The Rifles went down one day. The Grays went down the next. The day after my husband came in, looking very pale and quiet.
“Dan,” I said, “I know what it is.”
“The cavalry are ordered to Norfolk,” he said in a low voice. “It’s only a few days’ parting, little wife. I don’t think there will be any fighting. Be brave, my darling.”
I had thrown myself into his arms with a great cry.
“I can’t, Dan! I can’t let you go!”
He did not speak. He only held me close to his breast.
“Mother and Milicent are gone,” I cried, “and I can’t let you leave me to go and be killed! I couldn’t let you go if they were here.”
There was silence for a little while, then he said:
“I belong to you, little wife—I leave it to you what I shall do. Shall I stay behind, a traitor and a coward? Or shall I go with my company and do my duty?”
I couldn’t speak for tears. I felt how hard his heart beat against mine.