was not yet ready to sacrifice that at the altar. Abigail, however, after meeting him only three times, had already chosen him as her future husband, revealing the depth of her feeling by embarking on a pursuit of him. Guilt welled up inside him. Always pleased to arouse admiration in a beautiful young woman, he was wounded by the knowledge that, in Abigail's case, infatuation with him had almost led to rape by a drunken stranger.
Striding back to his tent, Daniel had much food for thought.
Edward Marston
Soldier of Fortune
They followed the Confederate army as it moved south, keeping a few miles to the rear of it. The chances of Charles Catto being spotted by someone he met during his fleeting enlistment in a British regiment were remote but he nevertheless took pains to alter his appearance. Having discarded his uniform, he wore nondescript attire and grew a beard that changed the whole shape of his face. Frederic Seurel was the same surly and unprepossessing individual as before. Travelling over muddy roads and being soaked by rain day after day had not improved his temper. As they searched for shelter that afternoon, he was gloomier than ever.
'How ever will we get to him again, Charles?' he asked.
'There has to be a way.'
'I think we should forget the whole thing.' 'Then you had better make your will,' said Catto, 'because General Salignac will have you hunted down and killed for failing to obey his orders.'
'I had no orders from him. You were given the assignment.'
'I told him that you would assist me. He wanted to know your name and be assured that you could do as you were told and keep your mouth shut. There's no escape from this, Frederic.'
'But we've been trailing Captain Rawson for two months.'
'Yes,' said Catto with a reproachful glance, 'and we had the perfect opportunity to kill him until you bungled it.'
Seurel felt unjustly accused. 'How was I to know that someone else would be in that tent? Anyway,' he went on, 'I did show you how quickly I could kill a man and take off his head. When I get close enough to Captain Rawson, I'll have him dead within seconds.'
'Make sure it's him next time.'
They rode on through a copse and came out the other side to see a wayside inn ahead of them. Catto stretched his arm to point.
'That's where we'll spend the night,' he said. 'It's a pity we can't lure the captain there. If we could separate him from the army, we'd have a much better chance of killing him.'
'Why don't we send him an invitation?' asked Seurel, grinning.
'We might just do that — though not in the way you think.'
'You mean we set a trap?'
'I mean exactly that,' Catto told him. 'And there's one advantage to our long journey. I know we've spent many weeks in the saddle but we're getting closer to General Salignac all the time. His orders were to leave Paris and lead his men to Bavaria where he was to join up with the Elector. In other words, he's not all that far in front of us.'
'Are you going to make contact with him?'
'Not until our job is done, Frederic.'
'We could use more money.'
'We won't get a single franc from the general unless we can prove that Captain Daniel Rawson is dead. And we must make sure that we're the ones who kill him.'
'Must we?' said Seurel.
'Yes — if the captain is shot dead in battle, we will have failed. That's why we must get to him first, Frederic,' he said. 'So keep that dagger of yours as sharp as a razor.'
Edward Marston
Soldier of Fortune
The Duke of Marlborough opened a satchel and took out the letter before handing it to Abigail Piper. They were in his quarters.
'What's this, Your Grace?' she asked.
'It's a letter from your father,' he explained. 'It was enclosed with the last missive he sent to me. Should you ever reach us, he implored me to give it to you and to make sure that you read it.'
Abigail looked uneasy. She could imagine what her father had written and did not want to face any recriminations. There had been several moments during her travels when she had thought wistfully of the comforts of home and she had suffered pangs of remorse about the way she had fled from London without informing her parents where and why she was going. It had not taken Sir Nicholas Piper long to find out that she and Emily had boarded a ship for Holland. From that discovery, it was clear what her motives were.
Marlborough watched her closely. Though he had given her a cordial welcome and treated her with unfailing kindness, he was not pleased to see her in the camp. With a battle in the offing, he did not want to be distracted by the problems of the Piper family. At the same time, he had a duty of care to the daughter of an old friend. Abigail was hesitant. Marlborough provided some encouragement.
'It's your father,' he said gently. 'Read what he has to say.'
'I'll look at it later,' she decided.
'I only have your word for that, Abigail. When I write back to him, I want to be able to assure him that I actually saw open his letter. Go on — what are you afraid of?'
'I don't know, Your Grace.'
'You can't disown your own father, Abigail.'
Mastering her reluctance, she opened the letter and read the looping hand of Sir Nicholas Piper. Her father began by telling her how much he loved her and begged her to return as soon as possible. There was no word of condemnation or even of mild criticism. Instead, he had made a conscious effort to understand what she had done. He did not, however, hide the pain inflicted on the family. Abigail quailed as she learnt that her mother had been so shocked that she had required treatment from her physician. By the end of the letter, Abigail was so affected that she was even prepared to believe her father's assurance that her sister, Dorothy, had sent her love and her best wishes.
'There,' she said, lower lip quivering with emotion, 'you may tell Father that your bore witness to my reading it.'
'And what is your response, Abigail?'
'I will need to study it again in private, Your Grace.'
'As you wish,' said Marlborough, 'though I think I can guess the plea that it contains. In making this astonishing journey, you have more than proved your love and your courage but this is as far as you can go. You must see that.'
'Please don't force me to leave!' she cried.
'I'm not forcing you, Abigail, I'm simply inviting you to travel back to The Hague with more speed and less danger than you met on your way here. I send despatches every day to the States-General. Why don't you and your maid accompany the next messengers?'
'We've only just got here.'
'Then you achieved your objective,' he pointed out. 'You caught up with Captain Rawson and left him in no doubt about your feelings for him. He will have been mightily impressed. When he returns to England, as he will in due course, I'm sure that he will call on you at the earliest possible opportunity.'
'But that could be several months away.'
'The time will pass very quickly.'
'Each day will seem like a week,' she said plaintively. 'You must understand my position, Your Grace. I didn't travel halfway across Europe to be packed off home immediately.'
'You've arrived at an inopportune moment.'
'Emily and I will not be in the way, I swear it.'
'That's not the point at issue, Abigail.'
'Then what is, may I ask?'
Marlborough chose his words carefully. 'We're on the eve of battle,' he explained, 'and that means we shall
