Song Of The Nightingale (DeWinter's Song 1) (4 page)

Oliver grasped the doctor by the arm. “You have to save him. He is a man like no other—brave and courageous—a hero.”

The doctor flexed his aching muscles and glanced at the rows of cots filled with the wounded and dying. “Every man you see here is a hero, but most of them will die, as I’m sure will this man.”

Throughout the long hours of the day and into the night, Oliver kept his vigil, while outside the hospital tent the victorious soldiers of the 34th Regiment of the Light Dragoons waited in the rain to hear if their commanding officer would live or die.

At sunrise the next day it was still dark as dense clouds covered the sun. By midmorning a feeling of gloom hung over the men of the 34th Regiment when they were ordered to move out with the other troops, leaving their commanding officer behind without knowing his fate.

Oliver sat beside Raile, watching the rain pound against the window as his comrades departed.

It was late afternoon when a British officer appeared at Raile’s bedside. The valet quickly came to attention, buttoning his tunic and trying to smooth down his disheveled hair.

“Stand easy, soldier,” the man said, staring down at Raile. At last he turned his attention to the valet. “I am General Greenleigh of General Wellington’s staff. He has sent me to inquire about Colonel DeWinter’s condition.”

“The doctor holds out little hope that he will survive, sir.”

“Your colonel covered himself with glory in the battle yesterday.”

“Yes, sir, that he did,” Oliver agreed with pride. “He was an inspiration to us all.”

“General Wellington knows of his heroism and will see that he is duly commended.”

Oliver met the general’s sympathetic gaze. “Little good the glory will do him if he’s dead, sir.”

General Greenleigh stared at the tip of his own shiny boots. “I was ordered by Wellington himself to see that Colonel DeWinter is transferred to Brussels, where he will receive the best medical care.”

“I’m not certain he could survive such a journey, sir.”

“General Wellington has placed at your disposal one of his own coaches, which you will find well sprung. The fact that Colonel DeWinter is unconscious could prove a blessing. He will not feel the discomfort of the journey.”

Oliver nodded grimly, wondering if the colonel would live long enough to reach the hospital.

The doctor appeared beside General Greenleigh and sadly shook his head. “He’ll be gone within the hour, General.”

“Oh, well,” the officer said absently, his thoughts already on other matters. “I shall write the necessary letters to his family. Damned shame. He was a good man.”

Oliver glanced down at Raile, who was pale and pain-racked, his breathing deep and labored.

“You’ll fool them all,” the valet said, feeling resentment toward the two men who had so readily abandoned Raile. “They don’t know about your fighting spirit. They have never seen you come through against impossible circumstances. You’re going to come out of this, Colonel. I know you will. You have faced harder.”

4

Kassidy was in the garden when she heard the church bells in the village begin pealing the joyous news. England was celebrating her victory. At last the war was over and Napoleon had been defeated!

She smiled as she remembered the officer she had met as a young girl at the park across from Aunt Mary’s house. She had once childishly called him her champion, but she had come to think of him as just that. Even though she had forgotten what he looked like, it had become her habit to say a prayer for his safety each night—she only hoped he had come through the war alive. It was a pity that she would never know for certain if her champion had survived.

She went into the bedroom she shared with Abigail, moved to the mirror, and stared at her image as she removed her bonnet. Without vanity, she could see that she was pretty. Gone were the freckles; her skin was now creamy and flawless. Her hair hung across her shoulders in spiraling curls and was a burnished blond in color. She was slender and delicate. Her fighting spirit was not gone, but was often tempered with reserve. A child no longer, she was a young lady.

She had become accustomed to seeing admiration in gentlemen’s eyes. At church, she could feel them watching her. But none of the men of the village was considered suitable by Henry. And none would dare approach her because they feared her brother.

Abigail and Kassidy had never been alone with a gentleman, and if Henry had his way, they never would. He ruled his house as if he were king, and his sisters were little better than unpaid servants. Even Aunt Mary’s pleas to allow the girls to have a London Season at her expense went unheeded.

Kassidy knew there would be dancing and merrymaking in the streets of the village, and the celebration would go on well into the night. She sighed regretfully. She would not be joining in the festivities. Henry would never allow it.

Kassidy threw open a window and listened to the sound of cheering. After lighting a candle, she moved back to the window, pulled aside the curtains, and looked at the dying rays of the sun. She anxiously searched for her sister. She was worried because Abigail had not yet returned. Perhaps she was among the merrymakers in the village.

Henry, God-fearing man that he was, was permitting Abigail to help tend the vicar’s children until his sickly wife gave birth to their fifth child. When Kassidy had seen the vicar at the market today, he had inquired about Abigail and had implied that he had not seen her since last Sunday. If Abigail wasn’t going to the vicarage when she left the house, then where was she spending her days?

Kassidy heard steps in the hallway, and she moved quickly to the door to find Abigail, face flushed as if she’d been running.

“Where have you been?” Kassidy asked in a whisper, dragging her sister into the room and closing the door behind them. “Henry wanted to know where you were. He was in a temper.”

“Little 1 care about Henry’s temper.”

Kassidy looked at Abigail closely. “You had better care. I saw the vicar today.”

Abigail avoided looking into Kassidy’s eyes. “Oh.” She untied her bonnet and allowed it to dangle from her fingers. “I suppose he told you I haven’t been to the vicarage all week.”

“Abigail, we’ve never kept secrets from each other. Why are you doing so now? Are you in trouble?”

“Oh, Kassidy, I can no longer keep it to myself. I’m in love!” Abigail laughed and hugged her sister. “He is more wonderful than you can imagine. I’m happy just being with him.”

Kassidy was astounded. “When did you have a chance to meet anyone? I know every gentleman of your acquaintance, and not one of them would I consider wonderful.”

Abigail’s blue eyes took on a glow. “I met him at Lady Broadwick’s Christmas party last December. Remember how you refused to go because you find her parties tedious? I went because it’s the only social gathering Henry will allow us to attend.”

“I remember.”

“He ... we were attracted to each other right away. All the ladies flirted with him outrageously, but he saw only me. Lady Broadwick’s nose was out of joint because he asked me to dance three times and didn’t dance once with her daughter, Emily.” She stopped to catch her breath. “It was that night that we made plans to meet the next day. I knew Henry would never allow him to call at the house, so I met him in the graveyard behind the church.”

Kassidy felt somehow betrayed. “You never told me about this man.”

Abigail looked at her sister apologetically. “Knowing how Henry always singles you out to bear the brunt of his anger, I decided not to confide in you. This way, if he discovers I have been deceiving him, he will punish only me. You can’t be blamed for what you don’t know.”

“But, Abigail, you must stop seeing this man at once. If Henry does find out, I don’t know what he would do to you.”

“It’s too late for that, dearest.” Abigail’s face brightened. “Be happy for me, Kassidy—I’m going to be married.”

Kassidy felt conflicting emotions. If Abigail were to be married, she would escape a life of drudgery under Henry’s control. But how dreadfully she would miss Abigail, and how alone she would be without her.

“What if this man isn’t worthy of you, Abigail? You know so little of the world, and even less of men. You see only good in everyone. How can you judge a man when your heart is involved?”

Abigail pulled Kassidy down on the bed beside her. “If you only knew who he is, you would be most impressed, for he is a man of great import. Just be happy for me and know that I will be with the man I love.”

“Who is he?”

“I can’t tell you that, Kassidy, at least not now. But after I’m married and settled in his home, you will come to live with us.”

“I’m so confused, Abigail. How can you love a man you hardly know?”

“Since our first meeting we have managed to see each other several times a week. We met on the afternoons I was supposed to be at Mrs. Hardy’s to give her daughters singing lessons.”

There was reproof in Kassidy’s voice. “You should have told me. You know I would have helped you in any way I could.”

“I never meant to deceive you. But he and I discussed the matter and decided to tell no one. He made me promise I wouldn’t tell even you. You see, his mother has her own notions of who he should marry. He doesn’t think she would approve of me. But what can she do if we are already married?”

“I don’t like the sound of this, Abigail,” Kassidy said suspiciously. “If he is a man of honor, he should at least come to Henry and ask for your hand in a proper manner. What if he’s only promising you marriage, so you will go away with him?”

Abigail laughed. “Where you get these notions, I have no idea. I trust him completely, Kassidy.” Abigail shook her head. “You know Henry would never give his consent. He would lock me in and never allow me to see my love again.”

Kassidy knew Abigail spoke the truth. “I want to meet him then. Someone in this family needs to know the man.”

“There’s no time, Kassidy. I’m leaving with him tonight.”

Kassidy clutched her sister’s hand. “Don’t do something you may regret.”

“I could never regret leaving this house that Henry has made more a prison than a home. My only sadness is in leaving you.” She pressed her cheek against Kassidy’s. “I promise to get word to you as soon as I’m able. But don’t be concerned if you don’t hear from me for a time. I have to devise a way to write you so Henry won’t find out.”

“How can I let you go when I won’t know where you are?”

“I will be with a man who loves me and wants only my happiness. You need have no concern for me.”

With a heavy heart, Kassidy asked: “What are your plans?”

“I am to meet him at the crossroads at midnight. Before morning, I will be his wife.”

Kassidy sighed with resignation. “Then we had better pack your belongings. Come, I will help you.”

Abigail’s eyes clouded with tears. “I knew you would understand. My hope is that Henry won’t make you suffer for what I’m doing.”

“Don’t worry about me. I can take care of Henry.”

“I never understood why he seemed to hate you so much, Kassidy. You were always the one he punished when he was dissatisfied with either of us.”

“It’s because I’m the one who defies him. Men like Henry want people to cower before them—I don’t fear him in the least, and he resents it.”

“Please be careful.” Abigail pulled a sealed letter from her pocket. “I intend to leave this for him on the hall table. I wrote him about the elopement.”

Kassidy opened the wooden chest at the end of Abigail’s bed. “It’s a pity your wardrobe is so meager. Father left Henry wealthy, but he’s so stingy he begrudges every pence.”

Abigail pulled a small valise from under her bed. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t need much. My beloved has promised me a new wardrobe and anything else that I desire.”

Again misgiving nagged at Kassidy. “If only I knew more about this man.”

“When you learn his identity, you will know that I have married well. He has just come into a fortune and will soon inherit an old and distinguished title.”

Kassidy refused to cry as she placed Abigail’s scuffed slippers in the valise. She had to think how happy Abigail would be and not think how miserable her own life would be when her sister was gone.

*                                          *                                          *

Henry’s face was etched with fury. He tore open the bedroom door and yanked Kassidy up by the arm, waving Abigail’s letter in her face.

“Just what’s the meaning of this, missy?”

Kassidy had hardly slept during the night, and now as she looked at her brother, she knew the time she’d dreaded had come.

“You know as well as I, that it’s a letter from Abigail,” she answered, wrenching her arm free of his grasp. “She’s gone, and you can’t hurt her anymore.”

Henry drew back to slap her, but the defiant look in her eyes stayed his hand. “I’ll find her, never fear. And, before long, you’ll be only too willing to tell me where she is.”

Kassidy shook her head. “Even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you. I’m glad she’s gone.”

He pushed her back with a force that banged her head against the headboard, and still her eyes defied him. “Father and Mother didn’t raise you to be to be so cruel. If you had been kinder to Abigail, she would not have been forced to run away.”

“Humph,” he snorted. “Little either of you know about my life. Even though you and Abigail have never thanked me for it, I have protected you and given you a home. As for Mother and Father, if they weren’t off to Egypt or Florence, they were in India, leaving me to look after you two. Well, they died as they lived, pushing their responsibilities onto me.”

“You never see life as it is, Henry. Everything revolves around you. Your conversations start with your wants and end with your needs. You see no joy in life, and you see no good in others. Even your own daughters are frightened of you.”

His lower lip trembled with rage. “You’re the one who has reason to fear me, missy. You have defied me in everything. I blame your rebellious spirit on Aunt Mary, who has always encouraged it in you.”

“I will always oppose you, Henry. Until the day I die, I’ll still defy you.”

“But in the end you will lose, Kassidy. I’ll never give up until your spirit is broken and I have taught you humility.”

With jerking motions, he moved to the door, removed the key, and inserted it on the other side. “I think the day will soon come when you will see things my way. Before I let you out of this room, you will tell me what I want to know.”

Kassidy glared at him. “I won’t tell you anything, Henry.”

After he closed the door, she heard the lock click. A tear lingered at the corner of her eye before it rolled down her cheek. She knew Henry was capable of ruthlessness. But no matter what he did, she would not beg and she would not ask him to free her.

She rubbed her head where a knot was forming. “Some day I’ll leave,” she whispered, sinking down beneath the warm cover and watching the sun rise over a bank of clouds.