Drums of War

'What was their crime, Henry?' he asked.

'They upset me.'

'I'll wager they don't do that again in a hurry. I've heard men say that they'd rather be flogged than feel the lash of your tongue.'

'They have to be kept in line, Dan,' said Welbeck. 'If they can't control themselves in camp, how can they control their muskets in the heat of battle? We both know that obedience is everything in the army. I'll brook no waywardness in my ranks.' He looked his friend up and down. 'So you've deigned to visit us at last, have you? I thought you'd deserted us and joined the cavalry.'

'Only for one engagement,' Daniel told him. 'I happened to be in the right place at the crucial moment. And I can tell you now that your criticism of His Grace the other day was very unjust. Whatever you may think, he doesn't expect the lower ranks to do all the work. He led the charge against the enemy and fought like a demon.'

'So I heard and I take my hat off to him.'

'At his age, most commanders have long retired.'

'It's only poor buggers like us who keep going into our dotage.'

'That's because we love army life so much,' teased Daniel, giving him a slap on the shoulder. 'Without it, we'd probably die of boredom.'

Welbeck grimaced. 'War has its own kind of boredom, Dan. What can be more boring then trudging all night long then being denied a chance to fight? At least, you managed to see some action. All that we could do was to wait and watch.'

'That was probably a relief to young Tom.'

'Who?'

'Tom Hillier, that nephew you choose to ignore. He didn't get a baptism of fire in his first battle, after all. That will steady his nerves.'

'The lad will have to get by on his own.'

'You might show some sort of interest in him.'

'I will, Dan,' said Welbeck, coolly. 'I'll check every few weeks to see if the young fool is still alive.'

'I'm glad you're not my uncle.'

Before Welbeck could give a tart reply, they were interrupted by the arrival of Major Simon Cracknell. Slim, straight-backed and of medium height, he cut a fine figure in his impeccably tailored uniform. His boots had an almost pristine glow to them. When he stepped out from between some tents to confront them, neither man was pleased to see him. Welbeck thought the major supercilious and overbearing while Daniel found him difficult to like. Cracknell was a highly efficient officer but he and Daniel would never be soulmates. While one hailed from a wealthy family and had been able to buy his commission the other had worked his way up slowly from the ranks. It annoyed Cracknell that Daniel was a favourite of Marlborough's and had now joined his staff. Though he treated the captain with surface politeness, he was seething with jealousy inside.

'What are you doing here, Captain Rawson?' he said, archly. 'I thought you'd moved on to higher things.'

'I do whatever I'm called upon to do, Major,' replied Daniel

'Then why aren't you doing it at this moment?'

'I took the opportunity to call on a friend.'

'There's no such thing as friendship between a captain and a mere sergeant. Fraternise with the ranks and you lose their respect.'

'Captain Rawson will never lose my respect, sir,' said Welbeck.

Cracknell was curt. 'Your opinion is irrelevant here,' he said 'I don't remember inviting it and I'll certainly pay no heed to it In any case, Sergeant, you should reserve your respect for officers who remain with their regiment. Now that the captain has seen fit to leave us, he has no real function here.'

'His Grace gave me express permission to come, Major'

'Really?' Cracknell lifted a patronising eyebrow. 'Given the way that you're indulged, I'm surprised that His Grace could spare you.'

Daniel bit back a reply. There had been unresolved tension between the two men since they had first met and he could do little to alleviate it. Though he admired Cracknell as a soldier he loathed him as a man, finding his manner offensive and disapproving strongly of the way he treated those beneath him All of the other officers in the regiment accepted that Daniel had unique qualities that gained him preferential treatment from their commander-in-chief. Major Cracknell was the sole exception. A mocking note came into his voice.

'What does it feel like to be the Chosen One?'

'I think you exaggerate my importance, Major,' said Daniel.

'Captain Rawson was promoted for one simple reason,' said Welbeck, bluntly. "The Duke knows the difference between a good officer and a bad one.'

Cracknell bristled. 'Hold your tongue, Sergeant!'

'Yes, Major.'

'You're not part of this conversation.'

'No, Major.'

'You see what happens when you befriend someone from the ranks?' said Cracknell to Daniel. 'They get above themselves.'

'I've never found that in Sergeant Welbeck's case,' said Daniel. 'He's been in the army long enough to learn respect for the chain of command. How many years has it been now?'

'Twenty-five, sir,' answered Welbeck. 'My former regiment was disbanded and I joined this one when it was first raised in 1689.'

'There you are, Major — a quarter of a century of sterling service.'

'I'm not interested in him', said Cracknell, dismissively. 'In fact, I'd prefer it if he went away so that we can talk in private.'

'I'll speak to you later, Henry,' said Daniel.

'Yes, Captain,' returned Welbeck.

After giving them a nod of farewell, he withdrew into his tent. Glad to have got rid of the sergeant, Cracknell was able to turn all his attention on Daniel. He gave a condescending smile.

'Well,' he said, 'what news from on high, Captain Rawson?'

'The chaplain is the best person to tell you that, Major,' replied Daniel, mischievously. 'He can speak directly to God.'

'We can do without drollery. I was referring to His Grace, as you well know. What are his intentions?'

'You'll have to wait until he confides them in you.'

'But you have his ear. You must know what's in the wind.'

'I have no part in any decisions that may be made,' said Daniel. 'When orders are issued, you'll hear them as soon as I do.'

'You must have some notion of what's afoot.'

'We continue to secure our position, that's all I can tell you.'

'Surely we'll try to make further advances.'

'His Grace is never one to rest on his laurels.'

'What have you heard?' demanded Cracknell. 'What's the gossip among his coterie? Where will we move next?'

'Your guess is as good as mine, Major.'

'I think you're deliberately hiding the truth from me.'

'In all honesty,' said Daniel, 'I'm not. Being part of His Grace's staff does not entitle me to privileged information. As far as I know, immediate plans have not yet been agreed. Were we able to make a decisive move, I'm sure that we'd have done so by now but it seems as if the Dutch are delaying us once again.'

'The Dutch!' snarled Cracknell, curling a lip in disgust. 'What appalling allies they make! That beast, Slangenberg, is the worst of them. Had it not been for him and his ilk, we could have broken through the Lines two years ago. They've held us back at every turn. I hate their generals and I despise the whole rotten nation. The Dutch are nothing but a crew of flat-faced, addle- headed, pusillanimous old women. It pains me to fight alongside such cowards.'

'My mother was Dutch,' said Daniel, calmly.

'I was forgetting that. It explains everything.'

'About what, may I ask?'

'About you, Captain Rawson,' said Cracknell, nastily. 'It accounts for the flaws in your character. They're far too many to name. Your father, I know, was English but it's the Dutch influence that's uppermost in you* It's made you slow, shifty and unreliable. Worst of all, it's given you the stubbornness of a mule.'