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.Short of fighting the woman off and taking her chances at running the gauntlet of soldiers to escape by the main gate, Charlotte had no choice but to go along quietly to the Delacortes’ quarters.“My husband won’t be sleeping here tonight, Miss Buckland.He’s had a bad time of it today and the surgeon thinks he should spend the night in the infirmary.So it will be just us girls.”“How exciting,” Charlotte muttered.She wasn’t paying much attention to Annabelle’s words; she was too busy scanning the post to try to spot the guardhouse.There it was—across the compound, tucked in behind the stables.Annabelle took her key out and fumbled at the lock.“No more unlocked doors around here! Not after what happened this afternoon.The very thought still makes me feel faint.Why, my husband could have been killed by those thieves!”“I thought you said nothing was stolen,” Charlotte said.“Oh… well, that’s right.But still, they broke into my house!”“Not if the door was unlocked.”“Just never you mind!” Annabelle cried in an exasperated tone.“I’m still going to take extra precautions from now on.What if that one they arrested broke out during the night and burst in on us—two defenseless women all alone?”“Don’t I wish!” Charlotte said under her breath.“Well, here we are, my dear.It’s not much, but it’s home.And I want you to consider it your home until we can contact your family and make other arrangements.”Charlotte came into the living room but remained very near the door, as if she meant to take flight at any moment.“Mrs.Delacorte,” she said quietly, “I know you’re only trying to be hospitable, but I really won’t be here that long.I’m about to be married.”“Oh, I know,” Annabelle said, beaming.“Major Krantz told me all about it while you were in with the colonel, and I’m so happy for both of you.I think it’s just the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard—you two being separated and then finding each other again way out here.”“We weren’t separated.I ran away.I didn’t want to marry him then, and I certainly don’t plan to now.I am going to marry Prince Mateo.”Annabelle took a step back and put a hand over her heart.“You can’t mean that wild heathen you performed with in the ring! Why, my dear, he’s no more civilized than a red Indian! You come from a fine old Southern family with high standards, traditions, a heritage going back to the Mayflower! Major Krantz told me all about Fairview when he dined with us one evening.Do you really think you could take that savage with the gold rings in his ears back to Kentucky to meet your dear mother? Oh, it’s too outlandish even to consider!”Charlotte saw that she was getting nowhere convincing Annabelle Delacorte of her intentions, so she dropped the subject.The other woman was surveying her now.“Hmm, I think the first thing we’d better do is get you some decent clothes.”Charlotte spread her cape wide and looked down at herself.She didn’t think she looked indecent.“Oh, please, no!” Annabelle cried, covering her eyes.“I don’t want to see.The feminine form should at all times be covered and protected, not exhibited in such a vulgar, unnatural manner.Those Gypsies are tasteless heathens to make you display yourself so.”“Mrs.Delacorte, the Gypsy woman who made this costume is neither tasteless nor a heathen.Tamara is one of the most loving, understanding women I’ve ever met.My mother could take lessons from her!”“Charlotte, shame on you! You can’t mean that.”“No, probably not.My mother is too stubborn to learn anything worth knowing!”Annabelle patted Charlotte’s shoulders.“You’re just tired and grumpy after all you’ve been through, dear.You’ll feel better once you’ve cleaned up and changed.I’ll go find something for you to put on.”“I had clothes,” she called after her hostess.“Winston Krantz took them when he searched the stable for your husband’s murderer.Can’t I have those back now?”Annabelle leaned her head out of the bedroom door, an apologetic look on her face.“Oh, I am sorry, dear, but those had to be burned.”“Burned?”“Major Krantz’s idea.He was afraid they might be… infested.”Charlotte narrowed her brown eyes and took a step toward the woman.“What are you talking about?”Annabelle glanced this way and that as if afraid someone might overhear.She looked most uncomfortable.“Oh, you know how unclean those Gypsies are, Charlotte.They never bathe or change clothes.The major only wanted to guard against their lice spreading about the post.”Charlotte exploded.“Lice? Those were my best clothes’.Are you saying you think I might have bugs?”“Well, of course you don’t, my dear.But those others… We can’t be too careful, now, can we?”Charlotte thought of the icy water in the stream and the sounds of women laughing and singing as they bathed every morning.She vowed to get even with this petty gajo woman and all like her.Suppressing a smirk, Charlotte reached her hand up to her head and scratched vigorously.Annabelle Delacorte paled.“Oh, dear me! I’d better heat some bathwater immediately!” She left Charlotte scratching and scurried into the kitchen to fire up the old black cookstove.A dozen armed soldiers shoved, poked, and prodded Mateo to the guardhouse.He considered putting up a fight, but that would have been madness.They all had their guns trained on him, and he guessed correctly that a few of them would have cherished his scalp as a trophy.So he went along quietly, not giving one of them the chance to act the hero.But once he was inside the guardhouse, a scheme began to form in his mind.The sergeant on duty had been drinking—not heavily, just enough to make him drowsy and less than interested in his new prisoner.Streaming curses across the room, the jailer hustled Mateo into a cell.Before he could lock the door, Mateo said, “You might as well leave it open.The others will be coming for me soon.”The tall, rangy man squinted at him, seeming to sober up in an instant.“Huh? What’d you say?”“My people will be here to collect me from your jail anytime now.”“Well, by damn, I don’t reckon they’ll get you, mister!”Mateo, still in his scarlet and gold tights, lounged against the back wall, crossing his arms over his broad bare chest, and laughed.“Oh, you don’t know my men! Nothing can stop them.I’ll be free before dawn.”“Like hell you will! I got my rifle right here and enough ammo to cut down a whole tribe of redskins.Ain’t no mangy pack of Gypsies getting in my jail or even near it.” The soldier was shouting now.“I didn’t mean to alarm you,” Mateo said quietly.“I shouldn’t even have mentioned it.At any rate, you won’t know when it happens.The Rom come on silent feet.Barred gates and locked doors mean nothing to them.One moment you will be sleeping in your chair—snoring, perhaps, and dreaming.The next moment your dreams will vanish, because your throat will be cut from ear to ear.”Smiling broadly, Mateo drew a finger across his own throat while making a slitting sound
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