Fortune's Bride Part 17

To add to the complications, the army was sullen and recalcitrant. They wanted, and would take orders only from, their "old general", who had led them to victory. How far this spirit of rebellion against having their glory s.n.a.t.c.hed from them would have gone was never tested, fortunately. In the afternoon of August 22, General Kellerman, who had led the French grenadiers who had fought so stubbornly on the outskirts of Vimeiro, arrived bearing a flag of truce. He had come to negotiate a total French withdrawal from Portugal.

Again Esmeralda presided over a tea table around which furious arguments raged. The younger and less experienced ADCs maintained that Sir Arthur should enter a formal protest and refuse to have anything to do with the negotiations. Robert and Colin Campbell, although not happy with the outcome because they knew General Wellesley's original plans would have done Bonaparte much more harm, argued that a convention of withdrawal was now the lesser of the evils they faced.

"For, you know," Robert said to Esmeralda in the quiet of their bedchamber after the futile meeting was over, "we have already lost our chance to cut Junot off from a safe retreat to Lisbon, and it is likely that with these bunglers in charge, any action would be delayed so long that reinforcements could be brought in from France. In any case, if we do not agree to a withdrawal, the war would be greatly protracted, which would mean heavy casualties, probably the bombardment and destruction of Lisbon and a number of other Portuguese cities, and possibly the complete ruin of Portugal."

"It is too heavy a price to pay," Esmeralda agreed. "It is very fortunate that Sir Arthur has recognized the facts, since the armistice must surely go against the grain for him."

"He hasn't said much. He never does, but he's a very longsighted man." Robert's eyes brightened, and his lips started to curve a little. "There'll be plenty of fighting before we finally whip Boney."

There was a slight pause while Esmeralda swallowed the fear these words engendered in her and reminded herself of the conclusions she had reached. Robert was going to find a war to fight in somewhere all of his life, and if she showed the fear she felt, he would simply leave her behind. And that brought to mind a more immediate problem. Now with armistice in the wind, would they return to England?

"Has Sir Arthur given any indication of what he intends to do once the negotiations are over?" Esmeralda asked.

"Not to any of us," Robert replied, smiling wryly. "All of us have been after him, but he's tight as a clam, as he should be." Then the wry twist left his lips, and he wound a finger into one of Esmeralda's curls. "One thing's sure. We'll be leaving here and moving into Lisbon very soon. You'll like that. There'll be lots of parties. Sir Arthur loves b.a.l.l.s. Now you'll have to get some evening dresses and I'll have to see about getting you some trinkets to wear with them."

Esmeralda touched the hand playing with her curls. "And will you enjoy it, too?"

"Enormously," Robert said, "if you will save some dances for me."

Robert's prediction was correct, but he and Esmeralda remained in Portugal only because of Sir Arthur's very real patriotism, which outweighed the chagrin, fury, and disgust he felt at the way the convention with the French was negotiated and the way Dalrymple allowed Junot to interpret the provisions in it. By the end of August, it was clear that Sir Arthur wanted no more to do with the present management of the campaign in Portugal and that he intended to return to England as soon as he received permission to do so.

Nevertheless, he was troubled about abandoning the army and the people of Portugal to almost certain disaster in the hands of Dalrymple and Burrard.

Robert first became aware that Sir Arthur had been giving serious thought to how the situation might be amended when he was summoned to the room Sir Arthur was using as an office early on September 17, the day before they were to leave for England. He waved Robert to a seat and asked him if he remembered correctly that Robert's initial appointment in the army had been to Sir John Moore's staff.

"Yes, sir, it was."

"And you parted with him on...ah...good terms?"

"Most excellent terms, Sir Arthur," Robert replied, somewhat puzzled. "I only left him because the Peace of Amiens had been signed and Sir John was going on inactive service, which I did not wish to do." Then he grinned. "I was concerned, also, that my family would endeavor to persuade me to leave the army altogether since 'the war was over'. It seemed to me expedient to put some distance between them and myself, and I had heard of your brilliant campaigns in India. Well, India was a good distance."

Wellesley loosed his whooping laugh. "I hope your family is now resigned to your military ambitions?"

"Pretty well, sir. You remember, I suppose, that Fa insisted that I go inactive while my brother Perce was with the Russian army and Fred was at sea, but that was only reasonable. There's Moreton to consider. But he didn't kick up a fuss when I said I wanted to join your staff again after Perce came home."

"Very good," Sir Arthur approved. "Now, are you eager to get home, or would you consider changing your plans on very short notice, transferring to Sir John's staff and remaining in Portugal?"

Robert blinked. Personal staff was a personal matter, although most generals were saddled with an a.s.sortment of army-mad and ne'er-do-well younger sons of influential people. Actually Robert had thought of applying to Sir John again, but not until he was sure that Sir Arthur was accepting inactive status and returning to his post as chief secretary for Ireland rather than obtaining another military command elsewhere. There was, after all, the question of a decent loyalty and not giving the appearance of abandoning a "sinking s.h.i.+p", for there were already signs that England was furious about the so-called Convention of Cintra, which had been signed on August 31. Many members of Parliament and most of the public were demanding that those who had signed so pernicious a doc.u.ment be called to account.

Sir Arthur misunderstood Robert's hesitation, which was owing exclusively to surprise, and frowned. "I suppose it is inconvenient. You must be all packed to leave."

"Oh, no, it isn't the inconvenience, sir. I just-"

"Good Lord!" Wellesley exclaimed. "You must want to take your wife home. I had forgotten for the moment about Mrs. Moreton's situation. Hmmm."

"No, it's nothing to do with Merry," Robert a.s.sured him. "I was just surprised. I didn't know that you and Sir John were in communication."

"We aren't," Sir Arthur said, "but I have just written to him, and I would like you-since you know him-to deliver the letter and urge him to meet with me, as I have requested, sometime today at his convenience. I understand that he has had a disagreement with Lord Castlereagh." Sir Arthur's lips twisted wryly. "He was dissatisfied with the expedition to Sweden on which he was sent and also did not like being placed as third in command to Sir Hew and Sir Harry."

Robert choked.

Sir Arthur eyed him frostily but continued without comment, "The good of the nation and the successful prosecution of the war against Bonaparte are far more important than Sir John's personal feelings-or mine. Or, for that matter, Mrs. Moreton's convenience. If you would like, I will escort her to England myself and see that her affairs are placed in proper and competent hands."

It was a very generous offer. Sir Arthur must know he would be put to a great deal of trouble. Nor was there any reason for it beyond genuine kindness. He could simply have ordered Robert to ask for the transfer and ignored any personal problems his orders caused. Robert flushed.

"That's very good of you, sir, but I-I don't know what Merry will want to do," he said. "It's...there's no longer any question of annulment."

Sir Arthur raised his brows. "Well then, it is simpler. I need only place Mrs. Moreton under the protection of your family."

Poor Robert flushed even darker, but he only repeated that he must discuss the matter with his wife and then said desperately, "I also think it would be best to settle matters with Sir John."

"Very well, Moreton. It is your affair, of course, but keep in mind that I am willing to help in any way I can."

Robert thanked him again and, having obtained the direction of Sir John's quarters, took his leave. But his mind would not stay fixed on what to say to Sir John. The truth was that Robert did not want to put Sir Arthur's proposition to Merry. He felt that she would jump at the chance. With Sir Arthur's support, she could establish herself, and she was all packed and ready to go. He would miss her d.a.m.nably.

Surprisingly, Robert's loins tightened, as if he had been too long without a woman, but that wasn't the case at all. He had made love to Merry only a few hours before. They made love almost every night, and sometimes even twice. It was crazy. Before he had met her, a few times a month was enough when he was on campaign, but he seemed to want Merry all the time. Just crazy. She wasn't even beautiful. She was plain... Or was she?

As Robert mounted his horse and rode off, he was trying to visualize Merry's face, but there seemed to be many images superimposed. That was odd, but odder still was the fact that he responded just as strongly when he remembered her as plain as dishwater as when he imagined a dramatically beautiful face, pale and large eyed, surrounded by ma.s.ses of gleaming dark hair, a face he knew could not be real. It didn't seem to matter how she looked. He just wanted her.

Well, he didn't have to tell her about Sir Arthur's offer. He realized that Sir Arthur must have some notion he intended to present to Sir John that would place the command of the Portuguese campaign in Sir John's hands, but Robert told himself that the Horse Guards would not be easy to circ.u.mvent. If those wooden soldiers had their way and Dalrymple remained in charge, there probably wouldn't be any more action. Then there wouldn't be any danger or hards.h.i.+p for Merry to endure. Would it be so wrong in that case to explain the situation and not tell her that Sir Arthur had offered to escort her to England?

Robert had found no answer that would satisfy him when he dismounted, but he was greeted with considerable enthusiasm by such old friends as Major John Colborne, now Sir John's military secretary, and Colonel Thomas Graham of Balgowan, who teased him about arriving so early in hopes of getting a good breakfast to make up for the bad dinner at Sir Arthur's table the previous evening. Robert laughed and shook his head, happy to push the problem of Merry out of his mind. It was not the first time he had seen his old friends, of course. He had paid a courtesy call soon after Sir John arrived in the Lisbon area, but when he said he was on business, he was escorted without delay, although with looks of considerable curiosity, into Sir John's chamber.

Moore smiled at him, but with a question in his eyes, and asked in what way he could be of service. Robert handed over the letter and repeated Sir Arthur's hope that he and Sir John could meet. Moore stared at Robert for a long moment without answering, then broke the seal and began to read Sir Arthur's letter. The rather austere expression that had given his handsome features the look of a fine carving relaxed as he read, and when he looked up, his warm and enchanting smile a.s.sured Robert of the success of the first part of his mission.

"I would be honored to meet Sir Arthur, anywhere and at any time," he said. "He writes most excellent good sense, and he is a brilliant officer."

"That he is, Sir John," Robert agreed, "and thoughtful of the men and kindhearted, too. Don't be put off by his manner," he added. "He has an air of great reserve, but he is a good and steady friend."

Robert would never have volunteered that kind of personal comment in speaking to Sir Arthur, who always wished to see and judge for himself. But Sir John's disposition was very different. He was of open and friendly temper, though he could be cold and distant enough to those he did not like, and he valued a free proffering of well-meant information from those he trusted.

He nodded, smiling, and said, "So I have heard, and I have also heard he has a reputation for keeping his own counsel, but his letter seems very open and honest."

"I would not say that he is, in general, open," Robert said carefully, "but what he says is always honest, and in this case I am sure he believes openness to be necessary. What he said to me was that the good of the nation and the successful prosecution of the war against Bonaparte were far more important than your personal feelings or his."

Moore looked rather startled, but after a brief pause nodded. "I agree most heartily."

"What is more," Robert continued, "he desires me to ask for a transfer to your staff. I know a good deal about the difficulties of working with the Portuguese, I know the Bishop of Oporto personally, and I can speak the language moderately well."

Since the Bishop of Oporto was now a member of the ruling junta of Portugal, Robert's acquaintance with him might be of considerable value.

"Really," Sir John remarked thoughtfully. "How kind of Sir Arthur. Well, I will be delighted to have you back, so you may consider that settled. Now there is only the question of where and when to meet. I a.s.sume Sir Arthur would not like me to come to him, nor would he wish to come here and perhaps give the impression of...er...collusion."

Robert smiled broadly. He had not wanted to suggest such a thing himself but it had been in his mind. There could be little doubt that Dalrymple had his knife out for Sir Arthur and very likely for Moore, too, since Moore was a pa.s.sionate advocate of new methods, both for the training and disciplining of soldiers and of battle tactics.

"There is a palace, a fascinating little gem of a palace actually, just outside of Lisbon at Queluz," Sir John went on. "Do you know it?"

"No. But the local people will know, and I speak the language."

"Yes. Well, I have been wanting a closer look at the place. I'll ride out as soon as I clean up a few papers here and will stay until...oh, three of the clock or so."

"Very good, sir," Robert said. "I'm sure that will suit Sir Arthur very well, but if it should not, I'll be back before you leave."

In a sense Robert was delighted with the way things were going. If he thought Wellesley a shade more brilliant in action than Moore, it was only a shade, and Sir John was far easier to work for. Not to mention the fact that he would finally get something decent to eat and drink at mess for a change. But best of all, he would remain in Portugal, where there was bound to be action even if Dalrymple did hold command for a while. Boney wasn't going to take having his army thrown out without a fight.

But that thought made nonsense of Robert's earlier rationalizations that there would be no danger and hards.h.i.+p for Merry if she remained in Portugal. Thus, it was wrong not to tell her about Sir Arthur's offer. Well, it would have to wait until he had delivered Sir John's message, Robert thought. Duty came first. As soon as he had told Sir Arthur the gist of his conversation with Sir John, he would go home and speak to Merry. But Sir Arthur invited him to be present at his meeting with Moore, and although that took only a few hours, Robert somehow found himself too busy all day long to get back to the elegant apartment he had rented until very late indeed.

In fact, Esmeralda was already in bed and asleep. She had had a very exhausting day finis.h.i.+ng the packing and worrying about her reception by Robert's parents. A good reception would probably mean that Robert would leave her behind on his next campaign. A bad one would hurt him. Good or bad, Esmeralda did not like the prospects and, what was worse, it no longer seemed so simple to tell Robert that she had over half a million pounds. She had suddenly realized that it might seem to Robert that she had concealed her wealth for fear he might be greedy or dishonest.

The truth was that most of the time she had simply forgotten about the money. But he would never believe that. No one would ever believe one could forget half a million pounds. The thing was that Esmeralda had lived with that knowledge most of her life but had been forbidden to speak of it, and the money had been out of her reach. Silence on the subject had become second nature to Esmeralda. Besides, the things money could buy were not at all as interesting as the things that had been happening to her lately.

In the beginning, Esmeralda had shuddered at the thought that Robert might pretend devotion for the sake of her wealth. That fear had long pa.s.sed, for she knew Robert now and could not believe money had such influence over him. It was far more likely that he would be indifferent to the money but very angry about her secrecy. Perhaps she could pretend that she had not known how much money there was? Only that would get her into still deeper trouble if Robert ever discovered that she had written most of the letters to the bankers. Esmeralda had finally fallen asleep without making any decision.

When he entered the apartment and realized Esmeralda was asleep, Robert had thought, with relief, that it would be unkind to wake her and tell her of Sir Arthur's offer. In the back of his mind was the notion that she might decide it was not worth the trouble to separate their belongings and repack if she had to hurry.

As always when she went to bed before Robert-for he had night duty sometimes-Esmeralda had left a lamp burning low. She had turned into the light while she slept, and with her bright, knowing eyes closed, her tumbled hair and stubby, indeterminate nose gave her face the unformed look of a little girl.

Robert's conscience stabbed him painfully. He remembered how she had gone to help the wounded during the battle of Vimeiro and how she had exhausted herself, and how sickened she had been by the unburied dead. She had had nightmares for a few nights afterward, waking and clutching at him. And Robert knew Vimeiro had not been a great or desperate battle. How could he think of inflicting more horrors of war on her? Furious with himself for delaying, Robert crossed to the bed and shook Esmeralda by the shoulder.

"Merry. Merry, wake up."

Esmeralda started upright, her eyes wide and terrified. He had found out, she thought, mixing her worries and dreams into reality.

"Merry, I'm not going back to England," Robert said.

"What?" she whispered, still half asleep and thus half-convinced that he was angry because she had concealed her wealth and was punis.h.i.+ng her by sending her away. "What do you mean?"

"It's nothing to do with you," he a.s.sured her, his heart sinking at what he believed to be her disappointment. "Sir Arthur has offered to escort you and to present you to my parents. I have transferred to Sir John Moore's staff."

"No!" Esmeralda cried, waking up and realizing this was no dream argument about money. "No! Don't send me to England alone, Robert. Everyone will hate me. They'll..."

"Don't be ridiculous," Robert said sharply, fighting the impulse to take advantage of her silly fears and keep her with him. "My parents aren't monsters, and it was not a matter left to my choice. Sir Arthur desired that I remain with Sir John because I know the language and might be of a.s.sistance to him in dealing with the Portuguese."

"But the war is over," Esmeralda pleaded. "l will be safe here. Please. I don't want to face your family alone."

"The war isn't over!" Robert exclaimed, growing more insistent because he was ashamed of his desire to grasp at any excuse to let her stay. "Don't talk like a silly goose. Do you think Boney is going to sit back and accept Junot's failure? We will be moving into Spain soon. You will be much safer with my mother and father in England, and if for some reason you cannot agree-although I cannot imagine that will be true-or if the life in Cornwall is too quiet, you can go to my brother and sister-in-law, Perce and Sabrina. They are young and very active socially."

"But I like Lisbon," Esmeralda cried, sobbing, "and it will soon be cold in England. And you told me that your brother is newly married. How can you think they would like to have me cluttering up their house?"

They didn't have a house, Robert thought, remembering that they were only taking over part of a floor in the Stour mansion. It might be inconvenient for Perce and Sabrina to house Merry. Worse yet, they wouldn't be in London in September, and it would be very dull for her in Cornwall since she didn't shoot or hunt or fish.

"Don't cry," he said, seating himself on the bed and taking her into his arms.

"I don't want to go to England alone," Esmeralda whispered, clinging to him. "I'm not afraid of staying, even if the war begins again. I like being with the army. Robert...please."

Her wisp of a nightgown had slipped off one shoulder, exposing most of one softly rounded breast. Her lovely eyes were magnified by unshed tears. At the moment to Robert she looked as beautiful as the most delectable of his images. Heat flashed across his groin and down his thighs, combining with a feeling of sensitivity and fullness that demanded a familiar but ever-new and ever-enthralling satisfaction.

"I don't know," Robert said uncertainly, his eyes straying from Esmeralda's face down her body.

"There will be many s.h.i.+ps going to England now," Esmeralda murmured softly, running a finger gently over the curves of Robert's ear.

She had noticed the movement of his eyes and seen the small changes in expression-a sleepy lowering of the lids, a fulling of the perfect lips-that betrayed the onset of pa.s.sion in him. Her lips caressed his cheek, nibbled at his chin. Robert's hand rose, tentatively stroked her shoulder, then slid down toward her breast, pus.h.i.+ng her nightgown still lower. Esmeralda slid the arm that had been propping her erect around her husband's waist and leaned against him for support. She kissed his neck just under the ear, above his high collar. Robert stirred uneasily.

"But Sir Arthur is leaving tomorrow morning," he muttered, guilt giving him one last prod.

"I am sure Sir Arthur would honor his offer to help me at any time," Esmeralda whispered against Robert's mouth.

Robert bent his head to facilitate the meeting of their lips. "I am sure it is wrong for you to stay," he sighed when the kiss was over, but the words were meaningless, a phrase left over from an idea he had forgotten. Even as he spoke, one hand caressed Esmeralda while the other undid the b.u.t.tons on his pantaloons.

Briefly the words hurt Esmeralda, and she wondered whether her long struggle to bind Robert was worthwhile. It seemed, from his reluctance to let her stay, that even his s.e.xual desire for her was not strong enough to make her necessary to him. But he had his boots off by then, and her body was indifferent to the doubts in her mind, for her hands had unb.u.t.toned his coat and s.h.i.+rt. He stood to push off his pants. Esmeralda forgot hurt and doubts. She leaned forward to embrace his hips, to run her lips and tongue over the male beauty displayed.

Robert groaned softly, then bent so that he could reach around her arms to caress her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Esmeralda shuddered and after a moment uttered a sound deep in her throat. Sliding his hands up to her arms, Robert lifted her so that she could get her legs forward and around him. They fell back together, half on, half off the bed, using the rubbing of their bodies as they wriggled to a safer position and as Robert lodged himself securely as a further stimulus to their excitement.

Neither knew at that moment whether this would be the last time they were together for the question of Esmeralda's departure had not really been settled, and that, too, added height and depth to their pa.s.sion. Both were unusually aware of each other so that every increase of feeling in one sparked an immediate reaction in the other, and Esmeralda's first cry of bursting pleasure was echoed by Robert's deep groan as his own culmination came.

Chapter Twenty-Four.

Of course, the question of Esmeralda's departure had been settled. Robert woke barely in time to throw on clothing and rush down to the dock to see Sir Arthur off. It would have been impossible to send Esmeralda to England with nothing but the gown she had prepared for boarding the s.h.i.+p and equally impossible to send all his clothing to England with her. In addition, Robert told himself, it would be ridiculous to annoy the s.h.i.+p's captain and Sir Arthur by asking them to wait just to exhaust Merry with hurried repacking when there was no emergency. It was true the war was not over, but as Merry had pointed out, there would be no action for several weeks. During that time, many s.h.i.+ps would come and go from England, carrying couriers and supplies and probably more men. Merry could leave on any s.h.i.+p.

When he returned from the dock, to ease his conscience Robert repeated his rationalizations to Esmeralda. She heard him out in silence and then merely repeated in essence-although with far less emotion-what she had said the preceding night. It was not, she a.s.sured Robert, enlarging on her theme, that she believed his parents to be monsters, however, to have thrust upon them a daughter-in-law of whom they had never heard and who could not prove her antecedents must be an unpleasant shock. But Robert's presence at the meeting, owing to their joy at their son's safe return, would considerably mitigate the shock and make acceptance easier.

Esmeralda did think of her money, but this was the wrong moment to confess. Robert might not care enough about her fortune to pretend love, but he was not a fool. He would know that such a dowry would ensure her a warm welcome and the kindest consideration from his parents. As uneasy as she was about the secret, she did not dare give Robert any excuse to be rid of her. It seemed to her that, although kindness prevented him from forcing her to leave, he was subtly trying to convince her to do so in every way he could.

This reflection depressed Esmeralda considerably, but she was a fighter. She had preserved her personality and even achieved most of her purposes against years of pressure from a considerably more unpleasant opponent than Robert. Moreover she was sure that Robert was not deliberately opposed to loving her. There could be no doubt that he enjoyed her body just as much as she enjoyed his. Nor was he ashamed of her or displeased with her company. He far more often brought his friends to their quarters for an evening of talk and cards than went out with them alone. Thus, Esmeralda reasoned, she must simply have failed to ignite a particular spark in Robert.

Casting about in her mind for what had been lacking in their relations.h.i.+p, Esmeralda realized that Robert had never courted her as most men courted the women they hoped to marry. It was too late to worry about that, but thinking about courts.h.i.+p brought another aspect of difference to her mind. Robert thought of her as generally unattractive and had never faced any compet.i.tion for her favors as most men did during courts.h.i.+p. And then she remembered the first few days at Figueira when the other ADCs had found her a novelty and had acted toward her with great courtliness. Robert hadn't liked it. He had been more attentive whenever he noticed it.

Once the army was on the move and then facing the French in battle, their attention had been diverted, of course. And by the time they had moved into Lisbon, all Robert's friends were so accustomed to her that they had treated her like a sister, with kindly affection but no awareness of her as a woman. But now there would be a whole new group of men, and there would be b.a.l.l.s and rides to places of interest-all sorts of entertainments. Perhaps if she flirted a little, just a little, and got some response... But she was plain. Would she arouse any new interest or would she just make herself ridiculous?

Esmeralda consulted the mirror on her dressing table. Well, she was no beauty, but she was more attractive than she had been in India, and there she had had partners at a dance or a man to ride beside her on an outing, even though she usually was the last chosen. She had known it was the lack of Englishwomen that provided most of her company, and the same situation existed here in Lisbon. There were several new factors, too.

First and foremost, she was married now, not a poor girl possibly on the lookout for a husband. Second, her gowns in India had been horrible. Now she was quite fas.h.i.+onably dressed, owing to the fact that Robert had been able to get money and the Lisbon dressmakers had been very eager to oblige. Finally, in India most of her escorts had found her boring, owing to the curb her father had forced her to place on her tongue. Now she was free to say what she liked, and steady application had given her both interest and expertise on the subject that would be of greatest interest to army men.

Esmeralda sighed. She did not really want to give her precious Robert a moment's uneasiness, and in addition, it would be a most delicate balancing act. If she were too bold, Robert might send her away because she was embarra.s.sing him, or keep her out of the way of army officers. On the other hand, if she were too delicate, Robert would never notice.

In this judgment, Esmeralda underrated Robert's powers of perception. True, his attention was firmly fixed on military matters, but he had been growing increasingly responsive to her moods. Thus, although her eagerness to stay had pleased him, he had sensed her depression, too. His conclusion was that she was really disappointed at having to remain in Portugal with him, but her fear of facing his relatives without his support had been more powerful than her desire to go to England. This made him uneasy and stung his conscience so that, without discussing the matter again with Esmeralda, he wrote and announced his marriage to his parents.

Since Robert still felt unequal to explaining just how Merry had really become his wife after the initial marriage of convenience, and he did not wish to explain the delay between the fact and the letter, he sidestepped all these issues. He told his parents only that he had met Esmeralda Mary Louisa Talbot, a young woman of respectable family, whom he had known previously in India, and had married her. He would explain more fully, he said, when he came home, as the situation was rather too complex for a letter. And in an attempt to accustom himself to the idea of losing her, since he was sure his letter would produce a demand from his mother and father to send his wife to England at once, Robert kept a.s.suring Esmeralda she could go at any time and that his family would be happy to receive her.

These a.s.surances merely fixed Esmeralda's intention of making Robert jealous if she could, and over the next few weeks, while Dalrymple's heavy hand lay over all military activity, she pursued this purpose. There was plenty of opportunity. All conversation might be directed to some aspect of the future-or nonfuture-of the war, but such mournful considerations did not deter the officers from enjoying to the full the amenities of Lisbon. Moreover, although the Portuguese were distressed and angered by the Convention of Cintra, they were also grateful to be rid of the French. In any case, they did not blame the English as a whole, and well-born officers were flooded with invitations to b.a.l.l.s and suppers.

Esmeralda was careful, but soon Robert could hardly obtain a dance with his wife because her ball card was filled so quickly. As she had foreseen, the combination of a lack of Englishwomen and her deep interest in military affairs made her an enormous favorite with all British officers, especially Sir John's staff, to whom she was a novelty. Eventually she even became a favorite with Sir John himself, who had not originally been too happy when Robert informed him that he was married and his wife was following the drum.