The trio talked and laughed and drank well into the night before they finally decided to part ways for the night, each of them having things they'd have to do the next morning.
Lafayette let John and Hercules walk with him down the street to the inn. "Bon nuit, monsieurs." He said to them, tipping his hat.
"Adieu, adieu to you, dear marquis." John replied, bowing with a flourish.
Lafayette laughed and waved to the pair before going into the building and up to his room. When he arrived, he locked the door behind him, stripped down to his socks and climbed into his bed. It wasn't as large or as soft as his bed at home, but it would do for a while. It would only be temporary, of course.
He slept hard and long until the sunlight of the new day started to stream into his room through the thin curtains. He rubbed his eyes and yawned before sitting up in the bed and stretching out his limbs. With that, he made sure no one was looking in the hall before quickly running across to the washroom to get clean for the day. The water was cold, but he didn't mind too much, as it seemed to wake him up further and helped alleviate his hangover.
When he was sure he was clean, he went back over to his room. He got dressed and tied up his red hair, tucking it all into his white wig. The young marquis made sure he looked good and ready for the day; tucking the slip of paper Hercules had given him into his pocket. He donned his hat and left the room, locking the door behind him. He went down to the little dining area of the inn to get the breakfast of a slice of porridge and a hardboiled egg.
Lafayette forced himself into toughing it out and swallowing down the porridge, having hated the dish since he was a young boy. There was something about the texture that made his nose wrinkle and eyebrows furrow in disgust. He downed his glass of water when the porridge was finally gone. He sighed and tapped the egg on the table gently before peeling it and eating it contently. He hummed in relief at the taste of the egg, heading out when he was finished with the meal.
He pulled out the address from his pocket and moved to ask someone on the street for directions to the location. He then headed on his way, smiling softly as he walked, going over what he'd say to the Major, how he'd appeal his mission to him. After a while of walking, he stopped outside the large home he'd been directed to. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door, making sure he knew what he'd ask the Major.
After a bit, the door opened, a dark skinned woman with big brown eyes on the other side.
"May I help you, sir?" She asked graciously.
Lafayette blinked, suddenly remembering that Americans seemed to have the odd tendency to keep slaves rather than paying for labor.
"Hello, mademoiselle. I was wondering if I might meet with the Major Huger. Major Benjamin Huger, that is." He explained to the woman after snapping out of his trance, part of him still miffed over the idea of keeping slaves at all. It was the late 1700's, after all. A more civilized time called for less barbaric practices like keeping unpaid, forced labor.
The woman nodded to him. "Alright, come in. I'll let him know he has a visitor. What is your name?"
"I'm the marquis de Lafayette." Gilbert replied to her easily as he stepped into the large house. He took off his hat politely, staying in the foyer as the woman nodded and went off on her way.
Lafayette took deep breaths to calm down and try to soothe his excited, pounding heart. If he charmed the Major and played his card well, he would be in a Continental Army uniform very soon, fighting for liberty for the United States.
He looked up when the older man came down the stairs and walked over to him.
"Bonjour, Major Huger, sir. I am Lafayette. It's a pleasure to meet you." The marquis greeted with a wide grin, taking the other's hand in his own, shaking it happily.
"Oh, hello. Forgive me, I was told that the marquis de Lafayette was here, but I didn't think you'd be so young." The major replied with a small smile to him with a small laugh at how friendly and charismatic the young Frenchman was being right off the bat.
"That's alright, monsieur. I get it a lot." Lafayette replied to him easily, finally letting go of the major's hand.
"Well, you seem to be a long way from home, marquis. May I ask what brings you all the way from France to my doorstep?"
"That's why I come, monsieur. You see, I am on a mission. I need to join the American army and lend my services to the fight for liberty."
The Major blinked at that and smiled softly to the young aristocrat. "Why don't we go talk in the sitting room, then? You can explain this a bit more for me."
Lafayette nodded and stepped into the house further, following the major to the sitting room and taking a seat in an armchair, settling in and crossing one of his legs over the other.
"So, you came all the way from France to serve in the Continental Army and fight for America's liberation. May I ask why? Angela, get a nice bottle for myself and monsieur Lafayette." The man said as he sat down in his own chair across from the young marquis. "Oh, and take his hat for him."
Lafayette let the woman take his hat and hang it up before she left to get them the wine and glasses. He explained everything to the major as well as he could with a limited vocabulary, trying to tell him about how there had been talk in Paris about the rebelling colonists in the New World that had initially interested him. Then, when the Declaration of Independence came into being, he made up his mind and made it a mission to travel to America to fight against the British.
The major listened as the young man did his best to explain himself, getting stuck on a few words as he spoke. He smiled softly as they were both given glasses of wine.
"Well, if you wish to join the army, I'd say you started with the right man, marquis. I just might have the connections to help you out. However, I'm heading back to South Carolina this afternoon. I don't suppose you would be able to come along with me?" the major explained as they sipped their wine together.
"That would be no problem, sir. I can get my things and check out of the inn right away." Lafayette replied with a happy grin to the other man.
"Wonderful. Lately the Continental Congress has gotten weary of having to turn away other French soldiers who don't speak English. However, with my connections and your connections, I think we can get them to budge."
"Thank you, sir. When should I be prepared to leave with you?"
"Why don't we finish our wines and you head back to the inn to do whatever you need to do? Then, if you can get here around noon. We'll have lunch to fill our bellies before we head out. The carriage should be ready around one."
Lafayette nodded and smiled to the major. "I think I can manage that, sir."
"Wonderful. I love someone who's flexible. So, tell me about yourself, marquis. Does your family know you're here? Does anyone in France know what you're doing? What is France like these days?"
"My wife, Adrienne, knows where I am, and I'm sure the majority of France has heard about my voyage by now. I fear I might have annoyed my dear wife with all my talk about leaving for America."
"You're married? How old are you, monsieur?"
"I'm nineteen, sir. We have a little baby girl, too, Henriette. She looks like her mother, but her mother says that she looks more like me."
"Nineteen years old with a wife and a child already? My God. How long have you two been married?"
"Three years now, sir. We fell for each other rather young and we absolutely had to be married. We're very happy together."
"Well, I suppose if you two were sure about your decision, then there's no harm in romance and marriage. What's your daughter like? Henriette, did you say she was named?"
"Yes, her name is Henriette. She looks like a little cherub with her mother's big green eyes. She was born with a lot of red hair rather like my own. She's almost a year old now. We love her to pieces, but she's never been too good at sleeping." Lafayette described to the man easily. "She's trying hard to walk, but most of the time she can be found crawling all over the house. She's rather fond of the word 'non'. "
The major smiled a bit at that and laughed a bit. "Well, I hope your wife won't have her arms too full without you around."
"Me too, sir. She is a smart, strong woman. I think she will be fine."
The major nodded and smiled to the young Frenchman as they finished their wine. "Well, I'd better let you head back and get packed."
Lafayette nodded and moved to stand up with Major Huger. "It was good to meet you, sir. I'll see you in an hour or so."
"You too, marquis." The major said as Angela came over with Lafayette's hat for him.
Lafayette put the hat on, tipped it to the major before he left the house. With that, he walked back to the inn to write another letter to Adrienne to explain to her what was happening and tell her about the three new friends he'd been able to make in America.
'Wish me luck, my dear. I will be traveling with Monsieur Major to South Carolina in just an hour or two. He says he might be able to get me into the military through his connections. I wonder how many more friends I'll be making even in this next week.
'You would like it here in the United States. Once it is liberated, I'll have to take you and Hanriette over for a visit. Perhaps I'll just take you, though. It could be our second honeymoon. It's not too different from France, though it's still very different. It's indescribable. I just know that I love it.
'When I write again, I'll be in South Carolina and, hopefully, well on my way to joining the Continental army. I love and miss you and Henriette. My bed seemed cold and lonely last night without you in it. However, that might partially be my fault. You know how I have a bad habit of sleeping in nothing more than my undergarments, no matter how cold it might be outside.
'I'm sending all my love to you and Henriette. If I get the chance, I will also send a gift or two for my two favorite ladies.' He wrote before signing the letter, addressing the envelope, and sealing it all up.
He then packed up all his things into his trunk once again. He brought all his things back down and checked out of the inn, paying for the night he'd stayed there. He sent out the letter for his wife and promptly headed back to Major Huger's home, returning about an hour and a half after he'd left. He set the trunk down and knocked on the door once again, smiling happily at the idea that soon he'd be heading off with the Major to South Carolina and would be well on his way to joining the army.
Once again, Angela answered the door and knowingly ushered him inside, taking his hat and trunk for him She then headed off to tell the Major he had returned.
Lafayette waited patiently and smiled to the Major when the man came back over to him with a wide smile on his face.
"Welcome back, marquis. Come, you're just in time for lunch. Then, we can start our journey to South Carolina." The Major said, gently setting a hand on the young man's back and leading him to the dining room.
"Thank you, sir. How long do you think it will take to get there?" Lafayette asked as he took a seat at one of the places at the table.
"It should take roughly a week to get there. We'll have plenty of time to talk and plan everything out on the way there." The Major replied as he sat down with the young aristocrat.
Lafayette nodded at that and sighed a bit. "Alright, I suppose there's nothing that can be done about that."
"I know how excited you must be to get in that uniform. Good things come with time, marquis." The Major said with a small smile at the slightly miffed look on the young man's face.
Lafayette nodded as their food was set in front of them, looking down at the plate of fish and green beans in front of him with a smaller plate of cheese on the side, red wine being poured into his glass in front of him.
"I hope you like it. We did our best to recreate a French lunch for you. I figured you might be a bit homesick. I know I would be if I was as young as you and an ocean away from home." The major explained with a small smile to Lafayette.
Lafayette broke into a grin to the major happily. "Thank you, monsieur. This means very much." He replied before they started to eat together contently, making polite conversation all through the meal, then sipping on the coffee that was served after the meal.
Once they were finished, they loaded up the carriage that had just arrived. As they left the city Lafayette spotted John Laurens's familiar freckled face and leaned out the window just a bit to wave to him.
"Where're you off to, Lafayette?" John asked as he walked alongside the coach that had to move slower in the town.
"We're going to South Carolina to –oh!" Lafayette replied, getting cut off by his own shock when his hat flew off his head in a gust of wind.
John laughed a bit and ran to catch the tricorn hat for him before sprinting back over to the Frenchman to return it.
"Don't go losing your things, Lafayette. See you again in uniform." He said with a happy laugh, waving to the pair as they left the city and the coach picked up speed.
Lafayette settled back into his seat, getting comfortable for the long ride to South Carolina. He eventually took off his hat and wig, letting his shoulder length red hair down easily. After a while, the major pulled out a book and started to read to him entirely in English to try and help teach the language a bit more to him.
Perhaps it was the major's voice, or the gentle rocking and bouncing of the coach, or a combination thereof, that ended up lulling him to sleep in his seat in the coach.