Third Day on the March

Waldegrave slid from the horse's back and saluted Vickery. He saw one of the riflemen had already stepped out of the ranks to join his captain, and smirked inwardly.

"Captain Vickery," he said and nodded and then "Lieutenant Waldegrave, we met in the mess the other night?" Sharpe had been absent that night, which had improved the company at least. Vickery was at least acceptable. "I believe this woman is with your Company, unofficially. I am investigating what I believe to be theft of a valuable item."

Meanwhile, Annie Lawson was having second thoughts, balking at the idea of being any sort of official witness and taking offense at being escorted like a prisoner.

"Oh shut up, Annie," Maggie whispered. "You and your big mouth."



[off to work - bye! save my place!]

Vickery glanced between the pair of them. "All right, you two. I'm sure there's a good explanation for whatever's happened, but could someone tell me what has happened?"

It was Cotton who took a breath to start. "I was.. I was looking for your boatcloak, like you'd asked, sir, and found a gentleman's pocket watch tucked in with your stuff. And it wasn't yours; you'm wearing yours, sir."

Waldegrave hesitated. There were reasons why one officer might have another's watch - the man could be dead, or have lost it at cards, or even have given it to a friend for safe keeping. A good thng that he had brought the women here rather than to his lordship, if that might be the case. But the guilty look on the Rifleman's face convinced him that checking with Captain Vickery was a mere formality.

"This watch?" he said, producing it. "It is inscribed, Sir. As you can see. Do you know it?" He held it out to the Rifles Officer.

And with the interference of the redcoat officer, it had gone from being a simple Company matter to something bigger. And therefore something worse. Just how much worse, Vickery didn't yet know.

"Yes, I know it, Lieutenant."

He turned to Cotton. "Just how did Captain Padstowe's watch get into my things, Cotton?"

And then he recalled Captain Padstowe's own words: Keep a good watch on the officers' baggage... may attempt to frame him for theft...

"Just tell me you didn't take it."

The Rifleman shook his head mutely, apparently unable to trust himself to speak.

They had been warned, the officers of the 62nd, that internal discipline matters were for the Rifles officers to sort out. But this was beyond internal discipline now. Waldegrave did not show his satisfaction, but said to the Captain: "The watch was in the possession of the woman, so they are in it together. His story is untrue, I take it - it was not in your baggage, given to you, perhaps." The man had stolen it, for sure, or the woman had, but - had they stolen it from Vickery, or from the unknown J M Padstowe?

Maggie burst out with her explanation. If Cotton couldn't trust himself to speak, she couldn't trust the officers while she was silent. "He didn't steal it! Neither did I. It's not his fault. Captain Vickery, sir, he wanted to tell you earlier but didn't get a chance so I was just holding it for safekeeping and - I'm sorry, Gable!"

Waldegrave pointedly ignored her. It was, he thought, a simple case, and the pair had already admitted to all the points that would prove it. Not that he actually wanted the man flogged - he had nothing against him personally - but discipline had to be retained. And if the woman were whipped, and sent away, as ought to happen, that too would show that there were standards of behaviour which even camp-followers would be forced to adhere to.

Cotton looked at Maggie, trying to reassure her. It was just bad luck, plain and simple, that he hadn't been able to tell Captain Vickery earlier, and of course now it would look like he was making excuses or something. Well, it would to the Lieutenant of the 62nd, even if the Captain believed him.

And the Captain looked like he wanted to believe him. "What happened then, Cotton?" he asked.

Cotton took a breath, trying to ignore the redcoat officer and focus on his own company commander.

"Like I said, sir, I went to get your boatcloak and found that watch in your baggage as well. I was going to leave it there, where it'd be safe, and tell you about it later, only we thought that if someone had put it there, they might take it away again, so Maggie said she'd look after it while I told you, sir. Dunno what happened after that, though."

Though whatever had happened was down to Annie Lawson. He sent a sour look at her. He'd never liked her much anyway, and liked her even less now.

"As clear an admission of theft as you are likely to hear," Waldegrave said.

"It sounds to me more like a simple case of bad luck and bad judgement," Vickery said, hating the whole mess. He knew he couldn't be seen to go easy on Cotton, one of his own Riflemen - his own batman, in fact - because Lieutenant Waldegrave and the other 62nd officers would then accuse him of having double standards where the Rifles were concerned.

"It's not theft," Maggie exclaimed. "But I think someone else stole it and hid it in your bag, sir, and I heard his voice last night, someone in the baggage in the middle of the night." Bad luck, he'd said - that was for certain. But bad judgment - that was all her fault. Stupid, stupid woman.

Which was what Vickery had suspected, especially remembering Padstowe's warning. The redcoat captain couldn't have had any idea of the irony that it would be his own watch used to frame Cotton, though.

"And why is Annie Lawford here?" he asked. "As accuser?" He wondered if it was simply rivalry between the two women that had led to all this, and whether Annie had realised that it would lead to Cotton's getting into trouble as well.

Annie looked embarrassed now. "Annie Lawson, sir. I found the watch in Maggie's pocket, sir," she said quietly, not looking up to meet his eye.

Vickery raised an eyebrow. "And immediately concluded she must have stolen it? I would advise her to choose her friends more wisely in future, if their first thought of her is so bad as to accuse her of theft."

Maggie smirked and Annie blushed. "Well, I was just - I never meant..." She paused, and then said petulantly, "She has my shawl and I wanted to get it back."

Maggie was about to deny it, but now was not the place or time. These officers didn't want to hear a couple of women squabbling over a shawl.

"I brought Lawford because she can confirm that Evans had it in her pocket. She may have other evidence. Evans lied to me about her possession of the watch, and what she intended to do with it." He looked at the two women. "I know one can expect little else from people of her class, but it does throw doubt on the story she and your servant are now telling."

"Only because I knew you'd jump to your own conclusion, like she did!" Maggie retorted, still cursing her own stupidity.

"Silence!" Waldegrave yapped at Evans, and then turned back to the officer. "It is of course your decision, sir, but it seems to me that however the watch came to be in your bag, an honest servant would not have removed it. Or if he did, he would have taken it to you, not passed it to his woman. Clearly she was going to sell it for him."

He looked down at the riding crop in his hands. "If he was one of my men, I'd ensure that he was punished. Sir."

Cotton was still standing there mutely, like a good soldier, but there was no way Maggie was going to let the lieutenant go unanswered. "I was not! I said I was going to show it to an officer, didn't I? He didn't have time to show the captain right away, and I was worried the thief would come back to take it, the voice I heard--"

Arguing like this was going to get them nowhere. What was clear was that the watch had been stolen, though Vickery doubted whether either Cotton or Maggie had had a hand in the theft.

And if Maggie had lied about it, it just cast further doubts on the whole affair. No doubt she'd had the best of intentions, but it had only served to muddy the waters.

"I can assure you that I do not condone theft, Lieutenant," Vickery answered. "I also would hope that you would not condemn an innocent party simply because of circumstances being against them."

That sounded a little bit hopeful at least. Maggie looked across at Cotton, but he was staring straight ahead and didn't meet her eye.

Cotton was content to be ignored for the moment; he'd be remembered far too soon for comfort, considering that whatever happened he was likely to get some sort of punishment. Even if it was simply extra drill or the like, just because Captain Vickery couldn't afford not to give him something. He had to prove that it wasn't one rule for the Rifles and one for the redcoats, after all.

He just wished he'd left the bloody thing right where it was, though he couldn't blame Maggie. No, he pinned the blame squarely on whoever had set him up... and Annie Lawson, for not minding her own business and being so quick to accuse someone else of thieving what wasn't theirs.

Waldegrave stared at the Captain. "I see. He is innocent because he is a Rifleman, is that it? As for her, she was caught red-handed in possession of a valuable item. With no reasonable explanation."

"I did not say he was innocent, Lieutenant. Nor did I say that he was guilty of anything more than a severe lapse of judgement." He would not say that it was his opinion that Waldegrave himself had committed such a lapse and had leapt to conclusions without hearing all the evidence, though that was plain from the expression on his face.

"As for Maggie Evans, her story agrees with Cotton's. And you must agree that they have not had the opportunity to collude together since you brought this matter to my attention. Both of the accused parties - and the principal witness against them - belong to the 60th. I take it that you witnessed nothing more than a squabble between two camp followers, and therefore your further presence is not needed here. As they are on the strength of my Company, I will deal with them. Thank you, Lieutenant."