Susannah POV
About an hour had passed since I had left Major Davis to talk with General Grant. I had not told him where to find me and just as I was about to go back to find him, he poked his head inside my tent. General Grant must have told him where to find me. "Susannah? Would you mind walking with me?" he asked. "Of course," I said and we left. We walked for a few minutes until we sat under a tree near the edge of the encampment. I noticed that he was no longer wearing his grey Confederate suit, but was now dressed in the navy blue Union uniform. While he looked dashing in grey, the blue brought out his eyes and made him look much more handsome than before. I was, however, curious as to his change of clothing.
Finally, I couldn't take it any longer and I had to ask him, "What did you want to tell me?" He took my hand, but couldn't look me in the eye. "I know that this is going to sound crazy, but I'm not Major William Simon Davis. My real name is William Ethan McKinley. I am a Major in the Union army and I am from Massachusetts," he said. I was speechless. The man I thought I knew was someone wholly different. I pulled my hand away from his grasp. "What do you mean? How…How can that be?" He sighed, "I am a spy under General Grant's direct order. It was because of me that we found out about Gettysburg in the first place."
William was a spy. He had risked everything to help his country- and to help me. I was caught completely unaware by his confession and now I questioned everything about him. Which William had I fallen in love with? He waited patiently while I struggled to find what to say. "I- who… Who are you?" He tried to reach for my hand again, but I would not let him take it until I had some answers. "Susannah, I am the same man that saved you after Chancellorsville, the same man that saved you during the storm, and the same man that you saw crying about sending all of the men who just died to their death." I hadn't realized that he had been emotional about the repercussions of sending information to the Union. Our fight made sense now. Everything made sense now and I realized that he was telling the truth.
This time I tentatively took his hand and rested my head on his shoulder. Our backs were leaning on the tree. "I believe you," I said, "I just wish that you had told me earlier somehow. I wouldn't have said anything…" He looked at me and said, "Susannah, I wanted to. I almost did on so many different occasions. I just could not do it." He told me that he almost slipped up and told me his real name when he first met me. "I had been on my way back from a meeting with my brother- another Union soldier- when I came across you."
He rubbed the back of his neck and then scratched at the stubble on his face. "I've actually wanted to tell you that… that I love you too. You said that you loved me and then, well, then we kissed, but I never told you." I was honored that he felt the need to tell me, but I already knew. "I think," I said, "that falling in love with you when there was something keeping us apart just proves that there is something between us." We smiled at each other and sat there a little longer until it started to grow dark. He had gotten permission from General Grant to leave indefinitely and all he had to do was contact him if he wanted to join back and be a spy or a consultant of sorts.
I was much happier than I had been for a long time, and felt it was time I visited my parents. I also wanted to find out how Robert and Cabot were doing. William accompanied me to my childhood home. Once told of his story, my parents were very impressed with him. Even my sisters were jealous. Things seemed to be going well.
Then, it happened. It was July 20th when a messenger came to our house and handed a letter to my father. He started to read it, and I saw him cry. I had never seen this from him before. My mother looked concerned, "Francis, what is it?" she asked. He looked up from the letter and spoke in a broken voice, "Robert… is dead."
Aww, sadness.