The Unlikely Wife

“But what’s he doing here?” Alicia whispered.

Rebecca shrugged and tried to sound bored. “He’s a soldier. This is a fort. He probably belongs here.” Why, in heaven’s name, didn’t I think of that? She let her fingers trace the carvings in the arm of the chair.

Alicia replaced the figure and was silent for a long moment. “I wish I could be like you,” she sighed, sinking into a chair opposite Rebecca.

Rebecca raised a questioning eyebrow.

“The way you talk to men, I mean, and flirt.” She giggled a little, and Rebecca imagined her remembering her bold perusal of the lieutenant on the train. She suppressed a groan. “If they even look at me,” Alicia went on, “I turn suddenly stupid.”

“Some men like that,” Rebecca said.

Alicia smiled, a gentle, knowing smile that always caught Rebecca by surprise. “But I don’t like the men that do.”

“Do what?” Belle entered the parlor and looked around. She chose a large padded chair near the door and, as she settled into it, began fanning herself. “Is it always this hot?”

“It’s a little unusual this early in the summer,” Rebecca offered, hoping Aunt Belle would forget the comment she had overheard. “We get some lovely weather in September.”

“This whole trip has been more misery than anything else,” Belle muttered.

Rebecca bit her tongue. Father had told her once his sister felt things more sharply than others. Her own assessment was less charitable. Yet she tried to be patient. After all, both Belle and Alicia were in mourning.

Myrtle came with the tea tray, offering each a lovely china cup and saucer. “Just one cup, and I’ll let you rest. You must all be exhausted from your trip. I find train travel so tedious.”.

Alicia and Belle groaned their agreement while Rebecca opened her mouth to disagree. Feeling outnumbered, she settled into the uncomfortable chair as best she could and listened to the others talk. When the maid announced that a room had been made ready where they could rest, the women rose. Rebecca expressed a desire to walk. The others eyed her with considerable surprise but didn’t argue.

Alicia caught her arm and held her back as the older women left the room. “Are you going to look for your lieutenant?” she whispered.

“He’s not my lieutenant,” Rebecca hissed.

“What will you do if you meet him?”

“I’ll…” Oh drat, what would she do? “Come with me,” she suggested impulsively, taking her cousin’s hand.

Alicia shrank away from her. “I can’t now. I’m too tired. And what would Mother say?”

Rebecca let her go. She resigned herself to staying at the house. In the kitchen she washed her face, then filled a tall glass with water to take with her to the porch. There were no chairs so Rebecca sat on the top step and listened to the flag snap as she sipped her water.

The row of three officers’ quarters faced another row across the parade ground. The barracks buildings made up the other two sides of the square. There was very little going on in this part of the fort this time of the day. She longed to visit the sutler’s store, to walk past the blacksmith’s shop, the saddler’s, the carpenter’s, to see if they had changed since her last visit. But she couldn’t risk running into the lieutenant.

She leaned against the porch post and closed her eyes. Why should he have such an effect on her? All her other conquests had been easy to dismiss. She should dismiss him as well and take her walk. She had nearly resolved to do just that when she thought of coming face-to-face with him. Her pulse raced just imagining it. She would probably blush and stammer like Alicia.

She would have liked to examine her surprising reaction a bit more, but she saw the general approaching. She quickly rose and went to meet him. “I didn’t expect you so soon, General.”

“I managed to get away a little early. Are the others resting?”

“I believe so.” Rebecca resumed her seat on the stairs and pulled the general down beside her. “Can’t we really go with the supply train?”

“My dear, you’re all welcome here until the coaches are running again. It’ll make a much more comfortable trip.”

Rebecca let her eyes do the pleading. “Every time we moved when I was young we would travel with the garrison. And don’t tell me Aunt Belle isn’t used to it. Mama wasn’t either until her first trip.”

“But the uprising…”

“Indians virtually never attack large groups of soldiers unless cornered.” A glance at Hale showed how little effect her words had. She cast her eyes downward. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen Father.” Why was it that whimpering worked better with men than logic?

“But—” He hesitated.

Rebecca turned away and said in a small voice, “If it’s impossible, I understand.” That would have been the coup de grace with Father.

“Don’t cry, dear. Are you so eager to leave us?”

Rebecca kept her dry eyes averted and shrugged her shoulders delicately.

“Well, now, I can see how it is. But I don’t feel right ordering someone to take you. Perhaps you should talk to the officer I put in charge of the expedition. If he’s agreeable, I’ll let you go.”

Rebecca threw her arms around his neck. “Oh thank you, General,” she said, keeping her voice soft and a trifle shaky as she slipped from his arms. “Who is he? I’ll go talk to him now.”

“Name’s Forrester. I believe he’ll be camping near the commissary building. He’s likely very busy now. Perhaps you should wait until morning.”

“Yes, of course,” Rebecca said. In the morning she could contrive to look less wilted.

“I better tell Myrtle I’m home. If I know her, she’s busy with plans for an officer’s ball to honor our guests. She’ll be wanting my orderly to notify everyone.”

Rebecca smiled and waved to him as he came to his feet and left her. She had plans of her own to make. This Forrester, whoever he was, would have trouble denying her request.

Shortly after breakfast, before the day had a chance to become miserably hot, Rebecca made her way toward the commissary. She had put on one of her most flattering dresses, not at all suitable for travel but exactly what she needed to convince Forrester that he wanted three women with his supply caravan. Every soldier she met offered directions. She gave them each a grateful smile, though she was well aware of where she was going.

She saw the tent from a considerable distance. As she confidently approached it she noticed the officer, bent over a field desk. Alerted perhaps by a chorus of “mornin’, ma’am,” the officer came to his feet. The clean-shaven jaw beneath the shadow of the campaign hat belonged to her lieutenant from the train.

What incredibly rotten luck. Her footsteps faltered as she felt a strong desire to turn back. Pride kept her moving toward the lieutenant and put her brightest smile on her lips. “So you’re Lieutenant Forrester?”

He doffed his hat, placing it under his arm, and stood almost at attention. “At your service, Miss Huntington.”

Rebecca bit her lip as she watched him. He was cool and formal; the softly accented voice wasn’t nearly as charming now that it lacked its former warmth. A quick glance told her there was no one close enough to overhear. Still she kept her voice low. “I came to talk about leaving with the supply wagons tomorrow, but perhaps we should talk about what happened on the train.”

“What happened on the train, ma’am? I dallied with the colonel’s daughter. I am aware that I could find myself accused of conduct unbecoming an officer. Are you here to make a deal?”

Rebecca knew her eyes had widened and her mouth was nearly hanging open. She surely looked like an idiot, but she couldn’t help it. “Oh dear,” she murmured. After a deep shaky breath, she managed a tiny smile. “I was hoping to persuade you not to think too badly of me, but I can see I’m too late.”

She had counted on her words softening him, but they seemed to have no effect His face was as unmoving as his taut body. She gave up all efforts at smiling and whispered, “I’m not a loose woman, Lieutenant.”

“I know that.”

His words offered small comfort. Her hands were shaking, a most unwanted reaction to this man, and she clutched them firmly behind her back. “I just wanted you to kiss me.”

“And I did.” He paused for a moment, and she thought she finally saw a flicker of warmth in his gray eyes. “But it won’t happen again.”

“Pity.” Rebecca knew it was not the ladylike thing to say, but it was the God’s truth. She felt a wave of relief when he gave her a slight nod in agreement