Page 29 of The Forbidden Love of an Officer
The sergeant stood to make a toast, holding up his dented tankard.
‘To the Captain and his wife.’
‘To the Captain and his wife!’ the room chorused at a deafening pitch.
Ellen looked along the table. At least fifty faces stared back, smiling. She was probably as red as it was possible to be, but still she lifted her beaker. ‘Thank you.’
‘Aye, thank you, for your good wishes,’ Paul added, and then they both drank.
Ellen looked at him as he set down his empty tankard. She set down hers, still half full.
He appeared different among his men; energy, mastery and pride oozed from his stance. He was definitely the warrior here, and he looked older.
He turned to her, as if he sensed her staring, caught her hand and lifted it onto his thigh.
Love welled up inside her. Yes, he was a soldier, but his strength was protective, and with her, his touch was always gentle.
When they left the barracks, they walked along the seafront, returned to the inn and ate their dinner in a private parlour.
‘When I drill the men tomorrow, you may come with me if you wish? Not to stand on the parade ground, you understand, but you may watch from the barrack room I will have been allocated. You will be among the men all the time as we travel, it is best you get to know this life.’
She smiled. ‘I will come.’ She wanted to learn and to fit in. At the moment, it was all alien.
A smile tilted his lips, forming the dimple that stirred her heart with tenderness. Warmth and depth filled his eyes. ‘Shall we retire?’
That same warmth turned her stomach over as he took her hand and kissed her knuckles. She rose and followed him upstairs.
* * *
When Ellen woke in the morning, Paul stood before the wash bowl in the corner of the room. He held a razor in his hand, as he looked at his image in a small mirror, shaving.
He wore no shirt and his feet were bare, he was only dressed in his grey pantaloons with his braces hanging loose.
She watched the muscles moving in his back, shoulders and upper arms, as they etched shifting lines beneath his skin. Her husband’s physique was as superb as the ancient marble statues lining the halls in her father’s Palladian mansion.
Ellen stretched. He must have caught her movement in the mirror and met her through his reflection, smiling. ‘Good morning, my love.’
My love.Those words made her stomach tumble over and the sight of his smile made her giddy with joy.
‘Once I am clothed, I will order breakfast. We will eat in the parlour, so I shall send a maid up to help you dress.’
Ellen nodded. She remained in bed, and watched him finish shaving and dress. As he secured the buttons of his scarlet coat, smiling at her observation, pride flared in her heart as well as love. He was a man to be proud of.
He came to the bed and brushed a kiss on her cheek. ‘I will go downstairs then and send up a maid.’
As soon as he had gone, Ellen rose. She washed and prepared herself, her heart beating swiftly. She would start her life as a soldier’s wife today.
After breakfast they walked up the hill to the barracks. As they walked through the gate, the guards saluted Paul. He saluted them in reply.
He led her to a small room in the red-brick building. Light broke into the dingy room through a narrow window in the outer wall, illuminating the single cot-like bed.
When Paul left, she leaned her elbows on the windowsill and looked down onto the parade ground.
In a few minutes she saw him down there, walking to the centre. His men came from the far corner and gathered in lines. He did not merely stand and order them to walk this way and that, but marched with them, shouting for them to form a square, then lines, three men deep. They walked about, but he frequently ordered them from one structure to another. Then he called for them to lift, arm, kneel and aim their rifles a dozen times, before checking that they all held their rifles as they should.
It was an impressive spectacle, but again she had the feeling she did not really know the man she watched.
At the end of the activity, he spoke with each man and checked their equipment before letting them leave. Of course, here it merely looked a theatrical show, but it was preparation for battle, not entertainment.
