November 15, 1779 - Continued
When she arrived back home, Lillian found two horses tied to a post outside the tavern. Upon entering the establishment, she found it was far more packed than usual, as men were waiting in line to sign up for something.
"There you are!" Lillian turned around and found it was Cassandra who spoke. She came over to her and said, "I was wondering where you were."
"You know where I've been", said Lillian. "I've been out in the woods. What's going on here?"
"The Continental Army has asked for our help and needs more men. Half the town was against it, but most of them want to fight. Personally, I think they're doing the right thing."
Lillian, who could already see visions of the future flash before her eyes, viewed this as a terrible thing, like asking a commended men to his sign his own death warrant. One of the first men to sign up was Victor Winship, along with Randolph Danvers, Johnathan Masbeth, and so many others. Lillian could already tell that half these men would not be coming back alive, as some of them would end up buried in the ground before the first snow of winter. Men who would never return to see their families or friends ever again. Those who were betrothed would never return home to marry their wives or have any children to carry on their name. Widows who had no husbands would lose their eldest sons in battle and be left to care for her youngest children alone.
Lillian felt a slight pain in her head and closed her eyes, moaning softly as she placed a hand on her forehead.
"Are you all right?" Cassandra asked her.
"I'm fine." Lillian lowered her hand and looked at her friend. "What does your father have to say about all this?"
"He's not happy about it, but he's agreed to let the two soldiers use this place to recruit regarding the young man who's been asking for you."
"Who is he?"
Cassandra looked around to make sure no one was listening, then whispered to Lillian, "Mr. Vallingby, the one who was in here on the night of your abduction."
Lillian thought about it for a moment, trying to remember. Suddenly, her eyes widened in shock. "Richard Vallingby?"
"Yes, he's right over there."
Lillian looked over in the direction Cassandra was pointing in and saw the familiar face of Richard Vallingby sitting at a table with a man who looked to be about fourteen years older than him. The man was a little bit taller than Richard and wearing a soldier's uniform, his long, light brown hair tied back into a ponytail. He had a cleft in his chin. His eyes were blue and cold, his gaze just as intense as the Hessian's, only he wasn't a German.
Lillian had completely forgotten about Richard Vallingby, and right away, began to suspect that he was responsible for bringing those three men with him to Sleepy Hollow. All that talk about going to join the war was probably all nonsense just so they could take advantage of a simple village girl like herself. Lillian felt suspicious about him, and had a feeling his charm was all a ruse, as well. It had to have been a trick on his part. Richard never said where he was from, and he wasn't a local farm boy, either. He was an outsider. Therefore, he couldn't be trusted.
Before Lillian could say anything, Cassandra went over and whispered something to Richard, who looked over in Lillian's direction. A look of shock reflected on his thin face, his huge green eyes nearly popping right out of his skull. His complexion paled and his mouth hung open in a state of unbelievability, as though he had just seen a ghost.
Lillian turned away and went over to grab a dishrag from behind the counter and started to wipe down one of the tables, pretending she hadn't seen him.
Richard rose up from his seat and went over and told her, "Lillian, I need to speak with you."
"Not now, Mr. Vallingby, I'm busy", said Lillian, keeping her back to him.
"But, Miss Waise, it's important."
Knowing he wouldn't go away unless she talked to him, Lillian forced herself to look at him and asked, "What do you want, Richard?"
Before Richard could get a word out, the man who he had been sitting with came over and said, "What are you doing? You're supposed to be over here helping me recruit these people, not fraternizing with the maids."
"Sir, he wasn't fraternizing", Lillian defended, not liking this man already. "Furthermore, I don't appreciate the way you speak about the people of this town. Most of them are friends of my family. This is a farming community, and the people you're trying to recruit are not soldiers, they're farmers. If you think us too low to be Patriots, then maybe it would be better for you to go someplace else to recruit and leave us to tend to our crops in peace."
The blue-eyed man looked to his right and demanded, "Richard, who is this woman?"
"Robert, this is Lillian Waise", Richard introduced. "Lillian, this is my oldest brother, Robert. He's a colonel."
"Lillian Waise", Robert repeated, nodding and scanning the dark-haired young woman with judgmental eyes, then he cocked an eyebrow and asked her, "Tell me, Miss Waise. Is that a German name?"
"No, it's American", Lillian answered.
Robert scoffed. "Please. You're an American, but you were born under a German name. I despise the Germans just as much as I despise the British, but you people are all we have left." He spoke something to her in another language, to which Richard became furious and shoved his brother and spoke out against him, speaking in the same strange tongue. Before a fight could ensue, Cassandra came over and put a hand on Robert's shoulder, warning him and his brother to stop or they would have to leave the tavern. Robert pulled away from Cassandra and returned back to his table to continue hiring recruits, leaving Richard to do whatever he thought was best.
Richard kept glaring eyes on his brother, as he straightened his jacket and said to Lillian, "I'm sorry you had to hear that."
"What did you tell him?" Lillian asked.
"I told him to leave you alone and for him to go-" Richard caught himself and paused for a moment to get a grip on his temper. "Well, let's just say I told him something that should never come out of a gentleman's mouth."
"What language was that you two were speaking?"
"It's Swedish. My great grandparents immigrated over from Stockholm, but that's not important." Richard turned to her and said, "Lillian, all I wanted to tell you was that I'm sorry for what happened that night."
"What night?"
"The night I met you. Cassandra told me about those three man and-"
"They were friends of yours, I assume?" Lillian asked him accusingly.
"No, ma'am!" Richard exclaimed in shock. "Lillian, I swear to you by my heart, I had nothing to do with those men. I didn't even know them. I came here by myself to join my brother in the war. I really did mean it when I said I wanted to speak to you and get to know you that night because I was afraid I would die sooner or later. All I wanted was for one last chance to talk to a beautiful woman before I had to leave. I only wanted to be your friend."
"Your friend", Lillian repeated doubtingly, sounding like she didn't believe it. "Yes, Richard, I'm sure that's exactly what you had in mind all along."
"Lillian, I swear it was never my intention to mistreat you in any way that would bring you shame. If I wanted to be with a woman in that manner, I would have stayed behind in New York."
Lillian blinked and asked him, "You're from New York?"
"Yes", Richard answered. "I didn't want to leave home, but I was peer-pressured into joining the army by my brother. Robert thinks that killing someone will make me into a better man, but I don't agree with him. I'm not afraid to fight for freedom and stand up against tyranny, but I believe there are better ways of proving oneself to be a man other than shedding blood and hacking off limbs."
"Well, I'm sorry to hear about your rivalry with your brother, but if you were really concerned about me, you would have stayed behind in Sleepy Hollow and search for me in the Western Woods."
"But I did want to search for you. When I recovered from the blow to my head, I wanted so much to find you after I found out you were missing. I couldn't bare the thought of leaving this place without knowing if you were alive or not, but Robert found me and ordered me to report to camp immediately. He reprimanded me for not showing up when I was supposed to and told me we couldn't waste any time looking for one person when countless lives were at stake. Believe me, Lillian, you have no idea much I wanted to strangle him for saying that."
"Well, you needn't worry about me anymore. As you can see, I'm very much alive."
"Which is why I wanted to ask you something, something that probably no man has ever asked you before."
"Please don't say anything that will embarrass me, Richard. Why are you really here? Surely, it can't be because you care about this war."
"No, I don't. To be honest, I'd much rather be doing something else, something that means more to me than the war."
"Like what?"
"Like seeking out a woman who is kind, brave and speaks noting but the truth. To search for someone who I can marry and come home to when the war is over. I used to be betrothed to a girl I knew since childhood, but she fell in love with somebody else. When I came here and I saw you for the first time, I felt as though I had seen an angel sent down from Heaven above. Something about you awakened my soul and made me feel like I had a purpose for being here."
"Mr. Vallingby, if you're offering me a proposal, I think a gentleman of your background would be much better off marrying a countess", said Lillian.
Richard shrugged. "I wouldn't exactly be too sure about that. After all, even a monkey has better manners than a countess."
Lillian smiled softly and laughed at his witty remark. "Surely, you don't mean that", she said.
"I hate to disagree with you, but you're wrong", said Richard.
Lillian stared at him a minute, then slowly, her smile vanished. "What are you saying?"
"What I'm trying to say is that I love you, Lillian."
Suddenly, Lillian seemed to have forgotten how to breathe and stared at him in shock. A young man who she barely knew had just come right out and proclaimed he loved her. Nobody had ever done that to her before.
Mr. Mortner called out from across the tavern, "Lillian, give a round of scotch to those men over there, will you?"
Lillian looked over her right shoulder to see which direction he was pointing at, then returned her gaze to Richard, who waited patiently for her to say something. She didn't say anything, but stepped away and turned around and went to tend to the customers, forgetting she heard him.
Richard looked confused as he watched her walk away, ignoring him in a way that left him feeling slightly hurt. He was a hopeless romantic at heart, which was arguably his biggest flaw, as his big brother often pointed out to him, but Richard had convinced himself that Lillian was the right one for him. He may not have been as brave or strong or powerful as other men, but he believed in the greatest, strongest, most powerful thing in the universe, which was love. Even if she didn't return his feelings, he still appreciated her and wanted to be her friend, no matter what the consequences.
Lillian went behind the counter to grab a bottle of scotch and walked over to pour drinks for some of the customers while looking over towards Robert, who gave her a cold, hard stare back.
Later that night, Lillian lied in her bed, wide awake and thinking about Richard and his brother, Robert. She could already tell that Robert didn't like her, and she didn't care much for him, either. On the other hand, Richard left her feeling confused, as he wholeheartedly proclaimed his love to her. Lillian did not share the same feelings towards the younger Mr. Vallingby, as her heart already belonged to another man.