Battlefields
Chapter 9
On the morning of the 14 th of September the battle of La Bisbal begun. The Spanish and the English forces closed in on the French Imperial forces led by Francois Xavier de Schwartz at La Bisbal, while the British Navy men attacked from the coast.
“This should be an easy victory” Dr. Murphy muttered in Elizabeth’s ear as they were directing the last efforts of setting up of the makeshift hospital just on the outskirts of La Bisbal. “Our troops way outnumber the French and they are better trained.”
“I know, but even one life lost is too much” Elizabeth sighed.
“In that I could not agree more with you my dear” the doctor nodded his agreement.
Soon the first casualties begun to be brought in. English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Germans alike. Elizabeth was very busy triaging the wounded but she was grateful that none of her friends were among them and that most of them were from the enemy side.
So far, the only English man more seriously wounded was a second-lieutenant who had been brought in even before the battle had begun. He claimed that his gun went off while he was cleaning it, but Dr. Murphy suspected that the wound was self-inflicted, most likely so that the coward would not have to face real battle. Elizabeth however could not believe that someone would do such a thing on purpose and she felt rather sorry for the poor officer who seemed to be in great pain.
Elizabeth’s heart nearly stopped when she saw Carlos and Agostinho carrying in an unconscious man.
“Not Ramon!” she cried before realizing that the man was wearing British regimentals.
“No” Agostinho panted. “It is the Coronel Ingl ê s 11 . He rode in front of his men when a score of toad-eaters charged towards them. He is badly wounded.”
Elizabeth looked with horror at the red spot that was growing wider by the second on Col. Fitzwilliam’s chest. “Take him to the surgery tent immediately and get Dr. Murphy to look at him. I shall be there momentarily” she instructed, calling out to Rose to take over for her in helping the man whose arm she was bandaging.
---$---
“Oh, Mr. Bennet! We are all ruined! Mr. Bingley left without proposing to my dearest Jane! We shall all be thrown in the hedgerows before you are cold in your grave and it is all Lizzy’s fault” Mrs. Bennet wailed as they all sat around the breakfast table.
“Mr. Bingley left because of you Mama” Jane’s quiet voice had the effect of a thunder around the table.
“What a nonsense!” Mrs. Bennet shrieked as soon as she could find her voice again, shocked at her daughter’s accusation. “Why would you say such a preposterous thing?”
“Because it is the truth” Mary said, looking her mother straight into the eyes.
“Well, I never…”
“Let me guess, Mrs. Bennet” Mr. Bennet looked up at his wife with an amused look. “You crowed to everybody who would listen that Mr. Bingley was pretty much in the bag.”
“Well yes, but it was nothing but the truth!” the matron sniffed fanning herself with her handkerchief.
“Well, obviously it was noting even close to the truth” Mr. Bennet’s lips curled into a sneer. “Your boasting made Mr. Bingley doubt Jane’s true feelings. He knew that should he offer for her, he will never know whether Jane accepted him out of her own regard for the man or because of your demands for her to entrap a rich husband, regardless of what her own feelings were. So he did what any sensible man would do. He fled.”
“I only did what any mother would do…”
“Yes, my dear. You did what any blatantly mercenary mother would do. Do not take it too much to heart my dear. You are not the first and certainly not the last excessively eager mother to chase away a potential suitor by her overtly displayed greed and scheming. And I am absolutely sure that over the next few years you will have many more occasions to boast of similar achievements. However, I must applaud Mr. Bingley’s discernment in recognizing it and quitting the field. It shows some greatness of mind, I suppose.”
Only Mary noticed the tear sliding down Jane’s cheek and she sympathetically squeezed her sister’s hand under the table.
---$---
“I will have to remove the bullet first” Dr. Murphy was bent over the unconscious body of Col. Fitzwilliam. “Have the forceps cleaned and make sure you douse them liberally with brandy. Have plenty of clean rags at hand. I just hope that the bullet did not hit any vital organs. Fortunately the bayonet wound on his thigh is superficial.”
Very pale, Elizabeth only nodded and set about to fulfil her orders. She liked the handsome and jovial Colonel and she was praying that he will recover.
“Come and help me cut off his coat” the doctor ordered sharply, obviously very concerned by the man’s condition.
Elizabeth wordlessly helped removing the blood soaked coat and shirt. The bullet entered just below the Colonel’s left shoulder, dangerously close to his heart.
“The bullet has hit a high rib which is fractured but it thankfully stopped the bullet from going farther. We shall have him in top-shape in no time” the good doctor smiled at Elizabeth with obvious relief.
“Yes sir” Elizabeth gave a big sigh, applying herself to carefully cleaning the bayonet wound on the Colonel’s right thigh while Murphy was tending to the bullet wound.
“… Darcy…” The Colonel muttered. “…Georgie… take care of her… Darce…”
“He is talking of his cousins” Dr. Murphy offered frowning, while stitching up the wound he had just thoroughly cleaned after removing the bullet. “Fitzwilliam Darcy and his sister, Miss Georgiana Darcy are Fitzwilliam’s cousins, the nephew and niece of Fitzwilliam’s father the Earl of Matlock. As far as I know, Darcy and Fitzwilliam share the guardianship of Miss Darcy.”
“Is she an orphan then?”
“Yes. Her mother died in childbirth when Miss Darcy was born. The late Mr. Darcy died about four years ago.”
“How very sad” Elizabeth sighed with sympathy. “Do you know them?”
“I know Darcy and Fitzwilliam from university. We’ve been at Cambridge together. Miss Darcy is not yet out in society. She is much younger than her brother and cousin” Murphy muttered as he was putting in the last stitches.
---$---
“Where is my cousin? I demand to see him!” an imperious voice came from the front of the hospital tent, effectively disrupting the peaceful slumber of the convalescing wounded.
“Sir!” a whirlwind of skirts and flashing dark eyes met the intruder at the entrance of the tent. “Please step outside and keep your voice down. You are disturbing the sleep of the patients.”
“I shall certainly not” the haughty gentleman replied disdainfully. “I am here to collect my cousin, Col. Fitzwilliam. We shall be on our way directly.”
“You shall do no such thing, unless you have a very good reason to wish for your cousin’s death” the little amazon in front of Darcy put her hands on her hips glaring at him defiantly, bolts of lightning shooting from her eyes.
“I have no time for this” he said dismissively trying to push past the nurse. “The tide will be soon right for our departure. I need to get Fitzwilliam on board before…”
“Were you not listening to what I was just telling you or are you so conceited and stupid that you think yourself above the laws of nature and dismiss medicine altogether?” the little fireball stomped her foot. “Col. Fitzwilliam cannot be moved yet. He is healing well but a journey at this time would be the death of him. Who do you think you are to barge in here and bark out orders that are not yours to issue in the first place? You shall leave right now sir and do not let me catch you anywhere near the hospital tent again or I shall…”
“Elizabeth” Dr. Murphy laughed putting a calming hand on her shoulder. “Let him live. He is really a good chap beneath that arrogant facade which he so loves to put on.”
“Murphy?” Darcy turned towards his former schoolmate with relief.
“Darcy” Dr. Murphy shook his friend’s hand. “Glad you came. Fitzwilliam is doing well, not in small measure due to our Nurse Spitfire here, but indeed it would be a mistake to try to move him just yet.”
Darcy looked at the petite woman standing next to his friend and he had to stifle a chuckle at the way she seemed to breathe fire whenever she looked his way. “My apologies Madam, I did not mean to anger you. You see, my cousin’s welfare is of utmost importance to me.”
“In that at least we are in agreement, sir” she said, her eyes still not having lost their fire. Darcy had to admit that she was a magnificent sight to behold in her righteous ire. She had very large dark, almost black eyes that just now looked like coals on fire, framed by lush, dark eyelashes. Her deep auburn hair seemed to have a life of its own as several curls escaped their pins and framed the perfect oval of her face. Her lips were now pressed into a thin line but while she had been berating him, Darcy could not help noticing how plump and enticing they were. Had he met her in a parlour in town, he might have been tempted to get to know her better, a thought which surprised him as ever since he entered society he carefully avoided showing interest in any particular young lady. However, she was but a nurse, a woman who chose to follow their troops to war, definitely not someone a man of his stature could consider, he thought with some regret. For all he knew, she might be the lover of one of the enlisted men or the daughter of a tradesman or even worse.
“Elizabeth, allow me to introduce to you Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley, Derbyshire. He is Col. Fitzwilliam’s cousin. Darcy, this is Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn, Hertfordshire. She is one of our nurses who decided to help us in this aberration.”
‘So she is not a tradesman’s daughter at least’ Darcy thought as he bowed stiffly to the hurricane who was still eyeing him with distrust.
11 English Col onel