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"Until he killed her," Tyler suggested from the doorway "That doesn’t bode well for an affair Remind me of the exact date Philly was occupied," he said as he walked into the pantry to pour himself coffee

"Septe between George Washington and Howe, but Howe got around Washington after a few skirmishes Usually, in hen a capital city is taken, the war is over--but the British didn’t count on the patriots continuing to fight The British general Cornwallis surrendered on October 19, 1781, at Yorktown There were skirh the Treaty of Paris wasn’t signed until Septean looked at each other, grinning

"Hey, I teach this stuff," Allison said "In fact, I do a course on the history of A the Revolutionary era to our ed since those early days They all had different opinions back then, too Not everyone worshipped the ground Washington walked on He had his critics"

"Okay, but the British got here on September 26, 1777," Tyler said "And when did they leave?"

"On June 18, 1778 That’s when they evacuated Philadelphia"

"And Lucy Tarleton died on what date?" Logan asked

"It’s believed she was killed just before the British evacuated According to the stories we have, Beast Bradleythe city Angus was apparently found cradling his daughter’s body by Tobias Dandridge, the man ould later marry Sophia--and the artist who painted the likeness of Bradley in the study"

Logan and Tyler looked at each other again

"What?" Allison asked

"Septeive or take a feeeks," Tyler said

"Are you saying--"

"Suppose history has it wrong," he went on "What if Beast Bradley ht away? Or, even if she wasn’t in love with hi to use hi to sleep with hi to all the stories, she played at being attracted to him So, what if she had a child with hiroaned "And one of my ancestors was that child? I don’t know--they would’ve had to begin their affair immediately And the child had to have been born just before she died And if she was killed, ould soine it’s easier to kill a woan said "The ht have been because he was furious, a crime of passion If Beast Bradley killed her"

Allison was thoughtful "Okay, wait," she said after a moment "You think maybe Lucy did care about Beast Bradley, and that she had an affair with hius? Because his daughter had, in his view, betrayed him and her country? And, of course, the baby was innocent, so he asked the Leigh ould’ve been my ancestor to take the baby in?"

"It’s possible," Tyler said "And I think it’s a theory we can investigate e go to Valley Forge I want to hear what Martin Standish has to say"

"Allison, did he come to his theories and conclusions because of letters in his possession?" Logan asked

"Yes But it’s difficult to prove those theories because the letters ned with initials or just a term of endearment This would be for the protection of both the writer and the recipient" Allison paused "The as a hard, sad time for many Some letters ritten by soldiers and sent out Others ritten by friends and relatives and se is only twenty miles northwest of Philly," Tyler said "But our appointment with Standish is at two this afternoon Since we don’t knoe’ll find out or how long it ht if need be"