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We rode on for another hour or so, until the sun had almost completely faded in the evening sky. Davis slept fitfully on the seat next to me, while I shivered in the cold. My only consolation was that Gordon was likely shivering as well- I had looked back at one point to see Sarah huddled next to him, his jacket draped around his shoulders. I looked back again, and was surprised to see Gordon alone on the bench seat. He waved and pointed down; I looked more closely and could see her, asleep on his lap. I turned back to my driving and shivered again.
As we crested a gentle rise in the road, I was pleased to see a small brick building with a wooden stable on the side. There were lamps placed at intervals on either side of the building, and a cluster of carriages out front. We steered the horses toward the building, and soon spied a sign indicating we had reached ‘The Carriage House, est. 1795’. As we stopped, a man came out from the shadows and asked us if we needed lodging for the night. I replied that we needed rooms for four and stabling for five. The man nodded and disappeared. Gordon and I swung down and stretched, leaving our companions to rest.
“Shouldn’t we wake them up?” he asked.
I titled my head in indifference. “Let them sleep for a few more minutes. We can get them up when we get rooms.” Gordon agreed, and we stood together silently, stamping our feet and rubbing our arms against the cold.
The man returned a few minutes later with a lantern and two other men. One of the new arrivals, well-dressed and much larger than his companions, came forward and introduced himself as the owner and proprietor of The Carriage House; even the way he said it conveyed the three capital letters in the signage. He informed us he had room for the horses and could provide us a secure barn to park the wagon for the night, but that he only had three rooms available and he hoped that would be sufficient. Davis and Sarah woke up with the noise, and called out sleepily, “Josh honey, is that you?”
The innkeeper looked at Gordon, who had gone to attend to her, and then at me. “His wife, I presume?” I nodded involuntarily. “Well, that settles it then! One room for you and the elder gentleman and one for the happy couple.” Setting his men to tend to the horses and the wagon, he invited us to accompany him inside. We paused long enough to grab some cases from the wagon and our traveling valises, then hurried after the man.
“What have you gotten me into?” Gordon hissed as we walked.
“Me?!” I put as much outrage into a whisper as was humanly possible. “Who landed us in this mess in the first place?!”
“Oh.”
“Yes, ‘oh’ and now you’re going to have an interesting evening ahead of you. You can explain to Davis why you’re sharing a room with his daughter- after you explain it to Sarah.” Actually, I didn’t want to give odds either way on her reaction- she was a practical woman after all, and would see the value in maintaining the pretense. But she didn’t like being taken for granted, and I could see her objecting on the grounds she wasn’t consulted. Either way, it would be entertaining to watch Gordon deal with her.
I was distracted by Davis, who was having difficulty keeping up with us. I went to assist him and was shocked by how cold he was. There was a chill in the air, but he had been under my coat; he shouldn’t be this cold to the touch. Noticing my concern, he smiled and patted the arm I was using to steady him. “It’s all right, I told you what the doctor said. This is part of it. I lay down to sleep and have a hard time waking up. One day soon, I won’t. It’s all right,” he repeated. “I’m ready to go to my Mary, now that I know Sarah will be taken care of- and that she has someone of her own to look after.” The old gentleman smiled happily to himself as we walked the rest of the way in silence.
Stepping into the inn, we were treated to a bright, warm atmosphere provided in no small part by the roaring fire in the large stone fireplace. Easily six feet in length and not quite that in height, sections of tree trunks were ablaze in its heart. Groups of chairs and tables were scattered here and there around the room, occupied by a number of guests. We were cheered as we entered, as though we were well-known and celebrated in the region instead of weary travelers. It lifted our spirits greatly.
I seated Davis at a table near the fire, and Sarah finally left Gordon’s side to tend her father. Gordon and I made our way to the counter where the proprietor was waiting for us, a cheerful smile on his face. The man seemed to take great delight in his inn and the comfort of his guests, and it made a refreshing change from the stifled atmosphere in Harpers Ferry. Maybe it was the psychological lift of making good our escape, or the sense that we were finally starting our mission, but whatever the reason we found ourselves relaxing.
The man pushed a guest registration towards us, along with a pen and an inkpot. Gordon hesitated, pen in hand, as he looked at the ledger. “There’s one thing we need to take care of first,” he said, jaw firmly set. The innkeeper tilted his head slightly, an inquisitive look upon his face. Gordon explained. “The woman by the fire is my fiancée. We were to be married this afternoon by her father- a local justice of the peace- but our second witness failed to show and we have urgent business to attend to up north, which prevented us from waiting around. Although it’s somewhat irregular, I’d like to perform the ceremony now, right here, if we could find a suitable witness. Would that be acceptable?”
The innkeeper beamed with delight. “But of course, my good sir! We have weddings here all the time- we’d be thrilled to assist with your nuptials. Just one second, let me gather some things.” With that enigmatic comment, he hustled out of the spacious room via a door underneath the staircase leading to the rooms on the upper floors. I turned to Gordon, who raised a hand, cutting me off.
“I know, I know. But I don’t feel right sharing a room with her- I’m tired of playacting and pretending we’re husband and wife- I want us to be husband and wife.” He turned and leaned back on the counter, resting on his elbows. “Matt, has it occurred to you that we may not make it out of Washington? We’ve had so many difficulties already, and it’s possible that there’s a welcoming committee waiting for us right now. We could be arrested as spies or as traitors and that would be the end of us. Have you thought of that?”
I nodded, slowly. “It’s always a possible outcome with any mission,” I offered. “I do my best to minimize the risks, but they’re an inherent part of the job.”
“Have you ever had a mission like this, where you’ve been identified so early?”
I shook my head. “Never had a mission where I’ve been identified at all. It’s a new and, admittedly, uncomfortable situation.”
He looked at me with a neutral expression, then turned to look at Sarah. “I know you don’t agree, and I think it’s because you can’t understand- you’ve never felt the way I feel about her. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. I’d love to spend the rest of my life getting to know her, learning everything about her. She’s captivating, and it would be a great adventure. If something happens to me in Washington, or if there’s a war and something happens, it would be a tragedy to miss that opportunity. But I’d rather have had a few days, maybe a week with her, if that’s to be my fate. I’m not claiming to have premonitions or any such nonsense- I’m saying that I want to spend as much time with her as my wife as possible, so that if the worst comes to pass, I’ll have at least had a moment of happiness with her.”
I looked at him closely. My job often required reading a person’s face, their posture, their mannerisms to determine if they were being honest. Gordon was visibly struggling with his emotions, trying to maintain his dignity in the face of what was, for him anyway, a very painful moment. Much as I doubted the wisdom of his actions, his feelings were sincere.
“Have you discussed this with Sarah?” I asked, gently.
“Yes. We discussed it in the wagon, after you switched places. We had a long talk about, well, everything. Our backgrounds, our history, us- how we felt about one another, secession, the war. Everything. We agreed that there was definitely something between us that we’d never found with anyone else, and she said that she’d go along with whatever I decided, as long as we would be together. She was very upset at the thought of being parted, and I wasn’t much happier with the idea, to be honest. She’ll go along with the charade if I ask her to- all the way to Washington, sharing a room, pretending to be my wife...but I don’t want to ask that of her. It isn’t right. She’s a fine woman and she deserves to have the respect of a married woman, not to make a false claim to it. It’s...” he struggled to find the right words.
“It’s unworthy of her,” I continued for him. It was all right, I understood. He looked up at me and nodded, a somber expression on his face. “So- we’ll need another witness, someone to give the bride away, a best man, a maid of honor...” I looked about the room. “I’m certain we’ll be able to find someone in here.” Gordon looked at me with dawning comprehension, joy spreading across his face. I winked at him and pulled a chair from a nearby table. Standing upon it, I raised my voice to address the room. “Ladies and gentlemen!” Heads turned in my direction and conversation died out. “I apologize for interrupting your dinner and I beg you to indulge me for a moment. We have need of some assistance this evening in a matter of the heart.” A low murmur spread through the room, and Sarah looked at me in astonishment before frantically looking for Gordon; he, meanwhile, moved up next to me. Clapping my hand on his shoulder, I continued. “This man, Joshua Gordon, a good man and true, was due to be married to that lovely young maiden over there, Miss Sarah Davis.” I pointed dramatically at her, and was pleased to see her usual blush response was working. She glared at me with fire, which I found highly amusing for some reason and smiled broadly. The room erupted in applause and cheers, which I tried to calm. “Good people, please, let me finish! As I was saying, they were due to be married today, but the necessary witnesses did not arrive before we had to leave for our trip north to their new home.” Groans of sorrow echoed in the room. “But take heart, friends! This august gentleman seated next to the blushing bride-” more cheers, more blushing from Sarah and more daggers from her eyes- “is a justice of the peace!” The room erupted in cheers as they realized where I was headed with this. Quieting them again, I continued. “Now, we are in need of some witnesses, a maid of honor, a best man, and someone to give the bride away.” More cheers. “I’ll let the bride and groom select their own attendants, but anyone willing to participate, please make yourselves known.”
Gordon pulled me off the chair and took my place in the middle of the cheering. “There is only one man I trust with the duty of best man, and that would be my good friend Matthew. But anyone who wants to participate is more than welcome!” He stepped down, and we shook hands amidst a sea of well-wishers clapping us on the shoulders. He excused himself to go to Sarah, who was likewise surrounded by ladies hugging her and kissing her cheeks. I couldn’t tell, but it looked like she might be crying a bit; hopefully I hadn’t upset her with announcement. I considered following Gordon, but was interrupted by the return of the innkeeper.
“I’ve just been speaking to one of our guests, he does photographs for a magazine in New York but he’s been here doing some work on assignment; I took the liberty of discussing your friend’s wedding and he’s willing to do a sitting for the bride and groom, if you’d care to speak to him? I also talked to my wife and she’s bringing down her wedding dress- it won’t be a perfect fit, but near enough I reckon.”
The offer was very generous, and meant that Davis would see his daughter get married properly after all. I started towards Gordon, only to run into him. We both started talking at the same time, then laughed. I motioned for him to go first.
“Several of the ladies are going to get Sarah cleaned up and readied for the ceremony. There’s a group of girls who are going to be her attendants. I’ve lined up several of the lads as well, so we’ll have a proper group. I was thinking of asking our host to escort her down the aisle, she’s fine with that- her father can’t be in two places at once, after all.”
I explained the innkeeper’s offer of the photograph and the bridal gown and he smiled broadly. “Excellent! She’ll have a real wedding. Maybe not the one she always wanted, but certainly more than any of us expected.” He paused and grew serious. “I want to thank you for getting this organized- I really expected to only have maybe the innkeeper as a witness and a quick ceremony by her father and then we’d sign the papers and he’d seal it. It was less than she deserved, and I felt badly about it. I know how much of a disruption this has been, and your reservations, and, well-” I cut him off.
“We’ve got a lot to get done, better get to it. You need to get cleaned up, get your clothes fixed up, and I’ve got to go meet with the photographer. Lots to do before we turn in for the night.” I turned and moved off before he could react.
Before I followed the innkeeper, I looked back to the fireplace, where Davis sat at a table, alone now. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes and smiled. I waved and smiled back, then turned to go see the photographer.