Free LoveBetrayed by Samantha Kane Page B

And a drink. And Daniel. Where the bloody hell was
he? He was supposed to find Harry. That was what he did. He should be here by
now.
    “Ashbury.” Harry turned to see Captain Randal striding
toward him. “Prepare the men. We must cover the flank with the Seventh
Division. The French will attack by morning.”
    Harry stared at him in disbelief. “Just us and the Seventh?”
    “The entire cavalry.” Randal brushed past him, already on
his way to more pressing business.
    “But, sir,” Harry protested, “that’s still not enough men.”
    “It’s not our decision, lieutenant,” Randal barked over his
shoulder. “Orders from his lordship. Prepare the men.”
    Harry put on a good face in front of the men, but he had a
bad feeling about the coming engagement. He tried to shake it off. After all,
it was war. How could a man have a good feeling about going into battle? But
there was more, a premonition of disaster looming on the horizon. He felt very
small and very mortal. This wasn’t what he’d wanted, to be a soldier in a war
he didn’t understand. But he’d met Daniel here. Even if he died in the morning
at the end of a French bayonet, he couldn’t regret that.
    “Sir, there’s a gent over by the stream asked me to send you
over,” a soldier said in a thick low-country accent. “Not army,” he added
suspiciously. “Looks foreign.”
    Harry’s heart sped up. “No worries, soldier,” he said,
clapping the man on the shoulder. “He’s one of ours. Special orders, you know.”
    The soldier spat on the ground. “One of them secret men, you
mean. Don’t trust ‘em.”
    The venom in his tone took Harry aback. “Why not?”
    “Sneaking around like that, what’s to keep them from giving
away our secrets too?” He walked off with a disdainful sniff before Harry could
defend Daniel and what he did. The idea that Daniel would turn traitor was
offensive and insulting. Was this what Daniel had to deal with around the camp?
How had Harry missed that? It was too late to give that fellow a good
thrashing, but he could apologize to Daniel for not seeing the attitude the
regular soldiers had toward him sooner.
    It was hard not to run to the stream to find Daniel. When he
got there he saw several men on the banks, simply sitting among the brush there
or chatting with one another. He scanned the area and saw a shadow farther
down, just on the outer edge of the light cast by the campfires. Once he saw
it, the man faded back, and Harry knew it was Daniel. As nonchalantly as
possible he walked in that direction. No one paid him much attention. They had
their own cares and worries tonight.
    When he topped a small rise he saw Daniel below him standing
on the bank of the stream. “Daniel,” he said quietly, not wanting to surprise
him. Daniel turned and gave him a smile.
    “Harry,” Daniel said. “Come here. I’ve only got a few
minutes.”
    Harry hurried down, slipping on some thick weeds. “I’m sorry
it took so long to get here, then. Why are you in such a hurry?”
    Daniel took Harry’s hand in his and stared at it for a
moment before squeezing it. “I have an informant on the French lines. He won’t
talk to anyone else.”
    “You are easy to talk to, as long as he doesn’t expect a
great deal of conversation on your end.” Harry tried to laugh, but it was
strained. “I believe I have discovered over the last few days that I am more a
lover than a fighter. I don’t want this battle tomorrow.”
    “I can’t stop it.” Daniel’s voice was full of regret, and
the look he gave Harry was anguished, his grip on Harry’s hand almost painful.
“I wish I could. I can only try to mitigate the damage.”
    “How?”
    “Tonight I go in search of information about their attack
tomorrow. I spent most of today determining they will attack here first. I have
no idea if his lordship and his generals will use that information wisely. From
the looks of the defenses here, they are not.” He shook his head.