Fate, The Relentless Hunter.

A prediction begins to have meaning.

When the servant arrived back at his residence after detouring through other streets and carefully observing that he was not being followed as he had been warned to be careful about, he immediately sought out his mistress and passed the coin on its ribbon into her hands, seeing how relieved she was. She sobbed, and clutched it to herself, suddenly overcome with emotion. He did not understand it. It was just a silver coin, although not like any he had seen before. She slumped into a chair, and breathed deeply in suppressed emotion as she pressed her hands clutching the coin, to her chest. “Thank you Arnold. Thank you. Her eyes were tightly closed. He could see that she was close to tears of relief.

As he placed one of the loaded pistols from his satchel on the hall table, he noticed other things about her too, now that he had time rather than scurrying off out of the house at her request when her anxiety had been more than she could bear. She had wanted to send him out at first light, but had given up any hope of recovering what she had lost. The feeling that had built from there, could not be long ignored however, and she had eventually sought him out and sent him off on what she was sure would be a fruitless errand. She had dressed carelessly, in some haste that morning, and though she always dressed well, and fashionably, she had missed doing up one of her buttons in her distraction, and there was a loose thread of cotton showing from the bottom of her sleeve. He knew that she would soon see all of that for herself, and correct it now that she could settle down once more.

She eventually found her voice again, and looked up at him. He was right about the tears. “Thank God you found it, Arnold. I had not expected that you would.” She had barely slept the night before worrying about having lost it and feeling that she might never see it again for all it was of only sentimental value, though more than that in her eyes. She had never spent a more restless night. She had been up from her bed, and about the house, unable to rest properly, even before first-light worrying about it, and would have gone out searching for it herself had she dared. Now, she had regained her color again and began to look the carefree young lady that was her usual state, and could smile again.

“Where was it? Where did you find it? I am surprised it might still be there in that neighborhood. Or did you have to purchase it back from someone who had already found it? I will repay you if you did.”

He was relieved to see the color come back into her cheeks again and to see some recovery to her former self. “No, Miss. That is the strange part of it, and an unusual coincidence. I got it from a military gentleman in uniform, who was riding through there at the same time that I was looking around; the same one that you encountered last night, from what he said about it all.”

She wondered if there had been anything coincidental about any of it. Too many strange things seemed to be happening for it to be simple coincidence, though she had to accept that for the moment.

“He remembered your carriage in some detail, and you and your grandfather. He also asked me what I was looking for, and when I described it, from your drawing, he produced it from his pocket and gave it to me. He was also looking in that same street for something else too, but I might be wrong.”

He could not have known how his next words would affect her as they did.

“He had a coin just like that one around his own neck, Miss.” He was concerned to see the surprised look on her face at hearing that, and she was suddenly pale once more.

It took her some moments to recover her wits. “I should have suspected that for myself.” Her feelings of the previous evening now began to make sense to her. She also began to wonder if there was more than simple coincidence about it happening just as it had. “He didn’t follow you did he?” She saw him shake his head. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, Miss. He seemed to be headed into the city. He had a servant with him.” A gentleman then.

She put her hand on his arm to stop him retreating off into the house. “Who was he? Describe him. What did you see? Did he identify himself? But of course, who else could it be?” She spoke more for her own satisfaction than that of her listener. “It must have been the same…” she hesitated to describe him as a gentleman after what she remembered him doing, “…the same officer who rescued us last night. I sensed something about him then, but I was not sure why, and I could not approach him without more reason than just ‘feeling’. It was not time.” She recollected her thoughts, and spoke to Arnold again. “He did not learn of me; of us, did he? You told him nothing?” She seemed anxious once more.

“No, Miss. He asked, and seemed almost ready to stop me returning until I did tell him, and he is not the kind of man I would like to be in any kind of disagreement with.” She had seen that for herself, first hand, the night before. There were two men nursing their wounds somewhere now, because of that; if both of them lived.

“However, I was mindful of your warning after that attack, and said nothing about you, but I did learn his name.” He opened his mouth intending to tell her all of it, still fresh in his mind; the man’s name and his direction, but found that he was suddenly struggling to remember it himself, though it had been clear in his own mind and ready to trip off his tongue just a few seconds earlier. He had finally to stop, and admit, with some stumbling awkwardness and embarrassment, that though the young man had told him his name and his address, he could not for the life of him remember either of them. It seemed unusual, for never in his life before had he ever forgotten a name or a direction so easily, nor one that he remembered thinking was a memorable and well-known name, having been in the newspapers of late, for those as was interested in what was going on in that war.

The young lady felt relieved. She smiled understandingly and put her hand on his arm. “Do not fret, Arnold, it may come to you later.” She knew it would not, but did not know how it might be that she knew that. There were strange things beginning to happen around her, but they were happening too soon. She, and that gentleman, were not supposed to meet for another two years.

What she also did know at that moment, was that they had something in common in their future. She needed to learn more now about this coin of her own, and the one that the soldier had, and the strange feeling she had when she had encountered that same man close by their carriage on the previous night. He had been almost close enough for her to reach out and to touch him, as she had felt an overpowering urge to do, resisting it only at the last minute. What had forced her back into that far corner of her carriage rather than to be closely seen by him, and not to politely thank him for his timely intervention—as she should have done, and as might have been expected from the woman he had served to rescue—was unknown to her. However, it had been a feeling she had been powerless to resist once it had over-ridden the first one.

She puzzled for a moment. “Are you sure that the one he had, was the same character of coin?”

“Yes, Miss. He showed me. It was exactly the same as your drawing of your own, except his had a hollow in it where a ball had hit it; a month ago he said, and almost went through it. But for his coin stopping that ball, he said, it would have gone through his heart. Strange how I remembered him saying that, but not the other of his name and all. Then when he gave me yours, I could see that they were the same in every detail.”

“Thank you, Arnold.” After the retainer had left her, she sat down to recover her thoughts, and cried at the sudden feeling of relief, and feeling her palpitations begin to subside. ‘So close and yet so far. And why do I feel this way about a complete stranger; someone I do not even know.’ Though she knew he was not that. She had known of him now for most of her life, but no details of him personally, other than that he was English, or where she might meet him or under what circumstances. All she had known was that they would meet under violent circumstances, but none of that was foretold to happen until she approached her twentieth year, and she was but eighteen now. None of it had meant anything to her until now, and it suddenly struck her that everything she had been told, might actually be true, though why things were happening earlier than foretold, seemed strange.

She was then able to take note of herself in the mirror on the other side of the hallway. She was shocked by what she saw. Her hair was unkempt; her face was puffy as though she had been crying all night and had not slept—both of which were true—and she had miss-done up her buttons on her pale blue dress. She tucked a loose thread out of sight, until she might see to it properly. She looked a wreck, compared with her usual fastidious self, with never a hair or anything out of place. She brushed her hair from her forehead and then re-did her buttons and went off to address her face and hair further, before she thought to do anything else.

After that, she went to find her grandfather and told him of what had just happened with the finding of that coin, as well as her suddenly strange and confusing feelings.

He turned as she entered the parlor. She noticed that he had also put a gun down upon the table. There were guns lying in some strange places, though that did not worry her. She knew about guns, and had been shown how to use them.

“Arnold told me that you got your medallion back.” He could see it back around her neck on its ribbon. “I was glad of that.”

“That is only part of it, Grandfather. What was even more strange, was that Arnold said that the military man he met, had not only picked up my coin in that street last night where I lost it, after we had left, but that he also said that that same gentleman had a coin about his own neck that was identical with this one.”

She saw the older man frown. “What was that you said?” He took her hand to comfort her, sensing that she was still upset and looked closely into her face. “What did you say about another coin like your own? Was Arnold sure about that?” There was a furrow still on his brow. He seemed as concerned to hear that, as she had been.

“Arnold saw it around his neck and was allowed to examine it too. He said that apart from damage to his, the two coins were identical.”

He sat back and expelled a long breath. “Too soon. Too soon. I wonder… could fate be so easily nudged aside?” His turbulent thoughts flowed quickly along, almost as though he were speaking to himself alone. “But why not? Did providence set us in his path last night, or did it stop us as it did, so that he must meet us and intervene as he did at just that place, and that time?” He seemed as confused as she had felt earlier. “No. It is all impossible. How could anything happen so precisely as that? As it did.” There was much he did not understand, but nor could he easily dismiss it as just ‘accidental’. Not after hearing about that other coin. “Yet if he had not arrived in that place as he did, who knows what might have happened to us?”

Her grandfather had not yet told her that he knew that what had happened last night had not been an attempted robbery. He had recognized the man who had briefly struggled with him on the carriage, but did not say anything of that to worry his granddaughter. It had been an attempted kidnapping. Of them both. He had shielded her from knowing any of that possibility for the last fifteen years they had been in London, and had best continue to do so. It were better if she knew none of that particular issue that lay far behind them. Best to keep it quiet as long as he could, and continue to shield her. The kidnapping would have succeeded too, but for the intervention of that soldier, and now it seemed that his presence had not been an accident. Not after he had learned that the soldier had a coin, a medallion, exactly like the one his granddaughter had lost, and that he, that same soldier of all people, had found it and returned it. It was much more than coincidental, him coming up on them as he had, but it was hard to believe anything other than coincidence.

He tried to turn the conversation back to the military gentleman who had saved them and away from the jumble of thoughts in his own mind. “That gentleman; the officer who saved us… I did not think anything of it at the time, but did you feel anything about him when he first rode up to us? For a brief moment in time there, I got the feeling that you had, the way you were suddenly so attentive to him, but then you pulled back into the carriage so that he did not see you after that initial interest. From what I saw, he was curious about you too, but I put it down to something else. Were the feelings that strong?”

“Yes they were.” She was adamant about that now, where she might not have been before. “I did not know why, then, but now I do. I believe it was to do with the coin that he also had. Was I that obvious, Grandfather? I thought I had kept myself out of sight?”

He nodded and smiled. “I thought you sensed something by the way you pulled back so quickly. I thought it might have something to do with you recognizing that horse of his, as I did.”

“I didn’t notice the horse until later, Sir. I wondered more about who he was. I had a strange feeling about him. I seemed to know him as though I had spent half my life with him and was struggling to put a name to him. He was not a stranger to me at all, and yet he was, to look at. It was not the same feeling I might have for a brother, if I had one; it was something stronger than that, and yet….” She shivered involuntarily, “I think I would not care to come to know him any better, or have him know about me, from what I saw happen.” Her memory was suddenly overlain by what she had recalled of the violence. “Just as well he did not learn who we are, or that we know any more of him. If he is the one to fulfill that prophecy, I had rather that it not go any further. It has already been shown wrong. We were not supposed to encounter each other for another two years.”

“I don’t think fate follows any hard and fast rules, my dear. Perhaps what happened last night occurred as it did to ensure that the greater prophecy might actually take place in two years time, as it should—whatever that may be. It may just be, that he was required to put it back on to its original course without knowing anything of it himself.” He held his head. “I can get a headache just trying to understand any of it. None of it seems rational to me, and yet I will not argue against it. Fate does some strange things with all of us. I should have been dead ten times over, and yet I still live. Why? What might be intended for me?”

He tore his mind from contemplating those strange considerations that he did not understand. “Did you see anything about his uniform?”

“No. Why would I notice that? I was busy trying to fight off a thug, to stop him from dragging me out of the carriage. Then after that, all I saw was a horse riding that man down, and then the flash of his saber, a scream, and then those ruffians were no longer there, and you and he were talking almost as though you were passing the time of day, and as if nothing had happened. I thought he had taken the man’s arm off and felt sickened by it all. By then I was striving to stay out of sight and not be seen by him. But he was not in any way concerned that he might have seriously injured two men and one of them seriously.” She still could not easily think with any approval about what had happened. “Is that what war does? Makes a man unfeeling and careless of taking life or inflicting grievous injury, that he can ignore it so easily?”

“Yes.” He nodded his head. “That is exactly what war does, at least for those who would care to survive it. Your sentiments as a gentlewoman do you great credit my dear, but they are misplaced. Save them for those who deserve them. They, did not.” She did not respond to the truth of that. “He was a Hussar, I think. At least that was his uniform. That of a sergeant. But he was not as he appeared.”

“How do you mean?” She was curious.

“You saw his horse as well as I did. Colonel Stephens’ horse. He would not have given that horse to just any soldier. He was well known to Stephens at least. That alone may let me trace more of him later, now that my curiosity has been piqued. I was surprised that I said nothing about it at the time, and alerted him to our friendship with the Colonel, though everything was happening so quickly. I would say that Stephens knew that man well. Very well.” He recalled something else. “Another thing; that young man was out of place to my mind in some way, but not for any task he may be required to do in the city where he might need to discourage interference and the wrong kind of attention. I would say that he was not in his usual uniform, but spoke well, and acted as one used to giving orders to sergeants. He was not one who would be caught indecisively and wondering what to do. Hussars of any rank do not generally have the reputation of standing about and waiting for direction. That kind do not survive for long; but then nor does the other. He was also recently in battle from the looks of his hands and the little I saw of his face and head. Recent injuries too, on his head, which is why he carried his hat behind him, and was not wearing it.” He laughed, but without humor. “I would not like to face him with that saber in his hand. Or even without it. I cannot think of anyone who might. Those three will remember this night for the rest of their lives, however they may turn out. One of them may not survive that blow to the head, though he did crawl away.”

She shivered herself at that thought. “Arnold said something similar about him when he was given that coin. He said that he was out of place and larger than life, and not to be easily denied. Perhaps he stole the horse.”

He shook his head and laughed again. He knew better. So did she upon a moment’s thought. “And do you think Khan would let him control him as easily as he did, if he had?” He braced his shoulders, as though to relieve a sudden discomfort. “You know that horse as well as I do. You are the only woman who might be able to ride him, and there was only one man I knew of until last night.” The words meant something to her.

“No. Khan wouldn’t would he?” She looked up at her grandfather, puzzled. “Khan would have killed a strange rider attempting to control him.”

“Indeed he would. So he is not just anybody, but someone well known to Colonel Stephens and well trusted, and known to Khan too. He handled him well upon such an early acquaintance, for Khan has not been out of England now for two years, and from what he said, I doubt that young man has been in it for more than just that one night in that same time. They must have been acquainted earlier, on the Continent. He was here on official business and must have met Stephens by accident at the army headquarters, before Stephens embarked. I wish I had learned his name now. He embarks himself, shortly if I heard correctly. There was more to him than we saw.” He looked thoughtful as he began to fit the small pieces of information together. “I may go to the docks, and learn who he really is. Make enquiries. And the horse…”

She gave utterance to her immediate thoughts as she reached hand out to his arm. Clearly, she had become agitated again. “No grandfather. You must not do that. You must not tempt fate or interfere with it like that. There are some things about this that we were not meant to know ahead of time, and one of them was to do with identifying and recognizing someone too soon and possibly throwing something off course.”

He saw it too. “No, I mustn’t.” He accepted that. “You are right. Best not tempt fate, as you say. Some things are best left alone, and that seems to be one of them. However, the temptation is there. No. We shall let him go his way in anonymity this time. We will meet him again, we both know that, though from what I now begin to believe with some conviction for the first time in my life, and with some trepidation for you, that the circumstances will not be any less violent around you.”

She looked at the older man and smiled. “So, from being skeptical of everything that transpired all of those years ago, as I was, we now suddenly have both become… more aware, and more believing?”

“It seems so. And I thought that they were just the ramblings of an old soothsaying Sybil, intent on furthering her own comfort.”

“Were they? Obviously not. Perhaps Mama was right. What happened last night begins to convince even me, that the little that I heard and was reluctant to believe, was all real. I have never felt like that before in my entire life. It must have been the proximity of that other coin, to mine. I never felt the loss of anything so keenly. I almost threw myself out of the carriage to retrieve it...’ she touched it on her neck, “…until I recollected myself and where I was. It was too soon for him to meet me in that way, as he could not have escaped doing. Somehow, I knew that. Yet without that harm to me, at his hands, if that is what is supposed to happen, we will not meet as we must, and it will not end as it should.” She mused for a moment and then spoke again. “I wonder why it must be that way? What harm must I face at his hands? I wonder how it will end.”

“Questions I cannot answer, my love, nor can you. Fate provides its own answers when it is good and ready to do so.” He smiled at her. “No point in dwelling on what we cannot know. We must let it unfold as it will. It seems that we shall have to wait and see. He has intervened once now, on our behalf, and to our benefit, and, it seems, outside of that prophecy. Though maybe not. I doubt we were told all of it. What comes next I wonder? Does he know any of this himself? His fate is probably as set as yours, but not so firmly set that it cannot see some adjustment, as last night showed.” He shook his head. “I no longer know what to believe. I understand too little of it myself. However, don’t forget that his fate sits in your hands too, if I understood things correctly. If one might believe any of it, then your fates are intertwined. It is not all one sided. You may be the one to injure him. Everything was vague enough to allow for that too. We will just have to let time run its course to find out.”

It also might never happen at all. Hussars rarely live beyond thirty, as Napoleon himself said, though their rescuer had been younger than that. In truth, they were lucky to survive a year in battle; if that. He could not avoid speaking of those awkward considerations, though there would be little comfort at those thoughts.

“Who knows? None of it might happen at all. He may be killed in that war. We may die ourselves from any number of causes. One thing I do know, however; I must find your mother’s letter and refresh my mind. It is time you saw it for yourself. You were not ready until now, though it tells precious little you do not already know. It is a pity she is not here herself to tell you, but they are all still trapped in St. Petersburg, Russia, and will be there until this damned adventure of Napoleon’s is brought down. It cannot be long now from what I hear, and after that experience in Russia with him losing so many of his men that winter. I shall write to your father in St. Petersburg and let him know about this. He should be told. Your mother too, but there is not much they can do about it where they are.”

He continued. “But we have made some progress have we not? At least we know that not only does he exist—our unknown benefactor—but that he has also survived so far, which I believe was not at all certain, and still isn’t, especially not in that devil-take-the-hindmost occupation of his.”

She let him lead her off towards the back of the house. “We can do nothing but wait and let it unfold as it will, my dear, but it would have been too early to have shown yourself to him. Even you sensed that in time.”

He paused in the hallway for a moment as he decided that there was no point in hiding what he knew of last night.

“On another point, and about that attack. I had not realized that my enemies had learned enough of me to be able to intercept us that way. It was not a robbery. They intended to kidnap us, my dear. Had he not interceded as he did, we might both be back in France before we knew it, or dead. I wish I had learned who he was, nonetheless.”

He took her arm. “Come. We have neither of us eaten since breakfast. I know there is a lunch that has been waiting for us for some time now.”

He had weighty things upon his mind concerning the incidents of the previous evening. He would not let his companion know everything that he knew of their history, and cause her to worry also, yet perhaps he must, in order to protect her. Certainly, he would make sure that they never went anywhere about the city now without them both being armed and better prepared. He would refresh her knowledge and ability with a pistol and sword once more, and ensure that she was given a small pistol to carry with her at all times. A pistol would have been more effective than a parasol to remove M. Delacourt from the carriage, for that is who had been trying to get to her. He would not tell her any more than she already knew, which was little enough. They would also need to relocate somewhere else in the city, and change their habits, and their name, once more.

He would sit down after they had eaten and write that letter to his son in the British Embassy in St. Petersburg, and let him know what had happened, and what seemed to have changed.

His granddaughter went off to her own room and sat for a few moments before her mirror to correct those few deficiencies that still remained. She looked at herself in the mirror and spoke to no one in particular.

‘So I must wait longer then, my mysterious and violent benefactor. Benefactor on this occasion at least. But I now know that you exist, and were not just the empty ramblings of some strange old gypsy woman to my mother.’ She sighed. ‘I wonder how it is that you will injure me.’ She did not like that thought.