of any kind, just wooden buildings arranged around a central quadrangle with the river curving around one end of it.
There were blue-coated soldiers aplenty, several two-story barracks’ worth, and maybe that was all that was needed to hold off the savages. She had to be out of her mind to consider leaving what safety the fort offered to travel into the wilderness with a man who despised her.
But she couldn’t bear to stay behind, to wait and wonder what had happened to Rand and Freddy. She had to know.
“I’ll go with you,” she told Miles. “However, since my wagon was lost, I don’t have anything to wear besides—”
“I’m sure my wife will have something to fit you, ma’am,” the colonel offered.
Verity wanted to refuse, but realized it would only be foolish pride speaking. “Thank you, Colonel Peters. I would be much obliged.”
“I’ll meet you at the colonel’s quarters in anhour,” Miles said. He turned without another word or look and left the colonel’s office.
Verity took a deep, calming breath. In an hour they would be on their way to find Rand and Freddy. She could last another hour without going to pieces. She knew she would be all right once they were on the trail.
Help is on the way, my dear ones. Be strong. We shall soon have you safe
.
“Lady Talbot?”
She turned to the colonel and forced a smile onto her lips. “I’m ready, Colonel Peters.”
The colonel walked her to his home, a white clapboard house shaded by a deep railed veranda on each floor, one of several structures that he explained were officers’ quarters, all set along the southwest side of the parade ground, at the bend in the river. As they entered the house she saw that the stairs took up half of a long central hallway with rooms branching out to either side.
“This is my wife, Mrs. Peters,” the colonel said, as he introduced the two of them in what turned out to be the parlor. “This is Lady Talbot, dear, the Countess of Rushland.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Talbot,” Mrs. Peters said with a welcoming smile. The woman dipped a slight curtsy which Verity would have considered her due in England, but which seemed out of place here.
Verity put a hand under Mrs. Peters’s arm to assist her out of the curtsy. “I’m the one imposing on you. I hope we can be friends.”
She could see Mrs. Peters was pleased by her overture. “I’d like that very much,” Mrs. Peters said. “We don’t get many white women out here. I’m glad to meet you.”
“I thought you might help Lady Talbot freshen up and find something for her to wear,” the colonel said. “She has a long ride ahead of her.”
“Of course, darling,” Mrs. Peters said to her husband. “I’ll take care of everything. Now shoo, go back to work.”
Verity watched, entranced, as the colonel leaned down to give his wife a quick buss on the cheek, which raised roses among the wrinkles. Familiarity in public between spouses was another difference from the world she had left behind. Most upper-class English gentlemen confined contact with their wives to the dance floor and the bedroom.
The endearments between husband and wife, the
dear
and the
darling
, were stranger still. She fought back a rush of envy, a wistful longing for what might have been. Surely if she had married Miles all those years ago, they would have used such expressions for each other. She forced such thoughts away. She had learned to make the best of what life offered rather than sink into melancholy over what she couldn’t have. It was the only way she had survived the past twenty-two years.
“Let’s see what we can do to get you cleaned up,” Mrs. Peters said as she led Verity toward the kitchen that was appended to the back of the house. “Although,” the elderly woman said, herbrown eyes sparkling with laughter, “I don’t know what the colonel was thinking of to imagine anything of mine would fit you.”
Verity could see why the colonel had
There were blue-coated soldiers aplenty, several two-story barracks’ worth, and maybe that was all that was needed to hold off the savages. She had to be out of her mind to consider leaving what safety the fort offered to travel into the wilderness with a man who despised her.
But she couldn’t bear to stay behind, to wait and wonder what had happened to Rand and Freddy. She had to know.
“I’ll go with you,” she told Miles. “However, since my wagon was lost, I don’t have anything to wear besides—”
“I’m sure my wife will have something to fit you, ma’am,” the colonel offered.
Verity wanted to refuse, but realized it would only be foolish pride speaking. “Thank you, Colonel Peters. I would be much obliged.”
“I’ll meet you at the colonel’s quarters in anhour,” Miles said. He turned without another word or look and left the colonel’s office.
Verity took a deep, calming breath. In an hour they would be on their way to find Rand and Freddy. She could last another hour without going to pieces. She knew she would be all right once they were on the trail.
Help is on the way, my dear ones. Be strong. We shall soon have you safe
.
“Lady Talbot?”
She turned to the colonel and forced a smile onto her lips. “I’m ready, Colonel Peters.”
The colonel walked her to his home, a white clapboard house shaded by a deep railed veranda on each floor, one of several structures that he explained were officers’ quarters, all set along the southwest side of the parade ground, at the bend in the river. As they entered the house she saw that the stairs took up half of a long central hallway with rooms branching out to either side.
“This is my wife, Mrs. Peters,” the colonel said, as he introduced the two of them in what turned out to be the parlor. “This is Lady Talbot, dear, the Countess of Rushland.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Talbot,” Mrs. Peters said with a welcoming smile. The woman dipped a slight curtsy which Verity would have considered her due in England, but which seemed out of place here.
Verity put a hand under Mrs. Peters’s arm to assist her out of the curtsy. “I’m the one imposing on you. I hope we can be friends.”
She could see Mrs. Peters was pleased by her overture. “I’d like that very much,” Mrs. Peters said. “We don’t get many white women out here. I’m glad to meet you.”
“I thought you might help Lady Talbot freshen up and find something for her to wear,” the colonel said. “She has a long ride ahead of her.”
“Of course, darling,” Mrs. Peters said to her husband. “I’ll take care of everything. Now shoo, go back to work.”
Verity watched, entranced, as the colonel leaned down to give his wife a quick buss on the cheek, which raised roses among the wrinkles. Familiarity in public between spouses was another difference from the world she had left behind. Most upper-class English gentlemen confined contact with their wives to the dance floor and the bedroom.
The endearments between husband and wife, the
dear
and the
darling
, were stranger still. She fought back a rush of envy, a wistful longing for what might have been. Surely if she had married Miles all those years ago, they would have used such expressions for each other. She forced such thoughts away. She had learned to make the best of what life offered rather than sink into melancholy over what she couldn’t have. It was the only way she had survived the past twenty-two years.
“Let’s see what we can do to get you cleaned up,” Mrs. Peters said as she led Verity toward the kitchen that was appended to the back of the house. “Although,” the elderly woman said, herbrown eyes sparkling with laughter, “I don’t know what the colonel was thinking of to imagine anything of mine would fit you.”
Verity could see why the colonel had
Similar Books
