Home of the Brave (14 page)

“False.”

“I thought so when I first
heard it, but then I saw you talking to John and Peggy Eaton.” He
shrugged. “She’s something special, isn’t she?” He
winked.

“Mrs. Eaton? Yes, she’s
attractive and seems very vivacious.”

“You haven’t met Peggy
before tonight?”

“No.”

“I’m surprised by that,”
Scott said.

“Why?”

“Her father owns Franklin
House, which is the favorite home-away-from-home for most
politicians and prominent visitors to Washington.”

“That explains it. I’m not a
politician or prominent and when I’m here I’ve always stayed in a
small hotel that Marina and I own.”

“Well you missed something
seeing Peggy when she was a girl.”

“She’s well worth seeing as
a woman.” Yank looked across the room at Mrs. Eaton. “Marina
mentioned some scandal revolving around her?”

“When she was a little girl
she used to sit on the laps of her father’s guests and sing songs,
dance and entertain.”

Yank shrugged. “I hope
that’s not what the scandal’s about or most of the little girls I
ever knew are predestined to disgrace.”

“Peggy never outgrew it.
When she was fourteen, she besotted the Secretary of the Navy’s
nephew so badly that when she turned her pretty back on him he
hanged himself.”

“Silly bugger.”

“When she was sixteen she
tried to elope with one of my aides but her father caught her
climbing out the window.”

Yank chuckled. “I don’t find
any of that even remotely scandalous.”

“I’m not finished. Her
father finally got so tired of all the fights she caused in his
boarding house that he married her off to a navy purser named John
Timberlake. Timberlake desperately needed money. Peggy’s father
paid Timberlake’s debts and gave the happy couple a house across
the street from his own. Are you with me so far?”

Yank shrugged. “There’s not
that much to follow.”

“Well it gets
complicated.”

“And I’m getting
bored.”

“Then I’ll give you the fast
version. The rumor is that while Timberlake was at sea, Eaton was
keeping his bed warm for him and got Peggy in the family way.
Timberlake found out and cut his own throat. Then Eaton’s wife died
and Eaton married Peggy a short time later.”

“She seems to attract men
with suicidal tendencies.”

“One of the men that she’s
attracted is Andrew Jackson.”

Yank had been looking at
Peggy O’Neale, but his head snapped back at Scott’s words. “That’s
a lie, Win. Jackson was devoted to Rachel. I’d bet my life on his
fidelity to her.”

“Now hold on, Yank. Before
you challenge me to a duel, let me explain what I mean.”

“Okay.”

“When Jackson was in the
Congress and the Senate, he always stayed at Franklin House when he
came to Washington. Peggy became something of an adored step-child.
When Timberlake killed himself and Eaton’s wife died, Jackson
encouraged them to get married. But, as you might guess, the sharp
tongues of Washington began to wag and soon everything in Peggy’s
private past was public.”

Yank nodded. “I can guess
what’s coming next. Jackson saw it as another attack on an innocent
woman.”

Scott nodded. “Shades of
poor Rachel being slandered by the truth.”

Yank decided to let that
pass.

“The real problem now is
that Vice President Calhoun’s wife is snubbing Peggy openly and
telling anyone who’ll listen that the charming Mrs. Eaton is a
loose woman and a seductress. Apparently President Jackson and Vice
President Calhoun are ready to thrown down a gauntlet over
it.”

“How did I miss all
this?”

“You’re a lamb among wolves.
And here comes your lovely wife who looks like she may be ready to
devour you for something.”

Yank turned to see an angry
Marina stalking toward them. “Well, it couldn’t be anything I’m
doing. She likes you. Do you suppose she saw me admiring Peggy
O’Neale?”

“That son of a bitch, Andrew
Jackson,” Marina snarled when she drew closer.

“Hush,” Yank warned, looking
around nervously. “What happened?”

“You don’t know enough about
what’s going on with Peggy Eaton to even understand.” She seemed to
notice Winfield Scott for the first time. “Oh, sorry, Win. It’s
nice to see you.”

“You too, Marina,” Scott
replied. “I’ve just fed Yank all the dirt on Peggy,
by-the-by.”

Marina looked surprised.
“And he listened?”

“More or less.”

“Why are you calling the
president names?” Yank asked Marina, after giving Scott an
unfriendly look.

“Well,” Marina looked
around. “I don’t see her right now, but Rachel’s niece, Emily
Donelson, is the official hostess and she refused to greet the
Eatons. In fact, she refused to greet us after we talked to
Peggy.”

“What does that have to do
with you insulting Jackson?” Yank asked in confusion.

“Jackson saw me and then you
walk away from the Eatons after our very brief conversation and he
assumed we were snubbing them too.”

Yank made a face. “Well I
did snub Eaton, in a way.”

“You couldn’t have snubbed
him for the reason Jackson thought you did,” Marina said angrily.
“You didn’t even know Peggy before tonight. And that’s what I told
the old son-of-a-bitch.”

Yank smiled behind his hand
and Scott turned away to cough.

“It’s not funny,” Marina
insisted. “The man’s been president for eight hours and he’s
already got his unconfirmed cabinet at each other’s
throats.”

“Let’s get out of here,”
Yank suggested.

“We just got here,” she
protested.

“I know. But if Jackson
decides to come over here and attack you again, I’ll have to call
him out. Getting away with killing a sitting president for the sake
of honor might prove to be difficult.”

“He won’t come over unless
it’s to beg for forgiveness. When I blew up in his face and told
him that you’d never even heard of Peggy O’Neale before tonight, he
fell all over himself apologizing.”

“In that case, shall we
dance?”

“I’d love to.”

“If you’ll excuse us please,
Win?”

Scott bowed to
them.

April 1, 1829

Brooklyn Harbor, New
York

Tom, Nannette, Yank, Marina,
Anna and Paul Van Winkler were standing on the dock as Thomas and
Jane Van Buskirk waved to them from the ship’s rail.

Jane hugged Thomas’s arm.
“Do you think we’ll ever see them again?”

Thomas shrugged. “I hadn’t
thought about it.”

“I’m really going to miss
Mr. Van Winkler.”

“You mean your
father?”

She giggled. “That’s very
difficult to get used to.”

“Do you think he’ll come to
Texas?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t think Anna
will.”

“Even if she doesn’t, Mr.
Van- my father will. The very idea of all those horses, cattle and
buffalo running free on open range has captivated him
completely.”

“Me as well,” Thomas
admitted. “It must be a sight to see.”

The ship lurched as the
whaleboats took up the slack on the towlines and the mooring lines
on the quay were released.

The ship’s movement
restarted waving from both ship and shore.

Marina waved, then looked up
at Yank. “Do you think we’ll ever see them again?”

“Of course.”

“Do you mean by ‘of course’
that you think they’ll fail and will have to come home?”

“No, I mean I think they’ll
succeed and we’ll go visit them.”

“You perhaps, not me.” She
shook her head.

“Why not you?”

“There’s a little matter of
a wanted poster that you may have forgotten.”

“That was issued by the now
defunct Spanish government.”

“How do you know the Mexican
government hasn’t picked it up?”

“The Mexican government
changes every week. They have bigger fish to fry.”

Anna waved then leaned
against Nannette to steady herself.

“What’s wrong Cherie?”
Nannette put her arm around the girl.

“I’m getting seasick from
watching that ship go up and down,” Anna replied.

Tom chuckled to Paul Van
Winkler. “She’s gonna be a delightful traveling
companion.”

Van Winkler was watching the
ship as her sails began to fill. “Do you think we’ll ever see them
again?”

“I’m sure of it,” Tom said.
“Next year this time we’ll be waving goodbye to you.”

“I’m going to vomit,” Anna
announced.

April 30, 1829

Washington, District of
Columbia

“This person who signs his
letters as the Reverend Ezra Stiles Ely has written to me stating
that Peggy’s two daughters were fathered by John Eaton and not by
her husband,” Jackson said angrily.

Yank leaned back in his
chair to let Jackson rant.

“He goes even further to say
that she miscarried after Timberlake had been at sea for over a
year. I demanded that he tell me where he’d heard the damnedable
story and he said it was from another Presbyterian minister named
John Campbell. I summoned Campbell who says that he’d heard it from
a now dead man called Elijah Craven. I called him a liar and
Campbell has hired Francis Scott Key to depose Craven’s widow.” He
looked at Yank expectantly.

“What can I do for you, Mr.
President?”

“You can help me squelch
these rumors.”

“Short of killing everyone
who repeats one of the rumors, I wouldn’t know how,
sir.”

Jackson looked as if he
might be considering that idea for a moment then shook his head
sadly. “No, no, I suppose you wouldn’t know how to stop them any
more than I do.” He gave Yank a pained look. “I fear it was just
wishful thinking that you’d be as helpful to me here as you were on
the battlefield.”

Yank didn’t offer a
reply.

“I have so many enemies and
so few friends. There’s almost no one here that I can trust,”
Jackson said, mournfully.

“Well, sir, don’t hesitate
to ask if you think I can be useful to you. I can get here in a day
and a half on these new steamboats.”

“Yes. An average of eight
miles per hour, I’m told,” Jackson said, brightening a bit. “If I
need you urgently I’ll contact you by semaphore telegraph. That’s
another modern miracle of American science and
engineering.”

Yank decided not to tell
Jackson that semaphores had been used in Europe for over a decade
and got up instead. “Well, congratulations again, Mr. President.
It’s always a pleasure seeing you.”

Jackson stood and walked
around the desk to shake Yank’s hand. “I noticed that your son,
Jack, was promoted to major. That’s quite an accomplishment for
such a young man in the modern, peacetime army.”

“We’re very proud of Jack,
Mr. President. He’s in Winfield Scott’s command at
Buffalo.”

“As I recall, all four of
your boys graduated from West Point at the top of their
classes.”

“The eldest three did, sir.
Robert is an upperclassman this year and may do well. But I think
Jack will be the only career soldier.”

“What about the
others?”

“Thomas has recently
resigned his commission, married a pretty little half-breed from
East Long Island and is on his way to Texas to become a cattle
rancher and land surveyor. In fact, he may be there by
now.”

“And what of William and
Robert?”

“William is a Lieutenant. He
was assigned to West Point teaching engineering after he graduated.
He’s not happy there and I believe he’ll resign as soon as he’s
completed his contractual obligation. Perhaps to follow Thomas to
Texas. Robert is something of a question mark. He has always been a
fine student but truly dislikes the Academy and has only stuck it
out because he feels obligated by family tradition.”

“Perhaps I could get William
reassigned to something more suited to his temperament and Robert
assigned to something he’d enjoy after he graduates.”

“Thank you, sir, but I’d
rather you didn’t.”

“Very well,” Jackson said,
showing his famous temper.

Yank wrinkled his brow. “You
know something, Mr. President? You’re going to explode like a
cracked cannon barrel unless you get yourself under
control.”

Jackson stared at him and
spluttered.

“I know how hard the
campaign was on you, sir, and how deeply Rachel’s death has
affected you, but you’re behaving like a madman.”

“How dare you, sir?” Jackson
took a half step toward Yank.