Page 41 of The Ones Left Behind
CHAPTER12
Matthias watched Kitty leave and wondered how he had managed to bungle everything. He had been making progress, then somehow the conversation had turned in entirely the wrong direction and he had lost the little ground he had gained.
For a moment, he had thought there was a spark left, but now? Perhaps he had imagined it. Still, he could not give up. He wanted Kitty and he had no desire to go to London and pick a different bride. He scoffed at the idea. As if he could go to London and woo someone without even knowing what he would be offering her. Would he be a cripple for life? He honestly did not know.
He wished he had someone to advise him. Yet he did not know of many females he could pose those kinds of questions to. If only Waverley and Elliot were nearby with their wives, but he could hardly write to them and request such things! His old, trusted housekeeper was gone and he scarcely knew the new butler. Hornsby, bless him, had no more finesse for wooing a lady than Matthias did.
Hayes came in to remove the tea tray. “Is there anything else you will be needing, my lord?”
“No. Well, perhaps there is, Hayes. Will you close the door?”
The butler did not bat an eye at the odd request. The door closed without so much as a click and the butler stood before him to attention.
“Hayes, I realize you were not here when I was a youth, so you will not be aware, I expect, that Mrs. Gordon was also brought up here, as my father’s ward.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“What I need is your help. She insists on pretending she is a housekeeper, but what I wish for her to be is my wife.”
Matthias saw a brief flicker of surprise cross the otherwise stoic butler’s expression. “Very good, my lord.”
“However, I might need some assistance in convincing her. Might that be possible?”
“You wish for my help, my lord?”
“I had thought, perhaps, we could convince her that she is not suited to being a housekeeper.”
“Forgive me, my lord, but Mrs. Gordon has shown herself to be quite competent. Even the servants who were very wary at first now respect her abilities. Why, she is not above polishing floors or helping in the kitchen when needed. She does not put on airs. It will be difficult to convince her to your viewpoint, but I can certainly discourage the household from letting her help.”
“And if, perhaps, the servants could be discreetly informed she is my betrothed and treated as the lady of the house?”
“I will certainly inform them, my lord.”
“Thank you, Hayes.”
“If I might add…” The butler coughed into his hand. “It would help if you could summon a chaperone.”
Matthias closed his eyes. “Yes, you are correct. I will try to think of someone.”
Hayes bowed and left the room.
“I am quite certain that horse has already escaped the stable, but if propriety is what they want, propriety is what they will get,” Matthias muttered aloud after the door had closed.
He hoisted himself from the couch and settled his crutches in place before hobbling to his study. There he wrote two letters, letting his pride fly out of the window. They would probably tease him unmercifully but he knew they would come. He franked the letters and called for Hayes to have them delivered at once before settling into some estate business. He had a campaign to launch.
* * *
Matthias fell asleep,having worked day and night to exhaustion. He had chosen to take his perturbation out on his leg and had been furiously exercising it and could even now put a small amount of weight on it without debilitating pain. He had scarcely touched the brandy, but there was an unexpected consequence of sobriety—nightmares. He’d had no more than one glass of brandy each evening, but it was not enough to put him into a deep sleep.
It seemed, as soon as he closed his eyes, he was immediately transported back to that awful day: the air thick with damp, smoke and heat; the ground covered with dead and wounded, and the small amount of earth exposed was mud. They had been fighting all day and he knew they could not go on much longer. The few of them who had survived were on the verge of collapse.
“One last charge, men!” One of the generals was shouting the rally cry. “The Prussians are on the way! We must hold the line!”
Matthias rallied his cavalry, making promises of one last charge that were probably false but failure was not an option. He raised his sword, signalling the charge, and the next thing he could remember was the warmth of his own blood oozing from his leg.
“You have been hit!” Colin shouted over the din of the guns and cannon. “Fall back into the square!”
“Not yet! We must finish this!” He urged his horse forward and continued to fight as a cuirassier headed towards James. Their swords clashed, and Matthias held the opponent with their swords locked until James recovered, turned back and finished the soldier. Once they had retreated back to the line, Matthias felt the energy pour out of him. He must have lost more blood than he thought, and the bullet was still lodged in his leg.
