Chapter Twenty-four

Napoleon didn’t wait to rest and re-form his army as everyone believed. Instead he moved forward, taking command of Prater Island in the center of the Danube, and on May the tenth began to bombard Vienna. Panic ensued. People streamed in droves out of the city. Major St. Giles and his regiment of British cavalry worked from dawn to dusk, assisting the evacuation of diplomats and higher government officials, helping remove antiquities and valuable archives that might be in danger should Napoleon conquer the archduke’s defenses.

“All bloody hell has broken loose out there,” Jamison told Elissa late that afternoon. “I want you to stay indoors where it is safe.” She was sitting in the dining room, trying to force herself to eat when he appeared in the open doorway. “I’ve only got a moment. I just stopped by to make certain that you were all right.”

“I’m fine,” she said as he began striding toward her, though her nerves were taut and had been since word of the attack reached the town house.

“I want you to keep the doors locked and the curtains drawn. Don’t let anyone in you don’t know.”

“I—I was hoping to see Nina this afternoon. I want to make certain that she and the children are safe.”

The major shook his head. He was far less tractable than she had originally believed. He was stronger and more protective. She had found these were not bad qualities to discover in a man. “I want you here,” he repeated. “If I’m ordered to leave, I’m taking you with me.”

Elissa hid her surprise, but a trickle of relief slid through her. In truth, she should have gone to Baden as Adrian insisted. “What about Nina?” she asked. “What about the Krasnos family?”

“I checked on them early this morning. They’re thinking of leaving the city, but so far Ivar Krasnos hasn’t made a decision.”

“What is he like? Does he seem a decent sort of man?”

Jamison sighed. “I can’t say I’ve a liking for him.” He hesitated, started to say more than stopped himself.

Elissa rested a hand on his forearm. “Please, Major. Nina is my friend. I’ve been worried about her. I’d like to know the truth.”

A muscle tightened in his jaw as if the words were too painful to speak. “Ivar Krasnos is loud and overbearing. His wife cowers at his every glance. The children are terrified of him. Thank God they have Nina to intercede in their behalf. She isn’t afraid of him at all.”

“Or if she is, she wouldn’t let him know it.”

“Frankly, I’m worried about her. I think the family resents the intrusion and they’re taking it out on Nina and the children.”

Pity for her friend welled up. She wished there was something she could do. “It’s a difficult transition. In time, perhaps it will all work out.”

“Perhaps.” But the tautness of his features said he wasn’t so sure.

“Will you be seeing her again?”

Jamison’s hard look softened. “I plan to stop by this evening. I won’t be able to stay very long, but at least I can check to see if she’s all right.”

“She’s a lovely girl,” Elissa said.

“She’s beautiful.” A note of reverence roughened his voice. “She’s intelligent and strong. I’ve never met a woman like her.”

Elissa smiled softly. “I’m glad she has you to look out for her. She’s lucky to have made such a friend.”

Jamison seemed a little embarrassed. “Yes, well … I only wish I could do something to help.” He glanced toward the door. “I’ve got to get going. I shouldn’t have stopped at all, but I was worried about you.”

“How goes the fighting?” Elissa asked.

Jamison shook his head. “Not good, I’m afraid. Perhaps you should pack some things, just in case we have to leave in a hurry.”

A little shiver ran through her. “All right.” He turned and started walking away and Elissa followed him out to the foyer. “Take care of yourself, Jamison.”

He smiled. “You may be certain I will.” He left her there, instructing the butler to lock the door. It was well after midnight when she heard his footfalls on the stairs. By the time she awakened in the morning, he was already up and gone.

*   *   *

Jamison rode through the melee of people fleeing the city, heading for the Krasnos apartment in Kurrentgasse. Smoke clogged his throat and a thick black-powder haze hung over the city. Screaming horses, the distant thunder of cannon, angry shouts, and hysterical weeping filled the heavy night air. Wagons overloaded with household possessions, furniture, carpets, boxes of goods and tools, all pressed together in the narrow cobbled streets, heading toward the Franzensbrucke leading over the flooding Danube out of Vienna.

As chaotic as the city had become, Jamison’s worry centered not on the bitter clash with Napoleon, but the war Nina Petralo fought with her distant cousin. It seemed to worsen with each passing day. Last night when he had stopped by, he had found her face to face with the stout, barrel-chested man, her slender legs splayed and her fists clenched as she stood between him and little Tibor, who had broken a crock of butter.

“Fetch my belt!” Ivar had shouted to his wife. “The boy needs a lesson in the value of goods. I’ll see he gets one he won’t soon forget!”

Nina shoved Tibor farther behind her back. “He didn’t do it on purpose.” Jamison could see the boy trembling. It was all he could do not to jerk the man off his feet and send a fist crashing into his face. He forced himself to hold his ground. He didn’t want to cause Nina any more trouble. She would have to live in her cousin’s house long after he was gone.

“I’ve a few coins left from our travels,” she said. “I will pay you for the butter.”

He grumbled something beneath his breath, clearly not happy that she had defied him. “See that you do,” he said. He spotted Jamison just then, standing in the doorway, and a tight smile curled his thick lips.

“Come in, Major. I am sorry you had to see that. But surely you agree children must be disciplined. My own are grown and married. They learned to obey their elders, and in time these children will, too.”

Jamison said nothing. He knew if he said one word, his temper would explode and he couldn’t afford to have that happen. “Miss Petralo?” he said instead. “I’d like a word with you if you don’t mind.”

She smiled at him, some of the tension easing from her slight yet sturdy frame. “Of course.” She glanced down at little Tibor. “Go find your sister. Get ready for bed and I will be there in a few minutes to tell you a story and tuck you in.”

Tibor had glanced shyly in Jamison’s direction, flashed him an uncertain smile, then turned and raced away.

Tonight, Jamison’s mind was on Nina once more. Ignoring the high-pitched scream of a cannonball soaring overhead, the bits of dust and plaster that rained down when the ball crashed into the side of a building down the block, he urged his horse a little faster toward his destination.

The Austrians were losing, he knew. To everyone’s surprise, the archduke had declined to bring up reinforcements. It seemed Charlie had decided to wait, to regroup his forces and make a stand somewhere north of the Danube. The archduke had suffered too many losses. He meant to win the next battle, even if it meant he must sacrifice his beloved Vienna.

Jamison reined up in front of a tall brick building in Kurrentgasse that housed the Krasnoses’ second-floor apartment, the place a little too cluttered for his taste and smelling of rancid sausage grease. At the top of the stairs, he could hear a man’s deep voice shouting from inside, and a hard knot twisted inside him.

Good Christ, don’t let it be Nina again. But his mouth had gone dry and his chest felt tight. His sharp, impatient rap on the door ended the shouting. He heard the sound of footfalls and Yana Krasnos pulled it open.

“Major St. Giles,” she whispered with a worried glance over her shoulder. She was a short, pudgy woman nearing forty, with dark, graying hair and a haunted look in her eyes.

Jamison followed her uncertain gaze through the door to the parlor, a lump of worry balling in his chest. Standing next to the empty hearth, Ivar Krasnos glared at Nina, his hairy hands balled into fists. She stood just a few feet away, facing him with defiance, a trace of blood on her lip and a purple bruise darkening her cheek.

Her eyes found his and a glaze of tears welled up. “Jamie…” she whispered, a deep rasp in her throat, her olive cheeks flushed with humiliation.

Jamison strode toward her, anger nearly choking him. When he reached her side, he pulled her against him and cradled her head on his shoulder. “Get your things,” he said softly, feeling her slender body tremble. “You and the children are coming with me.”

Ivar Krasnos swore a Hungarian curse. “The girl goes nowhere. She is family. She has no one else but us and you will not take her.”

“She has me. If you wanted her to stay, you shouldn’t have beat her.”

“She interferes with the children. They must learn to obey, just as she will learn.”

Jamison didn’t answer. Turning Nina toward the door, he gave her a gentle push in that direction. “Do as I say. Trust me, Nina. Everything is going to be all right.”

She hesitated only a moment, then walked out of the parlor in search of Vada and Tibor.

“The city is about to fall,” Jamison said harshly. “If you wish to leave, I’ll see you get safely out of Vienna. After that, you’ll be on your own.”

His wife looked hopeful, but Ivar merely grunted. “What does it matter who governs the country? My life will not change.” He spat into the ashes of the hearth. “Take the girl and good riddance.”

Jamison turned and found Nina waiting in the hall, her face still pale, her lip beginning to swell. A fresh wave of anger tore through him.

“We’re leaving the city,” he told her. “You and the children can ride my horse as far as the town house. There’s a wagon in the stable. We can take it on from there.”

She rested a hand on his arm, her touch gentle, yet as always he sensed her strength. “You are certain of this, Jamie?”

He looked at her, saw the trust and gratitude in her lovely dark eyes, and his heart tightened painfully inside him. “More certain by the minute. Are you ready?”

A smile broke over her face, its radiance hiding the darkening bruise. “I have never been more ready in my life.”

Jamison led his small brood out of the apartment, wondering at the step he had just taken. Nina and the children were his responsibility now. What happened to them would rest squarely on his shoulders. The thought should have been frightening. Instead he felt only a sense of relief that they were going with him.