An Untrustworthy Army by Lynn Bryant

Author:Lynn Bryant [Bryant, Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wynchlands Publishing
Published: 2018-11-30T05:00:00+00:00

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Lord Wellington remained in Madrid for three weeks, staying in the palace which had been recently vacated by Joseph Bonaparte, with the rest of headquarters billets close by. Wellington was frantically seeking intelligence about the movement of the various French armies as he made plans for his next move and supervised, in surprising detail, the re-equipping of his battered forces.

Wellington was taking the opportunity to get to know the Spanish generals and guerrilla commandants, and hosted enormous dinners on a regular basis, along with his staff and officers from some of the other regiments in rotation. He also gave several formal balls to the delight of the officers of the third brigade, who unhesitatingly took the opportunity to dance and flirt with the local beauties. The grandees of Madrid were keen to reciprocate this hospitality and Wellington's officers found themselves with a choice of several receptions, dinners and dances every evening.The wealthier people of the city had weathered the French occupation well enough and many of the shops and merchant houses seemed surprisingly prosperous although condition of the poorer people horrified Anne.

The markets seemed to have no shortage of fresh food and taverns and inns were open and welcoming although prices were very high, with no concessions given to the heroes of Wellington's army and both officers and men of Paul's brigade mostly chose to eat and drink in the mess unless they were invited to dinner.

Discipline was relaxed for a few weeks and the men were allowed to leave their camp or billet, with a pass, to sample the delights of the city. Brothels were doing a roaring trade and Dr Oliver Daniels had informed Anne gloomily that he was expecting an upsurge of men suffering from signs of the pox. He had made the remark at dinner, and it had inadvertently fallen into a stunned silence, leaving Daniels stammering his apologies and Anne with tears of laughter in her eyes.

When she was not at the hospital or busy with administrative work, Anne found herself in considerable demand as an unofficial headquarters hostess, as Wellington entertained the local Spanish dignitaries and officers. Anne accompanied Wellington's party to the theatre one evening, sitting beside him in his box although Paul had politely declined the invitation. Despite his complaints Anne knew that her husband enjoyed seeing her act as Wellington's hostess. She had begun to take Juana Smith out with her a good deal. Captain Smith's wife was good company, an odd combination of sharp wits and childlike enthusiasm.

Their billets in the Marina Palace afforded a level of luxury which Anne had not known for many years. Throughout Portugal and then Spain she had slept in every kind of accommodation including convents and abbeys, the university buildings in Salamanca, farmhouses and cottages and often in barns, sheds and tents if nothing else was available. Life in the army had given Anne the ability to adapt quickly to almost any surroundings and her cheerful acceptance of difficult conditions set the tone for

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