For Richard, the knowledge that the major was awaiting him was more frightening than anything he had faced, save for one moment.
The moment he allowed Adeline to leave with Camry.
Still, while Richard could do nothing to prevent facing Major Dashfield, at least he was a near enough ride from Dunmore to visit and go back when his plan was ready and he could speak with her uncle.
Richard stood and Mr. Hudson adjusted his jacket.
“You look good, Lieutenant. You will face the major and you will certainly make your bride proud as you do. I am sure it will not be long before the two of you are together again,” he said encouragingly.
“Thank you, Mr. Hudson. I hope you are right,” Richard replied.
He made his way out of the tent and to Major Dashfield’s little house, the nicest plot of land there was. It had been a cottager’s home once upon a time, but the major had chased out the poor man and turned it into his own resting place while the troops slept out in the tents.
At the door, Richard took a deep breath, preparing himself for whatever lay beyond it. Steadying his hand, he knocked.
Major Dashfield’s personal guards opened the door. They were vile men, much like the major himself. Richard greeted them as expected and they sneered at him, instructing him to go inside the major’s office.
“Ah, there you are, Lieutenant Holloway,” the creature rumbled in his deep voice. He stood to his full height, as he always did now when someone entered the room. It was not a sign of respect, but of dominance.
Richard stood firm before the major as if he were not frightened. In his mind, he mocked the length of dark hair that flowed from the major’s head, tied back at the base of his neck. He had never been a fan of longer hairstyles.
“You asked to see me?” Richard prodded.
“Indeed. There seems to be a bit of a problem, Lieutenant,” Major Dashfield began.
Richard felt his heart pounding. Had his increasingly frequent absences been noticed by his fellow soldiers? Had they caught on to the fact that he was in love with a Scottish woman? Or had those brutes reported him to this man who could easily be their leader?
“Oh? A problem?” Richard asked nonchalantly.
“Sit,” the major instructed.
Richard did as he was told, but remained calm externally. He begged his heart to follow suit.
“Fort Borthswick is in need of a…guide…of sorts,” Major Dashfield began. “Or rather, I need you and the men under your command to put out some fires.”
“Fires, Major?” Richard asked, curious, but also incredibly relieved to realize that he was not in trouble for his constant comings and goings. This was something of a promotion to be put in charge of problem solving on behalf of the major.
“It would seem that there might be a big insurrection. A mutiny of sorts,” Major Dashfield explained.
“Of sorts?” Richard asked.
“Of sorts,” the major confirmed. “The truth is, we don’t have all the details, and we need them. We would like you to go to them, be among them for a couple days, and put out any fires you might see. And if things have gotten worse since we last received word, it will be your duty to handle it. You know exactly what we do to men who mutiny.
“And if a mutiny is, indeed, underway? You will be held responsible for the actions taken and the consequences faced by the men. We are trusting you on this, and you had best not let us down, do you understand?” the major asked.
Richard felt completely overwhelmed. “Yes, Major Dashfield, I understand. I will be sure to see to it that everything is handled accordingly,” he promised.
“Then you may leave,” Major Dashfield said, finishing the conversation.
Richard turned and made his way out the door. He was unable to think clearly at that point. How could he go now? Head south? That was madness! Adeline was north. The woman he loved, his very wife, was in the opposite direction. She was home at Dunmore. How could he travel south now?
With Major Dashfield coming and going, Richard would be able to take his chances sneaking away from camp still. No matter how he had promised himself not to do it anymore, his love for Adeline meant that they had to be together and nothing else could stand in their way.
However, being sent to another camp with a mission, and one that had no exact timeline -- and even required he bring all the troops under his command? How was he meant to sneak off and rescue Adeline now? How was he to get to Dunmore to beg her family to allow them to be together?
Richard was angry. He couldn’t wrap his thoughts around it all. Worse yet, he was on his way to prevent a mutiny, one that he wouldn’t have minded being part of. He was tired of the war. He was tired of all that he was seeing from the side of the Hanoverians, and it seemed like a foolish thing to stop the men who were tired of it all as well.
Mutinies were about more than just power. They were often about overthrowing corruption. These days, more and more, Richard was coming to see just how corrupt his military was.
Orders, no matter how frivolous or annoying, could not be ignored. Richard did not want to be a man who disobeyed orders and executed as a result. Major Dashfield had a reputation for all the men he had ordered to be killed for their disobedience, or for mutinies like this one. Richard simply could not risk it.
He had his wife now to think about. Her safety and wellbeing were his priority. That meant that his own safety and wellbeing had to be a priority as well. He had to be able to protect her, and for that he had to remain alive.
Richard reached his tent and Mr. Hudson was there waiting with an anxious energy about him.
“Well? What is it? What did the beast say?” Mr. Hudson asked.
Richard shot him a wide-eyed look for being so careless and calling Major Dashfield a ‘beast’ while they were not even yet inside the tent. Not that it mattered so much, since even within they could be easily heard.
“Mr. Hudson, you have to be more careful in how you speak. You know there are men willing to speak about others to earn favor with the major,” Richard said in a hushed whisper once they were inside.
“Forgive me, Lieutenant, but you know that man is terrifying,” he defended.
“It doesn’t matter so much how we find him. The truth is that he can kill any of us in an instant and no one will stand up against him for it. They are all too afraid to do anything. Just as you and I are,” Richard said.
“Okay, but that still doesn’t tell me why he called you in there, Lieutenant. What does he want from you? It is because of all your departures? Did someone tell him that you had been coming and going?” Mr. Hudson asked, still nervous.
“No, no. Nothing like that, Mr. Hudson. It was actually rather foolish, to be perfectly honest with you. It’s a troop to the south. Fort Borthswick. There are rumors of a mutiny, either in progress or in play. We do not know which. I am to take my troops down, ready to prevent or to punish. That also, we do not know which. But that is the plan,” Richard said with a sigh.
“Oh…” Mr. Hudson said, seeming relieved.
Richard saw that the man felt foolish for having been so worried. “Yes, I was rather relieved as well. It brought a great deal of peace to know that the major was not planning to murder me and hang me on his wall of victims,” Richard said with a dry humor.
“Absolutely, Lieutenant. I am glad to hear that he is not planning anything as punishment for you. It would seem that your absences went quite unnoticed after all,” Mr. Hudson said.
“It does. But there is a grave problem here as well, Mr. Hudson. No matter how relieved I am for not being beheaded, it does not change the fact that I cannot possibly go south. Not now,” Richard said with great agony.
“Of course,” Mr. Hudson began, realizing the dilemma. “If you go south on orders, it will prevent you from finding Adeline and speaking with her family about your marriage. It will cause a delay. Or if you need to rescue her from that Camry man, you might be later than you intended,” he said.
&nb
sp; “Precisely. I am at a loss for what to do. How can I be south doing my job when Adeline is somewhere near Dunmore with a man trying to tell her uncle that I abducted her? When will I be able to finish my duty at Fort Borthswick and return to speak with them and share what really happened?” Richard lamented.
“Please, don’t worry, Lieutenant. I know it seems impossible now, but you never know what might happen. You never know how we will figure a way to work it all out. I will be with you, right?” Mr. Hudson asked.
“Of course, Mr. Hudson. You think I would leave you here while I am stationed there?” Richard confirmed.
“Well then, we will have time to come up with a plan. We will utilize it to ensure that when you are with Adeline again, it will be for the rest of her life. But I do want to clarify one thing,” Mr. Hudson began.
“What is that?”
“Well, you keep speaking of Dunmore. But you said the young man wore a pin? You had best ask about that pin. You need to find out who he is. He may not have taken Adeline to Dunmore. I’ve seen enough young noblemen who think they have power. You should really learn his identity before setting about for Dunmore. He may have already had his influence there,” Mr. Hudson warned.
Richard took this thought in for a few seconds. He felt ridiculous for not having thought of it before. Of course he had to learn more about Camry. If Camry knew Adeline, then certainly he was well acquainted with her family.
In addition, being acquainted with her family meant that he would surely tell them about him first. He would need to see the young man, speak with him, and learn what he had done with Richard’s wife.
Life at Firbrooke Manor
“Ye are doing far better today,” Camry said, looking up from the letters he was writing to stare at Adeline, who was resting on the couch with a book in her hands.
It was the third day of her captivity. She felt better, but mostly because she had chosen to play their game. She was pretending to be exactly what they wanted her to be. She was putting on quite an excellent show of it.
“Aye, well, I do think the air here is helping, and I must say that this rest has been quite a delight after me ordeal,” Adeline replied politely and properly.
She was coming to see Camry quite differently. Previously he had been the handsome son of the Earl of Firbrook, who said he liked her but made her slightly uncomfortable. Then, a few nights before, he was a terrible, evil man who’d separated her from her husband.
Now here he was, just a man concerned about his own interests, among which he mistakenly thought Adeline belonged.
She had grown to realize that he really had done what he thought was best. His callousness had been simply a way to help a scared girl get back into her right mind. He was painfully ignorant of Adeline and her decisions, and her love for a Hanoverian, because he thought it impossible.
So she had vaguely forgiven him, while still holding tightly to her grudge against him.
Adeline thought of Richard and where he might be now. She knew that he would try to rescue her, but how could he ever learn that she was staying with the Earl of Firbrook? Richard knew nothing of Camry and his family. It seemed too much to hope for that he would ever find her, much less be able to rescue her. In many ways, it was better. If he had thought to try, he would be killed in an instant.
“Oh, lovely! A letter from yer uncle,” Camry said, opening the paper. His eyes grew wide in excitement and Adeline watched the smile spread over his face.
“He has approved! It will happen, me dearest Adeline. We will be married soon. Can ye imagine it? What a driving force we’ll be. With yer father’s name behind ye and me position as an earl’s son? Our union will do exactly what it ought to. Drive back the enemy,” Camry said, almost as if to himself.
Adeline remained quiet. She was angered and deeply frustrated by Camry. He was so determined to use her for his own selfish purposes, and she didn’t know how much longer she could handle it.
The news that her uncle had approved the match to become official made her feel sick to her stomach. However, the knowledge that her deceased father’s name would be used as a means of driving out Protestants and Hanoverians? That infuriated her even more.
Adeline knew that those men and women were still humans. She knew that she was already married and it was to one of those very Protestant Hanoverians. Moreover, Richard had not complained for even a moment when they were wed in a Catholic chapel, by a Scottish priest, no less. So why on earth would she feel they were terrible people? He had shown such respect to her culture and beliefs.
Adeline held on to this memory. In all her worries about the cultural differences she and Richard faced, she remembered that moment. She remembered the priest with them and how he had not complained despite how clearly nervous he was. She had determined not to laugh at him while they were in the ceremony, but had held it in her heart as one of the many endearing qualities that she so adored about him.
“Yer father was such a great man. It’s too bad he isnae going to be there when we get married. I would have loved to see how he would respond to the knowledge that ye and I will be wed. Truly, we will be powerful,” Camry said in his self-absorbed way.
Adeline bit her tongue, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to do so.
She thought about the fact that Camry was the second son of an earl. He would never hold the title unless his father and elder brother died. If his elder brother had a son before dying, then he would miss that chance as well.
Yes, he would never have the power he craved so badly. For that reason, marrying Adeline was a way of making up for it. Her father had been a good man. Well liked, well thought of, and a warrior for the clan. He was a strong Jacobite leader.
Adeline was a perfect catch as a Jacobite bride. She was a clear pick. Next in line as lady of Dunmore, she came only after the laird’s wife in status as a woman.
With Colla and Grace both already wed, she was the only wise choice a man like Camry could make.
“When does he say the wedding is to be?” Adeline asked in a monotone way that had become her usually style of speech since captivity.
“Three weeks. Only three weeks from now! It’s perfect. After that, we are going to turn everything upside down, I promise ye that. Those damned English dinnae have a clue what’s coming to them once ye and I are married. We’ll have the legacy of yer faither and the authority of me own. Nothing’s going to stop us,” he said again.
Camry’s clear excitement had nothing at all to do with Adeline. She knew confidently that he didn’t love her--that he never had. For the first time, she realized that it had not been the clan that put the idea of their match in his head.
She had always suspected he gave her attention because it was a clear match between them. Now she saw that Camry could be devious. He really was looking out only for himself. He had orchestrated the idea of the two of them being together because he was smart enough to see the advantages for him through their eventual marriage. Yes, he was far more intelligent than she had ever given him credit for and now she was paying the price for that blind spot.
“Camry, are ye really sure about that? I mean, ye are keeping me here like this and we are having a rushed wedding? Dinnae ye think that people might…question it? Like, they might think poorly of our reputations? Especially if I come to bear yer child soon after. They might think that ye kept me here for bad reasons,” Adeline said, trying to put any doubt she could in his head.
“Oh, lass, dinnae be stupid. No one is going to be thinking like that. Ye’ll get pregnant after the wedding and no one ever suspected anything impure of a woman who gave birth nine months after the marriage. So ye’ll be fine. Yer reputation will be fine and mine will as well,” he replied off-handedly.
Adeline sighed. She had hoped he might be willing to delay just a little longer. However, it seemed that he would not be swayed.
“And when are we to return to Dunmore?” she asked, wondering if she might have a chance to escape at that
point.
“The week before the wedding. Until then, ye can be here with me. It’s no problem at all,” Camry replied.
“What? I dinnae think it’s such a good idea to wait two weeks, Camry. Please. Just listen to me. Can we not go sooner? Why not the end of this week?” she begged.
“Ye dinnae want to be here with me?” he scoffed, almost mocking her.
“It is just that I miss me family so much. I want to see them. Surely ye understand that? We are going to live the rest of our lives together and this is my final season as a single young woman, my final days as the lady of Dunmore? Ye have to understand that I want to spend the time with me friends and family,” she said, presenting her most compelling argument yet.
Camry looked at her as though he were now considering the words she had spoken and understood them to be legitimate. “I suppose that does make sense,” he conceded.
“So will we return sooner?” she pleaded.
“Yes, we can return sooner. I will write to your uncle and I will tell him to expect us at the week’s end. We will ride for Dunmore on Saturday. Anything for the woman who is soon to be my wife,” Camry said as if really meaning it.
Adeline smiled at him and gave him a look as if she truly cared for him. She was learning that perhaps the best way to handle him was to play to his pride. It would be the thing that led him to thinking she actually wanted to stay with him and throw him off the trail of her plans of escape.
Deep down, Adeline had no idea if this plan would work. She felt every bit as anxious as she had before. It seemed there was no way of getting out of this situation and finding Richard.
The more she was around Camry, the more she worried for Richard’s safety. Camry seemed determined that he would not lose the opportunity of marrying Adeline, and it meant that Richard would be in danger if he came and tried to take her. Even more danger than he had been in the woods, when Camry’s gun was pointed in his face.
Kidnapped Highland Bride: Ladies of Dunmore Series (A Medieval Scottish Romance Story) Page 12
