Words Heard in Silence (53 page)

Charlie returned to Rebecca’s side. "My love. Are you all right?"

"I am fine, Charlie. Just angry."

"Want to talk about it, dear?"

"I do not know what to say. I simply cannot believe he could be so arrogant about what he and those men did to Constance, and I am ashamed of the way I feel toward him."

"I heard you, dear, tell him that he was no better than your husband. Is that what Gaines did to you? What they did to Constance? And why should you feel ashamed, love? He is despicable."

She lowered her eyes, unable to look at Charlie. "Yes." She offered softly before looking back at him, tears in her eyes. "I should not have said those things to him. It makes me as despicable as he is to wish such things."

Charlie took Rebecca into his arms. "My dear, to want to exterminate vermin is not despicable. It is human. That you should suffer such treatment at the hand of your husband, who had vowed to protect you, certainly qualifies Mr. Gaines as vermin in my mind. Listening to Montgomery spew his venom and clearly enjoy the impact it was having on you was enough to make both Franklin and I feel physically ill."

She sank into his arms with a sigh. "I must admit it had much the same effect on me." She took a deep breath and sat up, wiping her eyes, giving Charlie a little smile. "Do you not have things you should be attending to?"

"I sent messages to both Polk and Swallow, and expect a trooper at the door shortly to take over from Franklin. Until then, I am yours, dear."

"What will happen to him, Charlie?"

"He will be hanged. There is no alternative. I will have to have Sheridan down here to conduct the court martial, as I believe if I sit the board of inquiry, it will be questioned."

She gave a slightly frustrated laugh. "Ironic. We spend weeks saving his life, only to have it taken from him."

"He condemned himself. To be honest, I almost suspect he did it on purpose. I have often seen officers spiral down into suicidal guilt and anger when they lose too many men, and Montgomery certainly fits that pattern. Unfortunately, there is little or nothing we can do about it. If Franklin had not been witness to the confession, I do not know if I would have made the charge or not. Perhaps he could have been saved, perhaps not. Certainly, Constance has room in her heart for forgiveness. But Montgomery does not have the same in his. Mostly, he cannot forgive himself."

"Charlie, we are going to have to be very careful with Constance. She is not well. The pregnancy is very difficult. I am afraid that this could make it more so."

Charlie sighed deeply. He had seen Constance growing paler and frailer as her child grew within her. "I do not want this to become a circus. I have a confession; I have a senior staff officer, I have two witnesses. I believe we can keep it quiet and simply transfer Montgomery to Sheridan as soon as he can be moved. I can only imagine what conducting the trial here would do to morale, let alone what it would do to Constance. It is a very ugly picture."

"It is indeed." She rubbed his arm. "I really am concerned for her. Elizabeth is taking very good care of her, but there is only so much we can do. Either Lizbet, Tess, or myself have Em almost all the time. Constance is so weak she cannot look after the baby. It is a good thing that child adores you so; some nights you are the only one who can calm her down."

Charlie smiled indulgently. "She is a charming little imp. And I have noticed that lately she seems to go to you as much as she comes to me. Rebecca, what will happen to Em if Constance……."

"Dies?" She shook her head. "I am not sure. She has no other family that I am aware of."

"Would you..." Charlie floundered. He loved the little girl dearly, and knew that Rebecca did too. But to ask her to consider adopting a child who still had a living parent, when they were not yet married seemed to be both tasteless and something of an imposition. On the other hand, he would certainly be proud to raise the little scamp if her mother succumbed to the risks of pregnancy.

"What, Charlie?"

"Well, um, if Constance, um, does not, um, survive her, um" Charlie flushed a bit. This was one of the strangest ways he had ever considered to gain a family. Perhaps planning parenthood was not a bad thing. "Well, if Emily is left alone, would you consider raising her?" he finished in a rush.

"Me? Oh, Charlie, I," She paused then smiled at him. "No, Charlie, I will not raise her. We will raise her. You will be a wonderful Papa. She is quite her Papa's little girl now."

"I meant us, love." Charlie blushed, starting with his ears and spreading over his face. "I know it is not the normal way to acquire a family, but I also know you want one. And I do not wish Constance ill, but you know how I am. I always figure that if I plan for the worst case, well, then if it happens I am ready and if it does not happen, I have been lucky."

"Of course." She cupped his cheek. "I am sure all will be well."

Charlie luxuriated in her touch, cuddling her close for a few minutes. As they sat quietly, a hesitant knock sounded at the door. Charlie rose and went to talk quietly with the trooper for a few minutes, then returned to Rebecca’s side.

"You know, dear, there are many orphaned children who will need love and care. What do you think of adopting children after we are married, love?"

She smiled. "Hmmm, a whole herd of children for the good Colonel to corral along with the horses?"

Charlie held her close as he laughed. "My dear, if I can keep this herd of unruly troopers under control –– at least most of the time –– I think I can handle a herd of children. How many were you thinking of, darling?"

"Oh, I do not know." She gave him an evil grin. "We can just keep going until we run out of bedrooms."

Charlie laughed, a full, hearty laugh. "My dear, clearly you are intent on making sure that I keep my exercise program up and maintain my image. For with that many children underfoot, I will no doubt have to do a fair bit of weight lifting just to carry them all around with me." With that, he kissed her soundly. "It sounds like a lovely plan, my love –– a whole house, full of laughter and growing young’uns. All because of our love." He gently tickled her. "And you will be able to keep your lovely figure as well, my dear, without the risks or drain of pregnancy. I think it sounds like a perfect plan."

A
light frost covered the grass, and Charlie’s boots made the stiff blades crunch as he ran his morning route around the stables and the exercise rings behind them. The men had laid out various practice courses and several groups were already clustered around the drawings of the various jump patterns for the events. In the center of the largest exercise ring, some of the men were already sparring with saber and small sword. Some were practicing classic cavalry maneuvers, attempting to thrust a javelin through a small ring hanging from a swinging beam and using sabers to pick up rings from the ground, all while riding at a brisk clip.

Off in one corner of the main paddock, all of the company commanders, except Montgomery, were holding an impromptu conference of some sort. Casually and very quietly, Charlie walked up behind them curious as to how well his plans for inspiring both teamwork and a bit of good-natured competition within the regiment were going.

Braddock of Company H, and the only company commander who had served with Charlie on the western front, was holding forth to the others. "Look, we all want to win the honor of both the vanguard and the colors. That means we are going to have to get the men to work together, regardless of whether we are from the old 13th or the remnants of the 49th. And my Ohio boys are more than willing to do so. So tell me what I have to do to get these stiff necked Bucks County boys of yours to pull together."

Swallow, the most senior of the Pennsylvanians, stroked the pencil fine beard at the tip of his chin for a moment. "Well, you know Colonel Polk’s been working with Montgomery’s boys in Company D. He set up an internal review, where each man voted to decide which members of the company would compete in which events, the object being to put together the team that was best equipped to win the overall competition. You know what a mess Monty had left that company in. I swear, before Polk took them over, I was breaking up fights almost every night. He has them working together pretty well now."

The other members of the little conference nodded at Swallow’s advice. Hoffstader piped up, "Yes, it is working. I have had a good bit of luck with mixing up the teams that have been repairing the fencing. All it took for me was to find the thing we all had in common, and for my boys, taking care of the horses was the thing."

"Well, just being able to stay in the fight, especially after what the rebs did to us at the Wilderness, was enough for my boys. I swear, giving command to that upstart Wilson was the stupidest thing I ever saw." Major M’Cabe, who still had not completely healed from the grapeshot he had taken in the shoulder, spat to emphasize his disdain for the young, arrogant General who had led an entire division of Union cavalry into hell because he was too stubborn to take proper precautions.

Young Avery, who had taken command of Company I after the Wilderness campaign, looked glum. "Have you been watching the fellows from Company C? They are driving hard, every one of them. I swear, I think they need to prove something after both Monty and that idiot who called Mrs. Gaines a……." he trailed off, at a loss to repeat the insult. His companions relieved him of that burden by nodding sagely at him. "Anyway, I think they want to prove themselves. So they are all pushing hard."

Swallow and several of the other commanders laughed. "Yes, lad, that would be the kind of thing Polk would put them up to. Prove that Monty and his little clique were just that –– a little splinter group, and that the rest of them are good, God fearing, hard riding, well trained soldiers."

Maguire looked back and forth between Swallow and Braddock. "What about the Colonel? What do you think he will do? Will he play favorites, either for his old troops from Ohio or for Polk’s boys?"

Braddock laughed. "Lucky Charlie play favorites? That man has always been the most ‘‘by the book’ officer I have ever heard of. No, he will definitely not play favorites. But watch out. He has been known to compete personally in the individual events and he is absolutely deadly out there."

Swallow added, "I think the man could ride a horse through hell and back without breaking a sweat. And Tarent and MacFarlane both think he walks on water when it comes to horses."

Major Byrnes, ever the regiment’s black sheep, finally grew bored with this discussion. "Gentlemen, there are three days left before we all go out there and either prove we can stay on a horse or make asses of ourselves. What do you say to a little wager?"

Charlie smiled. His officers were on the right track, and where they went, he was sure the men would follow. Quietly, he slipped away. He had promised Duncan some private practice and pointers with the small sword.

T
he evening was crisp; the fire was warm. Elizabeth had gone to bed early after a particularly trying day. Two of the men, practicing for the gymkhana’s mounted lance competition, had managed to overextend themselves. The result was two broken legs, one broken arm, and a number of bruises. MacFarlane and Tarent were both unhappy as well, as two horses were decidedly upset. Not injured, just upset.

Charlie, had spent the day alternating between writing extensive dispatches to Sheridan about Montgomery and the related problems within his command, and working with the men as they practiced. He was tired, but edgy and not yet ready for sleep. More to the point, he had finally realized that Christmas was a week away and he did not know gift he should get for Rebecca.

The two of them sat together in the back parlor sharing an after dinner coffee and brandy, as well as the details of their respective days. Charlie obliquely broached the subject he was most concerned with.

"Say, did you know that some of the men have been making toys and such for the refugee and neighborhood children?"

"That is very sweet. I am sure the children will be delighted with some new toys. Em discovered an old rag doll of mine a few days ago and refuses to give it up."

"I saw it clutched in her arms when I went in to say goodnight. She is very cute with it. Does it have a name?"

She laughed, nearly loosing her brandy through her nose. "I am afraid I was never very talented in that respect as a child. Mother always told me I called it 'doll'. Em however has christened it, Em. Quite original I think."

Charlie laughed. "Ah, yes, she is certainly the center of her own universe, is she not?"

"I do believe that you also share that special place in her heart. She loves you so much."

"And I love her." Charlie looked at his lady almost shyly. "But you, my heart, are at the center of my universe."

"And you are mine, love." She placed her glass down and took his hand. "Are you tired yet? You have had a very long day."

"Not yet, love. I just need to spend a little time with you. It was a rather harrowing day. I am more tense than tired, I fear." He took a sip of brandy. "I have obtained some lengths of good sound worsted and thought they might make good Christmas gifts for the ladies."

"Oh yes, that will be very nice indeed. Some of these ladies have not had anything new in a very long time. I must say, Charlie, I think that Christmas is going to turn out to be wonderful this year."

"And what of you, my love? What would you like for Christmas?"

"I honestly had not given it any thought. I am just glad to have you here with me. But I suppose, knowing you as well as I do, if I do not give you an answer, you will never rest. So, let us see, it is too late to do anything about it now, but maybe next year we could replace my mother's piano."