‘Don’t you dare insult me!’ yelled Sir John, flipping his coat open so that he could pull a pistol from its holster. ‘I always carry this with me on the estate so that I can shoot vermin. And that’s all you are to me, Captain Rawson.’
Adjusting his stance, he took aim. Amalia flung herself in front of Daniel to protect him, but he was not afraid. He eased her away.
‘Stand by my horse, Amalia,’ he advised, ‘and take hold of the rein. If Sir John has the courage to fire, the noise might frighten the animal.’ Sheathing his sword, he spread his arms wide. ‘Well, Sir John, do you have the courage?’
‘Don’t provoke me, Captain.’
‘Here I am, an easy target, and still you can’t pull the trigger.’
‘I can do it with the utmost pleasure,’ warned Sir John.
‘And what happens then?’ asked Daniel. ‘How will you account for my death to His Grace? How will you explain why you hired Mr Syme? What will you tell your wife about all this?’
‘Keep her out of this,’ snarled Sir John.
‘It’s too late. Everyone will know. Your family, your friends, your acquaintances will all know the kind of man you are when you’re not pretending to be a loving husband. Shoot me, if you can,’ said Daniel, ‘but you’ll have to tell the truth to Lady Rievers afterwards. You’ll have to admit how far you were prepared to go in order to lure Amalia into your bed. You’re a broken man, Sir John. And that’s why you lack the courage to shoot me.’
Arms still wide apart, Daniel walked slowly towards him. Sir John’s nerve began to fail. He was finished. His villainy had been exposed and there was no escape for him. He thought of all the people who loved and trusted him and who would now be horrified to learn of his murky secrets. As Daniel came closer, Sir John’s hand began to shake and the pistol jiggled up and down. He longed to pull the trigger but knew that it would solve nothing. It was all over.
‘Here I am,’ said Daniel, stopping a couple of yards in front of him. ‘Is that close enough for you, Sir John? Or shall I wait while you fetch someone else to shoot me in your stead?’ He patted his heart. ‘This is the place to aim. Let’s see if you’re man enough to do it.’
Sir John could take no more. Exposed as a criminal and humiliated in front of a woman he’d planned to seduce, he was filled with despair. He closed his eyes, thrust the pistol inside his mouth and pulled the trigger. Some of the blood spattered Daniel’s face.
The loud report frightened the birds, startled the horse and made Amalia scream hysterically. Daniel rushed to enfold her in his arms, shielding her from having to look at the corpse of Sir John Rievers. For her part, she was caught between shock and relief, appalled by the suicide she’d witnessed yet grateful that it was not Daniel who’d been shot. Amalia was also horrified to realise how Sir John had exploited her, manipulating her emotions and making her reliant on him. She tried to look at his body but Daniel moved her several yards away from the arbour. It took a long time to soothe her. When she eventually calmed down, the questions poured out of her.
‘You came all this way for me?’ she said.
‘I’d have come ten times the distance, Amalia.’
‘What about the siege?’
‘It seems to me you’ve been enduring one of your own.’
‘When did you get to England?’
‘I got here just in time, by the look of it.’
‘Who was this man sent to kill you?’
‘I’ll tell you about him in due course.’
‘How did you know where to find us?’
‘I called at the house first,’ said Daniel. ‘Beatrix saw you leaving on foot with Sir John Rievers. You had to be on the estate somewhere.’
‘He brought me here to tell me that you were dead.’
Daniel smiled. ‘I had to disillusion him on that score.’
‘What will happen now?’ she asked.
‘I’ll take you away from here, Amalia. I’m sorry that your first visit to England has been blighted by all this. I hope it won’t stop you from coming back here again one day.’
‘I’d come if you brought me, Daniel.’
‘That’s exactly what I intend to do,’ he said. ‘Meanwhile, I have to get you, your father and Beatrix safely back to Amsterdam. When that’s done,’ he went on, using his thumb to brush back a stray hair from her cheek, ‘there’s the small matter of the siege of Lille.’
The bombardment of Lille continued unabated. On 22nd October, 1708, with his defences crumbling, Marshal Boufflers beat a parley. Three days later, he surrendered the town with the proviso that he and the surviving members of the garrison could retire to the citadel. Under constant attack, they held out there until the evening of 9th December when Boufflers signed the articles of capitulation. The Allied army finally took possession of Lille. The siege had lasted 120 days.
If you enjoyed Under Siege, read on to find out about the
next book in the Captain Rawson series …
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A VERY MURDERING BATTLE
1709. Europe is in the grip of the coldest winter for a century. France suffers most - after the fierce frost comes a famine as the cattle die and the harvests are poor. The people are starving and mutiny rattles the French army. King Louis XIV searches for peace on almost any terms, and negotiations commence in The Hague for a settlement with the English.
Captain Daniel Rawson is at those negotiations as an interpreter, but the talks collapse, and Daniel finds himself once again at the behest of the Duke of Marlborough. This time Marlborough needs Daniel to track down a missing and priceless tapestry, which he does, but after a visit to England, he becomes embroiled in the battle of Malplaquet, a campaign that will become famous throughout history as one of the bloodiest of the War of the Spanish Succession.
About the Author
EDWARD MARSTON was born and brought up in South Wales. A full-time writer for over thirty years, he has worked in radio, film, television and the theatre and is a former chairman of the Crime Writers’ Association. Prolific and highly successful, he is equally at home writing children’s books or literary criticism, plays or biographies.
www.edwardmarston.com
By Edward Marston
THE CAPTAIN RAWSON SERIES
Soldier of Fortune
Drums of War
Fire and Sword
Under Siege
A Very Murdering Battle
THE HOME FRONT DETECTIVE SERIES
A Bespoke Murder
THE RESTORATION SERIES
The King’s Evil
The Amorous Nightingale
The Repentant Rake
The Frost Fair
The Parliament House
The Painted Lady
THE RAILWAY DETECTIVE SERIES
The Railway Detective
The Excursion Train
The Railway Viaduct
The Iron Horse
Murder on the Brighton Express
The Silver Locomotive Mystery
Railway to the Grave
Blood on the Line
The Stationmaster’s Farewell
The Railway Detective Omnibus:
The Railway Detective - The Excursion Train - The Railway Viaduct
Copyright
Allison & Busby Limited
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www.allisonandbusby.com
Hardcover published in Great Britain in 2010.
Paperback edition published in 2011.
This ebook edition first published in 2011.
Copyright © 2010 by EDWARD MARSTON
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All characters and events in this publication other than those clearly in the public domain are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dea
d, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent buyer.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library.
ISBN 978–0–7490–4017–8
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