'Will I ever learn what happened to him?' Abigail wondered.
'It might be better if you did not,' said Dorothy considerately, 'and I'm sure that His Grace will keep any unsavoury details from you.'
'But I'm involved. I'm entitled to the truth.'
'The truth is that you were a young, headstrong girl who made a mistake in following your heart. We've all done that, Abigail.'
'Not with such disastrous consequences.'
'Stop fearing the worst all the time.'
'What else can I do?'
Glancing down at her book, Abigail closed it shut and stood up. It was a beautiful day to sit in the garden but her mind was in turmoil and she could take pleasure from nothing. She was about to go back into the house when a servant came out.
'Captain Rawson has called,' he said.
Abigail almost fainted. 'Captain Daniel Rawson?'
Dorothy helped her sister to resume her seat on the garden bench then she looked up at the servant. 'We'll see Captain Rawson out here,' she said.
After giving an obedient nod, the man retired. Abigail was dazed. Instead of feeling joy and relief, she went completely numb. Seeing her sister's confusion, Dorothy sat down and put an arm around her.
'Bear up, Abigail,' she said happily, 'it's wonderful news.'
'Yes… Yes, I suppose it is.'
'There's no supposition about it. Captain Rawson is alive. You won't have his death on your conscience any more.'
'That's true,' agreed Abigail, realising it for the first time and letting a cautious smile break through. 'Daniel is alive.' The smile was replaced by a chevron of concern. 'But what if he's badly injured? What if those two men inflicted terrible wounds on him? That would be my fault.'
'Don't rush to embrace a problem that may not be there.'
'I'm scared.'
'There's no need to be.'
'What am I to say to him, Dorothy?'
'Oh,' said her sister, squeezing her shoulder affectionately before releasing her, 'I think you'll find the right words somehow.'
They had a moment to compose themselves before Daniel was shown out. He gave a formal bow and they rose from the bench by way of acknowledgement. Daniel was wearing a smart new uniform. Abigail searched for indications of terrible injury but found none. Apart from a couple of lingering scars on his face, he seemed to be in rude health. She gave a strained laugh.
'I thought that you were dead,' she admitted.'
'There were a few moments when I came close to death,' he said affably, 'but heaven is not yet ready to receive me.'
'What about those two men?'
'They are no longer a threat to me.'
Abigail was startled. 'Do you mean that you…?'
'Forget about them,' he advised. 'They belong in the past.'
'What brings you back to England?' asked Dorothy. 'I thought the campaign would go on for months yet.'
'You've obviously not heard the good tidings,' he said, 'and why should you? I've only just come from delivering despatches to Her Majesty the Queen, to the Earl of Godolphin and to Secretary Harley.' He spread his arms. 'We fought the enemy at Blenheim and achieved a stunning victory. The whole of London will soon resound with the news.' Dorothy let out a spontaneous cry of pleasure. Abigail clapped her hands. 'Marshal Tallard is a prisoner of war and the French army has been routed. Pardon me if I am still a little out of breath,' he went on, a hand to his chest, 'but it took me eight days to get back to England and I had little rest on the way.'
'Then we are all the more grateful that you found the time to call on us,' said Abigail. 'It was excessively kind of you.'
'I wanted to make sure that you got back home safely.'
'Abigail has told me what you did for her, Captain Rawson,' said Dorothy, 'and it was the act of a true gentleman. I offer you profound thanks on behalf of the whole family. However,' she added, looking first at Abigail then back at Daniel, 'at this moment, I suspect that the only person you really wish to see is my sister. Please excuse me.'
Dorothy went back into the house and left them alone together. There was a prolonged silence. Since she had never envisaged such a meeting taking place, Abigail was hopelessly unprepared for it. For his part, Daniel had had neither time nor inclination to rehearse any speech. Until he had handed over his dispatches, Abigail Piper had not really existed. A blend of guilt, affection and curiosity had guided his footsteps to her door. Yet both of them were certain about one thing. Instead of being brought together by Abigail's pursuit of him, they had been driven apart.
'Will you be staying in London for long?' she asked at length.
'No, Abigail, I have to ride to Somerset.'
'Are you going to call on relatives?'
'I'll be visiting my father's grave,' he told her. 'It's something I always do when I return to England. I owe him a great debt. It was because of my father that I joined the army.'
'That's your world, isn't it, Daniel?'
'It always will be.'
'I'm sorry that I embarrassed you by stumbling into it.'
'You caused no embarrassment, Abigail,' he said with a forgiving smile, 'and, if anyone should be apologising, it's me. I'm sorry that I was not able to spend more time with you in Germany but, as you saw, I was somewhat preoccupied.'
'I can't believe that I was so reckless,' she said.
He was tactful. 'I think we both profited from the experience.'
'I learnt a lot about myself, Daniel, I know that. And it frightened me more than I can say. I'd never dream of doing anything as selfish and irresponsible as that again.'
'I hope that it wasn't entirely a cause for regret,' he said gently. 'There must have been some happy moments for you.'
'Oh, there were — lots of them. Each one of them is faithfully recorded in my diary.'
'Good.'
'And now they'll be treasured,' she said. 'When I thought that you'd been killed because of me, all that I could do was to grieve and rebuke myself. I didn't have the heart even to open my diary and read about our time together. I was wasting away with anguish. Now that you've come back, now that I've seen you with my own eyes, a huge weight has been lifted from me. I can cherish fond memories again.'
'I'll do the same, Abigail.'
It was the moment for a chaste kiss of farewell but it never came. Abigail was too nervous to invite it and Daniel too afraid that it might be misconstrued. They settled for a polite handshake.
'Will you be returning here from Somerset?' she asked.
'Only to take ship to Holland,' he replied. 'I have to rejoin my regiment. We may have won a mighty battle but the war will continue. The French army will be back again before too long.'
'And Captain Daniel Rawson will be there to fight them.'
'I have to be. It's my vocation.'
'I discovered that when I came to Germany.'
'Your friendship has been a delight to me, and, in a perverse way, I admire you for what you did. It showed courage and madness. Those are the very qualities that drove me into the army so we have an affinity. As you found out, however,' he said with a shrug, 'I can never be more than a friend. You must take me as I am, Abigail.'
'And what is that?'
'A soldier of fortune.'
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