'What the devil are you doing here at a time like this?' Randal demanded, in so furious a tone Drusilla swallowed her tears of relief and drew away from his arms which were supporting her.
'James is hurt!' she explained in a low voice. 'He – he was asking for me, and George came to fetch me!'
'And have you so little sense you attempt to cross a battlefield almost before the battle is concluded, with no more protection than that of a child!'
'I'm nigh on twelve!' George interposed indignantly, but was totally ignored.
'I did not realise it would be – like this!' Drusilla stammered. 'But James needed me, and I had to come, whatever the risks!'
'If he sent for you he is a fool!' Randal declared. 'He must have been aware of the dangers.'
Suddenly Drusilla became angry. She was still suffering from the pain after the attack on her, and for Randal to be angry with her when they so unexpectedly met again was more than she could bear. She had repeatedly told herself she would never see him again, that he would marry Mary Percy, and there was no hope for her, but in her secret dreams she had imagined some enchanted world where the difficulties would be swept away, and he would come to her, Mary Percy no longer mattering to him, and she would discover he loved her after all. The reality of their meeting, in the aftermath of the battle, with death and violence, blood and anguish all about her, and Randal speaking so harshly, caused her to wrench herself away from him, and speak quickly.
'I do not see what business it is of yours, Sir Randal, that I go to my brother when he is in need! You have no control over my actions! I thank you for intervening and rescuing me from that villain, but I cannot think I shall meet with other such affronts, and so I will bid you farewell. Doubtless you wish to return to your friends!'
His lips twitched, and thinking he laughed at her, Drusilla flung up her head and walked as steadily as her still shaking legs could carry her across to where her horse was waiting.
'Then I will escort you,' Randal said, ignoring her remarks. 'Where is your brother?'
'I need no more escort than George!' Drusilla returned, furious with herself for being unable to control her trembling.
'George shall ride your horse and lead the way,' Randal said firmly, and before Drusilla realised what he was about he had seized her round the waist and flung her up on to the pommel of his own saddle. Before she recovered her breath he had swung himself up behind her and was holding her in a firm grip.
George, his mouth agape, was uncertain whether to plunge to Drusilla's aid or not, but as the tall man seemed to be known to Drusilla, and did not appear to offer any immediate threat to her safety, he merely watched and waited.
'Where is Mr Matthews?' Randal asked him curtly.
'In our cottage, yonder,' George gulped, pointing along the bottom of the slopes.
'Good, then mount Mistress Drusilla's horse and lead me there,' he was ordered, and hastened to obey.
Drusilla remained silent after a brief moment of resistance, when Randal's arm had tightened uncomfortably about her.
She knew, when her anger cooled, she should not have ridden alone, and she was thankful for the security of Randal's protection. Besides, she secretly admitted to herself, there was a bitter sweet emotion in being so close to her beloved, even when he did not love her and held her angrily.
*
George picked his way along the foot of the hills, and Drusilla looked in horror at the scene of destruction. Men and horses lay sprawled over the slopes, many dead, others suffering from broken limbs. Already Royalist troopers were moving amongst the carnage, putting injured horses out of their misery, taking prisoner and helping away the wounded Roundheads, and leaving until later the men who could not be helped.
She assumed it was work of that nature which had brought Randal to the spot, but did not dare to ask him, he looked so stern and forbidding when she glanced through her lashes at him.
They rounded the main bulge of the hills, and began to climb up the more gentle slopes, cutting across the base of the hill until George turned his horse into a trackway leading gradually upwards to the downs. This was an old sheep road, and far easier to negotiate for man and beast than the more precipitous slopes they had passed. After another mile or so George turned off the main track and led them along a scarcely visible path down into a sheltered hollow where the old cottage, which had stood for many generations, hid amongst a tangle of stunted trees and dense bushes.
They halted and George called a greeting which brought Tom to the door. He looked enquiringly at Randal, and then turned to nod to Drusilla.
'Go in to him. I will wait here to escort you home, or otherwise assist you,' Randal said abruptly, the first words he had spoken since lifting Drusilla on to his horse. 'You need not inform your brother I am here, for fear he thinks I intend to take him for ransom. None shall hear of his presence from me.'
Drusilla looked at him quickly, and contrived a tremulous smile, then she slipped down to the ground and followed Tom into the dark interior of the cottage.
*
As her eyes grew accustomed to the semi-darkness, she saw James lying in a corner on a pile of straw which was covered with a couple of fleeces. His eyes were closed and his face taut with pain, and he had thrown off the rough blanket which had been over him. His leg was strapped to a long straight branch, and his head bound with blood-stained rags. Tom crossed to the rough couch and beckoned, smiling reassuringly.
'He is weak, Mistress Drusilla, but will soon recover.'
James opened his eyes wide at these words, and looked across at his sister. Drusilla, forgetting all their disagreements, ran to kneel beside him and take his hand in hers.
'Poor James, but thank heaven Tom found you! He knows what to do!'
'I have set the bone, Mistress, but methinks 'twere best to get Mr James home as soon as can be arranged, for I cannot give him the nursing he needs,' Tom said quietly.
'Of course he cannot be left here to incommode you!' Drusilla said swiftly. 'I will make arrangements as soon as I may. Why did you not send for my father? He could have done this at once.'
'I wished to see you – Jacob wanted it, but it was too late!'
'Jacob?' Drusilla asked, peering about her in some anxiety. 'James, what is this? Is he here? Is this some ruse?'
'The other man was called Jacob,' Tom explained quietly.
'Everyone fled,' James said with a groan. 'It was shameful! Runaway Hill, it will be called! I tried to ride down by the old sheep road, knowing the rest of the hillside too steep, and Blagrave was with me. He had met the army and decided to stay with us and fight, instead of attempting to return to Reading. It was odd, his wishing to leave Devizes at precisely that time, and I did not rightly understand his explanation,' James said with a frown.
'Never mind that,' Drusilla said softly, thinking to herself Mr Blagrave must have felt intensely chagrined at having fallen in with Waller and been forced to partake in the fighting. 'What then happened?'
'Some of Hazelrig's Lobsters came pelting down after us, mad with terror, and taking no care, so when one of the devils lost his footing we all rolled down in a heap. I was fortunate, for I was in the front and thrown clear, but Blagrave was crushed as they rolled over him. They had such heavy armour, you see, they could scarce move,' he explained.
'Yes, so I have been told,' Drusilla nodded. 'Where is he?'
'We lay there for some time, unable to move, and by great good fortune Tom found us. He brought me here, but when he returned for Blagrave it was too late.'
'He was too badly wounded, Mistress, and bled inside,' Tom said gently. 'Your brother wished us to bring his friend here first, but I could see it would not serve, and indeed he was dead when I went again.'
'I – I am sorry for him,' Drusilla said, unable to feel any emotion other than horror at the manner of his death, but James shook his head swiftly.
'He – he may have deserved it!' he jerked out. 'Drusilla, I have been so wrong! He confessed to me when we lay there and it seemed we both would die.'
'Confessed? What did he have to confess?' she asked, puzzled.
'I'll prepare some broth,' Tom said, discreetly moving away to busy himself over a cauldron simmering above the fire at the far side of the room.
'That tale he told me, that Sir Randal Thornton had hired men to attack Elizabeth, was untrue.'
'Of course it was!' she said indignantly. 'Randal – Sir Randal would not behave so despicably!'
'For you that might have been as difficult to believe as the truth is for me!' he exclaimed. 'I could not have credited it had Blagrave not told me himself!'
'What did he tell you?'
James sighed, and seemed unwilling to meet Drusilla's eye.
'It was indefensible,' he said slowly, 'but I believe the man was desperate. You are too beautiful, my dear, and should have been safely wed long ago!'
'What do you mean?'
'Blagrave was enamoured of you, and terrified he would lose you to Sir Randal. He confessed he hired the men to attack Sir Randal and kill him. It was never his intention to involve Elizabeth, but he had told the men they might meet with Sir Randal at my house, and they attacked him straight away instead of following him as had been their orders.'
*
Drusilla was staring at him in horror.
'He intended Sir Randal's death? Oh, how monstrous! And then to accuse Sir Randal of such a plan? I had not thought him so evil!'
James sighed. 'As you know, Elizabeth and I were wed by arrangement, although I came to love her deeply afterwards, so much so I was near crazed at the loss of her, so I can understand a little of what he felt!'
'But I had given him clearly to understand I would never wed him!' Drusilla protested. 'It was nought to do with Sir Randal!'
'Blagrave thought that with him disposed of you would turn back to him, for he told me that before Sir Randal appeared you were beginning to favour his suit.'
'I never did so! He deluded himself.' A sudden thought struck her. 'Did he follow us to Thornton Hall and attempt to murder Randal again, when we were riding home?'
'Yes. He guessed where Sir Randal had taken you and followed to Thornton Hall, then again when you set off for home. He told me he was himself there, but remained hidden, intending to intervene only if it seemed the other men could not do the business.'
'So it was Jacob Blagrave who shot me!' Drusilla exclaimed.
'I am afraid you have much to forgive me,' James apologised.
'You? For believing he was honest? How could you have known?'
'No, not that,' James said quickly. 'It was our accusations that drove Sir Randal away, that made you refuse him. I cannot tell whether he offered for you merely from a sense of honour. It appears from what I have heard from Blagrave, and the fact he did court considerable danger himself when he took you from Reading, that he might have had some regard for you. In either event I have done you a great wrong, my dear, and when I am better I intend to seek out Sir Randal and attempt to right matters.'
Drusilla was shaking her head in some distress, and both were so deeply absorbed they did not see George slip into the cottage. He had recovered from his resentment at being called a child, and had been admiring Randal's horse and asking shy questions. A sudden realisation that visitors should be offered some hospitality had sent him scurrying into the cottage, and before Drusilla could decide how best to try and dissuade James from the actions he contemplated, George spoke.
'Tom, shall I take Sir Randal some ale?' he asked, and James twisted to look at him so sharply he emitted a gasp of pain as he moved his leg.
*
'Sir Randal? Here?' he demanded.
'Yes, but he intends you no harm!' Drusilla hastened to assure him.
'Harm? I do not understand. How does he come to be here?'
'He was searching for prisoners,' Drusilla explained quickly. 'He – we met as I came with George, and he – insisted on coming with me, but he said he did not propose to hold you to ransom!'
'Then I can speak with him now, and explain. Ransom?' James suddenly asked. 'Why ransom? Oh, the battle! I had almost forgot, thinking of this!'
'No, no, that is unimportant! Of course he would not!'
'George, ask Sir Randal to be good enough to speak with me,' James went on, ignoring Drusilla's protests, and before she could prevent him George had bounded outside, and a few moments later Sir Randal appeared in the doorway.
He looked across at Drusilla and James, before taking the tankard of ale George poured out for him, then walked across to seat himself on a stool beside James.
'I trust the injury is not too great,' he said easily.
'A simple, clean break,' Tom assured him, 'and a cut on the head that will soon heal with care.'
He looked from one to the other, and making an excuse about needing more wood for the fire, took a reluctant George outside the cottage.
'I have wished to express my regrets for your wife's death,' Randal said quietly to James. 'I shall ever be remorseful for my part in it, although it was not as Mr Blagrave said. It was because I visited the house, and was forced back into it by the ruffians that set upon me, so I am in part responsible.'
'No, no. Blagrave confessed to me he hired the men to kill you,' James said hastily. 'I have just been explaining to Drusilla, also that he made another attempt as you were bringing Drusilla home, and it was he who shot her.'
'I suspected something of the sort,' Randal said, nodding, 'but did not wish to accuse him until I had proof, and I have been kept so busy with Prince Maurice in the west I have had no time to search for that!' he added ruefully. 'Where is he?'
'Dead. He was with me, but fatally injured by the fall that broke my leg. He told me before he died. I was telling Drusilla, never dreaming you were but outside, that I must see you.'
'But you have no need, James, for all is now explained,' Drusilla intervened hurriedly. 'If Sir Randal will be so good as to escort me, methinks I ought to go back to Devizes and arrange for you to be fetched home.'
'There is time for that. I believe, Sir Randal, that the accusations made by Blagrave caused you to leave Devizes after you had offered for my sister. Drusilla may have been swayed by them – '
'No, I never believed that of him, never!' Drusilla cried in distress.
'Then why did you refuse Sir Randal's offer, my love?' James asked, puzzled.
'I have told you!'
*
Driven into making an explanation, Drusilla dared not look at Sir Randal, and did not see the arrested expression on his face. She spoke so quietly the two men had difficulty in hearing her, and James asked her to repeat what she had said.
'Sir Randal does not truly wish to marry me!' she said curtly.
Randal surveyed her calmly for a moment, and then rose to his feet.
'If you will excuse us, Mr Matthews, I think it would be best if we followed your sister's suggestion and sought help to move you. We can discuss this matter on the way.'
Not permitting a surprised and rather bewildered James time to reply, he bowed, smiled, and took Drusilla's arm in a firm grasp, leading her from the cottage before she had time to protest.
The horses were tethered nearby, and sound of wood being chopped indicated the whereabouts of Tom and George. Randal, drawing Drusilla irresistibly along with him, walked past the horses to a small grassy patch of ground sheltered from the winds by some fruit trees, and facing the setting sun. He halted, pulling Drusilla round to face him, and when she resolutely refrained from looking at him, pulled her chin gently to turn her face up to his.
'When I offered for you, Drusilla my sweet, did you imagine I did it unwillingly, that I felt obliged to do so because of the accident we had been so long alone together?'
'No, I knew that was not important, as I told you!' she said. 'My father did not understand!'
'He thought I had made the offer because of that?'
'That is what he told me,' she answered at last.
'And you refused me because you did not wish for an unwilling husband?'
'No! Not because of that!'
'Well, my dearest, I never thought you believed those lies of Blagrave, so what reason have you for saying I do not wish to marry you? Is it some strange way of saying you do not wish to marry me?'
She did not answer, for she could neither agree with nor deny his suggestion, and he slipped his arms about her and drew her close to him.
'My lovely one, I am older than you, and have been about the world a great deal, and observed people more than you have been able to. I prided myself I knew when a woman loved a man, that I could distinguish looks of love from those of coquetry or mere liking. When I saw you I knew there would never be any other woman for me, and I thought you came to feel love for me. Was I so completely mistaken?'
Wordlessly, Drusilla shook her head, and Randal's arms tightened suffocatingly about her.
'Then why did you refuse me?'
There was nothing for it except to tell the truth, and Drusilla took a deep breath and spoke, still avoiding looking at him.
'It was because of Mary Percy!' she exclaimed.
'Mary?' There was genuine puzzlement in Randal's voice, so that Drusilla, startled, risked a glance at him. 'What has Mary Percy to do with us?'
'I thought you intended – wanted – to marry her! I had heard, from Mistress Rogers, that you were paying her many attentions in Oxford, and then, your sister and Barbara seemed to be so sure of it, and Mary herself – she behaved as though she was certain of becoming your wife!'
Randal gave a soft chuckle.
'My foolish little love! You know so little of the world! Yes, I admit I paid her attentions, but no more than I have for years paid attentions to pretty women I had no wish to marry! My sister, I can well believe, would busy herself spreading rumours, for she has long despaired of marrying me off, and hoped Mary, with her wealth and beauty, might tempt me. Mary may have thought so, too, and if so I am sorry, but I have never given her cause to do so. I do not need wealth, and you have more beauty than a dozen Mary Percys!'
Unwilling to permit herself to believe what he was saying, Drusilla was staring up into his eyes, and at these last words she disbelievingly shook her head.
'Oh, but she is lovely!' she could not help exclaiming, and he laughed.
'Yes, mayhap, but I prefer your style of beauty! Besides, you have so much more to give me, and I love you, and I did not love Mary! Was that the barrier you thought lay between us?'
'You cannot possibly prefer me!' she whispered, and he bent down to kiss her, gently at first, but with a growing passion so that Drusilla, finally accepting the truth, the incredible reality of his words, responded blissfully.
When he finally released her she could not speak, but looked up at him wonderingly, and he tenderly took her hands and kissed them, looking all the while deep into her eyes.
'Drusilla, my dearest, lovely Drusilla, will you marry me?'
'I – oh yes, Randal! I have been so unhappy since you went away!'
He clasped her tightly in his arms again.
'I never want you to be unhappy again! Will you marry me immediately? Do you think your parents will agree? I did not obtain the impression your father was against my suit!'
Drusilla chuckled.
'Oh, no, he was most impressed by your title!' She sighed a little. 'He has always had great ambitions for his children. Even when he half-believed you might have hired those men, he was prepared to overlook it for the sake of that! Why, he even believed I had exaggerated the injury to my head to compromise you!' she recalled. 'I truly think that supposed aspect of my behaviour pleased him more than anything else I have ever done, for he thought it very intelligent of me! He said I would have been clever at business!'
Randal laughed. 'Then we had best return and inform him you are going to be Lady Thornton! When we have fetched James to Devizes we will make our own arrangements, and as soon as we are wed I will take you to Thornton Hall.'
'Your sister!' Drusilla exclaimed. 'She will be far from pleased! I do not think she liked me? Will she still be there?'
'She may be disappointed her own schemes have failed, but she will be happy to see me wed. Besides, I have never criticised her choice of husbands, and she will say no word against you, for if she does she will never visit us again! She is to be married herself in a few days, and I will ensure she leaves Thornton Hall before I take you there, for I know she can be intimidating. It is your home, my love, to do with as you wish, and I know with you it will be a real home, the one I have dreamed of, and I still cannot believe my good fortune in having found you!'
'You were so angry when you found me tonight,' she recalled.
'Not with you. Never with you, my love. I was appalled at the danger you ran, but I realise now that, never having seen a battle, you could not have known what it would be like, with desperate men searching for escape or for loot.'
Drusilla shuddered. 'I heard, in the town, that you won despite the numbers against you.'
'Waller had twice our number of horse, and the foot also. It was a tremendous victory. But there would have been no joy in it for me if I had not won you.'
They realised some time later that the sun had almost slipped over the horizon, and Randal somewhat guiltily laughed, saying he would have to make reparation to Tom and George if they had been chopping wood unnecessarily all the time.
'And James will feel neglected if they are not with him. Come, we must ride home.'
But they found when they reached the horses that Tom had returned to the cottage, for the soft glow of a candle was visible through the small window. They rode back to Devizes in the gathering twilight around the edge of 'Runaway Hill', hand in hand, content to forget the struggle that had taken place on it in the blissful contemplation of their own joy.
###
Marina Oliver has written over 60 novels, and has converted most of them to Ebooks. Others have been or are being published as Ebooks by other publishers.
For the latest information please see Marina's web site:
Here is the beginning of another of my novels about the Civil War now available as an Ebook: