Her eyes went unfocused, as if seeing far beyond the carriage wall behind him. “War makes so many things uncertain. Never knowing when or where one may be needed.”
Perhaps it was her father’s face she saw now, or the image of him striding away in his red coat, bound for France or wherever else he had been sent through the years. Wondering if he would return. Thad cleared his throat. “I was extraordinarily blessed to have parents who never traveled without us for more than a week at a time. And who, even in wartime, stay close.”
Her gaze went sharp again, and teasing. “Though the same cannot be said for their son, who, I’m told, has a knack for finding adventure where a sane person would see none.”
Philly. He smiled and shook his head. “My sister exaggerates. We are at war, yet I am at home more than ever. A complete reversal of what one would expect from an adventure-seeker.”
“Because you have a purpose too important for your leaders to risk your life in battle.” A battle which seemed to be waged now across her countenance. Her inborn hatred of what he was, fighting against who she knew him to be; her liking of him pitted against her loyalty to her nation. Then as quickly as the weapons flashed through her eyes, they stilled. And she looked to that place beyond him again. “Do you know what Papa called this war?”
Quite a few words filled Thad’s mind to describe it, but he didn’t know the general well enough to guess at his choice. “Pointless, perhaps? Vengeful? A meaningless drain on British resources?”
She permitted a brief twitch of her lips and then schooled her features into a pleasant expression. “Foolish.” A smile half won its place, and she loosed a long breath. “I had forgotten that, but…he had been quite vocal about it being a drain on the French campaign, with which plenty agreed. But then when Napoleon surrendered and someone said something about it freeing the troops to be sent here… He always had England’s best interest at heart, but he thought this war a mistake.”
His throat went dry. “He said this in public?”
She nodded.
He gripped the cushion’s edge. “And now your uncle has announced they suspect an American spy murdered him, thereby turning against us any voices who would have been swayed toward your father’s way of thinking.”
For a moment Gwyneth moved her mouth as if about to speak, yet no words emerged. She just stared at him, agape, a million possibilities rampaging through her eyes.
Thad slid over to the place beside her and touched her hand. She sucked in a breath and blinked as she met his gaze. “I never…I never really paused to consider his opinion on it, what with Mama…But looking back now…He wanted this war to be over. He thought it stupid and vain. And Uncle Gates was loudly in favor of it. They debated it often. What Papa said that day, about destroying two nations with his greed…they must have been speaking of the war.”
He would have liked to smooth away the furrow in her brow, but he suspected he had a matching one in his own. “What could greed have to do with it?”
Her hand turned over under his, and her fingers found their place around his own. Given the contemplation saturating her face, he had a feeling she had no idea she had made such a move. “I am aware that men aplenty profit from war, but he is well enough positioned. His mother’s estates went to him. He had no need to sully himself with trade.”
Thad pressed his lips against a smile. “What a relief. A tarnish a man could never live down.”
Her snapping gaze came his way, the smile she wore so mischievous he nearly kissed her then and there. “Not in a civilized land.”
“Uncivilized, am I? And here I thought my hospitality and civility worthy of the Prince Regent himself.”
Her laughter filled the carriage, brightened it, and seemed to bring the sun through the clouds. “Nay, it is far too temperate and well considered.”
What was he to do but lift her fingers and kiss them? “I know not how I can suffer such an insult.”
Mirth fading to a smile, she shook her head. Her gaze tangled with his. “Thad, when you told me about your…Culpers. When I considered that I was apparently on your side, I knew not how to reconcile that with who I knew Papa to be.”
He ran his thumb over her knuckles, a seal upon the kiss. “But?”
“But Papa thought this war a mark against England. He wanted it over and he wanted my uncle stopped. Somehow those two are linked. So whatever I can do, know that I will do it.”
For her father, and perhaps also for England. He nodded because in this case it would also be for them, for his homeland. A war like this could benefit neither nation. All it could do was wear down both until there was little left worth the fight. “Your assistance I accept most gratefully, my lady.”
As Henry pulled the team to a halt, she sent him an arched glance. “Just do not expect me to play at espionage with you, Thaddeus. I will not do it.”