“I shall always be shocked when I think of that beautiful boy’s death, Mr. Bombs. It’s a dreadful mystery!”
“Was his name Laurens or Lawrence.” asked Bombs, laconically.
“Laurens. It was his mother’s maiden name. Her ancestors were French.”
“Laurens Cornwallis! Indeed! Two celebrated names. English and French conjoined. Do they claim to be descendants of the French financier and of the English fighter?” asked Bombs.
“I have never heard so. Wouldn’t it be lovely though? Foe meeting foe in true love and friendliness through their children. Mr. and Mrs. Cornwallis are a very devoted couple.”
“My point of view was simply consolatory. Providence permitting, it might not be well to have too many Cornwallis’s on American soil,” said Bombs.
“We have room enough and to spare. I read a letter yesterday from Washington to Lafayette. He said it’s a strange thing that there should not be room enough in the world for men to live without cutting each other’s throats.”
“But he laid siege to Yorktown all the same, Miss Adelaide.”
“Yes, but after it was all over and he had grown older and wiser, he saw how horrible it was. I almost know he did.”
“I am only twenty-one and the siege is booked,” laughed Bombs. “I wonder if Mrs. Ruth Cornwallis will come to witness it? I should think she would be interested, especially if one of her grandfathers paid French money for it and the other had to surrender.”