(I've jumped ahead a few chapters and a couple of years here. This chapter represents the more serious side of the issues the Watersons are faced with and their realization that these problems will not be solved in the short run.)
“Taxation without representation is tyranny.” – James Otis, 1763
~1768~
Time passed in the largely peaceful colony. Jacob and Emma celebrated their second wedding anniversary with a large dinner party for family and friends who were in town. The two of them were as in love as the day they married. Emma’s only sadness was that she could not have children. She had hoped the doctor who told her this when she was married to her first husband was wrong. But it was just not to be. She was, however, entirely happy with her two boys. Young Ez, at six, called her Mother early on which thrilled her heart. Jonathan, already six feet tall at nearly seventeen, in his usual quiet way, doted on her. After a few weeks, he, too, asked if he might call her Mother, and she happily agreed.
One evening, Emma moved tiredly around her kitchen, straightening up the countertops to make ready for the next day’s cooking. The slight fall breeze coming in the back door rippled across her face, and she smiled as she turned to look at the lovely night. The moon had just risen behind the garden and beckoned her to come for a visit.
She tossed her linen towel down, stepped outside and went lightly down the back steps onto their brick walk. Arms thrust out at her sides and head thrown back, she breathed in the air scented with leaves and wood smoke, and did a little twirl. As she did she heard a soft laugh coming from the side gate. Whirling around, she saw Jacob standing there watching her with a huge smile. “Dancing in the light of the moon?” he teased.
“Oh, Jacob, I’m so glad you’re home. Isn’t this the most beautiful evening?” she said as she ran into his open arms.
“It is now,” he replied. She knew at once that he was trying to sound lighthearted but something was wrong.
“Let’s sit out here for a while,” she said. “I’ll go inside and get you a glass of brandy.”
“Not now, thank you Emma,” he said. “I’ve had a couple already while we were talking at the tavern. I walked for a while to clear my head, not from the spirits but from the buzz of conversation still going on inside my mind.”
“What is it, dear? More news about the hateful duties?”
“The worst. Boston has been forced to accept over four thousand British troops that have arrived there to ‘keep the peace.’ Hah! So many military troops can only incite something, not calm anything down. What do they expect?”
He went on to tell her the news everyone was sharing that evening. While the Virginia burgesses had written King George and the Parliament to object strongly to the latest imposed duties, Boston had defiantly made known its intention to resist paying any of the new taxes, and the king had retaliated by sending over these troops. It was an awful situation.
“Why can’t we solve these problems by discussing them?” Jacob said. “Lord knows there are plenty of intelligent and thoughtful people on both sides. Don’t they want to stay on good terms with us? We provide them with a great deal of trade. What has happened to the good will between our two countries?”
Emma listened to him think out loud and felt her earlier joy slip away as she saw how serious the situation was becoming. Like her husband, she wanted things to return to normal, but she had a streak of fire in her that flared much more quickly than it should, she thought. She felt strongly that Virginia and the other American colonies were being roughly handled by a formerly friendly guardian. ‘If I were a man, I would be out practicing my rifle work,’ she thought, then immediately felt guilty. That Jacob wanted to discuss the ideas thoughtfully was one of the things she loved most about him. She clenched her long skirts in a tight fist to calm herself, then took his hand.
“I am glad you share the news with me. We can at least work out our own reactions together,” she told him in a strong clear voice.
“Yes, my dear. I do realize your feelings are even stronger than my own. It’s just that I want us to work things out peacefully. Why, I’m planning to go visit James in England soon. I love to visit there. I intend to send Ezelby there for schooling one day. We must find a way to deal with these hateful taxes and duties.”
She stood and drew him up with her. “I agree with you,” and she bowed her head as they walked into the house together. Her silent prayers were for a peaceful place to raise her beloved stepsons and to live out her life with Jacob.
