‘I will, Your Grace. What can I do to make amends?’
‘I can tell you that,’ said Cardonnel. ‘You can help to find the person or persons who aided her escape. Since Mademoiselle Prunier had quarters near your regiment, the likelihood is that someone from the 24^th Foot was also in the pay of the French. Find out who is missing and report back to us.’
‘I’d sooner lead a patrol in pursuit of the lady,’ said Ainley.
‘One has already left camp,’ Marlborough told him, ‘but I suspect that she will have too good a start to be overhauled.’ Seeing his extreme discomfort, he felt a pang of sympathy. ‘Comfort yourself with this thought, Lieutenant,’ he went on. ‘Sophie Prunier learnt nothing that Ralph Higgins had not already discovered. She will merely confirm intelligence already supplied.’
‘That’s no consolation to me, Your Grace. I failed.’
‘You were misled by a pretty face,’ said Cardonnel. ‘That is all.’
Marlborough gave a wry smile. ‘It’s happened to every one of us at some time or other, Lieutenant,’ he remarked. ‘You suffered the fate of all mankind.’
Because he had so few advantages, Henry Welbeck made the most of them. The map that Daniel had given him was accurate enough to spark an idea. He should be able to get well ahead of the patrol. It was keeping to the road and moving at a moderate pace. By riding across open country at a gallop, Welbeck believed that he could rejoin the road at a point where it looped south, and arrange some kind of ambush. His pistol could only account for one soldier and there were a dozen guarding Daniel, not to mention a driver who would have some sort of weapon. An indifferent horseman, he didn’t even notice the pounding of the saddle in his crotch and the lurching sensation in his stomach. The hectic journey gave him thinking time and that proved critical.
How could he stop and disable a French patrol? How could he rescue his friend? How could he ensure that Daniel was unharmed? How could he retrieve the sword? How could they get back to the safety of the British camp? These were the questions he kept firing at himself but the answers were elusive. As he sped along, his eyes were raking the terrain ahead for a suitable place, somewhere where he could make use of natural features. Occupying his mind like a dead weight was the image of Daniel, tied up, defenceless and bouncing in the rear of the cart. He knew that the one thing sustaining the prisoner in his hour of need was the conviction that Welbeck would come to his aid. The sergeant couldn’t let him down.
Unable to answer any of the questions that continued to besiege him, Welbeck asked himself another one. If their roles were reversed, what would Daniel Rawson do in the same circumstances?
It was tantalising. Seated in the cart with his hands securely bound behind his back, Daniel was only feet away from his sword. It was travelling with him and had been placed nearby as a visible taunt. He endured plenty of other taunts from the two soldiers riding behind the cart but he ignored their jeers. They would soon tire of mocking him. All that concerned Daniel were the whereabouts of his friend. He knew that Welbeck would have spent the night in the wood but wasn’t at all sure that the sergeant had witnessed the patrol as it passed by. His friend might still be in the clearing with the horses, wondering what had happened. Daniel couldn’t rely on him.
The sword was his only means of escape. Indirectly responsible for his capture, it might also be his salvation. If he could get close enough, its sharp blade would soon cut through his bonds. Somehow he had to distract the soldiers riding behind him. As long as they were there, he had no hope of reaching the weapon. The road was pockmarked with ruts and holes, making the journey a painful one. As the wheels of the cart explored each ridge or depression, Daniel was tossed helplessly to and fro. Whenever he fell sideways onto his shoulder, he had to haul himself upright again. His antics provided endless amusement for the two soldiers.
Emerging from the wood, the patrol kept up a steady pace for the next few miles. Daniel saw nothing of what lay ahead. The only road that he could see was the one that he was facing. When he heard sounds of commotion behind him, therefore, he didn’t at first know what had caused them. Horses neighed, men shouted and the cart came to such an abrupt halt that Daniel was thrown sideways. He could smell smoke and hear the rumbling sound of a small avalanche that descended on the patrol. One of the horses behind him reared and unseated its rider. The other horsed neighed frantically and danced out of the way of the cascading stones.
Daniel responded swiftly. Rolling over, he reached his sword and angled the blade so that it sawed through the rope that held his wrists. Once his hands were free, he seized the weapon and was just in time to ward off an attack from the soldier who’d been unsaddled. Parrying the slash of the man’s sword, he flicked his wrist and took the soldier’s eye out, making him scream in agony. One glance told Daniel what had happened. As they came round a bend, the patrol had been confronted by a fire then pounded by rocks that came hurtling down the rocky incline to their right. Horses were frenzied, their riders unable to control them. Stones kept coming. When one of the soldiers dismounted and tried to scramble up the gradient, he was shot dead by Welbeck.
The driver of the cart was the next victim, hacked from behind by Daniel then thrown bodily off the vehicle. Seizing the reins, Daniel snapped them hard and set the two horses off into a mad gallop, buffeting a soldier who’d been unsaddled and knocking him senseless. In the general mayhem, most of the patrol had been disabled because their mounts had been lamed by the vicious flurry of stones. Two of them, however, had the presence of mind to go in pursuit of the prisoner, riding through the flames and galloping along the road after the cart. When it veered off the track and went careering across a field, they went after it, sabres drawn and blood pumping.
Daniel could not outrun them. The most he could do was to put distance between himself and the rest of the patrol so that he was only up against two men. He had an advantage. Their orders were to take him to Versailles and hand him over alive. If they killed their prisoner, they’d have to answer to Vendome and they’d have no wish to do that. Their instinct would be to maim him in order to disarm him. Daniel was still well ahead of them but they were gaining on him. It was time for a change of tack.
When he spotted a copse off to the right, he guided the cart towards it and vanished into the trees, swerving past their gnarled trunks, ducking low branches and seeing bushes thrash at the sides of the vehicle. For a few minutes, the canopy blocked out the light. As he emerged once more into the sunshine, he saw that he was in a field that rose gently towards a ridge. Going halfway up it, Daniel brought his horses in a complete circle and headed back towards the copse. When the soldiers came galloping out of the trees, therefore, they saw the cart aimed directly at them. One of the horses flew into a panic, rearing up on its hind legs then bolting so uncontrollably that its rider struggled to stay in the saddle.
Daniel tugged on the reins and brought the cart skidding to a halt, sending clods of earth spinning into the air. Then he picked up his sword, jumped into the rear of the cart and beat off the attack from the other soldier. Hacking away at him, the man was trying to dislodge his weapon so that he could overpower him and take him prisoner. Daniel had no time for the niceties of swordplay. Snatching up the rope that had earlier held him, he lashed out at the horse’s head and made the animal neigh in terror. As it tossed its head sideways and came round in a half circle, Daniel ducked under the swishing sabre that was aimed at his shoulder then thrust upwards with his own sword. Its point went deep into the stomach of the soldier and caused him to drop his weapon.
Swearing loudly, he fell into Daniel’s arms and used the last of his strength to beat feebly at his chest. Daniel lowered him to the ground, withdrew his sword and thrust it through his heart to spare him a lingering death. Then he mounted the horse and rode off at a gallop with blood still dripping from his sword.
Vendome was pleased to welcome Sophie Prunier back into the French camp and to hear a full account of her adventures. He was grateful for the detail she was able to provide of the enemy and was amused at the way she’d deceived even the Duke of Marlborough.
‘I’d be the first to admit that I never expected you to be rescued by Captain Rawson,’ he said, ‘but I feel that it worked out to our benefit in the end. You are to be congratulated.’
‘Thank you, Your Grace,’ she said.
‘I think you’ve earned a reunion with your husband now. You’ll find Lieutenant Bouteron waiting for you in his quarters.’
‘Before I go, I must give you a warning. Captain Rawson set out for this camp for the second time. According to what I was told, he’s anxious to retrieve his sword.’
Vendome gave a throaty chuckle. ‘I assisted him,’ he said. ‘The captain was arrested and brought before me. Since he was so keen to have his sword, I sent it with him to Versailles. I’ve left it to His Majesty to determine the fate of Daniel Rawson. My guess is that we shall never hear of the fellow again.’
