By the month of November, the family physician recommended that Mrs Brandon enter her confinement by the second part of December. Lieutenant Colonel Brandon looked forward to the sound of childrens' voices in his home—it had been nearly decades since he heard it last. Of course that was not exactly true—Miss Williams' secret birth of a mulatto son had been the first.
The future for Delaford and the surname Brandon had not appeared too bright. The last time a Brandon heir was born had been nearly four decades ago. For the future survival of his surname and the Delaford estate, Brandon knew a legitimate male heir was essential. On a personal level, he feared that Marianne's first child would be a son when he secretly hoped for a daughter. The thought of raising another man's daughter was slightly easier to bear than the prospects of raising someone else's son. Especially if the daughter resembled Marianne—it was less likely anyone would question the paternity of a daughter. Regardless of the child's gender, it would always be Marianne's child.
His young bride may be significantly younger —yet the thought of parenthood scared Brandon almost as much as the prospects of raising an other man's child as his own. He therefore hoped Marianne's firstborn child would be a daughter—not a son. That way the unborn child would not serve as a constant reminder of his wife's past. He had already chosen a name for his daughter—she would be christened Marianne after her mother, but he would always call her Rosemary. Not that Brandon ever mentioned that to Mrs Brandon—it was still considered to bring bad luck to the expecting mother and the unborn child.
"Please, inform me at once when Mrs Brandon's labor starts!" he had insisted.
"Of course, Brandon. I promise you will be the first to know," Eliza assured him.
A few weeks passed and December was approching and with it the end of 1776. The family physician was calling on Mrs . Brandon once a week now. The soon to be father insisted upon it. When the family physician announced that he predicted that the birth of Mrs . Brandon's firstborn was near Lieutenant Colonel Brandon was becoming more concerned and impatient.
"I insist you also let me know if our firstborn is daughter or a son," he continued.
Fortunately for the Delaford inhabitants Brandon happened to be out on an arrend - which was rather rare. He reluctantly wanted to leave Delaford since there was a new baby on the way. Brandon had never neglected his duties or responsabilities towards the neighborhood and he knew he could not start now. If he delibrately decided to let Mr . Yvon take care of his business he predicted that he would want to be present every time his younger wife was expected to give birth. That simply could not be, not when his wife as healthy and young as she was. Mrs . Marianne Brandon was only ten and seven and Brandon knew some women could still concieve healthy children well over their fourthieth birthday. That meant that Mrs . Brandon potentially could bear children for another thirty years. He quickly did some headcounting, if God was willing he might live to see his 66th birthday.
Brandon did not return to Boston, or Delaford before later in the evening when the sun had began to set. By then one of his workers told him Mrs . Brandon already had given birth. He quickly ushered his horse. In his head he pictured Marianne alone and scared - never having experienced childbirth before. He shook his head - it was unfortunate that his wife's family was estranged. Mrs . Dashwood was remarried to a Scouthish Loyalist and lived in Rhode Island. Marianne's younger sister Margaret had run away and married an Irish patriot two years ago now. The middle sister Elinor still lived with their mother's new family yet there was stubborn rumors that said Miss Elinor Dashwood was expected to marry another Scottish Loyalist. Marianne had not seen her older sister Elinor since their visit to Delaford, Margaret she had last seen when she visited Norland with her newborn son. As for her own mother last time she saw her was just before Easter. Neither of the four of them had heard a sign that indicated that their older stepbrother still was alive. Fanny Dashwood, was the only other woman Marianne knew that was familiar with pregnancies and childbirths. Brandon knew Mrs . Dashwood wanted as little as possible to do with her estranged husband's family.
As soon as Marianne heard the familar sound Brandon's footsteps she let out a relieved smile and prepared herself to see her husband. She was slightly worried she knew that everyone at Delaford was expecting her to give birth to a son - a legitimate Brandon heir.
"My dear, please forgive me for not making you the father of a son," whispered Marianne.
"Hush, now Mrs Brandon—you could never disappoint me," he answered with a thick voice as tears began running from the corners of his eyes.
"Then please inform the reason for your tears—are those tears of joy or misery?" she worriedly inquired. He was relieved to learn that his beloved Marianne had given birth to a daughter. A daughter he could learn to love especially if she resembled his young wife. Since the newborn daughter was conceived out of wedlock, he was not obliged to have her enrolled in the West Nottingham Academy in Colora, Maryland. More importantly, it was still not socially accepted for daughters to receive any kind of formal education. He was certain that Eliza would agree on nursing Marianne's daughter as well—perhaps he would not need to seek a separate wet-nurse for the newborn girl. Brandon realized, however, that the little one would need a nanny and a governess eventually if she ever was to have a chance of entering the season in Boston and one day—hopefully—be married. Even though Lieutenant Colonel Brandon was considered a distinguished man, he could still only afford to send his firstborn son to a private boarding school. A second son would have to seek a position in the British Royal army, a third son in the British Royal Marine force, a fourth son could possibly become a lawyer, a fifth son either doctor or a clergyman, a sixth son a farmer, a seventh son a baker, blacksmith or a carpenter.
Marianne allowed Brandon to choose the name for her newborn daughter. Little Marianne Rose was born on the last day of 1776. Her godmothers were Mrs . Fanny Ferrars, and Miss Elinor Dashwood, and the godfather was Mr . Brandon.
Meanwhile, Mrs . Brandon's remarried mother Mrs . MacTavish was currently experiencing another side of married life. Annie realized how fortunate she was that her first husband had loved her from the moment they first met. She was grateful that late Mr . Dashwood had been a caring and loving father to all of their three daughters. Late Mr Dashwood did not care that his second wife never managed to give him a spare son. Through Mr Dashwood's firstborn son John, the family name Dashwood would still manage to continue for at least another generation. The future of Norland was therefore not threatened. But that comfortable privilege was no longer part of her current life. It was now part of her past...
"I know that you probably would have wanted all your daughters to marry colonists, wife. Seeing that I'm your current husband and a British loyalist, I think you will understand that I cannot approve of such a union for your eldest daughter. I happen to have a nephew—around the same age as Miss Dashwood. I know he has been looking for a suitable young woman to marry," explained Mr . MacTavish.
"Naturally, dearest. Allow me to say I am very fortunate that you consider my Elinor not only worthy of your help, but a suitable match for your nephew. I am forever grateful towards you," Mrs . MacTavish said, nodding in silent agreement.
"My nephew, Mr Ruari Erskine,happens to be my legal heir and the future owner of this estate, in the unfortunate event of lack of sons" he stated coldly.
"Oh, please Mr . MacTavish - do you mean to say that your estate as well is subject of being turned, " whispered the wife and twisted her hands that lay in her lap.
"Unfortunately it is so, so I hope you understand that it is vital that my firstborn son eventually regains his health. Otherwise all hope rests on you to give me a male heir," he stated calmly.
"Forgive me, husband, there are still no news," she whispered, looking down onto her hands in shame.
"That's most unfortunate,my dear. I suppose it is expected. Late Mrs . MacTavish was twice your age when she expected our second Allison. If I am not mistaken, you actually married your late husband young and had had your three daughters before the age of five and twenty," he continued. He hoped he never would experience the loss of a child—not when he already lost his young wife just three years into their marriage. He had distanced himself from his son—at a time when his son needed him the most. As for his daughter, straight after the premature death of his wife, he blamed their newborn daughter for her mother's death. As the two children grew up, they both got accustomed to being cared for different nannies and governesses. They rarely saw their father; they never knew who their own mother was.
"I think you will be much relieved to know that our firstborn son will be enrolled in the Choir School of Glasgow Cathedral in his late stepbrother's stead ," he explained.
"As the de facto mother of your second son, I feel it is my duty to speak up. I sincerely hope you have not planned to keep your current wife separated from her child too soon after birth. A newborn needs their mother's care and attention, " she insisted.
"Dear Mrs . MacTavish, you seem to forget that your social standing prevents you from standing behind the stove. Second, you are only Alistair's and Allison's stepmother who happens not to be Scottish. Of course I expect our future children to be familiar with traditional Scottish cuisine, but I can afford to hire another Scottish kitchenmaid," he reprimanded.
"I wish you would allow me into the domains of the kitchen! At least so I could learn to cook traditional haggis. Young children should not be deprived of their mothers's own cooking," she vividly objected.
On the 29th, Washington once again led the army across the river, and established a defensive position at Trenton. On the 31st, Washington appealed to his men, whose enlistments expired at the end of the year, "Stay for just six more weeks for an extra bounty of ten dollars." His appeal worked, and most of the men agreed to stay. That day, Washington also learned that Congress had voted to give him wide-ranging powers—often described as dictatorial—for six months.
During the night, Washington called a council of war and asked his officers whether they should stand and fight, attempt to cross the river somewhere, or take the backroads to attack Princeton. Although the idea had already occurred to Washington, he learned from two of his men that his plan to attack Princeton was indeed possible. Two intelligence collection efforts, both of which came to fruition at the end of December 1776, supported such a surprise attack. After consulting with his officers, they agreed that the best option was to attack Princeton.
Washington ordered that the excess baggage be taken to Burlington where it could be sent to Pennsylvania. The ground had frozen, making it possible to move the artillery without it sinking into the ground. By midnight, the plan was complete, with the baggage on its way to Burlington and the guns wrapped in heavy cloth to stifle noise and prevent the British from learning of the evacuation. Washington left 500 men behind with two cannon to patrol, keep the fires burning, and to work with picks and shovels to make the British think that they were digging in. Before dawn, these men were to join up with the main army.
By 2:00 AM the entire army was in motion roughly along Quaker Bridge Road through what is now Hamilton Township. The men were ordered to march in absolute silence. Along the way, a rumor was spread that they were surrounded and some frightened militiamen fled for Philadelphia. The march was difficult, as some of the route ran through thick woods and it was icy, causing horses to slip, and men to break through ice on American guns opened fire onto the British, who were preparing to attack, and the guns were able to hold them off for several was able to get one company to fire a volley but it fled immediately afterwards. At this point, Washington arrived with the Virginia Continentals and Edward Hand's riflemen. Washington ordered the riflemen and the Virginians to take up a position on the right hand side of the hill and then Washington quickly rode over to some fleeing men.
Washington, with his hat in his hand, rode forward and waved the Americans forward, while he rode ahead on his horse. At this point, Mawhood had moved his troops slightly to the left to get out of the range of the American artillery fire. Washington gave orders not to fire until he gave them the signal, and when they were thirty yards away, he turned around on his horse, facing his men. At this moment, the British also fired, obscuring the field in a cloud of smoke.
Joe Ferrars happened to pass by the Ferrars Iron Nest. He was oblivious to the fact that Mr . Edward Ferrars had deserted and just as unaware of the fact that the same man was disinherited. Therefore none of the residents ever expected that the only fred worker would dare to show their face again. Had it not been for the eldest Ferrars male the indentured worker known as Joe would never have been aworded his freedom. Mrs . Ferrars knew that, just as Mrs . Dashwood was painfully aware of the same.
One of the first matters of business that Miss Amelia Grey dared to medle in was the subject of the male indentured worker Joe. Now when Robert Ferrars not only was the Ferrars future heir but also her intended husband. Amelia hoped that it might be possible to take back Edward's decison to free Joe.
"What business do you have here?", asked an indentured worker in a suspicious tone of voice.
"Excuse me, I'm Joe. Joe Ferrars. One of the sons helped to liberate me."
"Of course, I heard about you. Everyone here has,"continued the woman,impatiently tapping her foot.
"I was hoping to be able to call upon Mr . Ferrars, I want to pay him my respect especially since I know I kind of am in debt to him," he continued , he sensed the athmosphere was changed. That made him nervous...
"Haven't you heard? The natural Ferrars heir has been disowned and the new heir is the younger Mr Robert Ferrars." Explained the woman and crossed her shoulders as she looked upon the shaby man with disgust.
Joe Ferrars looked over his shoulders and was soon on his feet, he took of running as soon as he realized it was a mistake of him to come back to New York. He quickly decided that he was going to visit the only person that would be able to grant Lucy her freedom. That meant he would have to go to Boston and the Delaford estate. He should be nervous he knew what he was asking for from a man he never met. The fact that the Master of Delaford recently had sworn his loyality towards the British Joe assumed that man was their only chance to ever be togheter.
"Excuse me, Lieutenant Colonel Brandon, I came here to confirm that you indeed will offer Lucy her release as previously agreed."
"No, Joe—unfortunately, I'm not in a position to grant Lucy her freedom, though she would be the first I'd liberate. Lucy is the property of Mrs . Brandon," explained the Lieutenant Colonel.
Washington reported his own army's casualties as 6 or 7 officers and 25 to 30 enlisted men killed, giving no figures for the report states that the Americans had "30 enlisted men and 14 officers killed"; gives 10 officers and 30 enlisted men killed; Edward G. Lengel gave total casualties as 25 killed and 40 wounded. The Loyalist newspapers, the New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, reported on January 17, 1777 that the American losses at Princeton had been 400 killed and wounded.
Margaret knew she was not like any typical Irish wife, and to be honest, that suited her fine. It was unfortunate that her young husband's late mother had been dead and buried for ten years—the Irish family recipes were traditionally passed from mothers and daughters and shared between paternal mother-in-laws and their daughter-in-laws. It was something Margaret most likely never would get a chance to experience or learn. Fortunately though, her next-door neighbor Mrs . Kennedy happened to be Irish, and soon enough, she shared her own family's traditional Irish recipes. Margret planned to surprise her husband with some black pudding , colcannon, and shepherd's pie once he returned home. To celebrate the ending of the current war, she was going to serve Irish barmbrack as a celebratory meal As soon as she had learned the recipe for oatmeal, she was going to serve that for breakfast for her husband, and on holidays she was going to feed him a full Irish breakfast. Unfortunately though, the last time Mr . O'Shennessy was seen alive was before he left to join the American forces at Princeton. The food that Margret carefully planned to surprise her husband with was instead served on his funeral, which was a small consolation. At least her son would be raised on his mother's Irish cooking.