Soldier of Fortune (7 page)

'That's
absurd,' said Dorothy Piper with a brittle laugh. 'You've not even known him
for a week.'

'Had
I known him but a single day,' retorted her sister, 'it would have been enough.
'I'm in love, Dorothy.'

'You
don't even know the meaning of the word.'

'I
do now. Since I met Captain Rawson, I've suddenly been filled with wonderful
thoughts and thrilling new sensations. He's the best man in the world and I
want you to be happy for me.'

Dorothy
was blunt. 'Don't be ridiculous, Abigail. This is nothing but a passing
infatuation. In a month's time, you'll have forgotten that Daniel Rawson ever
existed.'

'I'll
never forget him!' attested Abigail, stamping a foot. 'I love him and I want to
share the rest of my life with him.'

'There's
no earthly hope of that happening.'

'Yes,
there is.'

'He's
a soldier, you fool. He'll be abroad most of the time.'

'I'd
follow him wherever he goes,' said her sister. 'Not that he's going anywhere at
the moment. He's here in London and he's mine. And you've no call to rule out
someone in the army. It was only last year that you became involved with
Lieutenant-Colonel Masters. There was no talk then of a soldier being an
inappropriate choice.'

'That
was different.'

Abigail
sighed. 'It always is.'

'My
private life is my own,' said Dorothy reproachfully, 'and I'll thank you not to
interfere in it.'

'You
always insist in interfering in
my
private life.'

'It's
my duty as an elder sister to protect you, Abigail. I'm trying to stop you from
being badly hurt. Don't you see that?'

'All
I can see is someone obstructing me because I've found the love of my life and
she hasn't. That's why you're being so beastly to me, isn't it? You're insanely
jealous.'

Dorothy
spluttered. 'That's an outrageous thing to say!'

'It's
the truth.'

'It's
a poisonous lie and I demand that you take it back.'

'No,'
said Abigail with a show of bravado. 'You've had romances and intrigues but
that's all that they were - brief entanglements from which your admirers soon
extracted themselves. My case is different. I have someone I wish to
marry.''

'Be
silent!'

Dorothy
was so enraged by what her younger sister had said that she raised a hand to
strike her. Thinking better of it, she let her arm drop to her side but she was
still smarting. Abigail's accusation had more than a grain of truth in it.
Dorothy had had many
amours
but they all petered out sooner
or later. Although she had met men who excited and amused her, she had never
found one whom she was moved to consider as a husband or - and this piqued her
- who looked upon her as a potential wife.

The
sisters were in the parlour of their house in Westminster. The family mansion
was near Warwick and their father, Sir Nicholas Piper, represented the town in
Parliament. Both of his daughters preferred the social life of the capital to a
more subdued existence in the country. Dorothy was in her early twenties, a
tall, stately young woman with the kind of features and figure that appealed
strongly to men. She also cultivated the wit and sophistication needed to hold
her own in any civilised gathering, and had many accomplishments, not least as
a musician. She prided herself on her self- possession.

Abigail,
on the other hand, still had the bloom of youth on her. Having spent all her
life in the shadow of her elder and more talented sister, she yearned for
independence from her and for the opportunity to be taken seriously as a woman.
Her childhood prettiness had evanesced into a porcelain beauty that turned
heads but, until now, she had lacked the skills and confidence to exploit it.
The arrival of Daniel Rawson had been a revelation to her. For the first time
ever, she had aroused interest in a man with whom she was besotted.

'Let's
not argue, Dorothy,' she said, trying to placate her. 'I'm sorry if I spoke out
of turn - it was unpardonable of me. I know that you have my best interests at
heart.'

'I
do, Abigail,' said the other. 'My only wish is to help you.'

'Then
the simplest way to do that is to leave us alone. When he comes today - if he
comes, that is - I beg you not to spoil it for me.'

'You
need me here as a safeguard, Abigail.'

'Against
what - Captain Rawson is a gentleman.'

'He
is, by your own report, a dashing soldier and I'll not have him taking
advantage of my younger sister.'

'Nothing
would be further from his mind,' said Abigail. 'On the two occasions we've met,
Daniel - Captain Rawson, that is - has been kind and considerate to me.'

'It
always begins that way.'

'Leave
us alone, Dorothy -
please.'

'I'll
stay discreetly in the background.'

'How
can either of us express our true feelings with another person in the room? It
would be malicious of you to stay.' A distant bell rang and Abigail went into a
mild panic. 'That's him!' she cried. 'He honoured his promise, as I knew he
would. Oh, Dorothy,' she went on, taking her sister by the arm and leading her
to the door, 'let me have some time alone with him, I implore you. I always
disappeared obediently whenever your admirers called. The least you can do is
to return the compliment.'

Dorothy
pondered. 'Very well,' she said at length, 'but I'll be in the next room. If
there's the merest hint of impropriety, you've only to call me.' She forced a
smile. 'All I ask is that you don't expect too much or you could be cruelly
disappointed.'

After
giving her sister a token kiss, she left the room by the door in the far wall.
Abigail, meanwhile, was staring at the double doors that gave access to the
hall, straining her ears for the sound of voices or the clack of footsteps. She
made a few last adjustments to her dress and to her hair before striking what
she hoped was a dignified pose. There was a tap on the door and the butler
entered.

'A
Captain Rawson has called, Miss Abigail,' he said.

'Show
the gentleman in at once,' she instructed, trying to keep the tremble out of
her voice.

The
butler stood aside and motioned to the visitor. As Daniel stepped into the
room, she almost swooned. He was wearing his dress uniform and carrying his hat
under his arm. When he greeted her with a little bow, she replied with a
nervous laugh, quickly collecting herself as she struggled to master the
situation. Daniel flashed the broad smile that had first stirred her passion.

'I
trust that you got my letter, Miss Abigail,' he said.

'It
came this morning,' she replied, having read it a dozen times. 'You implied
that you had something to say to me, Captain Rawson.'

'I
have many things to say to you, not least how beautiful you look today but any
mirror would tell you that.' She gave a shrill laugh of gratitude. 'We've only
met twice, I know, and our conversations were necessarily brief, but they were
long enough for me to form the highest opinion of you.'

'Thank
you, kind sir.'

'That's
why I felt I had to tell you something that would have looked too cold and
impersonal on paper. You deserve to hear it from my own lips, Miss Abigail.'

'Oh,
please - do call me just Abigail.'

'That's
a favour I shall cherish,' he said, taking a step towards her and making her
blush slightly. 'I should perhaps have told you this before, Abigail, but I did
not want it to cloud the delightful moments we spent together this week. The
truth of the matter is this,' said Daniel, putting his hat aside so that he
could take her by the hands, 'that I sail for Holland tomorrow.'

Abigail
reeled as if from a blow. 'You're
leaving
me?'

'Duty
calls, I fear.'

'But
I've only just got to know you, Captain Rawson.

'Daniel,
please.

'You
can't abandon me now, Daniel.'

'It
pains me to do so,' he said, 'but desertion from the army would carry a
terrible punishment and that's the only means by which I could stay in London.'

'Where
will you go?' she demanded. 'And for how long?'

'In
the first instance, I'll be accompanying His Grace, the Duke of Marlborough,
ready to fight once more against the French. Exactly where we'll go and how
long the campaign will last, I cannot tell you.'

Abigail
was alarmed. 'Will you take part in battles?'

'I
mean to take a very active part.'

'Even
though you could be wounded or even killed?'

'That's
a risk every soldier must take.'

'I
couldn't bear to lose you, Daniel!'

'Those
sentiments are very comforting,' he said, squeezing her hands, 'but I shall do
my very best to survive. I've been engaged in combat many times in the past
fifteen years or so and I've always escaped with nothing more than bruises and
scratches.'

'I
hate to think of your suffering any injury.'

'Then
put it out of your mind.'

'How
can I?' she asked, her voice rising with apprehension. 'If I know that you'll
be marching into battle, I won't be able to stop thinking about you for a
single moment. I hoped so much that we could be friends, Daniel.'

'We
are
friends - that's why I'm here.'

'But
you only came to tell me that I may never see you again.'

'Oh,
I expect to be back here one day, Abigail.'

'When
will that be?'

'Who
knows?' he replied, releasing her hands. 'Our campaigns are usually limited to
spring and summer. The roads are impassable from October onwards and the
enormous food supplies on which an army travels are simply not available
outside the growing season.'

She
was devastated. 'You'll disappear until
October?'

'At
the very earliest, I'm afraid. In all honesty, I can't offer you any guarantee
that I'll return to England then. Our captain-general may have other
assignments in Europe for me.'

'I
want you
here,
Daniel!'

Abigail
was inconsolable. Before Daniel had arrived, she had been entertaining the most
wondrous thoughts of how their friendship would develop. He had given her the
firm impression that they had ample time in London on their hands. Yet she was
now facing the possibility that she would not see him for six or seven months
and even that timescale was fringed with doubt. As she watched her hopes
crumble, she came close to desperation.

'I'll
speak to my father,' she said, clutching at straws. 'He's a close friend of His
Grace, the Duke of Marlborough. Perhaps I can get him to intercede on your
behalf. Yes, that's the answer,' she went on, breath coming in short gasps.
'Father can help us. He can use his influence to get you relieved of your
military duties.'

'But
I don't
want
to be relieved of them, Abigail.'

She
was shocked. 'You would rather go to war than stay here with me?' she said,
eyes moistening. 'Do I mean nothing at all to you?'

'Of
course you do,' he said earnestly, touching her shoulder. 'Why else would I be
here? From the moment we met, I hoped that our acquaintance could blossom into
something more. But any soldier is subject to the orders of his commanding
officer. It's not a choice between fighting the French or staying here with
you, Abigail. That's a false antithesis. My hope was that you would wave me
bravely off in the knowledge that I'd return in due course to renew our
friendship.'

It
was not entirely true. What Daniel had really envisaged was that news of his
imminent departure would prompt her to throw herself into his arms and spare
him the trouble of a long courtship. He had met Abigail at a dinner hosted by
the Lord Treasurer, his chance meeting at Holywell with Lord Godolphin bearing
immediate fruit. Among the guests were Sir Nicholas Piper and his younger
daughter. Daniel had taken an instant liking to her and contrived some time
alone with Abigail.

She
had made sure that he knew where she went for a walk with her maid every
morning and, although it rained the following day, he was there for what looked
like a casual encounter. In fact, her companion had been primed to drift away
for a while so that the two of them could talk more freely as they sheltered
under the trees. On his side, interest had swiftly moved on to frank desire
whereas, for Abigail, it was a case of true love. Given her response to his
news, it looked as if neither of them would get what they secretly coveted.

'You've
let me down, Daniel,' she said, holding back her tears. 'You should have told
me at the very start that you'd soon be leaving the country.'