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Colonel Tench Tilghman had come north to Albany, an emissary from
the Continental Congress, to attend a parley with the Indians. General Schuyler and the Americans wished to
obtain assurances of neutrality before the war with Britain broke out.
Today,
though, as if there was no great war on the horizon, Tilghman and a group of
young Albany gentry had taken a picnic to the falls at Cohoes, which he had been
told was "one of the notable sights of the region." The Colonel, accompanied Betsy in a steep
climb to get a close up look at the top of the falls.
The path Miss Schuyler elected was surprisingly bad. There were rocks to scramble over and briar patches to negotiate, but she appeared to enjoy this sort of rough ramble. At first Tilghman wondered if this was one of these feminine games which would end with her leaning helplessly upon his arm, but he was more than surprised when this dainty-looking miss kept pace with him. The way to the top was almost vertical, frequently necessitating an undignified down-on-all-fours attack.
At
the breathless summit, they paused, panting and admiring the view.
Tilghman experienced an unexpected rush of pleasure. The young woman's easy manner made him almost feel comfortable, even though they were now completely alone together.
Pray
God I do not have to reveal my wretched broken heart to another lady in search
of a husband...
The
way she'd brought him to this splendid sight, agile and uncomplaining as a
boy, demonstrated that she'd made the climb many times.
"Come,
Colonel Tilghman!" Betsy called over the noise of falling water. "The best view is from here."
Stockings
flashing, revealing shapely calves, she scaled the last rock. Tilghman, following her, had the insouciant
thought that the best view might possibly be from exactly where he was.
When he reached the height, he
found himself an arm's length from enormous quantities of green water hurtling
over a narrow lip. Falling, it became a
spectacular white veil. The ground
beneath his feet shook alarmingly.
Beside
him on that rocky shelf, Betsy dropped to her knees, then stretched out on her
stomach to get as close as possible to the roaring water.
"Do
come, Colonel."
Thunder
sounded on every side. The quick climb,
vertigo, the sight of a lady young stretched at full length on the ground, left
him almost giddy.
The
wind shifted and spray blew into their faces.
Betsy turned and smiled, a dazzling white flash against her nut-brown skin...
~~Juliet Waldron
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