The Duke's Alliance: A Soldier's Bride(30)

Smith was no longer with them, he assumed he had gone to scout the area as they must be within a few miles of their destination. Jenkins dished up a tasty stew and this was washed down by a skin of rough red wine for the gentlemen and coffee for Sofia.

They disappeared in turn to do what was necessary and then the campsite settled down for the night. She didn't object to their sleeping arrangements, in fact seemed pleased she was to share his blanket.

As soon as they were comfortable he turned her to face him and began to kiss her. At first she responded but then stiffened in his arms. 'No, not here. There will be nothing of this sort between us until we are sleeping in the privacy of our own bedchamber wherever that might be.'

'I wasn't intending to do more than kiss you, my love, but I shall respect your wishes. I meant to ask you, did you bring your lovely wedding gown or has that been abandoned?'

She sighed and relaxed into his embrace. 'I have it safely in one of my saddle bags along with two other gowns and the necessary underpinnings. I'm hoping I shall have the opportunity to wear it again soon as it is the most beautiful gown I have ever owned.'

He was disappointed she hadn't said she wished to keep it because it was the one she had got married in, but at least she had brought it with her. He had been thinking about her wish to see a Spanish city. Salamanca was on their route to Oporto and this had been freed from the French vermin after a vicious battle which had taken place just before he had set out on his last mission.

They would stay there for a week or two so they could replenish their wardrobes and hopefully mix with the highest echelons of Spanish society. The city would still be suffering from having been occupied and then violently liberated, but people were resilient and hopefully he would be able to show her the stunning architecture and cathedral. He thought they had been undamaged during the fight.

It would all depend on his brother's finances. He had no money of his own as he had handed it all to the don. He slept lightly, one ear open for trouble and heard Smith returning in the middle of the night. He carefully rolled sideways and then tucked Sofia back inside the rugs before getting to his feet.

Beau woke as he stepped over him and without being asked he too wriggled out of his cocoon of blankets and came with him to see what news Smith had brought.

Jenkins had remained alert and on guard and this gave him pause. He was officially still a soldier and should have taken his turn and not been sleeping like a civilian.

'Have we found them?'

'Yes, my lord, we have. There are no sentries outside the village but I saw movement at three of the windows in the houses. They have men guarding the approach from the road. It'll be impossible to attack from that direction.'

'My intention is not to attack at all if we can avoid it, but to somehow get into the place without being detected, find my man and leave.'

'Don't reckon that's possible, sir, only a mountain goat could get in from any other direction.'

'Were you able to count the horses and work out how many of them there are?' Beau asked.

'Couldn't get close enough, but it ain't a big place, no more than a huddle of stone houses. Maybe only a dozen or so – certainly no more.'

'I can get you in if you will allow me to.' Sofia had woken and spoke quietly from behind them. He was about to tell her that she was not going to be involved, when he thought again. She had spent the best part of two years roaming the hills with the partisans and might well know something they didn't.

'Go ahead, sweetheart, what do you suggest?'

'I have something similar to a riding habit that I can put on over these breeches. If I take Marron, he's a faster horse than mine, I can gallop up screaming that I am being pursued by brigands. I shall speak in Spanish, naturally, and they will let me in, not because they wish to help me but because they will be short of women of any sort.'

'Why would you be wandering around legitimately in this remote part of the hills? They might shoot you on sight as a partisan.'

'I haven't thought that far, I'm sure between us we can come up with a credible story. We can't be more than an hour from the main route that leads from one village to the next. There are several small towns and villages dotted about, I could easily have come from one of those.'

'I cannot allow you to put yourself at such risk for a man you've not even met,' Perry said firmly.

'O'Reilly knows you better than I do, has saved your life more than once so you told me. If Smith and Jenkins position themselves carefully in the hills I'm sure they can protect me if things go badly.'

Beau had been listening to this with interest. 'I applaud your courage, Sofia, but even if you do get in, how is that going to help us as we would now have two hostages instead of one to rescue?'

'If this place is as small as Smith says it is, it would not take me long to locate the six prisoners. If I can speak to one of them and tell them that there's a rescue party outside the village, then I'm sure they will make every effort to escape.'

Perry had heard quite enough of this nonsense. It was pointless to argue as his headstrong young wife would continue to insist she was quite capable of entering the enemy camp and then exiting unharmed along with the six other prisoners.

'We shall discuss this further in the morning. Smith and Jenkins need to sleep, they have not done so yet. I shall stand guard for the next three hours and then you can relieve me, brother.'