Free 4 Under Siege by Edward Marston

he could trust Welbeck implicitly, Daniel told him of his assignment and explained the purpose of the disguises. It made the sergeant regard Rachel with a measure of respect. If she was willing to enter an enemy stronghold, he could see that she must have courage. He just wished that she wouldn’t keep smiling at him in such a warm and familiar way.
    ‘How long will you be away, Dan?’ he asked.
    ‘For as long as it takes,’ replied Daniel.
    ‘What if they find out who you really are?’
    ‘I’ll make sure that never happens.’
    ‘But even if it does, you’ll have an advantage. Being an officer, you’ll fetch a tidy sum.’
    ‘I don’t understand,’ said Rachel.
    ‘That’s because you’ve never seen a cartel for the exchange of prisoners of war,’ said Welbeck. ‘It lists the amount of money each rank is worth. As a captain, Dan would need a sizeable ransom. For lower orders like me,’ he added with asperity, ‘the enemy will probably pay to get rid of us.’
    ‘I won’t rely on any exchange of prisoners,’ said Daniel. ‘In the unlikely event that I’m captured, I’ll expect you to come and rescue me, Henry.’
    Welbeck snorted. ‘You’re out of luck, Dan!’
    ‘You saved me once before from French hands.’
    ‘That was much easier because you were travelling along a road in a waggon. How, in the name of all that’s holy, could I get inside Lille to bring you out?’
    ‘I’m sure you’d think of something, Henry.’
    ‘Don’t forget me,’ said Rachel. ‘I’d want to be rescued as well, Sergeant, or do you object to saving women in distress?’ Welbeck was temporarily lost for words and it made her cackle. ‘There you are,’ she continued, ‘you don’t hate us as much after all, or you’d have told me you’d leave me there to rot.’
    ‘I daren’t put into words what I really think,’ he said, crisply.
    ‘We’ll have to make sure that the situation doesn’t arise,’ decided Daniel. ‘My aim is to get in and out of the town as quickly as we can. These clothes are starting to stink. I’ll want to get back in uniform immediately.’
    ‘Let me know how you get on, Dan.’
    ‘We will,’ said Rachel, chirpily.
    ‘I wasn’t talking to you.’
    ‘I heard you all the same, Henry.’
    ‘And you’ve no right to call me by my first name.’
    ‘As a friend, I think I have every right.’
    ‘That’s a fair point,’ noted Daniel.
    ‘But this woman is no friend of mine.’
    ‘You’re only saying that,’ she purred, patting him on the arm. ‘Will Baggott said exactly the same words to me except that he added a few nastier ones as well. Yet, in the end, he came to see me for what I was and we had a very happy marriage. You ought to try being happily married, Henry. It’s the greatest pleasure known to man.’
    ‘Then it’s one that Henry will have to forego,’ said Daniel, seeing the glint in his friend’s eye and wishing to prevent an argument from developing. ‘We must be on our way, Madame Borrel. I want to be out of Lille well before the bombardment begins. Goodbye, Henry.’
    ‘Good luck, Dan!’ said Welbeck.
    ‘I hope that goes for me as well,’ said Rachel but she got no answer. ‘No? That’s a pity because I fancy I’ll need all the luck I can get. Goodbye, Henry. Enjoy your pipe.’
    She and Daniel turned round and headed off together. Rachel bustled along in her usual purposeful manner while Daniel limped beside her on his walking stick. Welbeck watched them go before returning to his tent and absentmindedly reaching for his pipe. He was about to open the tobacco pouch when he heard once again the last words that Rachel had said to him. He recoiled slightly as if from a blow. The pouch suddenly felt hot in his hands. Tossing it onto the camp bed, he lurched out of the tent in a state of confusion.
     
     
    The Duke of Marlborough had removed his periwig so that he could put both hands close to his pounding head. He always suffered from migraines