Soldier of Fortune

'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.'

'That would only have frightened you away,' he argued, 'and I could not bear the thought of that. It's happened before, you see. When young ladies hear that I'm in the army, they shy away from me because they know I must spend a long time abroad each year.'

'I was bound to find out sooner or later.'

'Granted — but by then, I trusted, we'd have established a firm friendship, something strong enough to withstand the fact that we had to be apart for a little while.'

'I may not see you again until the autumn — if then,' she said despondently. 'That's far more than a little while. It's also more than I can tolerate. You do me wrong to raise my expectations then dash them to pieces like this.'

'We still have one whole day together,' he told her.

'What use is that?'

'Whatever use we choose to put it to,' he said, trying to soothe her with a smile. 'If I've hurt you in any way, Abigail, I'm deeply sorry. Tell me how I can atone for my treatment of you.'

He opened his arms in a gesture of apology that was at the same time a welcome invitation. Abigail was in turmoil, tempted to yield to his embrace yet held back by the anguish of losing him to a distant war. The conflicting emotions were too much for her. Unable to contain her distress, she let out a loud wail then fled from the room. Daniel instinctively tried to follow her but he found his way blocked by Dorothy Piper. Anger showed in her eyes at first but it soon vanished when she was able to study him properly.