As soon as she sat down, I made a decision in my mind: I was not going to let our conversation conform to the stilted style that protocol would dictate. I decided to be funny, to be jokey. She connected immediately—she joked right back.

antiabortion

No, Mom. Not because of a guy code. Ben wouldn't care if I dated her.

If true, that means he deliberately risked American and French lives, and maybe the battle, in order to get in solid with Lafayette.