Thanks for all the love, you guys!

-two months later-

Pfc Edward Troy Ryland, United States Army, was strolling jauntily down the street with much more bravado than he felt.

It was his first visit home, and he was not looking forward to seeing his mother. He had written her of his making private first class, and she had responded with a cold epistle saying something to the effect that a title wouldn't mean much when he was lying dead in some battlefield.

The sun shining down on him made it hard to feel gloomy about it now, but at the time her words had stung.

However, he had also written to Sam. At the thought of it, he walked faster. Her letter had been polite and casual until the end -

"It seems as if everything in my little world is changing, Eddie. You changed - for the better, I must admit. I hardly see Nellie. She is busy at the settlement house or with her Irish friends, and Bridget and Jenny are away at college. Agnes and Agatha are in the Caribbean- Agnes and her husband have a sugarcane property there and Agatha is painting the scenery. Grandmary is gone; so is Admiral.

Oh, dear. I didn't mean for this to sound so depressing. It's just that I don't want to live a life of perfect luxury. I want to do something to help, to change the world, to lead people to Christ or save someone's life.

And instead I'm sitting here, being served tea and cookies in my warm parlor."

She had admitted so much! It was as if she felt she could tell him anything. That was how he wanted it to be. And that she felt the same way he did - not wanting to be a spoiled, rich young debonair - meant so much.

He was at his house now. Dropping the valise he'd carried from the station on the porch, he ran next door to Sam's, jumping the hedge as if it were a hurdle, just like old days.

He felt he had come full circle when he grasped the knocker, and he no longer winced when the stern butler answered.

"Hullo, John," he said cheerfully. "Is Miss Samantha in?"

"In the sunroom, sir," John said formally.

He yanked off his Army cap and handed it to John. Turning, he headed for the sunroom but stopped when John queried, " And how was training, sir?"

A little surprised, Eddie thought. "Hard - rather tough...But fulfilling just the same. I liked the challenges."

John nodded sagely. "I felt the same."

At Eddie's look, he added, "I fought in the Second Anglo-Afghan War."

"Really? Why, you must tell me about it sometime. I find England's military history fascinating."

Returning to his cool mannerisms, John nodded again and vanished.

"Curiouser and curiouser," Eddie whispered to himself.

He hadn't written Sam of his coming; he suddenly wondered what he would say. He stopped outside the sunroom, at a mirror. Furiously he brushed at and smoothed his hair. He straightened the wrinkles in his uniform and checked for gunk in his teeth.

When he was as ready as he could be, he hastened in.

Sam's back was turned, she was reading on the window seat. She was framed in a sunbeam, and her hair glistened in the light.

At the sound, she turned, and the smile that leapt to her face already answered one of his questions.

"So you did miss me," he jested.

She scrambled to her feet. "Eddie!"

Before he could move, she had flown to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She quickly pulled away, flushing.

"I'm sorry, I suppose that was most improper."

He flashed her one of his infamous grins.

"Eddie, you are impossible!" Samantha smiled at him. "You simply must tell me all about you adventures."

When he had detailed the sadistic features of every sergeant and explained his current duties, he told her, "It's your turn!"

Her brow furrowed. "I really don't have much to tell, Eddie. Just-"

"Just what," he prompted.

"Nellie isn't the same. It's as if there's a whole side of her I never knew."

His eyes were troubled when he looked at her. "Just think, Sam. That girl worked in my mother's house for months and I hardly even knew her. When I have a household, I'm not going to have children for servants. Butlers and housekeepers are one matter, but nine year-olds slaving away is entirely different."

She laid her hand on his. "I'm glad you think that way. I do too."

"You have to remember, Sam, that Nellie doesn't have that much money. Without you, she really would be in a tenement. Try to keep her here. She hasn't lived in one in so long - it wouldn't be safe, not to mention sanitary."

"But, Eddie! That was years ago. She's a teacher now!"

"Sam, a teacher's salary, especially a female Irish teacher, isn't that much. It's as much as our housekeeper makes."

"Oh," Samantha said. "There's so much about the world I don't know. Ida is a teacher, but-"

"But she's from a wealthy family, teaching at a wealthy school."

"How unfair."

"Sam? I'm home, and I have some news!" Nellie called. She heard voices in the sunroom, so she followed the sound. Was that her name? Stopping outside the doorway, she listened.

"Isn't it," Eddie said. "Listen, I know it's improper to ask, but is she still courting that Sean you wrote me of?"

Sam replied. "Yes. Uncle Gard gave them his blessing, but we're hoping she meets a nice young man from a more well-to do family. Sean is very gentlemanly and polite, but you know how it is..."

Nellie twisted the new engagement ring on her finger and felt sick.