Hope. Part 33

She thought of Nell and her home village often, but her memories of Briargate had long since become indistinct. Yet now as she sawthe Captain's face everything came back to her in a rush.

He was still every bit as handsome and dashing, even if his dark hair was growing grey. As a woman she could now understand why Lady Anne had risked so much for him.

Why hadn't she even considered that he might be here? She'd been told he was a cavalry officer after all.

'I'm fine now,' she said, and sat up. She wanted to get away, afraid he might recognize her. But even as she thought that, she almost laughed at herself. Men like him didn't take any notice of servants, certainly not twelve-year-old kitchenmaids.

He reached down and took her hand to help her up, then insisted she sit down in his chair. His servant came forward with a gla.s.s of something for both her and Queenie which burned Hope's throat when she took the first sip. She thought it must be brandy, for when she looked round at Queenie, she was smacking her lips with delight.

Queenie explained everything to the Captain, for Hope was too stunned to say anything. 'Weren't she smart gettin' the knife out the basket?' Queenie gushed excitedly. 'I saw her stick it up her sleeve out the corner of me eye, but I never expected her to use it on 'im.'

'It was quick thinking indeed,' the Captain said, smiling at Hope. 'But then I'd heard the surgeon with the Rifle Brigade had a very capable wife. I believe you nursed one of my men, Trooper Jacks, back to health. He's very fond of telling everyone about his brush with cholera.'

'He was one of the lucky ones,' Hope said quietly, keeping her eyes down. 'Not many pull through.'

'She works too too hard,' Queenie interrupted. 'Every day she's there, early morning till late at night. That's why Dr Meadows said she had to have a rest today. But if you asks me, the sooner we get going out of this place the better it will be for everyone. It ain't an 'ealthy place.' hard,' Queenie interrupted. 'Every day she's there, early morning till late at night. That's why Dr Meadows said she had to have a rest today. But if you asks me, the sooner we get going out of this place the better it will be for everyone. It ain't an 'ealthy place.'

Glancing at Queenie's animated face, Hope could see that she'd already got over the shock of her close shave in the woods. But just as Betsy always managed to use any incident to her advantage, Queenie did too. Even if it only meant getting a second gla.s.s of brandy, to her this was an opportunity.

The Captain chuckled at Queenie's outburst, and Hope remembered then why she had liked him all those years ago. He hadn't been stuffy then, he'd spoken to all the servants at Briargate as if they were his equals. She thought most officers, especially those in the cavalry, would be quick to silence someone like Queenie.

'I think we should go now.' Hope got to her feet. 'Would you thank the men who helped us for me? I shudder to think what might have happened if they hadn't come along when they did.'

'No, you must wait for your husband,' he said, getting up and nudging her back to her chair. 'Haynes will be on his way back with him now. I know he won't want his wife walking all that way after such an ordeal.'

Hope expected it would be an age before Bennett arrived. She asked for some water to wash the Turk's blood from her hands, and tidied her hair, but she had only just sat down again with a cup of coffee when Bennett came bowling along with Trooper Haynes in a light trap.

The Captain had gone away, leaving the two women with his servant Mead, but as Bennett leapt down from the trap, his face a study of deep concern, Captain Pettigrew returned.

'Mrs Meadows was very courageous,' he said, introducing himself and shaking hands with Bennett. 'I think the Turks underestimated Englishwomen. But I shall make certain they are punished. I don't think they are soldiers, it's more likely they are men from the town out on a thieving mission.'

'I'm fine now,' Hope said as Bennett felt her pulse and fussed round her. 'It was Queenie who got the worst of it. But I'd like to go back now.'

Queenie insisted she'd never felt better, and her face brightened still further when the Captain asked Bennett if he'd like a gla.s.s of something.

'I would normally,' Bennett replied, glancing at Hope. 'But I've had an exhausting day at the hospital, and I must get Hope back to our camp before it gets dark.'

'Hope!' the Captain said reflectively, looking at her quizzically. 'Now, there's a good name for a nurse! You didn't tell me where you were from, Mrs Meadows. Do I detect a Somerset accent?'

'You do indeed, sir,' Bennett answered for her. 'Thank you for taking care of the ladies, we must go now.'

The following morning Bennett was at the dilapidated town hospital checking to see what improvements had been made, when Captain Pettigrew rode up on his chestnut horse.

'How are Mrs Meadows and her maid?' he asked as he dismounted.

'They both seem fine,' Bennett said, flattered that a lordly Hussar had the good manners to come and check on her. 'My wife was a little withdrawn last night, but that's to be expected after such a shock. Has the man she stabbed received any medical care?'

'As much as he deserves! Sadly it wasn't a mortal wound,' the Captain said with a broad grin. 'I'm on my way to find someone in authority in the town. The general view is that he should be flogged within an inch of his life, but as he's a civilian we'll almost certainly have to hand him over.'

'It's a poor thing when a couple of women can't leave the camp without being molested,' Bennett said indignantly. 'Thankfully they were unhurt. But I very much appreciated your concern for them.'

'This may seem an odd and impertinent question,' the Captain said. 'But tell me, was Mrs Meadows ever in service at Briargate Hall in Somerset?'

Bennett looked hard at the man, the cogs in his brain whizzing round at the unexpected question. 'Why do you ask?' he said carefully.

'Because I have a housekeeper called Nell Renton who has a sister she lost track of. Her name is Hope.'

Bennett was staggered and felt he needed to sit down and think this through before replying.

'I have disturbed you,' Captain Pettigrew remarked, looking at him curiously when he didn't answer. 'I have no wish to pry or to make mischief. But I have grown fond of my housekeeper; she has been with me for seven years since leaving Briargate Hall. Her greatest sadness is losing her sister, which undoubtedly was the work of the man Nell was then married to.'

'Nell is no longer with him?' Bennett's heart leapt, but realized too late that he had admitted who Hope was.

'So your wife is Nell's sister!' The Captain's grin was one of delight. 'Nell left Albert Scott the moment she discovered Hope had disappeared from Briargate. She was convinced he had killed her sister. Personally I was never of the same opinion; I thought it far more likely he forced young Hope to leave. But when he burned down Briargate and killed Sir William-'

'He burned down Briargate?' Bennett interrupted.

'You didn't read about it in the newspapers?' Captain Pettigrew looked astonished. 'It was early this year. There has been a manhunt for him since.'

Bennett asked a few more questions and discovered that the fire had taken place while he and Hope had been on their honeymoon, during which time he hadn't looked at the newspaper. Then coming out here so quickly afterwards he had taken little notice of anything other than war news. 'I am in a quandary now,' he said finally, his head spinning with so much dramatic news which he knew was going to shock Hope. 'I do know everything that occurred between my wife and her brother-in-law, and there were compelling reasons why Hope was afraid to make contact with her sister. But I cannot divulge any of this to you, not without her agreeing to it.'

Captain Pettigrew nodded in understanding. 'This is hardly the right place or time for any of us,' he said as he prepared to remount his horse. 'You have so many sick men to deal with; I'm awaiting orders to move my company on. Talk to your wife, and if she is agreeable, send a message to me and we can arrange a meeting.'

Bennett stood for some time watching the Captain riding off. He had a natural distrust of all cavalry officers, for it was well known that they were to a man arrogant, interbred aristocrats, and the ones he'd met had only confirmed that this was true.

Yet Pettigrew didn't appear that way, and he wouldn't knowor care about his housekeeper's family problems unless he was a kindly man.

But there was something more in Bennett's heart, a fear that once Hope knew her sister was no longer with Albert, she would want to go home. He felt ashamed of such selfishness, but in truth it was Hope's spirit that was keeping him going.

He had had bad feelings about this campaign from the start, but he had expected to be posted to one base hospital where he would stay. Instead, they'd just get settled in one place when they'd have to move again, and even now he had no idea where they would end up. He had antic.i.p.ated grimness, that went with the job, but he hadn't imagined there would be so little equipment or medicine. How could any doctor help the sick and injured without basic necessities?

Even the camp beds he'd brought out from England for himself and Hope hadn't turned up until a month ago. It seemed that like other equipment and stores, they had gone back to England, only to be sent out yet again. Hundreds of horses had perished on the ships coming over here, but now it seemed there wasn't enough forage for the remainder.

None of the troops were in good health; along with cholera there was dysentery and malaria. Unless they were moved quickly to a healthier place, they soon wouldn't have enough fit men to fight a war. It was a complete mess!

Hope didn't seem to mind the lack of comforts, the dust, dirt, hot sun or poor food. She said cheerfully that she'd known worse. While she was here with him he felt he could bear it too, but once she was gone it would be a very different picture.

Chapter Twenty.

'Please say something!' Bennett pleaded. 'I could only tell you it the way Captain Pettigrew told me, but maybe I've been too blunt.'

All day the news of Nell had been burning inside him. He'd expected Hope to whoop with delight and ask a hundred questions he wouldn't be able to answer. But he'd forced himself to hold it in until they'd got back to their tent this evening because he hadn't wanted anyone to interrupt them. It hadn't gone the way he expected at all; she had just sat there on the camp bed, her dark eyes fixed on his face, not saying a word.

Was it the shock of hearing her brother-in-law was a murderer?

She reached out for his hand and at last there was a glimmer of a smile. 'It is I who should apologize, not you,' she said. 'I could not speak for shock; it's almost too much to take in. I never thought Nell would leave Albert, not even in my wildest flights of fancy.'

'You find Nell leaving him more extraordinary than him burning down Briargate and killing Sir William?' Bennett was incredulous.

Hope giggled then, her face at last becoming animated. 'Well, that is truly shocking, but then I always knew Albert was an evil man. But Nell! She was always so proper; she believed that marriage vows were unbreakable. I just can't imagine her doing something so extreme.'

'Pettigrew did say she believed he'd killed you!'

Hope's face clouded over. 'Poor Nell, I never imagined she'd think that, or that she'd leave Briargate. You can't imagine what that place meant to her! She worshipped Lady Harvey, and if she walked away from her, and Albert, it must have caused so much gossip in the village.'

Bennett frowned, still puzzled as to why broken marriage vows and gossip appeared to have had so much more impact than murder and a mansion being burnt down.

Hope took his hand and kissed the tips of his fingers, looking at him with a wicked glint in her eyes. 'I shouldn't think anyone in the village can sleep with all this scandal going on. Just imagine what they'd be like if they knew what Albert and Sir William were to each other too? But tell me more of what Captain Pettigrew said about Nell. How on earth did she come to be his housekeeper? Is she well? Was there any other news of the rest of my family?'

Bennett smiled; this was more how he'd expected Hope to react, questions and more questions. 'No, he didn't tell me anything else, but he spoke with such warmth about Nell that I'm certain he'll be very happy to talk to you about her. I too would like to hear more about all my in-laws!'

At that, Hope realized that Bennett not only fully appreciated what this news of Nell meant to her, but was also delighted to embrace her family as his own, and that touched her to the core.

But with that knowledge came guilt too. Why hadn't she felt able to tell Bennett yesterday that she'd met Captain Pettigrew previously, and that he was the author of the letter to Lady Harvey?

'There is another reason why I am so stunned by all this,' she blurted out. 'You see, I'd met Captain Pettigrew back at Briargate.'

'Really?' Bennett raised one eyebrow questioningly. 'And why didn't you tell me this yesterday?'

'I don't know. Maybe it's because Nell always drummed into me that I should never divulge anything that I might hear or see there. You see, Captain Pettigrew was Lady Harvey's lover. That was what made me come over all faint when I recognized him.'

'Good G.o.d!' Bennett exclaimed. 'And to think I believed it was the shock of those men attacking you and Queenie that made you so anxious to leave the cavalry camp!'

'He made me recall things I wanted to forget,' Hope said in her defence.

Bennett looked at her thoughtfully. 'So how do you feel about the man now that your sister is his housekeeper and Briargate is gone?'

'I really don't know, Bennett,' Hope sighed.

'But Captain Pettigrew spoke of Nell with such affection she must have a better life with him than with Albert.'

'That's very true. But if it hadn't been for the letter he sent, I wouldn't have gone to the gatehouse that day and seen Sir William with Albert. The Captain began that chain of events which ended in such misery for me.'

Bennett lapsed into silence for a little while.

'If only we'd heard about the fire before we left England,' he said eventually.

'I can write to Matt,' Hope said eagerly. 'I can enclose a letter for Nell too.'

As she jumped up to get some writing paper, Bennett put out a restraining hand to stop her. 'You need to think this through first, my darling,' he said gently. 'There's still the business of what you saw at the gatehouse. Sir William may be dead and Albert a wanted man, but Rufus and his mother are still very much alive. Before you begin a letter you must be clear on what it is right to divulge.'

Chastened, Hope slumped back down on to the camp bed.

'd.a.m.n it!' she exploded. 'If I can't tell Matt about the Captain's letter, or about Albert and Sir William, what reason can I give for leaving?'

Bennett pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. 'I think you must wait until you've spoken to Captain Pettigrew,' he said. 'You will need to feel your way carefully and try to find out how the land lies back home.

'Pettigrew struck me as a good man he wouldn't have come to see me unless he cared about Nell, and therefore you too. But we have to remember that it wasn't very honourable to be making love to another man's wife.'

'Maybe he always knew what Sir William was?' Hope suggested. 'He is a man of the world after all. He might even be intending to marry Lady Harvey now she is free.'

Bennett nodded. 'True. But you can't a.s.sume anything, and you must remember that the knowledge you have about Sir William is, in the wrong hands, as potentially dangerous as a keg of gunpowder. Therefore you must be careful you don't accidentally light the fuse.'

Hope went to bed that night with so much on her mind that sleep was impossible. However shocking and sad it was that Sir William was dead and Briargate gone, she was delighted that Nell was no longer with Albert. She would have been happier still if she'd known exactly where her sister was, how Rufus had taken his father's death, and what he was doing now. But at least she could ask the Captain these questions without having to divulge anything else.

Unfortunately, as Nell had always believed Albert had killed her, Pettigrew was bound to question her about what happened the day she disappeared from Briargate. Should she admit she knew he was Lady Harvey's lover? Would he believe the intercepted letter was the sole reason Albert had been able to force her to leave?

The following day Hope felt calmer and had new resolve. She wasn't going to worry herself about questions Captain Pettigrew might ask her. The most important thing was to find out where Nell was, and then write to her. A complete explanation wasn't necessary immediately; Nell would be happy just to know she was alive and well.

Later that same day the order came that all the troops would be departing from Varna to the Crimea by the end of the week, and this temporarily put Captain Pettigrew and Nell out of Hope's mind.

The news was received with universal delight, giving a much-needed lift to everyone. The soldiers took the view that they'd come out here to fight a war, and they wanted finally to get to it, beat the Russians and be home for Christmas. Bennett and the other doctors felt the troops' health would improve with a sea voyage.

The cholera death rate had risen even more sharply during August. Proper funerals had been abandoned long ago, for there were too many, and it was too depressing for the living. Now corpses were just carted away to a communal pit without any ceremony.

But there were thousands more suffering from fevers, bowel complaints and other problems which were attributed to the unhealthy marshy parts of Varna and a poor diet. In truth, in both the French and the English camps there were not many men who could be described as fighting fit.

What with packing and organizing the closure of the hospital, there was no opportunity for Hope to make the journey to the cavalry camp. She had to a.s.sume that Captain Pettigrew was in similar straits for he did not come down to the hospital again.

All at once the harbour was full of ships, and the demarcation began. But just as she had got all her and Bennett's personal belongings ready to be taken aboard, she heard that Lord Raglan had given the order that none of the officers' wives would be allowed to go with their men.

Hope was horrified, for it seemed no alternative provision had been made for them either.

In fact very few officers' wives had come on to Varna, and most of those who had were so dispirited they would be glad to get a ship back to Constantinople or Malta. Lady Errol and Mrs Duberly, the paymaster's wife, did want to go on with their husbands, but they had friends in high places and would almost certainly find a way around the order. But Hope had no such influence.

Bennett turned to his commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence, for advice and his suggestion was that Hope should be smuggled immediately into Bennett's cabin on the Pride of the Ocean Pride of the Ocean, the ship their company was due to take, and stay there until the ship sailed. Lawrence thought that as long as Lord Raglan didn't see her, they would be in the clear.

So Hope had to endure several days shut up alone in a stuffy cabin, without even Queenie for company, for she and the other ranks' wives wouldn't join the ship until the date set for departure. Hope pa.s.sed the time writing down all that had happened to her since leaving Briargate, in the hope that before long she could relate it all to Nell.

At dawn on 7 September, the Pride of the Ocean Pride of the Ocean finally left Varna, and Hope was at last able to go up on deck and breathe some fresh air. It was good to see Queenie again and to hear her funny stories about the chaos during the last days in Varna, yet even better to see that men who had looked sickly as she watched them waiting on the quayside, already appeared to be regaining their vitality in the sea breezes. finally left Varna, and Hope was at last able to go up on deck and breathe some fresh air. It was good to see Queenie again and to hear her funny stories about the chaos during the last days in Varna, yet even better to see that men who had looked sickly as she watched them waiting on the quayside, already appeared to be regaining their vitality in the sea breezes.

Bennett, however, was more concerned with the ambulance carts. It seemed they had been left behind at Varna.

After a day's sailing they found themselves part of a vast armada. There were hundreds of steamers and sailing ships which made an awe-inspiring and beautiful sight. Anchors were dropped, the officers went to and fro visiting other ships in rowing boats, and although no one seemed to know what they were all waiting there for, it was generally supposed that the commanding officers were still planning their tactics.

Finally, on the 14th, the anchors were hauled up and they set sail again. The first sight of the Crimea was not cheering. It looked a very inhospitable, bleak and barren place, with no sign of any people or even animals.

At Eupatoria two officers went ash.o.r.e to receive the surrender of the port, but apparently it proved unsuitable as a base. It was decided that the following day all troops were to be landed further along the coast at Calamita Bay. From there they would march to Sebastopol to take it.

Bennett was closeted with Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence for some time that evening, and when he returned to Hope he looked troubled.

'You've got to stay on the ship while I go with the regiment,' he sighed. 'It seems we've got a long march and the Colonel believes we may run into Cossacks.'