrashing for compromising the honour of a Canadian woman. He still didn't feel fit enough to stand under his own power and he respected his captor, so he was willing to take whatever punishment Captain Orr decided on without complaint.

"Jacob, would you like the freedom to move around the house?" The Captain's eyes remained fixed on the window.

The American laid back on the bed. "Sir, I must inform you that Millie in no way sullied her honour or that of your..."

"Oh, that's been decided. She was asked to stay here by Abigail. Millie was merely following instructions and nothing untoward happened between you. Would you like to be free to move about the house, Jacob?"

The American was perplexed: surely Captain Orr didn't believe that sudden story his wife had concocted to protect Millie's reputation? "Uhm, yes sir."

"Very good! Please don't go outside and try to avoid standing by any windows where the curtains are drawn open. If either you or I are seen in this house..." the Captain hesitated and then seemed to find strength and continue, "then it might draw the attentions of your compatriots. That could easily mean harm befalling Abigail and Millie. Do we understand each other, sir?"

Captain Orr turned from the window and the two men stared at each other.

"Sir, I will do nothing that might result in harm coming to Millie, or you, or your wife. Is there some oath I could take to affirm your trust in me?"

"No, you made that promise already and you've given me no reason to doubt your word." The officer's eyes diverted to Jacob's throat for a second. "So, are you willing to explain to me where those marks on your neck came from?"

Jacob thought for a few seconds. "No, sir. However, I will say that you had best not put any trust in that militiaman named John. He isn't worthy of your respect, sir."

Lawrence frowned at hearing that comment repeated.

22

Abigail watched as Millie deftly broke and scrambled the eggs. She smiled as she remembered that eggs were difficult to come by right now and her husband would be well aware of that fact. Let him wonder, she thought, it was good for a wife to surprise her husband every once in awhile.

That thought had her glancing at Millie and wondering exactly how much the young woman knew about men and women. Since the maid had spent the night in the American's room this seemed like a good time to have a serious talk with her.

"Millie?" Abigail hesitated a few seconds before asking the indelicate question. "Exactly how much do you know about what goes on between men and women?"

"I don't eavesdrop between you and Captain Orr, ma'am. I do hear things, but I try to ignore what isn't my concern."

Abigail's cheeks grew warm. "Ah, I suppose you do hear things. But, do you understand what the noises mean or what causes them?"

"What the noises mean, ma'am?" Millie gave her such a perplexed look that she felt sorry for the young woman. Then Abigail realized that they were talking at cross purposes.

"What are we talking about, Millie?"

"Why about me listening to your private conversations, ma'am. And I don't eavesdrop on you and your husband, ma'am. I really don't."

"I believe you, Millie." Abigail wondered how to get this conversation back on track without embarrassing herself further.

"Are you upset with me? That I spent the night in Jacob's room?"

"No, Millie. I am curious as to why, though."

The maid dropped the spatula she had been stirring the eggs with and sent a guilty look towards her mistress.

"Rinse it off in the bucket there, Millie. The hot pan will dry any excess water and the eggs will be fine."

The younger woman did as she was told and then returned to stirring the eggs. "John has been rather pressing with me, ma'am."

"Oh?"

"And he suggested that Captain Orr owed him...and that I was to...pay off the debt."

Abigail held back her fury so as not to upset Millie. "Go on."

"Before you took me in, John had offered me food in exchange for...favours. I refused him, but he was trying to do the same thing again. So I hid down stairs last night. Then John came looking for me. I managed to sneak past him in the darkness and Jacob's room seemed to be the most unlikely place for me to be, so I went in there. I hid in the wardrobe and Jacob refused to tell John where I was. He suggested to John that I might have gone to tell you and the Captain what he was doing. I think that was why he left."

Abigail was hurt that Millie had not confided in her before this, but she had been very busy tending to Lawrence. She knew it was like Millie to not want to intrude upon the two of them.

"I felt safe with Jacob. He let me stay in his room and I lay on the floor all night. We didn't...fornicate, like they say in church."

Taking a deep breath, Abigail absorbed everything that Millie had just told her. She could find no blame in the maid's behaviour. Perhaps she had been timid in not coming to her or Lawrence, but she had been trying to protect the two of them in her own way.

"I will convey to my husband what you have just told me, Millie."

"Oh, please don't!" implored Millie, desperately. "He'll confront John and get hurt. John is younger and stronger!"

Abigail tsked. "You should have more faith in Captain Orr. He's a trained soldier. He's fought many men before and that was to the death. Lawrence can deal with John, despite the youth's size and strength. Besides, there is also the matter of class."

"Ma'am?"

"Lawrence is the son of a Lord. John is a mere commoner, like you and I. It's a very serious offence for him to offend or threaten a member of this household. My husband doesn't flaunt his family standing, but for something like this he would hunt down a magistrate and have the law deal with John."

"I had no idea, ma'am." Millie had a hand over her mouth in awe. "Or is it your ladyship?"

"It's ma'am to you, Millie. Lawrence is no Lord. In fact, we haven't even received congratulations from his father or his two brothers over our marriage. But the mail can move slowly, especially when crossing an ocean."

"Ma'am?"

Abigail raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Millie?"

"Why haven't you and Captain Orr told anyone here about his family?"

Abigail put down her kitchen utensils and stared at Millie. The girl was so innocent in some ways, she thought.

"There are those who would curry favour from myself or Lawrence if they knew. There are others who would not be as easy in our presence. He has two elder brothers and is very unlikely to inherit the title. So, he decided to make his way in the world according to his own character and abilities. And I have chosen to stand beside him. Maybe you'll understand better once you find a husband for yourself, Millie."

Abigail watched Millie discretely and noted that the maid glanced up and in the direction of Jacob's room with a thoughtful look on her face.

23

After breakfast, Lawrence carried Jacob down from his room and placed him in a comfortable chair in the parlour. Both women noted that Lawrence seemed to favour one leg and Millie recalled that the Captain's left leg sometimes troubled him. Despite Mrs. Orr's best care, the wound received at Queenston Heights had never completely healed.

Jacob beamed and examined every detail of the room. The change seemed to brighten his spirits considerably and Millie found his mood infectious. She found herself returning to the parlour far more often than she had legitimate reason to.

"They are very wealthy."

"Excuse me, Jacob?" asked Millie.

"Your employers are very wealthy. Look at those books! And the paintings! Even the furniture looks as if it were purchased!"

Millie found herself looking about the room differently. She had come into this house with just a single set of clothes and her name. Of course the Orrs had seemed wealthy to her, but so did anyone who had a place to live and regular meals. She hadn't really noticed the differences between this house and any other she had been in.

Looking through Jacob's eyes, she did see the signs of wealth. Many of the paintings were portraits, going back a few generations in Mrs. Orr's family. Millie barely remembered what her own parents looked like. She had little understanding of the value of the books, except for one. That was a family bible that had been passed down to the eldest child in Mrs. Orr's family. To know the names of your grandparents and great-grandparents seemed alien to her. Millie looked at the furniture, as if for the first time, and realized that Captain Orr had made none of it himself. It had all been bought or given to them as wedding presents or had been part of Miss Abigail Aimes' dowry.

"What's your home like, Millie?"

"It was a little shack," Millie recounted, brushing a tear from her eye, "and it burned down and my Ma and Pa died. They found me on the ground, below a broken window. I don't really have a home, now. Well, this is the closest thing I've known to a home."

"Oh, I'm sorry Millie." She could see the sympathy in his face.

"That's all right. It was a long time ago, almost fifteen years now. What about your home, Jacob?"

"Well, I'm the second of three sons and I have a sister, as well. My father and his brother each own farms in New York State, in fact my whole family farms. Even Gran' makes herself useful milking cows and plucking chickens, on occasion. My parents' house is a little bigger than this, but everything in it was made by someone in the family. It's a nice place, Millie. It's wild like your country, but the people look out for each other."

"It sounds nice, Jacob. So you'll work on your parents' farm for the rest of your life or are you going to soldier?"

"Signing up for the military was something I was stupid to get talked into. A Colonel came through and sweet-talked a number of us into signing up so we could come north and free all of you from the tyranny of the British. But as soon as my time is up, I'm taking my pay and heading back home. I'll work hard and earn some money so I can buy some land and start a farm of my own. Then I'll find a wife and..." his voice trailed off.

"That sounds very nice, Jacob. Your wife will be a very lucky woman."

Millie noticed that Jacob was not listening to her. Instead his attention was focussed on something outside.

"What is it Jacob?" she asked, trying to peer out between the curtains without approaching the window.

"Go get Captain Orr. Right now."

Millie ran from the room and found her employers in the kitchen. The two were chuckling quietly about something, but went silent and emotionless the moment they spied her.

"Jacob wishes to see you right away, sir. I think something is wrong."

The three quickly returned to the parlour.

"There's a group of soldiers on the street outside, sir. I don't see an officer among them and they appear to be looking at the houses carefully."

Millie didn't understand; she had seen plenty of soldiers on the street in the past year. Captain Orr's face went very serious.

"Abigail, get my pistols and sword. Millie, go over to the window and peak outside, but very discretely," Captain Orr ordered. Then he turned to the American. "Don't worry, son. I'll not harm any of them unless they give me no choice."

"Captain," whispered Millie, peering out through a gap in the curtains, "they seem to be discussing this house and comparing it with the Whitehouse's home."

Abigail returned with her husband's weapons and he began putting them on.

"Sir," said Jacob, "should I go upstairs?"

Lawrence thought for a few seconds and then shook his head. "You'll be of more use where you are. If the Americans do force their way in then they'll see you sitting there in your uniform. They'll be less likely to start shooting, so Abigail and Millie will be safe."

"Captain," called out Millie in excitement, "they're coming this way!"

"Damn!" was his response. "Abigail, take Millie to the back of the house...Abigail?"

Lawrence, Millie and Jacob stared at the door, which Abigail was closing behind her, as she slipped quietly outside.

Captain Orr raced for the door and then froze with his hand on the handle. He took a few deep breaths and then headed for a window, where he could keep an eye on his wife and the Americans.

Millie went over to Jacob and stood beside him with her hand on his shoulder.

24

Abigail had confronted the Americans a few yards from her front door. She adopted a pose of a mother catching her sons at mischief.

"So what do you young gentlemen want here?" she asked imperiously.

"You have a fine home there, ma'am. We're here to protect you from the British and the Indians. We want payment," said one of the group of five American soldiers.

"So, now you're going marauding about and stealing from the homes of honest people?"

A couple of the soldiers looked uncomfortable with the assessment, but the other three kept eyeing the Orr's home.

"It ain't like that, ma'am. We're here to take what the British left behind. You're free now. I'm sure you've some valuable goods inside that will reward us for coming all the way to York."

"Out of the way, lady!" called out one of the other soldiers.

"Is this how you treat honest women in the United States of America? You rob their homes when their husbands are away?" asked Abigail. From the facial expressions on two of the soldiers she could tell her resistance was changing their minds about looting.

"Are you going to stand aside, ma'am? Or must this go roughly?"

One of the reluctant Americans grabbed the arm of the speaker. "Come on, Paul. There's booty to be had in the public buildings; we don't need to go robbing people's homes."