Read Online Abigail's Cousin by Ron Pearse - Free Book Online
Authors: Ron Pearse
Tags: Historical, England, 18th Century, queen anne, chambermaid, duke of marlborough, abigail masham, john churchill, war against france
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followed by a yelp of
pain and oaths. Harry was distracted and Sarah kicked out at him.
At the same time, Abigail snatched up the pistol Dick had laid
d own earlier, shouting
to Harry:
"Let her go!
Or I'll shoot you." She had raced towards the front to threaten
him. "Take his gun!" Abigail commanded Sarah who snatched at the
weapon stuffed into his belt.
"Take your horses and go." She ordered
them and Dick nursing a bruised arm, gave them a wide berth as he,
with difficulty, tried to unhitch his horse from the wheel. He
shouted to his mate:
"Help me, 'arry!"
Then they were
gone.
As the sound of galloping hooves
disappeared, Sarah and Abigail rushed into each other's arms until
they heard Tom's voice. "They're coming back, listen."
All stopped
and listened and indeed they could hear a horse coming nearer. Mrs
Lowther screams and shouts: "Rescue! Rescue!"
Tom says:
"Hush! There's just one horse. It''s from down the hill. It's
someone on their own."
Suddenly Sarah gives a whoop of joy, and
shouts: "It's his lordship. I know it." Then screaming excitedly
forgetting she is Lady Churchill, she dances and shouts: "It's my
John. It 's my John!"
Then more soberly:
"Heaven be
praised. It's his lordship come to our rescue."
But Tom calls
to her from his seat:
“Did you say
rescue, ma'am. We be already rescued," and focussing upon Abigail,
adds: "and she be the one who rescued us."
But Abigail
has collapsed against the wheel, exhausted, to be joined by Sarah,
who said to her: "I shall never forget this cos. Never, never,
never."
The galloping is nearer and they can
clearly hear a labouring horse as he is spurred up the incline,
then Sarah looking down the hill, waves at the approaching horseman
and to everyone's great delight, the horseman stands in his
stirrups and waves back. Even from a distance, all can see that
it is indeed Sarah's
husband, the Earl of Marlborough, Lord Churchill, catching up with
them.
Chapter 3
In the throng
of people surrounding the precincts of St James Palace there is
good humour as people jostle to get near the front and a hubbub of
neighbourliness pervades the gathering even when a single trumpet
blast is heard and the general background chatter sinks to a murmur
drowned by the succeeding fanfare as six royal trumpeters in bright
red, resplendent uniforms blast out their message and when the last
notes die away, the murmur is hushed and absolute silence
reigns.
A single
marching herald is seen to approach a dais upon which is a rostrum
and, from a flagpole flutters a Union flag in the gentle breeze on
this Sunday at four of the hour, on the afternoon of March 8th, in
1702. The herald declaims the age-old proclamation, and two people
in particular exchange glances as they listen to him shout:
"Be it known
unto all that our late sovereign and liege lord, King William, the
third of that name, is deceased - God rest his soul - and that Anne
of the royal house of Stuart has succeeded to the throne of our
several kingdoms of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. God save
the Queen! May the Queen live for ever!
For moments
there is stillness then applause as people clap their hands, they
shout, 'God save good Queen Anne' or simply hurrah, and more
hurrahs resound among the multitude. The herald steps down and the
crowd realise the little ceremony is over and start to move talking
all the while to their neighbours, and confident in the resumption
of a general hubbub of talk, Mistress Abigail Hill turns to her
brother:
"By the looks
of you Jack, it would seem the army had only little men to outfit
afore you arrived."
Jack examines
his sleeves and lifts one foot, then the other to confirm what he
already knows but is too ashamed to admit. He even pulls his collar
forward where there is a long gap, for a missing shirt, then says
in self mocking tone:
"Ain't you
sharp, sis! Lucky for me, nobody else has noticed, but in peacetime
the army has little money to spend on new uniforms, excepting
pain and oaths. Harry was distracted and Sarah kicked out at him.
At the same time, Abigail snatched up the pistol Dick had laid
d own earlier, shouting
to Harry:
"Let her go!
Or I'll shoot you." She had raced towards the front to threaten
him. "Take his gun!" Abigail commanded Sarah who snatched at the
weapon stuffed into his belt.
"Take your horses and go." She ordered
them and Dick nursing a bruised arm, gave them a wide berth as he,
with difficulty, tried to unhitch his horse from the wheel. He
shouted to his mate:
"Help me, 'arry!"
Then they were
gone.
As the sound of galloping hooves
disappeared, Sarah and Abigail rushed into each other's arms until
they heard Tom's voice. "They're coming back, listen."
All stopped
and listened and indeed they could hear a horse coming nearer. Mrs
Lowther screams and shouts: "Rescue! Rescue!"
Tom says:
"Hush! There's just one horse. It''s from down the hill. It's
someone on their own."
Suddenly Sarah gives a whoop of joy, and
shouts: "It's his lordship. I know it." Then screaming excitedly
forgetting she is Lady Churchill, she dances and shouts: "It's my
John. It 's my John!"
Then more soberly:
"Heaven be
praised. It's his lordship come to our rescue."
But Tom calls
to her from his seat:
“Did you say
rescue, ma'am. We be already rescued," and focussing upon Abigail,
adds: "and she be the one who rescued us."
But Abigail
has collapsed against the wheel, exhausted, to be joined by Sarah,
who said to her: "I shall never forget this cos. Never, never,
never."
The galloping is nearer and they can
clearly hear a labouring horse as he is spurred up the incline,
then Sarah looking down the hill, waves at the approaching horseman
and to everyone's great delight, the horseman stands in his
stirrups and waves back. Even from a distance, all can see that
it is indeed Sarah's
husband, the Earl of Marlborough, Lord Churchill, catching up with
them.
Chapter 3
In the throng
of people surrounding the precincts of St James Palace there is
good humour as people jostle to get near the front and a hubbub of
neighbourliness pervades the gathering even when a single trumpet
blast is heard and the general background chatter sinks to a murmur
drowned by the succeeding fanfare as six royal trumpeters in bright
red, resplendent uniforms blast out their message and when the last
notes die away, the murmur is hushed and absolute silence
reigns.
A single
marching herald is seen to approach a dais upon which is a rostrum
and, from a flagpole flutters a Union flag in the gentle breeze on
this Sunday at four of the hour, on the afternoon of March 8th, in
1702. The herald declaims the age-old proclamation, and two people
in particular exchange glances as they listen to him shout:
"Be it known
unto all that our late sovereign and liege lord, King William, the
third of that name, is deceased - God rest his soul - and that Anne
of the royal house of Stuart has succeeded to the throne of our
several kingdoms of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. God save
the Queen! May the Queen live for ever!
For moments
there is stillness then applause as people clap their hands, they
shout, 'God save good Queen Anne' or simply hurrah, and more
hurrahs resound among the multitude. The herald steps down and the
crowd realise the little ceremony is over and start to move talking
all the while to their neighbours, and confident in the resumption
of a general hubbub of talk, Mistress Abigail Hill turns to her
brother:
"By the looks
of you Jack, it would seem the army had only little men to outfit
afore you arrived."
Jack examines
his sleeves and lifts one foot, then the other to confirm what he
already knows but is too ashamed to admit. He even pulls his collar
forward where there is a long gap, for a missing shirt, then says
in self mocking tone:
"Ain't you
sharp, sis! Lucky for me, nobody else has noticed, but in peacetime
the army has little money to spend on new uniforms, excepting
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