(William's POV)
Five days later, the house was completely in order for Cornwallis' arrival; Alastor had gone back to town for a couple of weeks.
It was noon when the lord general arrived; Braden and Brielle were finished with diner and were in the sitting room with Mary when I answered the door.
"Welcome, my lord. Come in."
"Thank you, Colonel. Well, it has been a while hasn't it? How is your family?"
"It has grown since you last saw it." I replied. "My son Braden is six and we have a daughter, Brielle, who is four. And, my wife is pregnant with twins."
"Well now, things certainly have changed. And I must say, you have a beautiful home."
"Thank you, my lord."
I took Cornwallis into the sitting room and re-introduced him to Mary and Braden, and introduced him to Brielle. Then I showed him to his room.
"You've done well." The lord general commented as we entered his room. "Definitely much better than I thought you could. A beautiful home and a beautiful family."
'Not completely, but that part is gone for two weeks.' I thought, biting my lip to keep from smirking.
"I heard your brothers also live here in New Brunswick, is that right?"
"Yes and very close to here, actually. They came to visit not long after we moved here, but decided that they didn't want to go back to England, so they stayed here."
"Interesting… You seem quite the family man now."
"Yes, I suppose so. But I still returned to active duty; I guess a part of me misses it. You know, I can't go walking around armed to the teeth like I used to. Mary would kill me because of the children. So, I don't get quite as much target practise in, not that it matters; I'm still as accurate as I was during the war."
"I expected as much." Replied Cornwallis. "You were never one to slouch on such things; and never before you, did I ever have to tell someone that they were too efficient at their job."
'Lovely. References to brutal tactics.' I thought, smiling awkwardly. 'All you did was sit there on a hill atop your steed. For me, it was kill or be killed.'
"Yes well, there's a first for everything; anyway, I'll leave you here to get settled and I'll see you downstairs for supper."
