Love does not die easily.
– Hamlet, Shakespeare
Andrea wrapped her arms around Hunter’s neck in obvious desperation and felt herself being lifted with strong arms across his saddle. “Oh, Alex,” she said, burying her head in his chest and clutching his soldierly form. Hunter responded by tightening his embrace, leaving her to wonder how a mortal man could possess such boundless tenderness in such iron muscles.
“Andrea, you will go back to Hawthorne,” he said, his voice strangely low. “No matter what.”
She lifted her head, not sure if he was stating a fact or asking a question. “No matter what?”
“If anything should happen to me… I would like to know that you would still go back. That it would be in good hands.”
Andrea blinked, trying to hold back the tears that threatened. “If that is your wish.”
“It is my most desperate desire.”
She looked up in anguish at the businesslike tone of his voice. “There is no need to seal your devotion to the Confederacy with your life, Alex,” she said, clutching his coat. “Please, not now.”
He did not answer at first, and when he did, his gaze was locked on something over her shoulder. “What I do, I do for Virginia. You understand, don’t you?”
He shifted his attention back to her and remained there in a spellbinding gaze of devotion, causing Andrea to nod her head in assent.
“We’d better get back,” he finally said, his tone carrying a calmness and determination that terrified Andrea. She pulled her horse close and swung her leg over its back.
“Wait, Andrea.” He swallowed hard and looked her in the eye. “My love for Virginia, my duty to state, does not mean I love you less. Do you understand?”
Neither spoke for a moment. Even the horses stood perfectly still. “I will not obstruct the path of your duty, Alex,” she said, her chin trembling. “I give you to Virginia and God—if that is what you wish of me.”
Andrea caught only a glimpse of his eyes filling with fluid, and then he nodded, turned his head from her, and nudged his horse forward. After riding a short distance, Andrea reached out for his sleeve and stopped him again. Her heart beat tumultuously at the thought that the sand of time was slipping through the hourglass at a speed beyond her control. It seemed she had mere minutes to share the rest of her life.
“I know it is your right, your privilege to die for the Cause. But Alex, you will be careful?”
Alex turned his attention back to her, but it appeared to Andrea his mind was already elsewhere. “I will see you on the other side of the river, Andrea,” he said without concern, his eyes lit with a strange brilliancy. “The Virginia side.”
His calm tone and his penetrating gaze belayed a man who knows no fear. Andrea stared hard at him, hoping to catch a glimpse of what was passing in his mind. All she saw was a look of eagerness, revealing with dreadful certainty that he desired this encounter more so than feared it.
Andrea absently glanced skyward and watched four buzzards circling overhead as if anticipating the feast being prepared below. But when she looked at the one beside her, she saw he took no notice.
Yes, there could be no doubt—the man was going to do his duty—cost what it may.