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She had the impression that he was about to tell her everything, when Endicott stood, looking towards the door.
Lady Stapleton led William and Cici, arm in arm, to a sofa. The Baroness was dry-eyed, but Cici wiped tears from her eyes, and William looked miserable.
Lady Stapleford sat on a bench and fussily arranged her skirts.
"Lord Stapleford was pleased to see you, William, and I am sure that when he feels stronger, he will recall how sweetly you spoke to him, Felicia."
"I hope so," Cici said, sniffling into her handkerchief.
William squared his shoulders.
"While we await refreshments, perhaps you could begin telling Mama and the young ladies about your experiences at the great battle, Jasper."
"As the Duke said, it was a nasty fight… and one we nearly lost. I must spare you the dreadful details, ladies, but you will have read the carnage was horrific."
"And you were a hero, Jasper, even saving the Duke's life."
The lieutenant looked grave.
"Yes, though there were dozens, nay, hundreds of heroes, for the battle raged all afternoon and almost until dark."
"But tell us about how you rescued the Duke."
"It was late afternoon…nothing but clouds of smoke and deafening explosions. The dead were everywhere… excuse me, ladies."
Cici wiped her eyes again.
"So many dead, it is horrible."
"Yes, Miss Felicia," Endicott said. "Horrible indeed. Sometimes it seemed, more dead than alive." He leaned back in his chair, obviously continuing an account he had repeated frequently. "I was trying to help a wounded man…"
Ronnie shivered.
"Sorry, Miss Montgomery. As the Duke wrote, such action could not be fought without losses, immense losses."
William was actually toadying, Ronnie thought. He gazed at Jasper with eyes full of admiration, almost… dare she say it? Never… but certainly Cici would long to see William look at her with such sincerely adoring eyes.
"Please continue."
They listened, enthralled as he told the story. His mount was shot from under him, he said, bringing Cici to sobs. Without pausing, he told how he had grabbed and mounted a loose French steed and spied Imperial Guardsmen, Napoleon's elite forces, coming straight for Wellington on his chestnut Copenhagen. Acting almost without thought, Endicott said, he whirled his horse and spurred it to leap over a row of redcoats crouching in a ravine. Wellington followed, clearing the infantry. The men rose up and massacred the Guardsmen at point blank range.
Silence met his account. Ronnie felt her pulse pounding hard, her breath panting as if winded. All of them were numbed by his story.
The housekeeper set a tray of glasses and bottles on a table near Lady Stapleton and left the room.
"William, will you see to the drinks?" the Baroness asked.
William patted Cici's hand before he distributed glasses of brandy to his mother and Endicott. Ronnie shook her head when he asked what she desired. Cici sipped an unnamed pink liquid. Tongues appropriately loosened, they began to praise the Lieutenant, urging more accounts of his brave actions.
They were all subdued as they drove back to Weymouth. Between the unfortunate state of Lord Stapleford's health and the stories of the battlefield, Ronnie thought, no one was in the mood for laughter. Before she and Cici went upstairs, they made plans to attend tomorrow evening's assembly.
Ronnie was surprised to find her mother wide awake and waiting to hear of their visit to Stapleford Manor.
Cici immediately began to cry when Mama mentioned the Baron Stapleford.
"Is he that bad?" Lady Montgomery asked. "From what Lady Stapleford said, I thought he was not seriously indisposed, but mostly unwilling to disturb his indolence. Even when there were guests at the Manor. We never saw him before on our visits."
"I think he is dying," Cici sobbed. "They will want a year of mourning for him, and we will not be married for ages."
