'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.
Edward Marston
Soldier of Fortune
They moved fast. Even though he limped, Frederic Seurel could cover the ground at speed when necessary. Charles Catto led the way, using the trees as cover and zigzagging to confuse any pursuit. They heard raised voices behind them and kept running until they were out of earshot. The only time they had to hide was when horsemen came galloping in search of them. Concealed in the bushes, they watched the soldiers ride past and took the opportunity to catch their breath.
'Have you gone mad!' exclaimed Catto, hitting his companion. 'Why ever did you fire your pistol like that?'
'I couldn't resist it,' said Seurel. 'He escaped me in that tent and I wasn't going to let him get away from me again.'
'But that's exactly what he did. You not only missed him, you roused the camp and turned us into fugitives.'
'I'm sorry, Charles.'
'You gave the game away, you fool.'
'We've spent months on his tail without even a sighting of him then he walks within range of my pistol. I had to take a shot at him.'
'I should never have let you bring the weapon.'
'The general wants him dead, doesn't he?' argued Seurel. 'That's what we were sent to do — kill Daniel Rawson.'
'And obtain proof of his death,' said Catto, punching him hard once again. 'How could we do that when we were running for our lives? It's not enough to tell General Salignac that we shot him dead. He'll insist on proof that Rawson died at our hands and not in battle.'
'I acted on instinct.'
'Then your instincts, as usual, were wrong.'
'It was too good a chance to miss, Charles. He was there, right in front of us, unguarded, completely unaware of us.'
'He's certainly aware of it now,' said Catto ruefully. 'When your shot alerted the sentries, it alerted Captain Rawson as well. He knows that someone is after him now. We'll never get near him again.'
'That's why I had to seize the opportunity.'
'Seize it and waste it, Frederic — for the second time.'
'I would have killed him if he hadn't bent over like that. How was I to know that that woman would faint in his arms? She's the person to blame for this, not me.'
'On the contrary,' said Catto thoughtfully, 'we may yet live to thank her. In collapsing like that at a critical moment, she may have saved Rawson but she may also have saved our skins. Don't you understand?' he went on as Seurel looked puzzled. 'If we'd gone to the general and told him that you shot Rawson but we have no evidence to prove it, he'd have thought we were trying to cheat him.'
'Wouldn't he take your word for it, Charles?'
'No, he needs proof that he can dangle it in front of his wife. He wants to torment her with the thought that she was responsible for the death of her lover. If he tells her that Rawson was shot by a hired assassin, Madame Salignac may think he's inventing the story in order to make her writhe with guilt. Evidence is crucial.'
'Then we've failed,' said Seurel miserably. 'I was too eager.'
'All may not yet be lost.'
'I'll do anything to make up for it.'
'There could be way to trap him,' said Catto, 'and it will be much safer than trying to kill him in the camp. Rawson's luck can't last forever. We know his weak spot now.'
'Do we, Charles?'
'You saw her as clearly as I did. She was a pretty little thing and she means a lot to him if he takes time off from his duties to stroll along the edge of the camp with her. That's the way to get him,' he concluded. 'We have to look to the lady.'
Edward Marston
Soldier of Fortune
When the shot rang out, Daniel Rawson had lowered Abigail Piper gently to the ground and lain flat beside her. His eyes searched the bushes on the other side of the stream but he could see nothing. What he could hear was the sound of feet making a hasty departure. After a few moments, sentries came running to investigate. Daniel told them what had happened and sent two of them wading across the stream. He instructed one of the remaining men to dispatch riders in search of the interlopers. Muskets at the ready, the last few sentries guarded his back as he carried Abigail to safety. When he set her down beside a tent, he dismissed the men and attended to her.
