A Principle of Honour

Chapter 25

'Verity, thank goodness you've come back, I was so worried about you,' Lady Harrington said as she walked over to her. 'Where have you been?' she said as she stood in front of her, holding both her hands in hers. 'Oh Verity,' she said, with a sigh, her eyes moist with tears, 'please do not leave without telling anyone where you are going.'

'I told you not to distress yourself,' Lord Harrington said to his wife reassuringly, 'Verity is far too sensible to get herself into trouble.'

'Where have you been?' Lady Harrington said, giving Verity a hug. Lady Harrington then released Verity and added, 'have you had anything to eat, my dear? You must be faint with hunger.'

Verity shook her head. 'No, my lady, I have not eaten since breakfast.'

'Then, I will go to the kitchen and ask cook to prepare you a little cold supper.'

'What an excellent idea,' Lord Harrington said to his wife, 'you should ask a maid to bring a tray, and then set a place for Verity to eat here in the drawing room. It is far too late to open up the dining room.'

Lady Harrington hurried away, leaving Verity alone with Lord Harrington. 'Please sit down, Miss Stanford,' he said politely.

'I am sorry if I have distressed Lady Harrington, but I could not stay in the house. I saw all those poor unfortunate souls, and I had to help.' Verity looked down at her hands that were stained with blood and said, 'it was awful. I have never seen such suffering.'

'Yes, it is,' Lord Harrington replied somberly, 'by all accounts, it is far worse than anything that happened in Spain.'

'Is it true about Lord Hay?' Verity said, 'I heard he fell this afternoon.'

'Yes, he was killed today. His death has come as a shock to us all,' Lord Harrington said solemnly.

'I suppose he was like that young man I spoke to at the ball last night. He probably thought he was invincible,' Verity whispered.

'Lord Hay was always far too gung-ho for his own good,' Lord Harrington replied, with a sigh. 'Apparently, he was wearing his best, most ostentatious uniform. No doubt, he made an easy target for some fortunate French soldier.'

They sat quietly for a few minutes. 'I owe you an explanation for my disappearance,' Verity said. 'Late yesterday afternoon, I heard the injured arriving in the city. I kept thinking that one of those wounded men could be my brother. There was chaos everywhere, and those poor unfortunate men were just left to die on the street. I had to help. I could not go back to the house and just do nothing.' Verity took a deep breath. She would have cried, but she had run out of tears several hours ago. 'I began to help the locals, who were tending the injured. We gave them water and tried to patch up their injuries. We were then joined by a local doctor who started to administer rudimentary surgery in the street. The authorities eventually opened up a public building, and let him set up a make-shift hospital. He needed assistance in his operating theatre, that was no more than a dining table, and I assisted him.' Verity looked down again at her blood-stained hands and then said, 'he has just sent me home and told me to get some rest. But, I will return tomorrow.'

'You must do what you think is best,' Lord Harrington replied, 'and help in any way you can.'

'Thank you,' Verity said, 'for being so understanding.'

'Today, I tried to find your sister,' he said after another lengthy silence. 'I went to Ellington's club, the last place you saw her, but the building was pretty much deserted. It appears that they all left on the night of the 15th, probably for Antwerp.' He sighed as he saw the look of disappointment on Verity's face. 'I did, however, find a local woman who had worked there as a maid. She remembered your sister vividly. Unfortunately, she could not tell me anything about her whereabouts because she had not seen her for several weeks. It appears she disappeared, just after you last saw her.' Again, he stopped, probably aware of the look of sadness in her eyes. 'But,' he continued, 'she thinks that your sister ran away. She told me that Major Ellington increased security. No one could leave or enter the place without permission, and she said that he only did this when someone escaped.'