5 A Very Murdering Battle by Edward Marston

Author:Edward Marston [Marston, Edward]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780749040222
Publisher: Allison & Busby
Published: 2011-11-28T05:00:00+00:00

Alone in the Janssen house, Nicholaes Geel was glad of Daniel’s departure. As long as he and Sergeant Welbeck had been there, Amalia was wholly preoccupied. She hardly noticed Geel and that pained him. Adding salt to the wound was the fact that Aelbert Pienaar was now being treated like a hero because of the way he’d assisted in the recovery of the tapestry. Amalia never passed the older man without giving him a word of praise. That rankled with Geel. But he continued to work sedulously and even joined in the general adulation of Pienaar. Gradually, he came to Amalia’s attention again and they began to have snatched conversations. While they meant nothing to her, they were manna to the lovelorn weaver. They kept hope alive. There was always the possibility – distant as it might be – that Daniel would come to grief on the field of battle or perish while spying behind enemy lines. Amalia would be utterly distraught, presenting him with the opportunity of being a sympathetic friend who would slowly edge his way into her affections.

When he arrived for work that morning, he had a chance meeting with her in the hall. Though they merely exchanged comments about the improvement in the weather, it was a significant conversation to him. Trying to prolong it, he was thwarted by the arrival of the mail. Beatrix was on hand to take it from the courier and to identify the sender of one letter.

‘It’s from Captain Rawson,’ she said, excitedly.

Amalia was thrilled. ‘Let me have it,’ she cried, taking it from her.

‘When is he coming back to Amsterdam?’

‘I haven’t even opened it yet, Beatrix.’

Geel looked on with despair seeping into his soul. Amalia had forgotten him.

‘Daniel’s been to see Blenheim,’ declared Amalia, reading the missive. ‘He thinks it will be sumptuous. That’s what we felt. We’d never seen anything so opulent.’

‘Did he meet Her Grace, the Duchess?’

‘There’s no mention of her.’ She turned to the second page. ‘Daniel has been to Somerset and visited his old farm. It brought back lots of memories for him.’

Amalia fell silent as she read two paragraphs written solely for her eyes. Geel winced as he saw how moved she was. He longed to be able to write something that would have the same effect on her but it was beyond him. He was no gallant soldier like Daniel. All that he could do was to weave tapestries. Yet it was a man with the same occupation who’d won the heart of Amalia’s mother and he’d heard many times from Janssen that his daughter had inherited her beauty from her mother. It was wrong to have such low self-esteem. Geel had qualities that could impress a woman but, unfortunately, Amalia wouldn’t spare them a glance while Daniel still lived.

‘Go on,’ encouraged Beatrix. ‘What else does Captain Rawson say?’

‘He sends you his warmest regards.’

The servant bubbled with joy. ‘How kind of him to remember me!’ she said. ‘Is Sergeant Welbeck with him?’

‘No, Beatrix, he went back to winter quarters.

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