"Oh Ben! What happened?"

"Tis nothing' just a little musket ball to the shoulder; a little memento from Yorktown," Ben brushed off her concern lightly, and smiled at her.

"Bbrrrriiiinnngggg" the bell above the door sounded again, and both Felicity and Ben turned to greet the customer.

"What in the---," Mister Merriman gasped to see his daughter in the arms of some man. Ben lifted his bowed head and smiled at Mister Merriman.

"I came to fulfill my contract."

"Ben!" Mister Merriman crossed the room in two great strides and embraced the apprentice who was like a son to him. "Welcome home my boy." He greeted him, tears in the corners of his eyes, "Welcome home." Marcius was right behind Mister Merriman and gave Ben's uninjured hand a hearty shake. "We are glad to have you back."

"This calls for a celebration!" Mister Merriman cried, wiping the tears from his eyes. Turning the sign in the front window to read 'closed,' he locked up shop and the group headed home.

Ben was greeted back with loving arms into the Merriman household, Rose and Mrs. Merriman prepared a great dinner for the family and there was much crying and hugging. William begged Ben to tell him all about being a solider and proclaimed that one day he wanted to be a hero like Ben. Ben gave the boy a sad smile a trossled his hair, "I am no hero, General Washington, he is a hero. No, I am but a solider who fought for what I believe in."

That night Felicity lay in her bed, unable to sleep from the excitement in heart: Ben is finally home! He is safe! Her body tingled with excitement, and finally, unable to stand it anymore, she flung off the comforter and pulled on a dressing gown over her shift.

Wrapped in a blanket, she stole away to the stables. Closing the barn door softly behind her, Penny broke the night's silence and neighed in happy approval of the midnight visitor.

"Oh Penny my girl, Ben is home. The war is over and we won--we truly are independent now." she hugged her beloved horse.

"I see you have not grown out of sneaking into this stable at all hours of the night." Ben laughed sleepily; "well at least you are wearing your own clothing now."

Felicity cast down her eyes and blushed.

"Come here," he gestured to her and pulled her closed. Ben kissed the top of her head and then rested his chin atop her head as he held her in his arms. Felicity could hear the steady beating of his heart. The world seemed to stop and time stood still. Finally, Ben motioned to the bench and they sat.

"Felicity . . . you have been my best friend for years now. When I was out there . . . in that jail . . . I, I do not know, but suddenly all I could think about was you, especially after you came to visit. Where my mind had been previously filled with the grandeur of war and fighting for our independence, came thoughts of coming home to you, fighting for you and a future--and a family. I . . .," Ben looked down at his hands in his lap as he stumbled over his words, "but suddenly, it was strange." he tried to explain, "suddenly I was scared: scared that I might lose you--I might not come home to you or worse, that I would and find you had found another; sacred at my feelings for you. I have never felt this way about another person." he let a out a small laugh, "scared because never in my whole life have I talked with anyone as much or as personally as I do with you--you scared me Felicity Merriman. And yet I felt stronger, stronger because I knew I had to get home to you, stronger because you too believed in the cause and in me--I wanted to be worthy of that. Felicity, I want to be worthy of your love, I want to be yours if you will let me."

felicity smiled and took Ben's hands into her own, looking into his eyes she said, "You always were."

A few days following Ben's return a post rider came to the Merrimans' with a letter for a 'Miss Felicity Merriman.' The moment her eyes saw the writing on the parchment, Felicity recognized it as Henry's. Abruptly leaving the younger members of her family in the parlor, she went to read the letter in the privacy of her room; Ben gazed in wonderment at her frightened demeanor. He looked towards Nan for explanation and all he got was a hung head as Nan returned to her stitching. He then looked to William who just shrugged his shoulders.

Up in her room, Felicity all but knew what the letter said, she could feel it in her stomach. Hands shaking, she opened the letter and scanned the lines:

Dear Felicity,

I am off to make myself worthy of you. As I am about to enter my first battle I cannot help to admit that I am nervous . . .

If you are reading this, then I am afraid my time on this earth has past. I am not afraid of death, what I am afraid of is a loveless life. I remember me when I am gone and look upon our time together with fondness. I will always hold you in my heart.

Henry

Clutching the letter to her breast, she thought in horror "Oh no! What had she done!" and sunk onto the bed.

"Felicity?" Ben knocked on the door, "is everything alright?" he asked with concern.

"I am fine, Ben, no need to worry." Felicity called out, but her voice betrayed her and Ben opened the door and approached her. Sitting down on the bed next to her, he again asked her if everything was alright. When she said nothing, he carefully took the crumpled letter out of her hand and skimmed the words. The sudden intake of breath let Felicity know that his heart was caught in his chest for a moment.

"Felicity?"

"I did not love him! The whole time I wished it were you! I was false and now I have gone and sent him to his death!" she cried and turned to weep into the pillows.

Ben did not know what to make of this. He just sat next to her and let her cry her tears as he stared blankly out her window. Eventually, he gently rose and excused himself from the room. At the dinner table, both hung their heads in silence and spoke not a word to each other. Passing the dinner rolls to his wife, Mister Merriman commented that this was the quietest meal ever taken at their table. The next few days passed similarly; Felicity did not know what to say to Ben and Ben did not know how to comfort felicity for even though he knew she loved him, part of him felt betrayed that she had gone and been courted by another. He knew it was illogical, but he could not help feeling that way. It wasn't until Mister Merriman confronted him that he felt better.

"She loved you all the while, and do not blame her for her actions. We pushed her into courting, if anyone is to be held at fault 'tis her mother and I. But no one should be put to blame, you are young, she met another and still cared for you. That should show you how steadfast her love is for you for no matter what Henry offered, he was not you, and that was all that mattered to her."

"Felicity?" Ben said softly, knocking on the open bedroom door. She looked up at him in a half-guilty half mournful stare.

"I didn't--"

"Hush, I know." Ben looked at her with understanding eyes and suddenly Felicity knew everything would be alright--Ben was not upset with her. "Felicity, you did not drive him to join up, you did not cause his death. He went out of his own accord. You are being too hard on yourself."

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a thin blue ribbon, dingy from handling, with a small pearl dangling from the cord. He reached around and fastened the necklace around her neck. Felicity looked down and touched the pearl with her fingertips and then looked up in wonderment at Ben.

"If you will have me, I it would be honor to be your husband."

Throwing her arms around him, Felicity smiled in pure bliss, "I will have you Benjamin Davidson, with all of my heart."