Susannah POV
I watched him leave. After a while, it registered to me that I was sad he was gone. I sighed and turned back to help Eliza tidy up. She could tell I was depressed. "What's wrong, Susannah?" she asked me, eager to make me feel better. "Oh… I just… Well…." "Do you miss your family? Are you scared to be here where none of them know where you are?" I nodded, unable to tell her that I was also sad to see Major Davis go in such a hurry. She looked into my eyes and said, "Don't worry, I felt the same way when I first arrived. These men won't try to hurt you, Susannah, and if they do, I'm sure that the General and Major Davis would do something about it." I smiled at her, thanked her, and turned to sit on my cot, staring at the ground while I hoped she was right. "Honestly," I heard her trailing off, "I don't know why Major Davis hasn't been promoted to a higher rank…"
The next day I decided to go for a walk and explore the campgrounds. Eliza offered to give me a tour and came with. It started to rain lightly, but we just kept walking, paying no attention to the drizzle. She pointed out who stayed where and where each person was from, who not to run into, and the general locations of nearby landmarks. I wasn't really listening, but something did catch my attention. "Major Davis stays there," she said, then continuing her evaluation of the camp. After hearing his name again, I couldn't keep my mind off of him. There was something so mysterious about him. It captured me and I just kept repeating his name in my mind. William Simon Davis. It took a little while for my thought process to suggest that maybe I was starting to feel more towards him than a friendship or gratitude.
I stopped walking once I had thought of this. There was really no way that I had any special liking towards him. My brother was a Colonel in the Union Army, for goodness sakes! How could I fraternize with the enemy- a Confederate Major? Furthermore, I had only met Major Davis yesterday. I tried to refute that I felt a gravitation towards him and that I was only grateful that he had showed up right when he had, but then Eliza noticed that I had stopped walking.
"Susannah? Is something the matter? Are you hurt or tired?" she asked. I looked at her and judging from her expression, my face must have shown the shock at the debate going on inside my head. "Umm… N-no, I'm sorry. Let's keep walking." I tried to keep the subject off of him, but I had to know if he was back. "Is he here?" I asked. "Is who here?" she said in a confused voice. "Major Davis," I said slowly. "Yes?" said a deep, clear voice from behind me. I turned quickly to find myself looking at Major Davis himself. His hair was wet and plastered to his face from the rain and his uniform was splattered with mud. He looked fatigued.
"Oh! Good afternoon, sir. I just wanted to thank you properly for coming to my aid yesterday morning." "It was no problem, Miss Shaw. I am only glad that I arrived when I did, and not a moment later." He looked at me for a few seconds until he averted his eyes and cleared his throat. He uttered a small goodbye and took off. Eliza squinted her eyes at me and I knew I hadn't told her why I was here, but I could tell she was going to find out.
William POV
I could have been lost in Miss Shaw's eyes forever. They were beautiful; light brown with touches of emerald green. I was so surprised when she asked Eliza if I was at camp that I couldn't help but join in. Plus, Eliza had seen me so it would have been impossible to sneak off. Then I saw her eyes and just… got lost. I didn't want to look away or leave, but for propriety's sake, I had to. I may not be a British gentleman in terms of propriety, but I was raised to uphold some standards. Besides, it isn't like she has any special regard towards me. I am supposed to be a Confederate soldier fighting for a Confederate cause, not a lovesick puppy doting on a woman from the Union.
I found it strange that I had thought of her during my whole trip with the correspondence for General Armistead. I was offered to stay the night at the other camp to rest, but I refused. Among other reasons, I wanted to see Susannah again, and as soon as possible. When I had realized that my reasons for wanting to come back so quickly were mostly because of her, I also realized that I did have feelings towards her. As much as I would have loved for her to feel the same way towards me, I knew it could not happen. Not at least until this war was over.
I reported to General Lee and asked for permission to rest for the remainder of the day, which was granted seeing as I had been riding all night. I found it hard to fall asleep because my conscience was getting at me. I wanted to do something good, but what is good when you are in a war? When I finally fall asleep, I could only dream about Susannah- ahem, Miss Shaw. I pictured her flowing hair, her bright eyes, and captivating smile. My mind told me to avoid her at all costs, but I knew that that could never happen.