Her maid again was
always repeating to her what Brimacott, then her husband's
soldier-servant, said of the devotion of the men to the captain.
Finally there came the crowning happiness of the birth of the children;
and she still remembered seeing a little knot of troopers gathered
round the diminutive creatures called Dick and Elsie.
But, very soon after, came the miserable day when the regiment was
ordered on active service, and she rode with her husband at the head of
his troop to the rendezvous. She could see him still as he appeared
mounted on Billy Pitt that day. Then followed the embarkation of men
and horses, and a desperate struggle with Billy, who objected to be
slung on board; and finally the last glimpse of sails disappearing over
the horizon and the long drive westward to Bracefort Hall. There old
Mr. Bracefort's delight over her arrival and over the children had
almost brought happiness back to her again; and cheerful letters from
Spain kept hope alive. But when the regiment reached the front, the
tragedy of war soon made itself felt. George Fitzdenys was badly
wounded in the first skirmish, two of the best troopers were killed and
others wounded; and, after that, twelve months of service seemed to cut
off member after member of what Fitzdenys had called the happiest troop
in the Army. The little cornet was shot dead, the troop-sergeant-major
drowned while crossing a treacherous ford, this trooper maimed for
life, that trooper--but she could not bear to think of it.
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