Just then, something small and white fluttered on her nose—a snowflake. A second and a third followed in quick succession. Both Julia and the major looked up to the sky.
“Why, the moon has disappeared,” she observed with surprise.
More snow fell, dotting them with gentle white flakes like confetti.
“And you are chilled to the bone,” he remarked. His eyes were dark and full of power, yet tiny laugh lines crinkled at their corners. He continued to stroke her palm. “I may be a wicked Yankee, Miss Julia, but I am not a murderer. I have no wish for you to freeze to death on my account.”
Julia gulped. “Then I am free to go, sir?”
The glow of his smile warmed her, despite her anxiety and the freezing temperature. “Only if you promise to meet with me again tomorrow at a more suitable time and place.”
His suggestion was a bold challenge, one that Julia found hard to resist. “I might. Where and at what time?” Hearing her own voice, she could hardly believe she had just uttered such reckless words.
“Market Square on the corner of King and Washington Streets at three o’clock? And I promise that I will behave like a gentleman, and not like one of those Yankees whom you fear.”
“I’m not afraid,” she corrected.
He chuckled. “Methinks the lady doth protest too much,” he murmured, staring at her hand as if he had never seen anything quite so wonderful before.
“I do not think that quotation comes from Romeo and— oh!” she gasped as he brushed his lips across the bare skin of her palm. Her breath caught in her throat. The shock of his kiss ran through her whole body. Blood drummed in her ears; a wave of giddiness broke over her. She would surely expire.
He looked up at her through his long dark lashes. “Will you dare to meet me in broad daylight, Miss Julia?”
She balled her hand into a fist to keep it from shaking. Then she lifted her chin a notch. “Of course I will, Major, if only to prove that you do not frighten me.”
He slowly released her. “Good, I am glad to hear that.” He touched the brim of his hat with his fingers. “Until tomorrow at three. And may I suggest that next time you wear gloves? Your hand is very cold.”
With that observation, he turned toward the back gate. Julia clutched her candle tighter. “Major!” she called after him.
Pausing, he looked back to her. “Miss Julia?” he asked with a quizzical lift of his dark brow.
Julia cleared her throat. “I fear you have the advantage as I don’t know your real name. I highly doubt that you answer to Major Romeo.”
He laughed but with a bitter note. “You are correct, Miss Julia. My cousin would attest to that fact. I am Robert Montgomery of Rhinebeck, New York, and I bid you a good night.” He cocked his head, then spoke again, this time in Shakespeare’s sweet words. “Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace on thy breast.”
“And to you, Major Robert Montgomery,” she whispered.
He touched the brim of his hat again, then let himself out of the gate. It closed with a small click behind him as he disappeared amid the swirling snow. All the warmth of the night went with him. Just then, all the church bells in the city tolled the hour of midnight. Christ Church began its complicated peal to ring in the New Year—1864. Roused by the bells and the cold, Julia hurried through the back door and up the stairs to the safety of her room.
She was well and truly out of her mind. Mother would surely die if she knew she planned to meet a Yankee in public tomorrow. But she would—and not just to get rid of Payton!
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