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 enter the realm of the unknown. Nobody can predict what will happen. The one certainty is that a large number of our men will lose their lives or receive hideous wounds. No woman should have to look on such sights.'
'That's exactly what Daniel — Captain Rawson — told me but I am more robust than I look. I won't faint at the sight of blood, Your Grace. In any case, the baggage wagons will be well away from any action, surely. We'll be completely safe.'
'It's not your safety that concerns me, Abigail.'
'What else is there?'
'Your pain,' he said, speaking as softly as he could, 'your grief, your sense of being cheated by Fate. To speak more plainly, I think you should leave the camp before we close with the enemy in order to spare yourself what might — and I put it no higher than that — be a tragedy for you. I feel it would be far better for you to receive news of it at home where you'd have family and friends to comfort you.'
'Why should I need comfort?' said Abigail in bewilderment. 'I came here simply to be close to Captain Rawson. That fact gives me all the comfort I require.'
Marlborough was moved by the love in her eyes and the pride in her voice but he did not feel it right to conceal the truth from her. If she was determined to stay, she had to be prepared for disaster.
'Do you know what a Forlorn Hope is?' he said.
'Yes, of course, Your Grace.'
'Then you know how dangerous it is.'
'Captain Rawson told us about a Forlorn Hope that he once led. It was very successful and it earned him a commendation from you. It may have cost lives but it achieved what it set out to do.'
'Unhappily, that is not always the case.'
'It is whenever Captain Rawson is involved,' she asserted. 'I've never met anyone as daring as him.'
'He's a remarkable soldier, I have to agree. But he is a realist, Abigail. He knows that anyone who takes part in a
Forlorn Hope is going to look into the very jaws of death.'
She became anxious. 'Why are you telling me this?'
'We will shortly be attempting to storm a fortified hill near Donauworth,' he said seriously. 'We believe that there may be as many as 13,000 French and Bavarian soldiers defending it. Heavy casualties are therefore expected. The assault will be led by a Forlorn Hope.' He paused for a moment then broke the news to her. 'Captain Rawson has volunteered to be part of it.'
Abigail was rocked by the news. At the very moment when she had finally been reunited with her beloved, he was about to take the most enormous risk on the battlefield. Having journeyed from England with thoughts of marriage to Daniel Rawson, she now feared that she might instead soon be attending his funeral.
CHAPTER NINE
When they reached the inn, a small but well-kept establishment beside the only road in the area, Charles Catto went in alone to make sure that no Confederate soldiers were there. He had a good command of German and learnt from the landlord that the huge army had marched past that morning. It was therefore safe to take a room there. Catto and Frederic Seurel ate a tasty meal at the inn before setting out to do some reconnaissance. The camp was some distance away and they got within half a mile of it before they dismounted and concealed their horses behind some bushes. They approached on foot. Both having served as soldiers, and often taken part in surprise attacks, they knew how to move with stealth.
Since Catto had already been inside the camp at the earlier site, he was aware of its likely deployment and of the position of its pickets. The landscape favoured them. Though the camp was set on a plain beside a stream, it was surrounded by undulating ground that was generously sprinkled with trees and shrubs. There was thus plenty of cover. Leading the way,
Catto chose to stay on the opposite bank of the stream from the camp. In case they were spotted, he decided, it was wise to have the fast-running waters hampering any pursuit. As they crept furtively on, they eventually found a vantage point.
'What can you see?' asked Seurel.
'Be quiet!'
'Let me have a look, Charles.'
'Wait your turn,' said Catto, lying full length as he trained his telescope on the camp. 'This is no use to us at all,' he soon added. 'We'll have to move go much farther on.'