Songs the Soldiers Sang

by Bette McNicholas

  Holt helped her package and send their gifts to his family, especially the ones for Jacqueline, to arrive in time for Christmas. Elmore was given some extra money for looking after the house and animals while they were in Philadelphia, and Laurel had tears in her eyes when she saw how thankful he was to have the cash to spend on Christmas, as he hurried off to buy his children a sled before the hardware store closed.

  On Christmas Eve, Laurel, her dad, Holt and Junie enjoyed an early dinner of roast duck that Junie had prepared with an apple stuffing, along with some carrots and biscuits and also some wine Holt had purchased for them to enjoy over the holiday. Laurel’s father did his best to feed himself with his left hand. He did a great job and they were proud of his accomplishment.

  After dinner Laurel did the dishes while Holt helped get her father ready for bed. After Junie said goodnight, Laurel and Holt sat in the living room by the fire after he came downstairs, reassuring her that her dad had fallen asleep.

  “I can’t believe how much we’ve achieved in such a short time, Holt. Your help with getting my dad settled and the fence you and Elmore installed—the white pickets help make the inn look appealing and homey.”

  “I was happy to help, and speaking of the inn…”

  “Yes?”

  “I’m not too sure you’re going to be able to find the help you need for your father here in this part of Maryland. This is a quiet little town except for the traffic on the canal and the fishing on the bay, and a country doctor, but not much else.”

  Laurel turned sideways on the sofa and looked at him, pushing her hair out of the way and tucking the strand behind her ear. “What are you proposing?”

  Stretching his long legs out in front of him, he said, “Well, I believe your father will make more progress if you lived near a hospital.”

  “You think we should move to Baltimore?”

  He shook his head. “No. Although I think that after New Year’s we should take him to Washington. You and Junie can stay with my mother for a few months. She’ll be back from South Carolina by then, and we can put your dad in a special hospital. I know the military is doing a lot of work with the men who came home from the war with injuries. We should be able to find a hospital with a doctor who specializes in cases such as these.”

  Laurel’s brow creased. “Do you think he’s well enough to travel again, so soon?”

  “After another week of proper rest and food, he will look and feel like a different person.”

  “But what about the inn? How am I supposed to pay for his treatments? And what should I do about this place?”

  “Don’t worry about the money. I will take care of the costs and pay Elmore to continue to look after the house and the horses while you’re gone.”

  Exhaling, she lowered her shoulders. “I know you’re right; he needs special care, but I feel guilty about letting you pay for his expenses.”

  “All right,” he said, offering her his hand. “Let’s make an agreement. We’ll take your dad to Washington, say for three months—and see what progress he makes during that time. Maybe enough for you to return to Maryland, you’ll have to wait and see. And, after you’ve opened the inn and started taking in guests, you can pay me back a little of the money at a time.”

  “Really?”

  He nodded. “Absolutely, if that will make you feel better.”

  Laurel shook his hand. “Then we have a deal.”

  They spent a short while talking about seeing the sheriff again about Robert Winston, and having him arrested when he returned to Maryland to visit. When they were satisfied about their plans, they put their gifts under the tree.

  Holt gave Laurel a long tender kiss goodnight and said, “I want to stay up a little longer and wait for the fire to be completely out before going to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Laurel said goodnight and thanked him again for all he did to help her and, she added, “But most of all, thank you for being here. I know Jacqueline misses you, but I believe for this year, I needed you more,” then she rushed up the stairs.

  ****

  The following morning brought the scents of Christmas wafting through the inn like a summer breeze; the fireplaces were ablaze, candles glowed and flickered, and wonderful aromas escaped from the kitchen, giving Laurel the feeling that they were guests at the inn.

  Her father couldn’t stop smiling, and at times he smiled while tears slipped down his cheeks at the same time. Holt told him he understood that he had a million questions to ask them, but he thought they should wait until after Christmas. Francis nodded in agreement and they sipped coffee and opened presents by the tree.

  Holt pulled out one last box he had hidden way under the tree. “This is for you, Laurel.”

  Her eyes widened like a child’s, and she bit her lower lip. She took the gift from him and nearly dropped the heavy box. With expert hands, she tore the paper from the box and the moment she realized what he had given her, she froze.

  She shuttered her eyes and then opened them again. “Holt, you couldn’t, you didn’t… Look, Dad, Mother’s silver.” She laid the chest on the floor and opened the lid. “Oh, Holt. I have never received such a grand present. You had all the pieces polished. What a wonderful and thoughtful gift.”

  Holt smiled and his eyes locked onto hers. “I never could have sold this to anyone else. I didn’t know at that time when I’d ever have the opportunity to give you back the silver, but on my way here from South Carolina, I knew.”

  “How can I ever thank you?”

  He smiled and bent down and kissed her on the cheek and whispered, “We’ll discuss that later tonight in private.”

  Laurel blushed and began taking some of the pieces out of the box in order to use them to set the table for Christmas dinner. “This is the happiest Christmas, I have had in many years—one I will remember forever.”

  “Then let’s have breakfast, and get ready to go to Mass,” Holt suggested. “Junie said she’d be fine staying here with your dad while we went to church.”

  ****

  When Laurel and Holt came out of church after Mass, Sheriff Walsh was waiting for them. “I have some good news, Miss Laurel,” he said, twirling his hat in his hands, giving her the impression he’d been waiting a while.

  “After you left my office the other day, my deputy and I had a brief meeting with the doctor and the coroner about your grandmother’s death and Robert Winston. I thought it was best not to wait until Robert or his parents returned from Europe before I began an investigation.”

  “Did something change your mind?” Holt asked.

  “Yes,” he answered, motioning with his head. “The doctor also suggested that I question the teller at the bank. That and the other information he gave me, prompted me to go to the train station. I wanted to make certain Baltimore was his destination and thought there was a slim chance I might be able to contact the authorities at the port and see if we could arrest Robert before he left the country.”

  “What happened?” Laurel asked, her eyes widened and eyebrows raised.

  “He’s currently in prison in Baltimore. He tried to escape, but we caught him before he could jump ship. I only found out this morning that you were back home. I went over as soon as I heard and Junie told me I could find you here.”

  He tilted his head and continued, “We charged him with attempted murder of General Sullivan, and told him the General had agreed to testify against him, which was spreading the truth a little. Once I told Robert your father was alive and that he attested to the fact that when he was accosted and left in the woods to die, he had had his horse with him. A very distinct stallion, at that. I also told him you were in possession of that horse that he had left outside the train station, Laurel, and that your father was on his way home, Robert confessed and gave us the names of his two friends who helped him attack your father and his friend.”

  “That’s wonderful news, Sheriff.”

  “The doc said that your grandfather died
of a heart attack, but Robert did indeed kill your grandmother and attacked your father and his companion.”

  “Did he say why?” Laurel asked. “His parents are wealthy.”

  “Well,” he said, shifting his weight, “he needed the money to pay some gambling debts. He thought if his father found out that he still owed money to some men in London, that he’d disown him and his fiancée wouldn’t want to marry him. His wedding date was approaching and he got desperate.”

  “And, now?” Holt asked.

  “I’ve wired his family. I imagine they will be returning home soon, once everything there is tied up and the wedding cancelled.” The sheriff stood up straight, nodded, placed his hat on his head and said, “That’s about all for now. I will come by to give you the details later and talk to you and your father soon. Since Robert has confessed, you or your father won’t have to testify. There won’t be a trial. You all enjoy your Christmas. I am sorry about your grandmother, Laurel. She was a sweet lady.” He shook Holt’s hand and turned to leave.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Georgetown

  Once again, Laurel felt her patience being tested. She wondered if asking for a settled life—living in a stable home with sufficient means to earn a living, and the opportunity to be free of constant major stress—was simply something adults eventually learned never existed.

  Life seemed to her a continuous strain battling one obstacle after another. She remembered a book she read by Cervantes Saavedra, in one of the homes where she stayed during her exile, about a man named Don Quixote. She also realized in spite of all the tragedy, she was fortunate in many ways, she had much to be grateful for, but to be honest, she felt plain worn out tired battling windmills.

  What happened to the young girl who always found a reason to be happy, no matter what impediments she had to face; the girl who smiled at the simplest things?

  Even though the war had been over these past eight months, she still felt uncertain about her future. She no longer recollected the secure feeling she had as a young child and had doubts about whether or not she’d ever have the things she dreamed of—a man to love her, children and a home to keep. Did she ask too much?

  When the war came, she lost her protection, her family, and someone to depend on to take care of her. She learned the hard way how to become independent, but for a woman to be able to support herself during these horrible financial times began to frighten her.

  Holt had done a lot to protect her; he honored her purity out of love, not personal needs, which she considered noble. But he also awakened passions within her that she longed to satisfy.

  However, Holt was right; having a love relationship with him would place her treading on dangerous territory. But she wanted the challenge to feel the excitement and danger their relationship presented. Instead, she felt sorry for herself, and here she was traveling again. Going to live with someone in their home.

  Staring out the carriage window, she watched Holt as he rode on his stallion alongside them. He was a wonderful person; she knew he would do anything to help her. Trying to find the best possible alternative to her father’s needs was a loving and unselfish gesture. And, she was grateful, at least she tried to convince herself. She loved him and was happy for the chance he offered her father, to be able to erase the last five years of painful memories and replace them with years of peace and good health. A blessing that would take away some of the pressure and responsibility from her shoulders. She marveled at Holt’s ability to handle all the obligations he had acquired with such ease. Maybe, she thought, that’s what happened when one became a mature adult.

  Holt smiled at her from atop his horse, and she waved to him and smiled back, wishing they were already at his mother’s, even though she was aware that they were close to Georgetown. She only wanted to be there and get unpacked, and settled. The anxiety to get on with her life turned her insides upside down.

  “Finally,” she said with a sigh, when they arrived and Holt came around the coach and helped her down.

  “Let’s go inside and let my mother know we’re here and she can send her butler to help with your dad’s wheelchair.”

  Relieved to get out of the carriage, she gave him her brightest smile and hurried up the steps and into the house with Holt.

  She noticed his mother through the drawing-room doorway stand immediately. “Holt!” She said, holding a hand to her chest, as though she weren’t expecting him.

  Holt hurried toward the drawing room doorway and came to an abrupt halt. “What the hell are you doing here, Monique?”

  The word Monique clued Laurel to back up and not move.

  “Holt, after all these years. Aren’t you at least happy to see me?”

  “No, Monique, I’m not. You have no business in this house or this town.”

  “I’ve come to see Jacqueline.”

  “Well, you’ve wasted your time. She’s not here and you’re never going to see her. At least not without some concessions. Either that or you’re going to have to go to court.”

  Laurel heard Monique’s dress rustle as she stood, which prompted Laurel to hurriedly retrace her steps and return outside. She stood on the sidewalk waiting while the coachman lifted her father and placed him in the wheelchair. The butler came over and took over the handling of the wheelchair, and they entered the house.

  Holt met Laurel in the foyer and his mother hugged her and said, “Follow me and I’ll show you to your rooms.”

  Junie headed toward the kitchen to get her father some water, and Laurel went upstairs to help the butler get him settled in his room. After she introduced her to her father, Mrs. Flanagan said, “I’ll send up some lunch and then you can rest until supper. When you come down later, we’ll chat.”

  Her father nodded and Laurel headed toward her room to get unpacked. Within minutes, she heard voices raised, mostly Holt’s. She couldn’t understand what was said, but she knew she would have been frightened if he had ever spoken to her in that tone of voice.

  When Mrs. Flanagan brought lunch up to her room, she remained to keep Laurel company.

  “What happened, Mrs. Flanagan?”

  “This was all a mistake. About half an hour before you arrived, my butler was out on an errand. The bell rang and one of the kitchen girls answered the door. She had no idea not to let Monique inside. I was shocked when I entered the room and saw her sitting there.”

  “What does she want?”

  “She wants to share custody of Jacqueline in exchange for a divorce, and demanded money. However, I have a feeling that wasn’t all she has in mind.”

  “What did Holt say?”

  “He told her she didn’t need concern herself about threatening him. He had been able to obtain a divorce decree without her since she had abandoned them and never once even tried to make contact with Jacqueline. All our daughter knows about you, is that you left home and never returned.”

  “He was afraid she’d show up one day and I guess he was right about her.” Laurel placed the last of her lingerie in a drawer before she sat down to eat her lunch.

  ****

  Not long after Laurel finished lunch, she and Mrs. Flanagan heard the front door slam with such force the windowpanes in the front of the house rattled. A moment later Holt entered the room.

  “Are you all right?”

  “We’re fine, how about you?”

  He sighed heavily. “I’ll be fine. I’m going to hire a security guard to sit in the foyer and make sure she doesn’t pull another surprise visit. If she needs to see me, she can send me a note and I can meet her somewhere,” he said, putting his arm around his mother. “Sorry she brought this into your home.”

  “Don’t worry about me, son. I’m a strong lady. Besides, I’m still carrying that little derringer your dad gave me.”

  “Mother!”

  Mrs. Flanagan chuckled. “I’m quite capable of taking take care of myself, dear.”

  Holt looked at Laurel. “She wanted to know who you were and I t
old her that was none of her business. Guess I should have thought quicker and said you were a cousin. She’s now suspicious; wanted to know if you were my new bride-to-be.”

  Laurel cocked her head, smiled, and asked, “And, what did you say?”

  Mrs. Flanagan smiled, stood, and left them alone in the room.

  ****

  Several days later, Holt came home from visiting the War Department, after giving them instructions not to give Monique any information and after he also had researched a facility for Laurel’s father to receive some assistance.

  “I have solved all our problems,” he stated, proudly.

  “Let’s hear what you found.”

  “Starting tomorrow morning, a young man named Mr. Craig, is coming to the house to give your father instructions to help him regain his strength through physical exercise. And, I also found a diction coach, Christine Farr, to come in the afternoon to help with his speech and his writing.”

  “Where did you ever find these people?”

  “Ah!” He said, raising his index finger in the air, “The War Department is full of valuable information.”

  “Then this means he doesn’t have to go to a hospital.”

  “Exactly, Laurel. He can have treatment right here at home.”

  “Seems like I’m always thanking you. You do too much. I’ll be spoiled after you leave.”

  Holt came and sat down next to Laurel. “That reminds me. In case Monique shows up at the door again, make certain no mention is made of my leaving or moving. I will have to stay here until I’m sure she’s out of the area before I leave for the plantation. I simply cannot trust her not to have me followed.”

  Laurel nodded in agreement, not willing to tell him how happy she’d be to spend more time with him, even though she had reached the point that she’d wish he’d leave and she could begin her future alone, no matter how difficult that would be. She’d rather pray and wait for a miracle from the Vatican, but she didn’t have much hope. “My dad will be pleased to learn he doesn’t have to return to a hospital.”