Page 251 of The Armor of Light

The band struck up a jolly tune in three-four time, and Elsie said: ‘I know you like dancing, but how do you feel about the waltz?’

‘I think I can manage it.’

Elsie put her glass down on a table and said: ‘Then let’s give it a try.’

Amos drained his glass and got rid of it, then took her in his arms. They waltzed onto the dance floor.

Elsie’s waist was warm under his right hand. How pleasant it was, he thought, to dance with a woman he liked so much.

He gently eased her a little closer.

*

When the Wellington party arrived there was a traffic jam outside the Richmond residence. Wellington was impatient and jumped out of the carriage fifty yards from the gate. Walking along with the group, Kit was startled to see, among the crowd, the square body and round face of Sal, his mother.

He was with the duke, and for one shameful moment he pretended he had not seen her. Then the duke happened to glance at him, and he thought how pleased Sal would be if he acknowledged her, so he stepped away from the party, went up to her, and threw his arms around her.

‘Well, well,’ she said, beaming with pleasure. ‘My little Kit, with the duke of Wellington. I never thought I’d see the like.’

‘How are you, Ma? And Jarge?’

‘We’re all right. He’s at the camp. I’ve come here to buy a few things. You’d better go back to your duke.’

Remembering that he was in uniform, he bowed formally, and they returned to the party.

Wellington did not miss much, and he had seen what happened. ‘Who was that?’

‘My mother, sir,’ said Kit.

‘Good lord,’ said Wellington.

Kit was offended. He said: ‘The only person in the world I admire more than you, sir.’

For a moment the duke was not sure how to take that remark. It might have been seen as insolent. But then he smiled and nodded. ‘Good man,’ he said, and they all walked on.

The ball was in full swing, and the younger guests were waltzing enthusiastically. Kit felt bewildered. How could people dance when Bonaparte was on his way?

The duke’s arrival caused a stir. He was the most important person in Brussels and a hero for his victories at Vitoria and Toulouse. Everyone wanted to greet him and shake his hand.

Kit was hungry as well as scared. He looked longingly through the door to the supper room, but he had to stay close to the earl of Shiring in case he was needed. He would have to wait until the earl was hungry.

Wellington did not dance, but he walked around arm in arm with the pregnant Lady Frances Webster, rumoured to be his mistress. Although the revels continued, a constant stream of uniformed officers came in, marched across the ballroom, and murmured in the duke’s ear. He engaged each one in brief discussion and then sent them away with fresh orders.

He revisited the problem of the coal road and decided it was not enough to send Picton’s division to Mont St-Jean. He now directed the Dutch under Slender Billy to move to a crossroads called Quatre Bras, farther south on the coal road, to provide an earlier block to any French advance.

Between dances, when the band stopped playing, everyone could hear the sounds of marching feet and jingling harnesses from the street outside as more and more troops assembled.

Men from the quartermaster-general’s staff appeared and interrupted the dancing to give movement orders to the officers.The shocking news of the Prussian retreat from Charleroi spread anxiety around the ballroom. During a display of Scottish dancing by the Gordon Highlanders, men began to melt away, some obeying orders, others just guessing they must be needed.

Some of the farewells between young officers and girls were startlingly passionate, as couples realized they might never meet again.

The duke left at three o’clock in the morning and his aides could at last go to bed.

*

Kit and the earl were part of Wellington’s entourage when he set off at eight o’clock that morning, Friday 16 June.

They rode out of Brussels by the Porte de Namur and headed south on the coal road. The surface was cobbled for the benefit of wheeled vehicles, and on each side was a wide dirt track for riders. Coal dust from the wagons had blackened the mud. The road passed through woods on both sides.