“On the contrary, it very much depends on the successful coming ashore of our troops. How we manage to do that while keeping a strong naval presence here, there, and everywhere mystifies me. Our protection of New York mustn’t slacken. Washington will surely try for it again with the French. What’s more, I have it that the French commander, d’Estaing, is devilish cunning and brave, too.”

“A brave Frenchman?” said the olive-complexioned man. “Is such a thing possible?”

“There is the Marquis de Lafayette,” said the stout man beside him with the extravagant wig.

“The marquis is an aberration; there is no other like him. And I am going to need another drink if you are going to try to convince me otherwise.”

“I as well.”

“In wine, wisdom.”

“Indeed. Let us go become wiser.”

They strolled off, leaving me standing there, breathless.

Some of what I’d heard had no apparent value. Of course General Washington would want to try for New York. It was the seat of British power in North America and Washington’s army had been poking at the British lines around Manhattan for years. I imagined it also had to be personal for the general, as he had lost control of New York to the British shortly after I’d arrived. I remembered seeing him once at an assembly before he had fled. Tall. Dignified. Capable and proud. He did not strike me as a man who accepted defeat.

While that didn’t help me, other pieces of information held more promise, like the bit about the French commander, d’Estaing, and the “southern strategy.” The British had spent years fighting against the New England colonies to no material gain, and with the French entering the war, I knew their tactics would need to shift—surely this related to what I’d overheard. I stashed it away for later, feeling a thrill shoot all the way to my toes.

Saints, how I felt different. Powerful. Purposeful.

Awake.

I wanted more.

I spent the next hour roving the lawn and listening where I could. I overheard a group of officers bemoaning their inability to capture West Point from the Americans. Listening, I gathered that the military stronghold was strategically important because of its position on the North River, which ran between the northern and southern colonies.

“It is the key to everything; if we take West Point, we cut off the head of the snake,” said one man. “The war would be ours.”

My hands damp with sweat, I listened for useful information, like plans to attack it, but they only carried on with their lamentations.

Still, I knew it was just a matter of time before I uncovered gold.