hour.
“Is all well back at home?” I asked him. He handed me a letter.
“This is from your lady,” he said. “She will tell you, I think, that the countryside is near lawless. Between roving bands from Lord Goring’s army and what now with Parliament’s forces coming again into the West, we have had our hands full. We have now twice been visited by Goring’s men. We have bought them off with some silver and provisions… and by telling them whose house they’re in. It has sufficed up to now. God willing, they won’t be back.”
It sickened me to hear his tale. Our own troops so drunken and disordered that they could do little against the enemy that threatened my lands. They were no better now than those I fought. It was the same in the German kingdoms all those years ago. Reason and charity had fled from there as well. “Goring is always drunk and never cares to know what his men are up to,” I told him. “Prince Rupert should have had him lashed a long time ago.”
“My lady is sorely worried by the severity of the charges laid against you. She feels that her situation has become... delicate. She is concerned about how she and the children will fend if you are... found guilty, sir.”
“My dear lady overflows with wifely concern for her husband. And my little ones? How do they fare amid all this?”
Shelby managed to smile a little but his eyes strayed and he did not meet my gaze. “The boy wishes to join you and the army. Anne frets some, but is most times happy and at play. Do not worry on that account, sir.”
I tapped the unopened letter in my hand. “There is more to it, Thomas. She has taken counsel with my brother William, has she not?”
Shelby stuttered as he tried to compose his reply. “She thinks only of the welfare of the family... of the future... of your welfare.”
“He is the Member of the House for Plymouth! A scheming usurping parliament man who has thrown us over and invited this war. I cannot believe she thinks so low of me to call for his assistance and make a mockery of me.”
Shelby shook his head even as I spoke. “He is knowledgeable of the Law, sir. And he has many friends at Temple Bar. You are in grave need of good counsel, Colonel.”
“I can defend myself well enough.”
“With respect, sir, you cannot.”
“Then what does she hope to gain by seeking aid from his quarter? Tell me that.”
The old man’s watery grey eyes blinked rapidly. “I believe that Sir William intends to see you himself. Within the week.”
Of all the people in the world to enlist the help of, I would rather take the hand of an honest enemy – Fairfax or Cromwell – than deal with my own good brother.
B Y A PRIL ’ S BLOOM , we found ourselves pressed hard. General Tilly, awoken like some sleeping bear by our stings, had finally stirred himself to battle. And we in the Danish army, having come no nearer to finding allies, slowly drifted northwards again.
Our company’s meagre thievings over the course of that campaign were not the fruits of well-laid plans but merely the incidental benefits of the situation at hand. Now a new situation and potential path to profit showed itself.
Captain Tischler had offered the services of his troop to Colonel Nells as couriers, and he somehow contrived to find us some messages to carry to the Danish garrison at Münden. This little town was our farthest conquest south and we had thrown some 800 musketeers into it only a few weeks before. Its commander was a deserter from the Imperial army and like most good converts more committed to the Cause than even the King.
We rode to the town along the north bank of the Werra and all around us rose up the steep green hills of that land, thick with stout beech and oak. Here and there one could spy darker shades of green across this giant’s coverlet: great stands of evergreens growing tall, cheek by jowl, and so thick that a man would think it night even though it was midday.
I was riding next to
“Is all well back at home?” I asked him. He handed me a letter.
“This is from your lady,” he said. “She will tell you, I think, that the countryside is near lawless. Between roving bands from Lord Goring’s army and what now with Parliament’s forces coming again into the West, we have had our hands full. We have now twice been visited by Goring’s men. We have bought them off with some silver and provisions… and by telling them whose house they’re in. It has sufficed up to now. God willing, they won’t be back.”
It sickened me to hear his tale. Our own troops so drunken and disordered that they could do little against the enemy that threatened my lands. They were no better now than those I fought. It was the same in the German kingdoms all those years ago. Reason and charity had fled from there as well. “Goring is always drunk and never cares to know what his men are up to,” I told him. “Prince Rupert should have had him lashed a long time ago.”
“My lady is sorely worried by the severity of the charges laid against you. She feels that her situation has become... delicate. She is concerned about how she and the children will fend if you are... found guilty, sir.”
“My dear lady overflows with wifely concern for her husband. And my little ones? How do they fare amid all this?”
Shelby managed to smile a little but his eyes strayed and he did not meet my gaze. “The boy wishes to join you and the army. Anne frets some, but is most times happy and at play. Do not worry on that account, sir.”
I tapped the unopened letter in my hand. “There is more to it, Thomas. She has taken counsel with my brother William, has she not?”
Shelby stuttered as he tried to compose his reply. “She thinks only of the welfare of the family... of the future... of your welfare.”
“He is the Member of the House for Plymouth! A scheming usurping parliament man who has thrown us over and invited this war. I cannot believe she thinks so low of me to call for his assistance and make a mockery of me.”
Shelby shook his head even as I spoke. “He is knowledgeable of the Law, sir. And he has many friends at Temple Bar. You are in grave need of good counsel, Colonel.”
“I can defend myself well enough.”
“With respect, sir, you cannot.”
“Then what does she hope to gain by seeking aid from his quarter? Tell me that.”
The old man’s watery grey eyes blinked rapidly. “I believe that Sir William intends to see you himself. Within the week.”
Of all the people in the world to enlist the help of, I would rather take the hand of an honest enemy – Fairfax or Cromwell – than deal with my own good brother.
B Y A PRIL ’ S BLOOM , we found ourselves pressed hard. General Tilly, awoken like some sleeping bear by our stings, had finally stirred himself to battle. And we in the Danish army, having come no nearer to finding allies, slowly drifted northwards again.
Our company’s meagre thievings over the course of that campaign were not the fruits of well-laid plans but merely the incidental benefits of the situation at hand. Now a new situation and potential path to profit showed itself.
Captain Tischler had offered the services of his troop to Colonel Nells as couriers, and he somehow contrived to find us some messages to carry to the Danish garrison at Münden. This little town was our farthest conquest south and we had thrown some 800 musketeers into it only a few weeks before. Its commander was a deserter from the Imperial army and like most good converts more committed to the Cause than even the King.
We rode to the town along the north bank of the Werra and all around us rose up the steep green hills of that land, thick with stout beech and oak. Here and there one could spy darker shades of green across this giant’s coverlet: great stands of evergreens growing tall, cheek by jowl, and so thick that a man would think it night even though it was midday.
I was riding next to
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