Becoming Miss Lee

Chapter 6 - In the Den of Lions

Thus it was done. Before I knew it, I was a Fisher again; a Fisher from upper New York and the daughter of the Reverend Fisher, no less. Nathan was a school teacher searching for work while I was a lady of high society and standing with the British army. I am positive that Mister Lee would have had a cow if he had known what I was doing at the time, but what he did not know could not hurt him. I was aiding the cause that they risked their life for in the only way I knew how, that would directly aid General Washington and my cousins on the front. I had absolutely nothing to lose.

Reverend Fisher spent no time introducing me to his friends in New York, which included several rather highly decorated officers and a General by the name of Howe. I thought that I was doing rather well for myself, though I learned nothing of consequence during my first few visits with the lower officers, and I was beginning to get antsy. "Uncle, when will I get to meet some higher officers? These men do not know anything that would aid the cause." I inquired under my breath as we rode home from an engagement to our apartment one cool evening.

"Beatrice, be reasonable! I have to be invited to go to one of their parties! Besides, General Howe is hosting one in a day or two and he promised to invite me. I shall bring you along and you can do what you desire once the wine starts flowing!"

Ah, yes. Officers' parties were renowned for one particular aspect: the alcohol. It is not hard to see why, either. You drank, and drank, and drank, and drank some more. I watched perfectly sensible men get goaded to drinking until they were so drunk that going home that night was not even an option. They became complete pigs, even the best of them, and I had not seen many where I was not politely excused due to the presence of whores. What made me think that going to a party hosted by a General, who was still a man beneath the title, was going to be any different? The General, however, would be more likely to reveal more important information. At least, I hoped he would. Wine could coax a lot of things from the lips of a man in the presence of a woman that his ego wants to impress, and I planned to use every cultivated advantage that I had in my arsenal to stroke that ego and trick it, of its own volition, into telling me what I wanted to know. Naturally, using my body to get that information was beyond out of the question. I wanted to help, but my virginity was one sacrifice that I was unwilling to make. It was the one thing that a woman had in her life that made her worth something to most of society. It is a sad, albeit true, fact.

Nathan was playing his role and I was playing mine, separate and the same. He had been staying at an inn to avoid suspicion and we met in secret at various locations, writing only in Latin, and using our pen names of Pythias and Aglaea, two names decided on long before this operation even crossed through our idle brains. We both knew that we were flirting with fate and death in this sly little game, and my presence seemed to make Nathan even more cautious than he originally had planned to be, "Where will we meet tomorrow?" This evening, we had met behind the inn where he was staying, huddled close together, and speaking in hushed tones with our faces inches apart.

"Let us meet behind the apartments tomorrow... in the alley." I decided quietly and Nathan nodded. "Come late, though. I am attending a party with my uncle held by General Howe." At the name, Nathan's eyes widened and his mouth opened like that of a fish. "I am going to put on what charm I can and work as best as possible to get information. Wine is a woman's best friend. I may not be able to get battle plans, but I can try for troop numbers. Then at least General Washington knows what he is up against and can rally whom he sees fit."

Nathan nodded, but I could see the uneasiness in his eyes. He was worried about me like he always was. His hands took one of mine and he smiled anxiously at me. "Whatever you do, promise that you will be careful."

"Me?" I almost laughed. "You are the one sneaking about in bushes near their camps! You be careful and I will do my job."

"You are in the lion's den now. Do not do anything to give yourself away- and good job at getting rid of the Virginian accent, too."