The General’s Wife: An American Revolutionary Tale (12 page)

Ethan drove her in the coach for hours. They had to leave in the middle of the night so she would arrive in the Chesterton area by morning, and they had to drive a little ways out of the way to mask their actual path. Ethan would have to leave her alone with the carriage while it was still dark so he could make his escape. Redmond had taught her a few months ago how to handle a horse, and as long as the roads were good, she would be able to manage. If not, she would just have to leave the coach and its horses and walk.

The carriage stopped. Ethan scrambled off the roof to the ground. Annabella wiped her tears on her cloak. Redmond had told her to be strong.

“This is where I leave you, miss.” Ethan opened the door to help her out. “Sorry, but dawn is just about to break and I got myself a long ways back. Do you need help getting to the seat up front?”

“No. Just hold the reins while I get there.”

The horses were calm but Ethan held the reins anyway, then gave them to Annabella when she was settled in the driver’s seat. He doffed his hat and fled away into the lifting darkness.

Annabella urged the horses slowly. She was absolutely in no hurry to see General Strathmore and his officers. Besides, this close to Chesterton, someone would hear her and, as the general’s coach was well-known in these parts, she was bound to stick out. People must have been aware by now that she and Lady Strathmore had never arrived at their intended destination. Maybe there was even a reward for their return.

Dawn broke and she plodded along through the early morning mist. Finally she saw someone up ahead, in fact several someones all dressed in red coats. She reined in the horses to stop and braced herself.

A fine-looking officer approached her on horseback. He looked at her queerly, then recognition washed over his face.

“You’re Lady Strathmore’s maid, aren’t you?” he said gently, with a note of astonishment.

“Yes, sir.” Annabella wasn’t sure if she should offer an explanation for their disappearance. She decided she would wait. She had strict instructions to deliver the ransom note directly into General Strathmore’s hands and no one else’s and didn’t want the petty politics of officers getting in her way.

The officer scanned her up and down, then rode around the coach peering into the windows.

“Where is Lady Strathmore?” he asked when he came back around.

“I have instructions to only speak with General Strathmore about the whereabouts of my lady,” she replied.

He looked at her rather intensely for a moment. “Well, then,” he finally said, “I’ll have to take you to the general.” He motioned for one of his men. “Take my horse, cadet,” he said as he dismounted. “I will drive the coach with the girl.”

“Yes, lieutenant.”

The lieutenant climbed into the driver’s seat next to her. He flashed a smile. She had seen him before.

“And what is your name, miss?”

“Annabella, sir. I’m Annabella Rogers.”

“Nice to make your acquaintance, Miss Rogers. I am Lieutenant Sebastian Hawkins with General Strathmore’s regiment.” He flicked the reins and the horses proceeded to trot.

Hawkins.
Where had she heard that before? She glanced at him again. Her heart fell. He had seen the assault by the general and his Hessian officers, but hadn’t bothered to help her or Redmond. She looked away, her gut roiling as she hoped,
prayed
, he was not anything like those other soldiers.

“How is your health? I mean, what happened to you, were you treated well?” He seemed concerned, as he should have been in the stable.

“Yes, sir. Thank you. I am fine, sir,” she said softly. She did not want to tell him she felt simultaneously sick and famished.

They rode in silence the rest of the way. She grew more relaxed at the lieutenant’s side as he acted the perfect gentleman. Until General Strathmore’s residence came into view. She stifled a cry from her throat, but could not stop the tears from trickling down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away with her sleeve.

He leaned in. “I’ll stay with you, Miss Rogers,” he said quietly. “I won’t let you be alone with him.”

Annabella snapped her head toward his, only to find their faces very close. He had a pleasant countenance, sweet and gentle. His gray-blue eyes surveyed her face as his tongue flicked over his plump lower lip, then he smiled and set his attention back to driving. He didn’t wear a wig under his hat, and his wild sandy brown hair had been somewhat tamed in a queue down his back. He wasn’t as thick and masculine as her Redmond, but he did cut a fine figure in his military uniform.

He looked honest enough. Perhaps she could trust him.

* * * * *

The moment she had recognized him, Sebastian had felt Annabella tense at his side. The memory of her pleading face in the stable that day over a month ago still stung his heart with regret. But clearly, by the time he had arrived, the deed had already been done. Plus, the general’s Hessians were a notoriously cruel bunch, and would certainly have forced him to participate, or worse. If the girl had been a common whore perhaps he would not have felt so much guilt. Now that she sat next to him, he saw how young she was, how lovely, how utterly frightened she was. Maybe a little hungry and tired, too.

He parked the coach alongside the general’s house and helped her down from the driver’s seat, holding on to her waist as she jumped off. When she landed, he continued to hold her, not wanting to let go. Her auburn hair peeked out from under the hood of her cloak. Something compelled him to pull her hood back and arrange her hair, tucking it under her lacy cap. She regarded him curiously.

“Come,” he said, patting her briefly on the shoulder before offering his arm. He led her into the house and, when he knocked on the general’s office door, he kept one hand tightly wrapped around her upper arm.

“General Strathmore, sir?”

“Hawkins?” came the familiar bass voice. “Enter.”

The general had been reviewing maps and plans over breakfast. When he saw Annabella his expression changed from contemplative to angry. He looked at Hawkins for an answer.

“We found her with the coach just on the main road, sir. She was alone.” He kept a firm grip on Annabella’s arm as the general walked around her.

Strathmore leaned in to her ear, far too intimately. “Where is your lady? My wife?”

Annabella closed her eyes. “I do not know, sir.”

“It has been practically a month since you left. What have you been doing all that time, girl?”

“I was held in a house. I was left there alone. My lady was taken somewhere else.” She looked up at the general. “I swear, sir, I do not know where they took her.”

“And who is ‘they’?”

“Men. I don’t know who they were.” Her expression lay somewhere between fear and guilt.

“Soldiers?”

“No, not soldiers.”

“Accents? British? Colonists? Come on girl, speak up!”

“They were Americans, sir. They had accents like mine. There were three of them and they wore black hoods over their heads so I could not see their faces.” She looked down at her feet. “Please sir, believe me, that is all I know.” She looked back up at the general, now perched on the edge of his desk. “I was given a note for you, sir.” She reached under her clothes.

Instinctively, Sebastian grabbed her, turning her body toward him. If this was a ruse to kill the general, Sebastian was well-trained to act. In the tussle, Annabella dropped a folded piece of paper. She lifted her eyes to him. He tried to convey his mortification and apologies. She bent down to pick up the note and handed it to General Strathmore.

He scanned it, then, grunting and growling, read it a second time. “I don’t recognize the hand.” The general looked sharply at Annabella. “Who wrote this note, girl?”

“Please, sir. I do not know, sir.” She was trembling.

He eyed her intently again. “What sort of house were you held in?”

“A big house, sir.”

“Big? How big? Two stories like this house?”

“I think there were two stories, sir.”

One side of the general’s mouth curled sinisterly. “Good, good,” he muttered. He waved his hand toward the door. “You may leave me now, Hawkins. The girl may still have some usefulness left in her.”

Sebastian saw terror flit across the girl’s face. This was precisely the situation he had wanted to avoid.

“No,” the general said, reconsidering. “I have too much work to do here now. Take her to Colonel Fritzlar. His men will know what to do with her.”

Sebastian was not going to deliver her into the hands of the Hessians. “General Strathmore, sir?”

“Yes, lieutenant?” he grumbled.

“My men and I need a maid-of-all-work.”

The general looked up from his papers, glancing over at Annabella and then back at Sebastian. “Go on, take her. I’m sure your men will find a use for her.”

Sebastian led Annabella out of the house as calmly as he could. Once outside, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, sir. I don’t know how to repay you.”

“Not in the way you’re thinking, miss,” Sebastian snapped. He shook sense back into his head. “I apologize. Look, I really could use a maid. I run a very disciplined barrack, so you will not have to fear for your safety. Unless you wish to go back home. You’re from Chesterton, aren’t you?”

“My mother sold me to General Strathmore, sir. I don’t think she wants me back.”

“Sold you! That’s impossible!” Sebastian looked down at her. She probably had no idea what really transpired between her mother and the general. She did not seem like she wanted to return home, though. He glanced around the yard. The coach was still there. The Strathmore groom had disappeared a long time ago and his duties were never reassigned. Sebastian’s cadet was positioned nearby with the lieutenant’s horse.

“Do you have anything in the coach?” he asked.

“Only my box, sir.”

Sebastian called for his ensign and motioned for him to dismount. “This is Miss Rogers. She will be joining our staff. Please fetch her box from the coach and bring it to the barrack. I will need your horse as well.”

“Yes, sir.”

Sebastian turned to Annabella. “You will ride behind me.” She looked so relieved and yet still so fragile. “Don’t worry, miss, you’ll be fine.” He tried his best to sound reassuring.

* * * * *

“And I would love you all the day,

Every night would kiss and play,

If with me you’d fondly stray

Over the hills, and far away.”

Clara had a tendency to sing songs Paul had never heard. And quote poetry, too. It all sounded like Shakespeare to him since he had read so little of the stuff. He didn’t read novels either, as she clearly did. Really, the only works anybody ever read these days were political tracts against monarchy and for independence.

Clara’s silliness and frivolity accentuated the fact that she was only nineteen years old and had been pulled from her carefree noble life and thrust into a war zone. Paul loved her innocence, her playfulness. He truly loved her, but he knew there could never be anything lasting between them. He had simply seen too much of life to ever recapture such an ingenuous state.

It was morning and they lay in bed, casually fondling and cuddling, naked despite autumn’s chill. Annabella had left the night before. Redmond was most likely already with the patriots up north. It wouldn’t be long before Clara would have to be returned to her husband. Paul had demanded quite a bit of money for her with the stipulation that the general should pay a portion as a sign of good will. It was that portion which would cover the general’s debt to the brothel, and then some. But, after he got that first payment, did he really have to let Clara go? He nuzzled against her shoulder.

She turned her face to his and kissed his lips, lightly, tenderly. The heat rose in his body, pumping more blood to his half-hard cock. He moved over her to frantically feast on her mouth, then pulled back. She was flushed, her face suffused with wanton desire. His needy cock twitched.

“Love,” he began softly, trying to find the right words. “I think we have waited long enough. I want to make love to you. Properly.” He was surprised by his own bashfulness.

She stared at him with wide eyes. “Yes, please, Paul. Yes.”

Her plaintive tone humbled him. Suddenly, he was a boy again experiencing his first carnal union, except this time he would know precisely what to do. His fingers found her wet and aroused, but she had to be more than ready for him. He did not want to hurt her.

He kissed her mouth succulently as he massaged her clit. “This is for you, sweet. Let me pleasure you.”

His motions were languorous, punctuated with provocative teases to rouse her only to pull back when she least expected it. She giggled at his game and pecked at his lips lovingly.

His stroked her silky folds, finally daring to touch the entrance to her feminine passage. He slowly inserted a finger. She held his eyes as he did so, biting her lower lip, then nodding in assent. His thumb worked her excited nub as he slid in a second finger. She closed her eyes, lost in the sensual indulgence of his touch, her neck and shoulders arching against the pillow. She cried out as her libidinous muscles clenched around his fingers, pulsing, wanting more, inviting him inside her.

He was achingly rampant. He moved to lie between her legs. His cock in his palm, he slid it through her wetness, then aimed precisely. He took his time as he pushed in, luxuriating in her squeezing palpitations. When he was fully seated inside her, he let himself relish in the thrill of her body before continuing with his lover’s motions.

She was tight, unused, so he moved cautiously, kissing her, whispering encouragements, until their bodies undulated as one. He pulled back a little to gaze at her. Tears filled her eyes and trickled down the sides of her face to the pillow.

A sharp stab of remorse pierced his heart. He stopped. “Love? Am I hurting you?”

She sniffled and wiped her tears. “No, no. Paul, it’s wonderful.” She cupped his cheek with her palm. “Sweet, it has never been this good for me before.” She smiled reassuringly, her expression a mixture of joy and lust.