Chapter Sixteen
Trentham, Warrington, Euxton, Garstang, Carnforth, Kendal.
The towns were becoming an endless parade of colorless, shaggy villages without much difference between one to the next.
Seventeen days on the road had left Diamantha with a different perspective about England in general.
It was a brutal and unfriendly place for the most part.
The people were ignorant and cold, or they were starving, or they were trying to kill each other.
England, as a whole, was nothing like her beloved Corfe, which seemed to be a heavenly little enclave in this country that appeared mostly full of sorrow and strife.
This journey, so far, had opened her eyes to a lot of things, and not all of it good.
They were north of Kendal this day, heading for the major city of Carlisle and the Scot border.
Even though it was late November, the weather was surprisingly mild and the sun was bright overhead.
It as such good weather, in fact, that Sophie had been allowed to ride General with the faithful Merlin walking alongside her.
She had ridden the pony most of the day.
Diamantha didn’t feel much like riding her mare so she sat on the wagon bench beside the quartermaster as he drove the wagon along the road, soaking up the sunshine. It was a glorious day.
The land this far north was a deep and rich green as they moved through the wide, rolling hills and heavy foliage that comprised Cumbria.
There were birds all about and on more than one occasion they had sighted fallow deer.
A few of the foot soldiers had the bright idea to hunt a mother and her two fawns, but Cortez called them off because he didn’t want to upset Sophie, who had full view of the white-tailed fawns.
When she turned to Merlin and asked for one, he wisely told her to ask Cortez, who had spent about an hour trying to explain to her why she couldn’t have one.
Diamantha was within earshot, and she grinned the entire time.
Since leaving Coven, the relationship between the two had been quite different.
They were more relaxed with each other and Diamantha had felt much more trusting in the man.
Beneath the arrogance, the seriousness, and the resolute behavior that had comprised the man, she was coming to discover he was very humorous and very witty.
Moreover, he had defended her staunchly to his father, actions which told her he was indeed a sincere and honorable man.
He was polite, humorous, kind, and wildly protective of her and Sophie, all qualities of a truly respectable man.
Every day saw her heart belong to him just a little bit more.
Even now, as he tried to explain to Sophie why she couldn’t have a fawn, it was a very sweet and funny conversation.
Sophie simply didn’t understand why she couldn’t have the little deer and Cortez did his best to give her the reasons why it was not a good idea.
As rational as he sounded, he was losing ground against a three-year-old.
Finally, Diamantha stepped in to save him.
She climbed off the moving wagon and went to walk beside her daughter, taking General’s lead from Merlin.
When the weather had been good along their journey, Diamantha had tried to walk some of the way simply because she felt better when she did.
Riding all of the time cramped her legs up and walking made her feel much better on the whole.
Sometimes she made Sophie walk, too, but that usually resulted in them lagging behind because her daughter had to stop every few feet to pick any flowers that might be popping up this late in the season.
“Sophie, stop begging for a fawn,” she told her daughter. “Cortez has told you that the little deer needs to stay with his mother. You have several pets already, you do not need more.”
Sophie was serious with her mother. “But I can be his mama,” she told Diamantha. “I can feed him and put him to bed.”
Diamantha shook her head. “You do not need another pet,” she reiterated. “In fact, when we stop for the night, we must clean your pet cage. The animals need fresh grass and bedding.”
Sophie was never much interested in cleaning out her pet cage, so she turned her attention to the doe and fawns that were not far off in the distance.
Diamantha, seeing that her conversation with her child was at an end, turned to look at Cortez to make sure he hadn’t suffered too much in the losing battle against Sophie.
Truth be told, she simply wanted to steal a glance at him.
She was doing that quite a bit these days, watching him when his attention was elsewhere.
She found it fascinating to simply watch the way he moved.
This time, however, he was looking at her rather dreamily and when their gazes locked, he smiled sweetly.
Diamantha returned the smile without hesitation.
The warmth and attraction that had developed between them had never been instant.
It had taken time to cultivate, but now it seemed to be at the forefront of everything between them, especially since the incident with his father. Cortez dipped his head politely at her.
“My lady,” he greeted happily. “You are looking particularly lovely today.”
Diamantha’s smile turned modest as she looked down at herself. “I have been wearing this same dress since we left Corfe,” she said, brushing at the dusty blue wool. “How can you possibly say I am lovely?”
He laughed knowingly. “Because you are,” he assured her, his focus moving to the road ahead. “We will stop for the night in a little while. There is a town not far ahead. Can you last a little while longer?”
Diamantha nodded, shading her eyes against the sun as she looked up into the sky. “Of course,” she said. “It is such a lovely day. I wish all of our travel days had been like this.”
Cortez lifted his eyebrows in agreement. As the group trudged along the somewhat rocky and uneven road, Cortez began to hum in his smooth baritone. Diamantha had heard him hum before as they were traveling, more than likely to stave off boredom, and he had quite a beautiful voice.
“What is that song you are singing?” she asked. “I have heard you hum it before.”
Cortez turned to look at her, a grin on his lips as he began to sing the words to the song:
“A young man came to Tilly Nodden,
His heart so full and pure.
Upon the step of Tilly Nodden,
His wants would find no cure.”
It was a sweet little song, delivered in his beautiful baritone, but the moment he hit the chorus, the entire troop chimed in and the song went from a delightful tune to a rather bawdy song that was better suited to a tavern.
Diamantha’s smile fled as she looked around her, at every man singing at the top of their lungs.
“Aye! Tilly, Tilly, my goddess near,
Can ye spare me a glance from those eyes?
My Tilly, sweet Tilly, be my lover so dear,
I’m a-wantin’ a slap of those thighs!”
Half of the men burst out laughing as others started another verse on the song.
Diamantha was rather shocked at first but she had to admit the words were very humorous and they sang it with great exaggeration.
She started to laugh because the men were, because Cortez was, and it really was rather naughty.
Even Sophie started giggling loudly, only because everyone else was and she didn’t want to be left out. She was having a fine time.
Cortez climbed off his charger and turned the reins over to the nearest soldier.
He made his way to Diamantha, who was now grinning at her silly daughter, and took General’s lead out of her hand.
As he passed it over to Merlin, walking behind the pony, he took his wife in his arms as if to dance with her.
He was trying to appear romantic but it ended up coming off as comical as he twirled her about even as they walked.
His rich voice filled the air once more.
“Then our young man, his life less grand,
Since the day he met our Tilly.
His love for her nearly drove him daft,
When he discovered not a puss, but a shaft.”
The men began to laugh uproariously as Diamantha, realizing what he meant, tried to spank him.
Cortez had her tightly and, as she squealed with both delight and outrage, took her on a wild galloping dance up to the front of the column and then back again, straight to the wagon.
All the while, the men were singing the chorus of Tilly Nodden, thinking it rather funny that Cortez had let his guard down.
He didn’t usually do that, but they were all coming to see that Lady Diamantha was bringing out a side of Cortez that no one really knew existed.
He was calm with her, exceedingly considerate, and it was evident to all of them just how much he adored her and the little girl.
To be truthful, not even those closest to him knew he was capable of it. It was a fine thing to see, indeed.
As Cortez came to a halt at the wagon, grinning at his giggling, breathless wife, Drake, who had been at the head of the column watching all of the fun, reined his charger back to Cortez.
“My lord,” he addressed him. “Penrith is just over the ridge. Do you want me to ride ahead and secure lodgings or do you want to camp outside of town?”
Cortez looked at Diamantha, thinking that she might like a roof over her head tonight. He turned back to Drake.
“Lodgings,” he said. “For my wife and I, for Lady Sophie, and rooms for the knights. The men can sleep in the livery or they can camp. It is their choice, but if we find a tavern big enough, order a meal for everyone.”
“The foot soldiers, too?”
“Aye.”
It was rare when Cortez wanted to pay outright for a cooked meal for all of his men, so Drake nodded shortly and was gone, informing James and Oliver what Cortez had just told him. When Drake and James took off together towards Penrith, Cortez took Diamantha’s hand and kissed it gently.