Johnny and Letitia spent most of the journey in silence. Letitia remained sullen and distracted while Johnny took catnaps and occasionally walked to the vestibule of their car to stretch his legs and ease the boredom. The closer the train got to the New York State border, the deeper Letitia appeared to sink into her withdrawal and moodiness.
When the train neared the station at Albany the conductor announced that there would be a stopover for the passengers to change trains to continue the last leg of the journey. The passengers had an opportunity to disembark, refresh themselves and buy a meal. Johnny alighted from the passenger car first and reached up to offer his hand to Letitia. She accepted his assistance and bustled past him in her peremptory manner. Johnny shrugged and followed her into the station building.
When they were seated on a bench, Letitia reached into her purse and extracted a sum of money.
“Take this and go buy us something to eat and drink,” she ordered.
Johnny complied and returned with bread, cold meat and tea. “May I ask what’s bothering you, Letty?”
She whirled on him, “You dare ask that? You have betrayed our trust and friendship. You accepted our employment under false pretenses and all the while you conspired with the police behind our backs.”
Johnny divided the food and began eating with a half-hearted appetite. He conceded her point by his silence. Thoughts raced through his mind. Letitia had now dropped all pretense. He realized that the coded note had given him away and that she knew his purpose. It occurred to him as well, that by lashing out at him she had, in a circuitous way, alerted him. If Simeon no longer trusted him perhaps they meant for him not to return from Toronto. Letitia’s ambivalence toward him became clear. Now on his guard, he had to plan an escape that wouldn’t endanger Letitia.
She turned to him once again. “Well it’s true isn’t it? You were planted on us, weren’t you? How does someone as young as you are become involved in such terrible business?”
He met her eyes directly, searching for a way to explain, hesitating to trust her completely. Anger and hurt combined in her face, he thought he saw a tear form at the corner of her eye.
Finally he said: “Letty, it’s such a long complicated story. Right now I feel awful that you are in this position. No matter what happens to me this is all going to end badly for you, for Simeon, maybe for the whole Southern cause. Right now, things aren’t going so well for the Confederacy. I can’t disclose my situation. I wish someday I could tell you everything, but just now I can’t.”
“Don’t bother, you needn’t explain to me. I know enough about you that I never want to speak to you again.”
She turned her head away once more, reached into her purse, extracted a handkerchief, daubed at her nose and wiped a tear away from her cheek.
She hadn’t touched her food. Johnny gathered it up while the train crew announced the preparations to resume the journey north. Johnny offered her some of the tea. “Have something to drink at least. I’ll wrap up the bread and meat. You can eat it later.”
Letitia accepted the cup and began to sip the lukewarm beverage, still staring out the window at the gathering dusk surrounding the grimy railroad station.
“Letty …” he began.
“We have to get back on the train. Just leave me be. You’ve said enough already. Right now, you’re my sworn enemy, the enemy of everyone and everything I hold dear. Don’t speak to me.”
Philips and Donellan discontinued their surveillance of the warehouse when Johnny left. They had planned to round up the entire enterprise in one raid, but wanted to ensnare the important personage Johnny had assured them would meet with all those involved in the day to day workings of the counterfeit ring. They did not see the disassembled printing presses loaded onto wagons in the dead of night and moved to a different location. Rhodes and Gage supervised the shipment and left Simeon wringing his hands and pacing alone in his office. They paid the laborers a bonus for working at night to load the heavy machinery. Nate stood apart watching, unseen by the two men sent by the Society. When the wagons left with their cargo covered with canvas tarpaulins, Nate followed at a discreet distance. The work crew off-loaded the machinery and brought it up an outside stairwell to the second story of a building on Courtland Street, a butcher shop occupied the ground level. Nate hurried back to the warehouse to alert Simeon to its location and rouse him from his blue funk.
“Let’s get you out of here, Simeon. I don’t trust those thugs from Baltimore.”
“Right, Nate, we’ll want to leave before the Federals swoop down on us. I’ll just go home, nothing more to be done here.”
“I hate to say it, Simeon, but …”
“You needn’t. I know we should have gotten rid of that kid. That will be taken care of soon. Their little spy will meet his end.”
“Are you sure Letitia can be depended upon to carry out what you asked?”
“She wouldn’t disobey me. Besides, she can’t return here with the message undelivered. That would be a terrible betrayal.”
Letitia and Johnny arrived at the lakeside railroad station in Toronto early in the morning hours on a bitterly cold day. The gathering clouds in the black sky threatened snow. No hansom cabs waited at the station for paying fares. Johnny suggested they seek shelter from the wind in the heated building adjacent to the platform. Inside, they stood next to the pot-bellied stove, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Visibly upset during the journey, Letitia’s countenance had taken on a pinched and anxious appearance. Johnny maintained his silence, expecting she had no inclination to engage in conversation. After a long wait, a horse-drawn carriage stopped outside the station building. The driver alighted, pushed open the door and called out Letitia’s name. Johnny gathered up the luggage and they stepped into the carriage.
The driver asked: “Headed for the Queens Hotel?”
Letitia acknowledged the question with a curt nod of her head. The driver looked at Johnny with a quizzical expression.
“This is my traveling companion, Johnny Sullivan. You have been alerted to expect two of us, have you not?” she said in a brusque tone of voice.
“He’s a good deal younger than I expected, is all.”
Johnny climbed in beside her and a sidelong glance at her profile told him idle chatter would not sit well. The driver offered them a heavy woolen blanket to warm themselves. Johnny passed it along to Letitia, declining to use it. She tucked it around her hips and legs. The carriage ride to Queens Street passed in stony silence as had most of the train ride. Letitia huddled against the far side and watched the dark streets slide by. The Confederate agent who greeted them in the lobby of the hotel where the carriage deposited them showed each to the separate rooms he had arranged in advance.
“We’ll have something prepared for you to eat in a short while,” he said. “Meantime, you may refresh yourselves in the water closet down the hallway from your rooms. We will call you when breakfast is ready.”
Johnny slumped down on the cot in his room and stretched out, exhausted after the long trip during which he got little sleep. A knock at his door roused him just as he had slipped into a quick doze. He opened the door to admit Letitia. Still disheveled from the journey and distraught with worry, she stepped into the room and closed the door. The anguish of the decision she had made told in her eyes.
Her words tumbled out in a rapid torrent. “I must make a frightful disclosure which I am most reluctant to do. I am under instructions to betray you to these Confederate agents.” Letitia spat out the word Confederate with unaccustomed venom. “You are not intended to make the return trip to New York,” she added, finally revealing the secret that had gnawed at her since the trip started.
Johnny took her hand and they both sat on the edge of his cot. “Letitia, you mustn’t endanger yourself on my account.” He engaged her eyes to give evidence of his sincerity.
All her emotion welled up in one spasmodic sob. Tears came in a torrent. She struggled to regain her composure, blotting her eyes with a handkerchief. “Johnny, what shall I do? I couldn’t bear for you to be hurt because of me. This is a moment I’ve dreaded for the past days. My grandfather doesn’t understand what I’ve come to feel about you. He’s ordered me to tell these people that you are a Yankee spy.”
Johnny thought for a moment. “Letty, have you delivered the money yet?”
“No, I still have it. But once they ask for it I must make sure it gets into the right hands. I must see that the head of the Canadian contingent receives it. I believe he’s away on some business.”
Another spate of weeping overwhelmed her. To stem the tears she pressed the handkerchief to her eyes with her knuckles, her body wracked with sobs. Johnny put an arm around her shoulder and held her close. She remained there for the briefest time, then Letitia sat up. “I’m making such a fool of myself. I’m so sick of all this intrigue, everything Grandfather’s involved in. I hate the people around him. I’m frightened something will happen to him. But somehow I sense you’re different. How did someone like you become mixed up in this sordid business?”
Johnny paused again, released her hand and fixed his eyes on his shoes while he thought quickly. “Do these people know how much money to expect?”
“No,” she said between gulps to steady her breathing, “they just know it’s a considerable sum. I don’t even know how much I’ve brought.”
Johnny turned toward her again and took her hand in both of his. “I think I have an idea, but I can’t put you in any danger.”
Letitia looked up through misty eyes. “What’s your idea?”
Still uncertain about her sincerity and whether she wanted him to completely unmask himself, he said: “Take some of the money and conceal it in your purse. Then do as you have been ordered. Tell them you suspect me of being a Yankee infiltrator.”
“Johnny, I can’t …”
“Trust me. If we both want to escape, let me handle this.”
“But they’ll kill you.”
“I’ll take care of myself. If you try to double cross the gang you’ll only put yourself at risk. If you mean what you say, just do as I ask.”
Letitia leaned over and kissed him gently on the lips. She looked into his eyes: “Johnny, I hope you believe what I’ve said is the truth.”
“I do believe you. For both our sakes just do what I tell you. When you’ve delivered the money and given them your message, have them take you back to the train station. Wait for me there. If you’re still there when I arrive, I’ll be sure you care for me as you say. I must depend on you to pay for our tickets back to New York. If you leave ahead of me, I’ll be stranded in a foreign country with no means to escape.”
Johnny, how will you …?”
“Don’t worry about me. With the extra money we can plan our next step.”
A knock on the door sounded, “Mr Sullivan, they’re about to start serving breakfast down stairs in the dining room,” the man spoke through the door. “Have you any idea where the young miss has got to?”
Johnny placed his hand over Letitia’s mouth, to keep her from answering. “I’ll be right there. Give me a moment. I believe the lady is freshening up right now.”
“Very well, we’ll see you both downstairs.”
“Be right there.”
“I hate this dreadful war and everything to do with it,” Letitia said, “all the violence and hatred around us. The riots in New York were horrible. I was so frightened during those days, for myself, for Grandfather. Were you in New York then?”
“No,” Johnny said, “no I wasn’t. Let’s go downstairs to breakfast. Dry your tears. Don’t make them suspicious. When we’ve finished eating, I’ll come back to my room. You do what you have to. Go to your room and pack. Then ask for a carriage to take you back to the train station. Tell them it’s urgent you return to New York at once.”
At breakfast, a Confederate operative sat with them and engaged in idle conversation. He asked about the temper of the workingmen in New York and whether they would rise up to throw off the shackles of a government that sought to promote the former Negro slaves to their jobs when they submitted to an unlawful conscription. Letitia ate in silence, while Johnny kept up the discussion, agreeing with the man about the surly, hostile mood of the impoverished Irish immigrants who hated Lincoln and the Republicans.
The Rebel agent glanced over at Letitia. “Are you not well, Miss? You look somehow distraught.”
“It was a long tiring journey from New York.” Letitia said. “I feel as if I might be coming down with a cold as well. I’ll be fine. I just have to get back to my Grandfather’s business right away. There’s so much to do.”
“As soon as Captain Hines comes back, you can deliver your package and we’ll get you on the next train. Meantime, why don’t you go upstairs and get some rest. We’ll let you know when you may speak to him. The meal is provided compliments of the Confederate States of America, Ma’am.”
Letitia thanked him, retired from the breakfast table holding her handkerchief to her mouth and scurried from the dining room.
Johnny hurried through the rest of his meal and excused himself. “I’d better go back to my room and pack my things if we’re going to leave soon.”
The man at the table poured himself a second cup of coffee from the carafe the waiter had left. He looked over at Johnny, “A flighty young lady, I must say, to be sent on such an important errand. I’m surprised her grandfather trusted her with the responsibility given her fragile disposition.”
“It was a long tiring journey for her, not much chance to sleep on the train,” Johnny said. “She’ll be fine, soon as she gets back to New York.”
Johnny returned to his room and surveyed his meager belongings. He changed into his only set of clean clothes, put anything portable he thought he would need in his pockets and made a determination to leave behind his tattered cloth bag and spare clothes. He knocked on Letitia’s door to check that she understood what she must do. A momentary qualm stole over him when he questioned his motive for visiting her in her own room. She opened the door quickly, standing in her bare feet:
“Johnny, come in. I’ve wanted to speak to you.”
Johnny stepped over the threshold and began to say: “Are you sure you understand what we’re going to do?”
Letitia flung her arms around his neck.
“Johnny, Johnny,” she murmured. “How can I tell you what I feel about you?” She kissed him with a lingering passion.
Johnny’s face began to burn, flush with hot tingles. Never before had such raging arousal flashed through him. He answered her embrace, scarcely able to breathe. She pulled him toward the bed. Johnny’s heart pounded wildly in his chest. Her fragrance, her cool soft skin, her total vulnerability, thrust all rational thought from his brain. Still holding her, he lay down beside her, her skirts rustled when she rearranged herself. With her free hand she groped for him.
She whispered, “Johnny, Johnny, please love me.”
An iron fist clenched his stomach. His body tensed, but the last of his resolve began to drain away. Her fingers on his trouser buttons released him. She reached for his hand and guided it to her warmth and moistness. All his resistance, all his scruples, all his doubt, melted away. There in her embrace, the anxiety, the uncertainty of the previous weeks no longer lingered in his consciousness. At that moment, as ecstatic pleasure rippled to his very toes, Johnny passed into full adulthood. Letitia’s eyes shone with tears. Johnny kissed them away and brushed the loose hair back from her face. They held each other gazing into each other’s eyes for a moment.
Letitia smiled, the anxiety eased from her face.
“They’ll be coming for the money soon, you’d better get back to your room,” she murmured.
A prolonged silence ensued, each of them weighing the effects of what had just happened between them. From their passion and the ease of their lovemaking, Johnny surmised correctly that she had once had a genuine romance. He suspected from overheard conversations that her betrothal had ended when her fiancé left for Canada to join the clandestine cell that now languished in a Montreal jail.
Finally Johnny spoke: “Wait for me at the station, but if I’m not there when it’s about to depart you must get on board. There won’t be another train until tomorrow.”
“Hand me my purse, I’ll give you money for the return ticket if we miss each other at the station.”
Johnny accepted her offer of money, still reluctant to take her too much into his confidence, not telling her that he had his own funds which he carried tucked into his socks. He had carried his money that way since he delivered the washed and ironed bed linens his mother took in to keep them both in rent and food before she died. Johnny opened the door to her room a crack to check the hallway.
Letitia came up behind him and pressed herself to him. “Johnny, please be careful.”
Without looking back Johnny said: “Just tell them what you have to. I’ll be fine.” He closed the door behind him and left.