Soldier of Fortune (18 page)

Daniel Rawson
could not deny her. Though he had wanted to discuss with his fellow-officers
the battle that loomed ahead, he could not ignore Abigail Piper. In response to
her entreaty, he agreed to spend some time with her, feeling that it would be better
to do so away from the prying eyes and waspish tongues of the soldiers. After
conducting Abigail to the edge of the camp, he walked along the bank of the
stream with her. The sky was overcast and the grass still damp from an earlier
shower but the place seemed idyllic to her. She was alone with the man she
idolised, a military hero resplendent in his uniform.

'What did His
Grace, the Duke, say to you?' he asked.

'He was very
considerate and very charming.'

'He always is,
Abigail. He has impeccable manners.'

'I felt so
nervous,' she confided, 'being with the captain- general of so large an army. I
was flattered that he could even spare a few moments to see me.'

'He and your
father have been in correspondence,' said Daniel, 'so he takes an almost
parental interest in you. I daresay that he passed on a message from Sir
Nicholas.'

'He did more
than that, Daniel. Father had enclosed a letter for me, beseeching me to return
home as soon as I could. The Duke offered me an escort back to The Hague.'

'In your position,
I'd accept that offer gratefully.' 'And I may do so in time,' she said. 'But
I'm not going to leave almost as soon as we've met. I'd feel as if I were
deserting you.'

'That's a
ridiculous idea!'

'I want to be
near
you, Daniel.'

'I appreciate
that,' he said, 'but you must realise how impossible that ambition is. French
and Bavarian soldiers are ahead of us, ready to prevent us from seizing a town
that controls a crossing over the Danube. Marshal Tallard is following with a
sizeable army, trying to catch up and attack us. All my thoughts must be
concentrated on war, Abigail. Much as I relish your company, you are a
diversion.'

'An agreeable
diversion, I hope.'

'That's what
makes it worse - you're a temptation.'

'I promise to
stay out of your way,' she said, 'as long as you remember that I'm here,
thinking about you and wishing you well.'

'Thank you.'

'Don't send me
away, Daniel.'

'I've no power
to do so.'

'And tell me -
just once - that you are glad to see me.'

'I am very
glad,' he said with a smile, 'not least because I was concerned for your
safety. There's only one problem.'

'What is that?'

'I must forego
the pleasure of your company, Abigail.'

'For the time
being,' she added hopefully.

Daniel touched
her arm. 'For the time being,' he said.

They walked on
in silence, listening to the birds and watching the water ripple and surge. The
sun made an effort to peep through the clouds but it was thwarted. Abigail
savoured every moment of it. There had been times during
their gruelling
journey when she feared she might never see Daniel Rawson again. To enjoy a
leisurely stroll in the country with him - even though it was on the eve of a
battle - was the fulfilment of a dream.

Frédéric Seurel
was restive. They had spent an hour or more hiding behind trees and crawling
through bushes. It had all been in vain. Even with the aid of his telescope,
Charles Catto had been unable to identify the Duke of Marlborough's regiment.
Seurel was a man of limited patience. He soon began to protest.

'This is
hopeless, Charles,' he said, swatting away an insect that landed on his face.
'The longer we stay, the more chance there is that we'll be seen by some of the
pickets.'

'If we keep
well-hidden, we're safe.'

'I'm fed up with
lying on the ground.'

'How else can we
keep the camp under surveillance?'

'I think we
should get ahead of them tomorrow and watch out for Captain Rawson as they
march past.'

'And then what?'
asked Catto irritably. 'We can hardly ambush an entire army. You do make the most
stupid suggestions, Frédéric.'

'I hate trailing
after them for week after week. If we overtake them, there's a faint chance
that we may find Rawson off guard at some point. We can try to separate him
from his regiment.'

'We need to do
that now, while he's in camp.'

'You keep saying
that.'

'I've had more
experience of stalking than you,' said Catto, sitting up to stretch himself. 'I
know how to wait, watch then strike when the right moment finally comes.'

'In this case,
it may never come.'

'It already has
come once, Frédéric.'

'Stop harping on
that,' said Seurel testily.

'We had him at
our mercy and you let him go.'

'It wasn't
deliberate.'

'That doesn't
make it any the less annoying.'

'I've never let
you down in the past, Charles.'

'No,' conceded
the other, 'that's true. It's the reason I chose you. I needed someone who
thought and acted like a soldier, someone who could kill quickly and
ruthlessly.'

'I've done that
enough times, believe me.'

'Captain Rawson
has to die to satisfy General Salignac's desire for revenge. The more painful
the death, the happier the general will be. He wants his wife and her lover to
suffer.'

'The best way to
do that is to capture him and leave him alone with me for an hour,' said Seurel
with a glint. 'I know all the refinements of torture. When I was in the army, I
could always get prisoners to talk.'

'We're not here
to have a conversation with Rawson,' said Catto, 'and we don't have the luxury
of time. All that the general wants is unmistakable proof that the captain will
never be able to share a bed with his wife again.'

'What about
General Salignac - will
he
share a bed with her?'

'Not until his
temper cools, Frédéric. He was still throbbing with fury when we spoke. Madame
Salignac had been packed off to their mansion in the country where the servants
have been ordered to watch her night and day.'

'She'll have no
chance to find another lover then.'

'The general has
clipped her wings.'

'I need a
woman,' said Seurel restlessly. 'It's been weeks now. The last one I had was
that tavern wench in Coblenz.'

'Save yourself
until we've finished our task,' said Catto. 'When we get paid by the general,
you'll be able to afford a different woman every night of the week.' He
crouched down and applied his eye to the telescope once again. 'All we need is
a slice of luck.'

'We'll never get
it, Charles. This chase is doomed.'

'Chance
sometimes contrives better than we ourselves.'

'Yes - it
contrived to put the wrong man in that tent.'

'We have to
forget that and try harder.'

'You are the one
who keeps reminding me of it,' said Seurel resentfully. 'You won't let me
forget it.'

'I'm sorry,
Frédéric. I was partly to blame. I should have come in that tent with you so
that I could see if we had the right man.'

'He was a
British soldier and I'm always happy to kill those.'

'You can't
behead a whole regiment until you finally come to Captain Rawson,' said Catto,
then his body stiffened with interest. 'Then again, you may not need to do
that.'

'What have you
seen?'

'Manna from
heaven - I can't be sure until he gets closer but someone who looks very much
like the captain is walking along the river bank towards us. Here,' he said,
passing the telescope to Seurel. 'See for yourself. I told you it was only a
question of waiting.'

The sky was
slowly darkening as they ambled along side by side. Abigail Piper's
disposition, however, was sunny. She felt restored, refreshed and cheerful. It
was a moment worthy of record.

'I shall put
this in my diary,' she decided.

'What?'

'This wonderful
time we've snatched together.'

'It must soon
come to an end,' he warned her. 'We'll have to turn back before too long. But
it's been a delightful break and you're right to make a note of it.'

'I wrote
something in my diary every day.'

'That must have
been difficult sometimes.'

'Why?'

'You had some
unpleasant experiences, Abigail. You would hardly rush to put those down on
paper.'

'I felt that I
had to do so. No matter how late it was - or how horrid our accommodation - I
always managed to scribble a few lines at the end of the day. When we slept in
a barn,' she recalled, 'Emily lit a candle and held it for me so that I could
write.'

'Are you going
to show your diary to your sister?'

'No,' she
replied. 'Dorothy won't see a single word of it.'

'She's bound to
be curious.'

'I don't care.
She betrayed me by writing a letter to you after she'd talked me out of doing
so. That was mean and deceitful. What right did she have to get in touch with
you?' Abigail went on. 'Dorothy only met you on that one occasion.'

'I was surprised
to get a letter from her, I must confess.'

'If she sends
another, tear it up without reading it.'

'The only letter
you should worry about is the one that your father sent. He wants you back in
England, Abigail. The whole family has missed you dreadfully and you must have
missed them.'

'Yes, I have,'
she admitted. 'I've missed them very much.' 'Then put an end to their misery,'
he advised. 'Write to tell them that you are on your way back home.'

Abigail stopped
and turned to face him. Her happiness suddenly gave way to a deep fear. She
grabbed Daniel by both the arms.

'If I agree to
go back,' she said with a note of supplication, 'will you do something in
return for me?'

'That depends
what it is, Abigail.'

'Please don't
take part in a Forlorn Hope.'

Daniel was
mystified. 'Why on earth do you ask that?'

'His Grace, the
Duke, told me that you'd volunteered to join a Forlorn Hope when you reach
Donauworth.'

'It would be a
privilege to do so.'

'But it's so
dangerous. Doesn't that concern you?'

'I'm more
concerned about your change of mind,' he said. 'At our first meeting, you were
entranced when I told you about a Forlorn Hope I'd once led. You praised me for
my bravery. Yet now you are asking me to do something that's quite out of
character.'

'I don't want
anything to happen to you, Daniel.'

'I'm a soldier,
Abigail. This is where I belong. Begging me to withdraw from a Forlorn Hope is
like my asking you to stop being beautiful. It's a defiance of Nature.'

'I don't want to
lose you,' she said, face clouding.

'The French have
been trying to kill me for years,' he said blithely, 'and they've never managed
to do it so far. Why should it be any different at the Schellenberg? Don't
alarm yourself unnecessarily.' He grinned at her. 'I've had a lot of practice
at dodging musket balls.'

'It's not
something to be laughed at, Daniel.'

'I know.'

'What happens if
you're
killed
in the Forlorn
Hope?'

'Then at least
I'll have died with honour,' he said proudly.

Abigail's heart
began to pound and her eyelids fluttered uncontrollably. Her breath came in
increasingly short bursts. The thought that her happiness might be snatched
away from her on the battlefield was too much to bear. Violent images flashed
through her brain. Tremors coursed through her body. After letting out a low
moan, she suddenly collapsed in a faint. Daniel caught her just in time. At the
very moment when he bent over to grab her, a pistol shot rang out and the ball
passed just above his head. It was strange. Fearing that he might lose his life
in combat, Abigail Piper had just unwittingly saved it.