Philip was sat at the head of the table in the Schuyler dining room; his conscript letter set on the table in front of him. The letter had arrived shortly after Eliza had got back home and ever since then his two daughters had been begging him not to go.
"You can't!" Peggy cried for what felt like the thousandth time, "Daddy please! Just…please!"
Eliza scrubbed her hand across her face, trying to wipe away some of the tears that had been steadily falling ever since she'd gotten home, "You'll die," she whispered, "You'll be killed,"
Philip sighed and got to his feet, leaning heavily on his cane. He made his way around the table to Eliza and gently laid his hand on her shoulder, "You don't know that," he said,
"Yes, I do!" Eliza cried, jumping out of her chair, "You can barely walk," she shouted, pointedly looking at Philip's cane, "You won't last five minutes on a battlefield before you are killed!"
"Eliza-"
"No! We need you, what are we meant to do without you?" Eliza flopped back down into her chair, fresh tears falling down her cheeks.
Philip beckoned Peggy over and wrapped his arms around his two daughters, "I have to go," he said, "I don't have a choice, but General Washington and myself are old friends, maybe he'll have a job for me off the battlefield,"
"There can't be a high chance of that happening," Eliza sniffed,
"But it isn't impossible," Philip pulled away and turned to face Peggy, "You have grown up to be such a beautiful young woman and never doubt how proud of you I am. Promise me that you'll be strong while I'm gone,"
Peggy nodded and pulled Philip into a tight hug, "I promise," she cried into his shoulder,
Philip gently pried Peggy off him then turned to Eliza, "You are the kindest young woman I know and I could not be more proud of you. Look after Peggy for me,"
Eliza nodded, "I will," she said,
Philip nodded back then pulled Peggy and Eliza into one more hug, "I love you both,"
"I love you too," Eliza sniffed.
The hug broke and Eliza sat back down at the table as Peggy led Philip out of the room and off to bed. Eliza kept staring at the conscription letter, still lying on the table. This couldn't be how it ended. She needed to do something. Anything to protect her family. If she could only just think. What would Angelica do? Angelica would definitely be able to think of something to save Philip, hell, Angelica would probably take Philip's place herself!
Eliza sat bolt upright. She could do that! She could take Philip's place! Eliza jumped out of her chair and scooped up the letter. She took off out of the dining room and raced down the hall to the laundry room. There was a pile of clean clothes on a chair that Mrs Hurst clearly hadn't gotten around to putting away yet. Eliza knelt down in front of the pile and started rummaging through it. She pulled out one of her father's shirts and a pair of breaches. She stood up and glanced around the room looking for a jacket. Her eyes landed on Mrs Hurst's sewing table. Philip's jacket lay on top of it. Eliza picked the jacket up and flipped it over, trying to see if Mrs Hurst had fixed whatever was wrong with it. She noticed some stitching along the join in the sleeve that wasn't quite the same colour as the rest of the jacket. She ran her fingers over the stitching, just as she's expected Mrs Hurst has done her job well. Eliza tucked the jacket under her arm and turned to leave the room, however Mrs Hurst's sewing scissors caught her eye. She paused for a second before scooping the scissors up too.
Eliza ran up the stairs and into her room. Sher locked the door behind her and started changing out of her dress and into the clothes she had stolen.
Once she was dressed, she picked up the pair of sewing scissors. She just stared at them in her hand for a moment before she took a deep breath and held her hair up. The sewing scissors were not designed to go through so much at once but with some effort Eliza managed to cut her hair so that it fell just above her shoulders. She was sure it looked rough and uneven, but it would do. She picked a ribbon up off her dressing table and pulled her hair into a ponytail. She stuffed the conscription letter into her pocket then crept out of her room.
She made her way downstairs and towards the front door. Just as she was pulling on a pair of boots Eliza heard the creek of a floorboard. She turned around to see Peggy standing on the stairs behind her.
"Peggy-"
"You better not be doing what I think you're doing,"
Eliza looked down at her feet, "I can't let him go Peggy, he'll be killed,"
Peggy ran down the stairs and flung herself into her sister's arms, "So will you," she sobbed, "You can't hurt a fly Eliza, why on earth do you think you can become a solider?"
"Because it will keep you and Daddy safe," Eliza could feel her jacket getting damp as Peggy cried into her shoulder, "I promise I'll survive,"
Peggy looked up and scowled weakly, "You better," she sniffed, "I don't want to be the one to have to tell Angelica that you've got yourself killed on a battlefield,"
"I promise," Eliza said again.
Peggy nodded and buried her head into Eliza's shoulder once more.
"Promise me you'll look after Daddy?"
"I promise,"
Eliza gently broke the hug and took a step back towards the front door, "And Peggy? Don't let him come after me,"
"I'll try," Peggy wiped her tears away with her sleeve, "I love you, Eliza. Please don't die,"
Eliza smiled sadly as she opened the front door, "I love you too," she said before heading out into the night.