Posted by Seamus on May 31, 2001 at 13:05:07:
May ye 31st, 1759
To Nancy, the dark-haired lass
at Seamus MacWilliam’s cabin,
North of the Loyalsock,
near Black Horse Station
My dearest Nancy,
It has been but a few days since I left your side, and already it feels as though it will be ages until I return. I never would have guessed just how much I miss you, and long to be with you. While you did your best to hide it, I know exactly how you felt about me leaving, especially now. If it were not so important to the safety and well-being of all the inhabitants of the Valley that we make this journey to the Carolinas, I would turn back now...at this very moment...and run as hard as I could back to you. Those several weeks we were alone there, preparing the garden, fixing the cabin, and just being together has made me truly feel as though I never again want to leave your side.
My darling, when I was at Ft. Augusta awaiting the arrival of Flags, Tales, Malcolm, Davey and the others, I had some time to ponder my...our...future. Quasi came in the day after I did, and we took a walk off to the farthest corner of the plain outside the fort where we could talk, unheard and undisturbed.
As you well know, Quasi...my father...sired me to an Irish tavern wench, and then left us after I was born. He literally disappeared for years, forcing Mother and me to fend for ourselves. We had no knowledge of whether he was dead or alive. You have heard how I hated him all those years for that. When he surfaced here in Pennsylvania two years ago, fate put us together, gave us a chance to meet, and through many long hours of discussion we have reconciled our differences. The remorse he truly felt over the abandonment of my mother and me, and everything else, weighed heavily on him all those years, but he was in no position to return to Ireland and make amends. Unfortunately, Mother passed away before she could hear any of this. Now he and I enjoy as good a relationship as a father and son can have.
My Dearest, because of my sensitivity to what happened to me, and knowing the toll it took on Mother, me...and Quasi...I have set my mind that it would never happen to any child of mine. I also never want any child of mine to carry the title, “bastard,” so when we were finished with our talk and I returned to the fort, I went straightway to the Augusta Regiment chaplain, Lt. Harris, and made arrangements with him to marry us upon my return. He said he would be delighted to do that.
Nancy, my love, you need not worry yourself now about that precious little bundle growing inside you. Our child will have a mother AND a father, from the start, and forever. Have no fear about that.....
I will be back in just a few weeks, Dearest. I want you to go to the village below the fort and seek out Mistress Katherine Martz, the seamstress, and have her make you a wedding dress like she has never made before. Spare no expense...After all, it is to be for the prettiest, most wonderful bride that there ever was!
Now, I must be off again. The Cousins and the others are standing off to the side here, champing at the bit to move on. I guess I will have to tell them the news...Malcolm has a quizzical look on his face. I think he has spotted the tears on my cheek.
Watch the moon each night, my dear, and know that I am watching the same......
All my love,
Seamus