“Yes, I am of the same way of thinking,” Berinthia replied.
“You will not, ladies, decline to drink the health of the queen, I trust?” said General Howe, as Pompey refilled the glasses.
“Oh no, I will drink it with pleasure. The queen, of course, does not stand for mismanagement, as does the king, and we will not spoil our dinner by talking about the sad events,” Ruth replied.
General Howe entertained them with an account of his boyhood days, his service with General Wolfe at Quebec, how the troops climbed the steep river bank at night and won the battle on the Plains of Abraham. Captain Coffin laughed with Berinthia and Ruth over good times he had enjoyed with them. Yet all were conscious that spectres unseen had come to the banquet. The ghost confronting General Howe was whispering of starvation, of possible humiliation through forced evacuation; the one glaring at Mr. and Mrs. Newville told of a possible departure from their home, to become aliens in a foreign land.
“May I ask Miss Newville to favor us with music?” said General Howe, when they were once more in the parlor.
“With pleasure, your excellency,” said Ruth, seating herself at the harpsichord and singing “The Frog he would a-wooing go,” “The Fine Old English Gentleman,” and then with a pathos that brought tears to the eyes of the commander-in-chief, “True Love can ne’er forget.”
During the dinner, and while Ruth was singing, they could hear the deep reverberations of the cannonade. The provincials in Roxbury were sending their shot at General Howe’s fortifications on the Neck, and his cannon in reply were thundering towards the works at Cobble Hill.
“Miss Newville,” said General Howe, “I cannot express my thanks to you for your entertainment. While listening to your charming melodies I have been thinking of the strange, incongruous accompaniment, the uproar of the cannonade, but I have, in a measure, been able to forget for the moment the worries and perplexities that surround me. I trust I may be able to do something to add to your happiness some day.” He rose to take his departure.
“Thank you, your excellency; I am glad if I have been able in any way to make it a pleasant hour to you and General Ruggles, and my old acquaintance, Captain Coffin. Your excellency can add much to my happiness and that of Miss Brandon. One of your subordinate officers, who I think has not been long here, Colonel Hardman, has notified Miss Brandon that he is going to take possession of her home to-morrow and turn her and her invalid parents out of doors. Berinthia, you have the colonel’s order, I think?”[76]