Читать книгу Winning the War Hero's Heart - Mary Nichols, Mary Nichols - Страница 7

In spite of the overcast skies and threat of yet more rain, the crowd began gathering on the common by the middle of Saturday morning. Men, women and even children were milling about trying to find the best places to hear the speaker, for whom a flat cart had been drawn up to act as a platform. They were noisy and for the most part good-humoured, treating it as a day out. Stalls had been set up selling food and drink and favours. These were made of red, white and blue ribbon, no doubt leftover from the celebrations of victory the year before.

Helen, in her grey dress with a shawl over her head, mingled with the crowds. She had a small notebook and a pencil in her reticule, but did not bring it out for fear of being recognised. She wanted to report the proceedings anonymously. She was not the only one incognito, she discovered, when she found herself standing next to Viscount Cavenham. She hardly recognised him; he was dressed in yeoman’s clothes, fustian breeches and coat, rough boots, with a battered felt hat on his curls.

‘My lord,’ she said. ‘I never thought to see you here today.’

‘Shh,’ he said, looking about to see if she had been overheard. ‘Not so much of the “my lord” if you please.’

‘I could shout it,’ she threatened.

‘And have me lynched? I had not thought you so bloodthirsty, Miss Wayland.’

‘And not so much of the “Miss Wayland” either,’ she said.

He laughed. ‘Then what am I to call you?’

‘You do not need to address me at all.’

He ignored that. ‘I believe your name is Helen. A lovely name and most suitable for one as beautiful and fearless as you are.’

‘My lord, you go too far.’ It was said in a fierce whisper.

‘My name is Miles,’ he said. ‘Pray use it, then we shall be equal.’

‘We can never be equal,’ she said. ‘You, of all people, should know that.’

‘All are equal in God’s eyes.’

‘Then the Earl of Warburton must consider himself above God, for he would never accept that.’

‘My father belongs to the old school, Helen. I doubt he could be persuaded to change his ways now.’

They were being jostled by the crowd and he put a hand under her arm to steady her. She resisted her first impulse to knock it away. It was firm and warm and rather comforting. ‘And you?’ she asked, turning to look up at him and found him looking down at her with an expression she could not interpret. It was full of wry humour, which she found unnerving. Her life until recently had been governed by her work with her father. The men she met were her father’s employees, friends and business acquaintances and she dealt with them accordingly. Meeting and dealing with this man was outside her experience. For one thing they had not been properly introduced, which was absurd since they had already encountered and spoken to each other twice before. But it was not the lack of an introduction that confused her; it was the way he looked at her and his self-possession, which somehow seemed to diminish hers. She took herself firmly in hand. If she was going to fight the Earl, she had better learn to stand up to his son.

‘I am my own man, Helen.’

‘But you are also your father’s son.’

‘Oh, undoubtedly I am that.’

‘So, why are you here?’

‘Curiosity. I want to know why men risk everything to take part in meetings like this which could have them arrested and can have no favourable outcome.’

‘Desperation, I should think.’

‘And you, I presume, are here to report it for your newspaper.’

‘Yes.’

‘And can you do that without bias?’

‘I sincerely hope not. It would be excessively dull and achieve nothing.’

It was not the answer he expected and made him chuckle. ‘How long have you been producing the Warburton Record?’

‘The Record was started by my father. He worked for a printing press in London, but when we moved to Warburton he set up on his own account as a printer; then he realised there was no way of disseminating local news except by pamphlets published by those with an axe to grind, so he started the Record. That was eight years ago.’

‘I meant how long have you been doing it?’

‘I used to love helping my father as a child and learned the business along with my growing up, especially after we moved here. When he died last year, he left the business to me.’ She did not add that it was all he had to leave. His many clashes with authority had left him almost penniless. No one was interested in buying the business as a going concern; the only offer she had ever had was for the machinery. She was not told who the prospective buyer was, but suspected it was someone who had no interest in running the Record, but rather wished to shut it down. Far from discouraging her, it had given her the impetus to keep going, especially as Tom and Edgar were both behind her.

‘Why did your father choose to leave London and come to Warburton?’ he asked. ‘Norfolk is hardly the hub of government.’

‘It was my mother’s birthplace; as she was mortally ill, she wanted to die here where she had spent her childhood and where her parents had lived and died.’

‘I am sorry for your loss,’ he said softly.

‘Thank you, my—’ She stopped and corrected herself. ‘Thank you, sir.’

He bent over and whispered in her ear, so close his warm breath was having a strange effect on her limbs. ‘That’s better than “my lord”, but it’s still not the address I asked for.’

She pulled herself together. ‘Oh, I cannot use that. It wouldn’t be proper.’

‘Is it also improper for me to address you as Helen?’

‘You know it is, but no doubt you will continue to do as you please.’

‘But I like the name. It rolls off the tongue so readily.’

‘Now you are bamming me.’

‘No. That would be ungentlemanly.’

‘Ah, but at the moment you are not dressed as a gentleman. Why the disguise?’

‘Do you think I would learn anything in my usual garb? I would be hounded off the common. At least this way I can be an ordinary soldier back from the war, which I am.’ He looked about him. ‘I see a goodly number of those here, including Roger Blakestone. He was in my regiment, a troublemaker even then.’

‘No one has said he is a troublemaker. He is out of work, as they all are. The farmers have stood the men off because the crops, if they ever grew at all, have been ruined by the weather; there’s no work for the soldiers, either. There ought to be something they could do that is not reliant on the weather.’

‘And how will listening to a man like Jason Hardacre help that?’ he queried. ‘He is for insurrection, which will surely make matters worse.’

‘Oh, I do not think the people will be swayed by him. They simply want to make their voices heard and have a day out that doesn’t cost them anything but a copper or two for a pie and a glass of cordial.’

The behaviour of the crowd seemed to bear that out.

Many of them were in family groups, having a picnic. ‘I never thought of sustenance,’ he said. ‘And I’m suddenly devilish hungry. Would you like something to eat, Miss … Oh, dear, it will have to be Helen, after all.’

‘No, thank you.’

‘I intend to have something. There’s a woman over there selling hot pies. I think I will try one of those.’

He left her and she thought that was the last she would see of him; suddenly she felt rather alone, even with the noisy crowds pushing and shoving and threatening to topple her over. She made her way to the edge of the throng where she could breathe freely. Five minutes later he was beside her again. ‘I thought I’d lost you,’ he said, handing her a paper packet in which reposed a succulent meat pie.

‘But I said no thank you,’ she said. ‘Do you never listen?’

‘Oh, I heard you, but I did not believe you. We have been standing about an age and I was ready to wager you would eat it if it were put before you.’

She considered refusing, but the pie did smell rather savoury. ‘I hate to waste it,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’ She took a bite and realised she was indeed rather hungry.

They stood together, enjoying their pies and not speaking, until a flourish of a bugle heralded the arrival of Jason Hardacre. A cheer went up as he mounted the cart with Mr Blakestone. But even before the latter opened his mouth to introduce the speaker, a troop of militia rode onto the common at a fast trot, right into the middle of the crowd, who attempted to scatter in terror, but they were so close-packed it was almost impossible to escape. There were shouts and screams as people were knocked over by the horses or hit by the blunt edge of a sword or the sharp point of a spur. Even if they had wanted to depart, which most of them did, they could not get away. In turning from one horseman, they were confronted by another.

Miles was swift to act. He guided Helen into the shelter of an elder bush, then ran into the middle of the mêlée. Picking up two small children who were in danger of being trampled and tucking one under each arm, he pushed his way towards the lieutenant of the troop. ‘Call your men off,’ he commanded. ‘Someone will be killed. This was a peaceful gathering until you arrived.’

‘It is a seditious meeting,’ the lieutenant said. ‘In tended to encourage rebellion against the law of the land. I am empowered to put it down by whatever means I think fit.’

‘By whose order?’

‘His lordship, the Earl of Warburton, sitting as a magistrate.’

‘And I am ordering you to call off your men before someone is killed.’

‘And who are you to be giving orders?’

He had obviously not been recognised in his lowly clothes. It made him smile. ‘My name is Captain Miles Cavenham of his Majesty’s Dragoon Guards. As your superior officer, I order you to call off your men and ride slowly from the field.’ His manner of delivering the order left no doubt he was used to command, even if he did choose to dress like every other man there.

The lieutenant obeyed reluctantly, but it was some time before order was restored and the people had the common to themselves again. Roger Blakestone and Jason Hardacre had disappeared as soon as the soldiers appeared. Miles returned the children to their weeping mother and set about assessing the casualties. He was joined by Helen.

There were a few broken bones, some blood and many bruises, but mercifully no one had been killed. Helen put that down to the Viscount’s timely intervention. He had undoubtedly also saved her, for there had been a horseman bearing down on them when he pushed her into the shelter of the bush.

‘This is what happens when people hold unlawful meetings,’ he said.

‘This is what happens when men like the Earl order mounted soldiers against innocent women and children,’ she retorted.

He knew she was right and did not respond. Instead he said, ‘We need medical assistance. Will the doctor come?’

‘I’ll fetch him.’

‘No, send a boy. He’ll be quicker. I need you to help me with the casualties. We must separate those who can go home and look to their own wounds from those who need medical attention. And we need pads and bandages. You do not faint at the sight of blood, I hope.’

‘No, I am not squeamish.’

Looking about her for someone to send, she noticed a skinny fellow in rags watching them intently. It was difficult to tell how old he was—he had a childlike look about him, though he must have been in his thirties. He was grinning and dancing from one foot to the other, his eyes bright with excitement.

‘Poor idiot,’ Miles said, as he suddenly darted away. ‘I hope someone is looking after him.’

Helen found a lad to send for the doctor and set about pulling up her skirt and undoing the ties of her petticoats and allowing them to drop to the ground. She picked them up and tore them into strips. They were busy binding some of the wounds when the doctor arrived and took over.

Those who had been bandaged were either sent home or to the town’s small hospital in carts and carriages. When everyone had gone and the common deserted except for a scattering of waste paper, broken pies— which were being attacked by pigeons and dogs—torn clothing and churned-up hoof marks, Miles and Helen found themselves alone, their work done.

They stood and faced each other. He had lost his hat and his curls lay untidily over his forehead. His face was smeared with mud and blood; it was only when he raised his hand to try to wipe it that Helen noticed the long cut on his forearm. It had ceased to bleed, but there was a dirty crust of dried blood on it.

‘You have been hurt,’ she said, in surprise. ‘Why didn’t you say so?’

‘It is nothing. I felt the edge of the sword of one of the militia. It is not deep.’

‘It needs cleaning. And the doctor has gone. Come home with me and I’ll clean it for you. It’s nearer than Raven’s Park.’

They walked back to the centre of town. It was crowded with people who had managed to escape the melee; they were standing in groups discussing what had happened. They watched Miles and Helen go past and that set them talking again. Helen could almost hear them: ‘What’s going on there? That’s Viscount Cavenham or I’m a Dutchman. What is he doing dressed like that?’

‘Did you see him scoop up those children?’

‘And stop that lieutenant when he would have broken the head of everyone there. Seems a strange thing for him to do, seeing who he is.’

‘And what is Miss Wayland up to? I wager it will be in the next edition of the paper. She is bound to be in trouble for sponsoring the meeting.’

‘Well, if you want my opinion they are the most unlikely couple in Christendom.’

Miles must have realised it himself, for he was smiling as Helen opened the shop door and ushered him inside. She led the way through the front office to the printing room at the back where a basin and a jug of water were kept for the compositor to wash the ink from his fingers. She left him there while she ran upstairs to find ointment and bandages. When she returned he had already put water in the basin and was splashing the wound.

‘It is only a scratch,’ he said.

Nevertheless, he allowed her to sit him down and sponge it clean. This necessitated touching him and that set up a tumult inside her she could not understand. The warmth from his skin seemed to radiate from her fingers, up her arm and over her whole body until she felt as though she were on fire. Carefully she cleaned the cut, trying to ignore the heat in her limbs and hoping it did not show in her cheeks because it was the height of foolishness to be so affected. ‘There, I think I have it clean. A little ointment and a bandage and you’re done.’ She was surprised how normal her voice sounded.

‘Done,’ he repeated and laughed. ‘Perhaps you ought to turn me over and roast the other side, or perhaps stick me on a spit and set it turning slowly. I’ll be cooked in no time.’

‘And too tough to eat, I’ll wager,’ she said, answering him in the same way as she tied off the bandage. She could not pull down his shirtsleeve because it had been torn off.

‘Will you report my little adventure in your paper?’

‘What, tell everyone the Earl’s son was the hero of the hour? I thought you wanted to be incognito?’

‘So I did, so I do, but I did not think you would take any heed of that.’

‘Oh, I think I will. Otherwise it would spoil my story of the Earl’s infamy if his son turned out to be a hero. I fear he shall have to remain anonymous.’

‘Why the Earl’s infamy? He was not even there …’

‘Of course not. He would not dirty his hands, but he was the one who ordered the militia out.’

He agreed with her, but he knew his father would have a ready answer to that. ‘It was the lieutenant who did the damage,’ he said, acting devil’s advocate. ‘My father will undoubtedly say he never condoned violence and the lieutenant acted on his own initiative and the lieutenant will maintain the populace started the fight by resisting an order to disperse. And if you write anything to the contrary it will be another writ, you can be sure.’ He paused, then took her arm and added quietly,

‘Can I not persuade you to retract over the widow’s garden?’

‘No. That would be cowardly.’

‘Whatever you are, you are not a coward, Miss Wayland. Foolish, perhaps, wrongheaded, maybe, but not cowardly. I fear for you.’

‘Why? It is nothing to do with you.’

‘I seem to have got myself involved,’ he said wryly. ‘If only as a peacemaker. I have seen too much of war.’

Why he had disappointed her, she did not know. She could hardly have expected him to go against his father and openly condemn him. It was to his credit he had tried to make restitution to Mrs Watson and that was more than his father had done, and he had stopped the militia from causing even more harm than they had. Neither was enough to win her wholehearted approval. She stood back to allow him to stand.

He rose to his feet, six inches taller than she was, and she was tall for a woman. His disability was not obvious when he was standing, nor, she remembered, when he was on horseback. It was only when he walked that his limp became evident. She wondered incongruously if it stopped him dancing. She thrust the foolish thought from her and turned away, lest he read something in her expression she did not want him to know.

He took it as a dismissal, bowed to her and turned to leave. She accompanied him to the door and watched him go, striding with his ungainly gait down the road. Luckily the gossips had dispersed and the street was quiet.

After he had gone she set to work writing her report of the meeting that never happened, but she found it very difficult. The image of the Viscount and the memory of the warm sensation touching his skin had given her would not go away. She was afraid she was getting to like him a little too much and that was not good for her campaign against his father. The world must know how insufferably arrogant and unfeeling the Earl was. He had ruined her father without a qualm, because it was the worry of all the writs and his determination not to give in that had killed him in the end. If the Earl had his way, he would silence her, too. And she was determined he would not. She stiffened her spine, banished the image of the Viscount from her mind and picked up her pen. But after recording the foolishness of holding such a meeting in the first place, the cruel intervention of the militia on what had been a peaceful gathering, she felt obliged, in her honest way, to acknowledge the part played by Viscount Cavenham in saving the situation from becoming a real bloodbath.

Miles fetched his horse from the inn where he had left it and rode home in a contemplative mood. Miss Wayland was the most stubborn female he had ever come across. She was also resourceful and unafraid. But perhaps her lack of fear was simply ignorance of her true plight. He could not persuade his father to withdraw the writ and he could not persuade Miss Wayland to retract. He feared they were on a collision course. But, oh, how he admired her for it!

He found his mother alone in the morning room sitting at her embroidery. She had once been a great beauty, but that loveliness had faded over the years of being under the thumb of her domineering husband. Her hair, once so fine, was streaked with grey and her blue eyes were careworn. They lit up when she saw him, but catching sight of his torn sleeve and bandaged arm, she became alarmed. ‘Miles, whatever happened to you? You look as though you have been in a fight.’

‘I’m sorry, Mama, I should have changed before joining you. I will go and do so now and then I will tell you all about it. It is nothing for you to worry about.’

But when he returned, dressed more befitting a drawing room, in cream pantaloons, a brown-and-yellow striped waistcoat and a fresh shirt covering his bandaged arm, and recounted all that had happened, she was even more worried. ‘Miles, when your father hears of this, he will be very angry. Don’t you know better than to go against him? Think of me, if you cannot think of yourself.’

‘Mama, I would, but I could not stand by and let the militia knock those poor people about, could I? There were whole families there, enjoying a day out. They were in mortal danger. The militia were laying about them as if they were enjoying it.’

‘But why did you go there at all?’

‘Curiosity. I wanted to hear the men’s grievances and I wanted to see if Miss Wayland would go. I fear she will write it up to the detriment of the militia and whoever ordered them to prevent the meeting, and then she will be in more trouble.’

‘And that is another thing—what is your interest in Miss Wayland? She is not a lady, is she? She earns a living in a way I cannot approve and upsets your father almost daily. How did you meet her?’

He had always felt able to confide in her, knowing she would not repeat it, so he told her about stopping when he saw the frightened woman and child cowering against a wall. ‘She was so fiery against my father—it was more than just the incident of the hunt—and I wondered what had caused it. I did not know she was the proprietor of the Warburton Record then. I only found that out when I went to her business premises.’

‘Whatever did you go there for?’

‘I wanted to persuade her to retract what she had said about Father because he was going to sue her for defamation of character. But she would not.’

‘Then you must let the law take its course.’

‘Mama, the law is weighted heavily against her, my father will see to that.’ He paused. ‘There seems to have been some kind of feud between him and Miss Wayland’s father and she is determined to maintain it. Do you know what it was about?’

‘No, except Mr Wayland was forever publishing criticism of the Earl and he could not allow that, could he?’

Knowing his father, he sighed. ‘No, I suppose not.’

She turned to look into his face, scanning its clean lines and handsome brow. ‘You have not developed a tendre for Miss Wayland, have you, Miles?’

‘No, of course not,’ he answered swiftly without giving himself time to think.

‘Good, because it would be disastrous.’ She paused and, believing the subject of Miss Wayland closed, changed the subject. ‘Invitations came this morning for the Somerfield ball in July. We are all to go. It is a come out for Verity, who has recently returned from some school or other that turns out young ladies. As if her mother could not do that perfectly well.’

Lord and Lady Somerfield had been friends of the Earl and Countess for many years, mostly because they were the only other titled people in the area considered high enough in the instep with whom they could associate.

‘I haven’t seen Verity Somerfield since I went into the army,’ he said. ‘She would only have been about thirteen then, if that. Long-legged and given to giggling, as I recall.’

‘She has grown into a beautiful young lady with perfect deportment and manners and I have no doubt will attract many suitors, but I think Lord Somerfield is hoping you will make a match of it.’

‘He may hope,’ he said, ‘but I am resolved to stay single.’

‘Why, Miles? Is it because of your disability?’ she queried. ‘That is nonsense. It is hardly noticeable and I am sure if you were to ask the shoemaker he could raise one of your shoes a little. Heels are all the fashion, you know.’

‘Yes, but is it the fashion to have one higher than the other? No, Mama, even if a lady were to disregard that, she would have to see the scars on my thigh.’

‘Not until after you were married.’

‘Yes, that could pose a problem,’ he said, laughing to lighten the atmosphere. ‘To keep such a sight until the wedding night would surely give any bride the vapours. And to show her beforehand would be highly improper.’

She understood the bitterness that went behind what appeared to be a flippant remark and reached out to put her hand over his. ‘It is not as bad as all that, Miles, and if she loves you …’

‘Ah, there’s the rub. Who would have me as I am?’

‘I am sure Verity Somerfield will. According to her mama, she is already well disposed towards you. She remembers you as being kind to her, which is to your credit. And since then, you have come back from Waterloo a hero.’

‘I wish nothing had been made of that. I only did my duty as I saw it. I had no idea that fellow from The Times was taking notes. What they want sending a reporter out to war, I do not know. He only got in the way and the men made fun of him, which, to give him his due, he took in good part.’

‘Nevertheless, it has raised your standing with those at home and with the Somerfields.’

‘Mama, you are biased.’

She smiled. ‘Perhaps. But you are a handsome man and there are other assets in your favour: your title and amiable nature, for instance. I am persuaded all you need to do is turn on your charm and Verity will be yours. It is time you married …’

‘I will not impose myself on any young lady simply to provide the estate with an heir, Mama. It would not be fair to her.’ He realised that one day he ought to marry, if only to produce the requisite heir, but he also realised the woman he chose must be strong and not squeamish, someone who could see further than an ungainly gait and scarred limbs to the man within, someone like Miss Wayland, who had not flinched at the injuries she had seen on the common. Knowing Miss Somerfield’s delicate background, he doubted that she would have reacted in the same way. He cursed the war and the Frenchmen who had fired the cannon that had resulted in shrapnel becoming embedded in his upper thigh. It had been painful at the time and even more so when the surgeon had been working on him, but that was nothing compared to the way it had left him with a shrivelled thigh. His question, ‘Who would have me?’, had been heartfelt.

‘But you will go to the ball?’ his mother asked, forcing him back to the present.

‘To please you, yes, but I shall not make a fool of myself by attempting to dance.’

‘You could practise at home beforehand. I am sure you could manage some of the slower measures.’

‘Perhaps.’ Standing up, he bent to kiss her cheek and promised to be back in time to dine en famille. Then he left her.

He mused on the upcoming ball for a moment or two, then put it from his mind as another idea came to him. What the ex-soldiers and the out-of-work labourers wanted was not hand-outs, but work, something to keep them gainfully employed and the wolf from the door. Farming was in the doldrums and the farmers were not employing labour to stand about idly waiting for the weather to change, but what if the men were encouraged to grow fruit and vegetables? If every man had a strip of land, the sort of thing they had before the enclosures spoilt it all, he could grow not only enough for himself but for the market, too. If they did not have to pay for the land or, initially, the seed and plants, they would have a head start. It would be a kind of co-operative venture with each helping out the other with their own particular skills.

He owned a few acres left to him by his maternal grandfather that he had never cultivated. According to his father it was useless, no more than scrub and fit only for rabbits, but would the men work it? Not if they knew it came from him, he decided. He needed to do it through a third party and James Mottram came to mind. James was a young man of his own age whom he had met when they were both studying at Cambridge University. James had since become a lawyer and was already making his mark in the courts of justice, particularly in defence. He was a partner in a practice in Norwich. He would ask him, but first he would sound out Jack Byers about the project, ask him if he thought the men would agree to the plan and if he had any ideas to add to it. But he would swear him to secrecy.

He knew Byers was staying with Mrs Watson. He had his second horse saddled and set off for her cottage.

Helen had decided to visit Mrs Watson to see how her garden had been restored and how Mr Byers was getting on. She had promised herself she would find out his history and write a piece about the hardships of the returning soldiers and it might be a good opportunity to do that. The day was blustery and overcast; it looked as though there would be more rain, which bode ill for whatever crops had survived so far. She was wrapped in a long burnoose with the hood up and did not immediately recognise the man approaching her until he was standing right in front of her, his feet apart as if to detain her.

‘Mr Blakestone, you startled me.’

‘I want a word with you.’ He sounded belligerent, which made her nervous.

‘Say it, then.’

‘Traitor!’ He paused. ‘You took my money for the poster, pretended to be on the side of the workers and all the time you were plotting with the Earl and that stiff-rumped son of his to betray us. It is fortunate for you that no one was killed today or you would have paid with your life.’

‘The reason no one was killed was because the Viscount prevented it,’ she retorted. ‘Which you would have known if you had not run away like a coward.’

‘Coward, you call me! I wasn’t the one standing around in disguise waiting to enjoy the fruits of my betrayal. I was up there on the platform for all to see.’

‘Until the militia arrived. It was miraculous how fast you disappeared then.’

‘It was my bounden duty to protect Jason Hardacre from arrest and get him safely away. Thanks to you and the Viscount, he never made his speech and the people of Warburton are the poorer for it.’

‘I doubt that.’ She tried to pass him, but he dodged to prevent her. ‘Let me pass, Mr Blakestone.’

‘When I’ve done with you.’

‘What do you mean?’ She was becoming very alarmed and tried to push past him. He reached out and pinioned her arms to her sides. She tried kicking, but he held her at arm’s length and she could not reach his legs.

‘Struggle all you like,’ he jeered, ‘but hear this. We will not be so foolish as to advertise our next meeting, except by word of mouth, so if the Earl hears of it, we shall know where the blame lies. Your life won’t be worth living.’

‘Stand aside!’ The voice was the Viscount’s as he galloped up, threw himself from his horse and wrenched Blakestone from Helen. He had his crop in his hand and raised it to the man, ready to give him a beating, but Helen grabbed his arm.

‘No, don’t,’ she cried. ‘Let him go. I don’t want violence done on my account.’

Miles lowered his arm, the white heat of his anger slowly subsiding. ‘Get you gone,’ he told Blakestone. ‘And if I ever come across you offering violence to a lady again, it will be the worse for you.’

The man hesitated as if considering whether to stand and fight, but thought better of it and turned on his heel to march down the road, but not before he had uttered one more threat. ‘You must watch your back, Captain. I ain’t forgot you had me flogged and reduced to the ranks. A man don’ forget that in a hurry. Watch your back at all times.’

‘What did he mean by that?’ Helen asked, as the man strode away.

‘I caught him assaulting a Portuguese girl and hauled him off. He was put on a charge and was dealt fifty lashes and had his sergeant’s stripes taken off him.’

She shuddered. ‘I think flogging is barbaric. Surely there is another way to punish wrongdoing in the army?’

‘I don’t hold with flogging either, but it is the only punishment the men understand, and in wartime, under battle conditions, we do not have the facilities for imprisonment. Besides, the men are needed to fight.’

He paused. ‘But that doesn’t explain why he was manhandling you. What was that about?’

‘He thought I had betrayed the meeting to you and that you had told your father, who ordered the militia. He was very angry.’

‘I am sorry to hear that. You have helped him when you should not have done and he repays you with threats. Had I known I would have told him the truth.’

‘He would not have believed you.’

‘No, you are probably right, but be careful in future, Miss Wayland. Do not go out unaccompanied.’

‘Oh, it is nothing but bluster. I doubt he would harm me.’ Now the man had gone she was full of bravado. It would not do to let Viscount Cavenham see how afraid she had been.

‘I am not so sure. Where were you going?’

‘To see Mrs Watson.’

‘A happy coincidence. I was on my way there myself. We will go together.’ He picked up the reins of his horse and walked beside her to the widow’s cottage.

Mrs Watson was put in a fluster when she saw who had accompanied Helen and bowed and kept apologising for her poor home, until Miles smiled to put her at her ease and said he had come to talk to Mr Byers, whom he had spotted working in the garden, but he would enjoy a cup of camomile tea when he came back. And with that he was gone.

Relieved of his presence, Mrs Watson relaxed and bade Helen be seated by the hearth. The little boy was playing on the floor and Helen knelt down to play with him. ‘How are you managing?’ she asked the child’s mother, picking up a crudely carved harlequin on a stick and tickling the boy with it. He chortled happily.

‘Oh, we do well enough. I am thankful I still have my job in the laundry and Jack Byers has put the garden to rights as far as he was able. The Viscount gave him money to buy vegetable seeds in place of those I lost. Jack has sown them and planted new currant bushes for next year, but there will be no fruit this year. The guinea his lordship gave me is all but done and I cannot pay him. He is working for board and lodging.’

‘I expect he thinks it is better than nothing.’

‘Miss Wayland, you didn’t ought to have writ what you did about the Earl. I didn’t know you wrote a newspaper until Jack told me or I wouldn’t have said what I did. It looks as if I were complaining and that weren’t so. We could all be in trouble.’

‘It’s only me that’s in trouble, Mrs Watson. The Earl is determined to close me down.’

‘It don’t do no good to go agin’ him. What d’you do it for any road?’

‘Because someone has to tell the truth and wake everyone up to what’s been going on for generations. My father did it and I carry on in his memory.’

‘And yet you be on good terms with the Viscount.’

‘That’s only good manners—underneath is a different matter; he is like his father; arrogance is bred in him. Besides, I am also in trouble with the firebrands who would stir up unrest if they could.’ She got up off her knees and scooped Eddie up to sit with him in the chair by the hearth. She loved all small children and this one was particularly fetching with his fair curls, blue eyes and chubby limbs, notwithstanding his clothes were patched and worn, probably bought second-hand from the market.

Mrs Watson put a cup of tea on the corner of the table where she could reach it. ‘Seems to me you be in trouble all round,’ she said. ‘You will need the good offices of the Viscount before you’re done.’

Helen did not tell her that the gentleman had already used his good offices to help her. She could see him through the window. He was talking earnestly to Jack Byers.

‘What do you think, Byers? Would the idea find favour?’

‘Anything that allows the men to work and keep their families from starving is a good thing, my lord. But where could we get the land? No farmer would let us have land, even if we could afford the rent.’

‘I have a friend desirous of helping the unemployed, both old soldiers and farm workers, and he has a few acres not far from here that is uncultivated. You would be doing him and yourselves a favour taking it on. Of course, you need to get the men together and work out how it can be done. Some of you will have specialist skills: ploughing, drilling, looking after animals. And shooting. I believe the land is plagued by rabbits. My friend will supply seed and equipment, whatever you need to start you off.’

‘Who is this friend of yourn?’ Jack asked warily. ‘What’s he want from us?’

‘He wishes to remain anonymous and he wants nothing from you. He is what you might call a philanthropist.’

‘Supposing times get better and some of us are offered our old jobs back?’

‘Then your piece of ground will go to someone else who needs it with compensation for the work you have done on it.’

‘Sounds all right,’ Jack said, still dubious.

‘Get the men together and ask them. Vote on it if you like, but do not say I have a hand in it. I am only a go-between, you understand.’

‘Oh, to be sure, I understand,’ Jack said, grinning.

Miles left him to his gardening, knowing the man had guessed the identity of the philanthropist, but he would not say so, neither out loud to him nor to the men when he called them together.

He returned to the kitchen where Helen was nursing young Eddie, who had fallen asleep in her arms. She smiled up at him and put a finger to her lips. He sat down silently and accepted a cup of tea from Mrs Watson, not once taking his eyes off the woman and the sleeping child. The hard-nosed business woman who could write such vitriolic attacks on the nobility, who could get her hands covered in ink, stand firm in a mob and never turn a hair at broken limbs and bloody noses, was a nurturer at heart. The picture she presented, her grey dress dishevelled, her hair tousled by chubby fingers keen to explore, was one of domesticity. It gave him a lump in his throat. It was sympathy for her, he told himself, sympathy and at the same time unbounded admiration, nothing to do with the fact that he might never enjoy having a family like it himself.