Her Rebel Heart (2 page)

“Deliverance Felton?” Luke enquired with a trace of uncertainty in his voice.

“Yes,” she replied curtly, holding out her hand. “Your orders, Captain Collyer?”

Luke fumbled in his jacket, presenting her with the crumpled and stained paper.

“My orders,” he said with an inclination of his head.

Deliverance Felton turned the paper over and broke the seal. A second, neatly sealed letter fell to the floor. She stooped and picked it up, turning it over to peer at the seal, before tucking the packet away in her skirts.

She looked at Luke. “I thought my father might have come himself.”

Luke spread his hands. “He sends his apologies, Mistress Felton. The defence of Gloucester commands his full attention.”

“How is he?” Penitence asked.

“Well,” Luke replied. “Yes, very well, when I last saw him. In fine voice...” Ned's elbow pressed into his side.

Sir John Felton had only let them out of Gloucester after an hour long lecture on how to conduct themselves. They were both in disgrace. A few long nights in one of the inns and the complaints of several good burghers of Gloucester had brought them to Sir John’s attention. He had judged their behaviour unfitting for the forces of the godly parliamentarians and the affronted citizenry of Gloucester and had sent them to the relief of Kinton Lacey.

“I see you have orders to reinforce the garrison here.” Deliverance looked up, cutting in on his reverie. “How many men did you bring with you?”

“Forty-five,” Luke replied.

Her eyes widened and the corners of her mouth turned down at the corners. “Only forty-five?”

“How many do you have in the garrison at present?” he asked, with a sense of foreboding.

“Twenty-three,” she said.

Luke glanced at Ned. “Colonel Felton led us to believe the garrison numbered over fifty.”

“It did,” Deliverance replied. “But Father took the able-bodied men and those left behind returned to their fields and to defend their own homes, particularly once Sir Richard Farrington started to send out raiding parties.”

“Sir Richard Farrington?” Ned asked.

“The local royalist commander.”

“An odious man, even before the war began.” Deliverance shuddered. “Always thought himself superior to us. It is his men who have been camped outside our walls for the last weeks.”

Luke smiled. “You do not seem particularly worse the wear for the inconvenience.”

Deliverance met his eyes with a smile of satisfaction. “That is because we were well prepared, Captain Collyer. We could withstand a siege of some months if need be.”

“I see.” Luke looked up at the bare walls. “And your weapons?”

She followed his gaze and a little colour stained her cheeks. “Ah...you guess rightly, Captain Collyer. We're not well armed.”

“We've brought fresh arms and powder and a couple of small cannonade,” Ned said.

Deliverance Felton beamed, the smile transforming her face. “Oh, that is wonderful news.” Her eyes gleamed in the candlelight. “Cannonade—”

Luke cleared his throat. “Are there other Parliamentary garrisons in the area?”

“This is a county that holds strongly for the King, Captain Collyer, but there is a small garrison held for Parliament at Byton Castle, five miles north.” Deliverance sighed. “Other than that, we find ourselves in the midst of very unfriendly neighbours.”

Luke considered the odds as she had presented them: Two tiny outposts of parliamentary sympathy in a county professing itself loyal to the King. Did Felton really think he could hold Kinton Lacey? This Farrington, whoever he was, would have greater resources to draw on, and would return to swat this annoying little insect of a garrison at the earliest possibility.

He looked down at Deliverance.

She watched him, with the same bright, intelligent gaze as her father.

“I have the plans for the defence of the castle in my father's library. I just haven't had the men to do the work. Of course, now you're here...Come this way gentlemen.”

She set off across the hall, leaving the two men scurrying to catch up with her. At the screen, the tall man stopped them, inclining his head to Luke.

“Your sergeant tells me the town is clear of the malignants,” he said.

“Excellent,” Luke said, allowing himself a small instant of self satisfaction. There would be precious few such moments in the weeks to come he suspected.

Deliverance regarded him from beneath her dark fringe, her hands on her hips.

“Captain Collyer, I am impressed. With less than fifty men you have seen off a force of three times that number?”

Luke smiled and inclined his head. “It would seem so. Darkness and a little subterfuge, madam.”

Deliverance turned to her man. “Melchior, I was just taking Captain Collyer and...” She looked at Ned. “I'm sorry, what was your name?”

“Ned Barrett, ma'am,” Ned replied. “Your servant.”

“This is Melchior Blakelocke, our steward and my second-in-command.”

“Your steward is your second-in-command?” Luke asked, the ill-concealed disbelief colouring his tone.

Deliverance cast him a frowning glance of disapproval. “Melchior saw service with my father on the continent, Captain Collyer.”

Luke glanced at Blakelocke and then back at his mistress. “I didn’t mean to imply—” She cut him short with a wave of her hand.

“People are not always what they seem, Captain Collyer.” She turned to a set of stairs, pausing to look back at the two men. “Are you coming?

Deliverance opened the door to the pleasant room that served her father as a library, when he was at home. In his absence she had taken it over, and it had become her sanctuary from the world. The familiar scent of dust, beeswax polish and musty books greeted her.

The papers she had dislodged in her haste to get to the walls, still littered the floor and the large table in the centre of the room could not be seen beneath the piles of books which were stacked haphazardly around a drawing of the castle and its surrounds. She had spent hours preparing this plan for the defence of her home.

Captain Collyer picked up a much-thumbed copy of
The Exercise of Armes
from one of the piles on the desk, and she caught the quick glance he exchanged with his colleague.

Heat rose in Deliverance’s face. “I am afraid all my learning is from my father’s books.”

She didn't add that those books she had not found in her father's collection had been secretly ordered from her longsuffering book seller in Ludlow.

“Well, it's an excellent book,” Luke Collyer said, setting it back on the table. The quirk of his lips into a quickly suppressed smile did not escape her notice. Her skin prickled at the condescension in his tone.

She pulled the plan of the castle from beneath the tomes.

“I've had ample time in the last two weeks to consider the defence of the castle.” She flattened the creases from the paper. “Now, I think if we put a redoubt in here...” She stabbed at the paper with her forefinger. “And a defensive ditch, along here.”

When her remarks were met with silence, she looked up. Both men stared at her as if she had walked into the room stark naked.

“Is there a problem?”

Luke cleared his throat. “With respect, madam, but your father… Sir John Felton… has placed me in command of this garrison and I—”

“Do you not think me capable of having an opinion on how to defend my own home?” She fixed him with a well-practiced stare which would make a weaker man quail.

Luke Collyer returned the gaze without blinking. “I respect your opinion, madam, and if... when... I need your advice I shall ask for it.”

How dare this man speak to me in that condescending manner
. She took a steadying breath and squared her shoulders. She was Deliverance Felton, chatelaine of this castle and this Collyer a mere…a mere…

“And what experience do you have, captain?”

The man’s gaze held hers and he too straightened, resting his hand on
The Exercise of Armes
. “I have been a soldier since I was nineteen, madam. I have fought on the continent and in the Scottish wars. Your father chose me for this task with every confidence in my abilities. You can trust me with the protection of this castle, and you can return to more appropriate concerns.”

“More appropriate concerns?” Deliverance bridled. “What is more appropriate than the safety of Kinton Lacey?”

Luke Collyer’s eyes narrowed. The unusual light grey eyes, at odds with the dark brown hair that framed his lean, tanned face were fixed on her had lost all trace of humour. She saw a hard, uncompromising soldier. “Forgive me, madam, but military matters are not for gently-bred women. All I am saying is that you are free to return to—”

“My embroidery, perhaps?” she said in a tone that dripped ice. “I assure you, Captain Collyer that the defence of my home is of far greater importance to me than its decoration. I have read all these books,” she gestured at the table, “and I warrant I know as much of matters military as you, Captain Collyer.”

“And I have had years of practical experience, madam,” he responded in a tone that matched hers for frigidity.

Melchior cleared his throat. “I think, madam, this is a discussion for the morning. These two gentlemen have ridden from Gloucester and fought a battle, vanquishing our foes. Sirs, you must be tired and hungry. Let me show you to your quarters and see you are fed. In the morning we will all be in a better position to discuss defensive works.”

Deliverance shot her steward a quick, angry glance. She did not need or want Melchior's intervention but it had the desired effect, the tension in the room dissipating as if he had opened the window and let in the breeze.

She tossed the paper back on to the table and sniffed. “Very well. If you need me, I shall be in my chamber hard at work... at my embroidery.”

“Insufferable man.” Deliverance ranted to her sister as she concluded her summation of the discussion with Captain Collyer.

Penitence looked up from her needlework. “He is a man, Liv. Of course he is going to want to take command. What does Father say?”

Deliverance pulled out their father's letter and began to read.

“
Dearest daughter, I trust this letter finds you and your sister in good health. Reports of Sir Richard Farrington's increasing movements in the area of Kinton Lacey has caused me some concern, so I am sending one of my best men to you to reinforce the garrison and command the defences in the event of an attack by the King's men. I trust you to defer to Captain Collyer in all matters military. I feel more certain in my mind knowing you and my beloved Kinton Lacey are in a man's hands.”

“There you are,” Penitence commented. “Father is quite explicit. Your Captain Collyer is here to take command.”

Deliverance sniffed and continued, her eyes widening as she silently read the next sentence.

“
Deliverance, daughter, I must warn you that Captain Collyer has something of a reputation and an eye for a pretty face, so I trust you to see to the protection of your sister's honor and to report to me should any indiscretion occur. Yr loving father JF.”

Deliverance set the letter down, wounded by the tone of the letter, particularly her father's last words. Beautiful, gentle and serene Penitence would always be considered the one worthy of protecting, never her.

“What's the matter?” Penitence, always intuitive to her sister's moods, looked up, her brow creased with concern. “What else did Father say?”

Deliverance forced a smile. “Nothing. Just sent us his love.” She ran a hand across her forehead. “It has been rather a trying day.”

She refolded her father’s letter and tucked it into her skirts.

“Deliverance?” her sister prompted.

“I should be grateful to Captain Collyer for relieving me of the terrible responsibility of the castle's defence. Grateful? This is my home, my castle…”

As Deliverance paced the floor, Penitence bent her head to her embroidery. Deliverance heard her sister murmur as she stabbed the needle through the cloth. “Poor man.”

Chapter 2

T
his is quite good,” Ned remarked as he bent over the plan of the defences that Deliverance had shown them the night before.