"I understand. We have the ball tonight as well. Why don't you rest?"
"We need to talk, you said," she pointed out in a barely audible whisper.
Blake was of the opinion that they had done far too much talking, but he could see dark circles under her eyes. "Nothing that can't wait another few hours, my dear."
She nodded, and closed her eyes. She felt him sit next to her and take her hand carefully. "Blake-"
"Rest now. We have our whole lives to talk, Arabella," he whispered.
She grasped his hand like a drowning woman, and slept.
They arrived back at Millcote a little after three. Blake was just escorting Arabella into the drawing room where the Jerome family had assembled, when he heard a commotion behind him, and saw Philip Marshall running in, mud-spattered and half-frozen.
"I say, have you heard the news?" he burst out.
"Yes, of course, we've just come from Brimley. Sarah Davenport is doing well. It's a fine healthy boy. She and Alexander couldn't be more pleased."
There were general exclamations of delight over the information.
Philip shook his head vehemently, and had to shout above the others to be heard.
"No, no, you don't understand! The news just came through. I rode all the way here from Bath to warn everyone."
"Warn us? Warn us about what?" Blake asked.
"It's the worst news possible, I'm afraid. It just came from London, via Paris, from Elba. Napoleon's escaped. He's marching up from the south, gathering a new army. It's war."
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
The room was so silent, one could have heard a pin drop.
War.
"Again? So soon?" Arabella asked in disbelief, looking in horror at Blake and then Philip Marshall, who had brought the dreadful news.
The outcry in the Jerome drawing room became general, as every man in the room who had served in the Army wondered if it meant they would have to leave immediately, or even if they were still obligated to serve, since the terms of their discharges had all been different.
But for most of them, their patriotism still burned brightly. Martin Jerome and his brother Samuel instantly declared their intention of going to their regimental headquarters in the north. Their aunt prevailed upon them to keep a cool head.
"The ball is tonight. Blake and Arabella have so been looking forward to it, and who knows when we will all be together again. Please, do stay."
"Your aunt is right," said Mr. Jerome. "No sense in going off half-cocked. Not to mention the fact, Martin, that you're really in no condition to sign up again…"
Blake and Arabella stared at each other as if across a chasm. He had been regular army, a doctor…. Hell and damnation. This changed everything. Another war. How could he ask her to wait for him? How could he leave her without-
"I'm so sorry, you two," Philip said under his breath. "None of us ever imagined-"
Thomas Eltham stepped forward. "I did. They should have put Napoleon on trial for crimes against humanity and done away with him once and for all. My poor sister Elizabeth and her friends…. They were only just demobilized last summer, and now- Please excuse me if I dash off a note to her, and to Horse Guards."
Charlotte was white with fear. "Thomas, surely you're not thinking of-"
"My dear, I know what's at stake. I love you more than anything in my life. But surely you can see that we need to finish Napoleon once and for all. We scotched the snake, but didn't kill it. That was our mistake. The wolf is loose amongst the lambs. We have to fight for freedom. All of Europe will be counting upon us once more to do the right thing."
"But you and the Rakehells weren't even regular Army. You and Clifford were invalided out, and Jonathan sold his commission!"
"If they're going to go, then I need to as well," Clifford said quietly.
Adam and Oliver saw their chance to look heroic. "And we will enlist, of course. We were too young, and at Oxford for the last Coalition, but-"
Mr. Jerome shook his head. "Now, now, let's all keep our wits about us. The news might not even be true. It could just be a rumour. I say we try to put this talk of the war behind us for one more night until we're sure, and try to have a good time at the ball."
Blake nodded. "I agree. The Jeromes have been kind enough to go to all this trouble. We need to settle ourselves down and wait until Horse Guards contacts us to give us our orders."
Everyone subsided back into their seats to talk in groups except for Thomas and his wife, who went upstairs to the room they had been given for the night.
Arabella's gaze followed the white-faced couple as they left the room.