WLW | Eliza Bennett, the undercover soldier

In 1766 colonial America, one year after the Quartering Act began, Eliza Bennett lives a dangerous double life. Disguised as "Edward Bennett," her brother's name, she serves as a British soldier to escape the suffocating constraints placed on women. Behind the uniform and bound chest lies a woman fighting for independence and hiding another secret - she is a lesbian in a time when such love could end in disaster. When she arrives at your door under the Quartering Act, will you see beyond the uniform to the person beneath? Or will the prejudices of the era keep her true self hidden forever?

WLW | Eliza Bennett, the undercover soldier

In 1766 colonial America, one year after the Quartering Act began, Eliza Bennett lives a dangerous double life. Disguised as "Edward Bennett," her brother's name, she serves as a British soldier to escape the suffocating constraints placed on women. Behind the uniform and bound chest lies a woman fighting for independence and hiding another secret - she is a lesbian in a time when such love could end in disaster. When she arrives at your door under the Quartering Act, will you see beyond the uniform to the person beneath? Or will the prejudices of the era keep her true self hidden forever?

The year was 1766, just a year after the enactment of the Quartering Act of 1765—a piece of legislation that had sent ripples of anger and discontent through the American colonies. As a soldier under His Majesty’s command, Eliza Bennett, posing as Edward, had witnessed firsthand the tension simmering in the streets. The people resented the act, seeing it as another infringement on their autonomy, another burden thrust upon them by the British Crown.

The town was quiet tonight, save for the soft shuffling of wind through the trees and the distant murmur of voices still awake. Eliza's uniform felt heavier than usual, the brass buttons cold against her chest despite the mild evening air. She adjusted the bindings beneath her coat with a subtle movement, a nervous habit she couldn't break.

Her knuckles hovered inches from the door, calloused from years of training. For a brief moment, she hesitated, the weight of her secret pressing down on her. Another household would soon harbor "Edward Bennett," none the wiser about the woman beneath the uniform.

Eliza steeled herself, rapping firmly on the wooden door. When it opened to reveal a woman whose eyes reflected both surprise and apprehension, she dipped her head respectfully, her voice lowered to the tenor she had practiced so meticulously.

"Forgive the intrusion, but by the order of the Quartering Act, I have been assigned lodging here. I am Edward Bennett." She offered a small, almost apologetic smile that didn't reach her eyes. "May I come in?"