Hope - Lesley Pearse [186]
‘You worry too much,’ Hope said, going over to hug him. ‘Lady Errol told me that we are moving on to a place called Varna soon, and that more troops will join us there. I’m sure all the other equipment will arrive there too.’
On 25 May, the Queen’s birthday, Lord Raglan, the Commander in Chief, arrived at Scutari to reviewthe troops. He seemed very old to Hope, however noble he looked in his plumed hat and gold braid, and he also had only one arm. She’d heard he had been the aide de camp for the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo, so she supposed he was the right man to be in charge.
Just a few days later, on the 29th, Hope and Bennett were once again on the move, this time on the Golden Fleece bound for Varna in Bulgaria. More troops would be joining them there, along with the French army.
No one had told Bennett to send his wife home, and Lady Errol, with whom Hope had struck up a tentative friendship, said if there was any difficulty she would speak to Lord Raglan himself about it.
‘Doesn’t it look pretty!’ Hope exclaimed as they sailed into the Bulgarian port. While it was true the houses along the quay were ramshackle wooden ones, she thought it very picturesque. But as the ship drew closer to shore, a foul smell wafted out to them and Bennett heaved a sigh.
‘I will never complain about anything in England again,’ he said, bending to whisper in her ear. ‘Not the filth in the streets, the workhouses, the beggars, or even the hospitals. And when we get back there, I’ll find us a cottage by the sea and only treat rich patients.’
The town was fetid and had a slovenly population of some 15,000 Greeks, Turks and Bulgarians who appeared not to notice blocked drains and open cesspits. But the Rifle Brigade disembarked, and with the band playing ‘Cheer, Boys, Cheer’, they quickly marched a short distance out of the town, and made camp above a lake.
In the days that followed Hope sat up on a hill behind the camp and watched a constant stream of troop ships sailing into the harbour and marvelled at all the distinctive regiments. She was particularly entranced by the Highlanders in their tartan kilts, marching to the wail of their bagpipes which was like no sound she’d ever heard before. The infantry in their red coats and white breeches were stunning, but then so were the French in their blue coats. She’d heard a rifleman being rude about the Russian uniform earlier in the day: he said they wore grey, and looked like a pack of rats. He reckoned they would see all the vivid colours of our men and run a mile.
Then, just when she thought the soldiers couldn’t get any more gorgeous, along came the Hussars. It was hard to decide which were the more magnificent, the beautiful sleek chargers, or their riders with their tight cherry-red breeches and blue coats adorned with gold braid.
So many different bands were playing. There was so much shouting, galloping hooves, and equipment being hauled into place. There were gun carriages, bullock carts laden with ammunition, tents and field equipment, mules weighed down with heavy loads, and still more horses, and they stirred up the dust into a storm.
Hope noted that the French seemed much better organized and equipped than the English. They alone appeared to have a real plan, and their tents were struck quickly and efficiently.
Bennett pointed out both Lord Cardigan and Lord Lucan and told Hope there was already a major row brewing between them because Cardigan had believed he was to be in command, yet Lord Raglan had decided that Lucan was to be. Apparently it had eventually been decided that Lord Lucan would have the Heavy Brigade, and Lord Cardigan the Light Brigade, but as Lucan had overall command, trouble was still expected.
Hope didn’t think much of either of these two men she’d heard so much about back home. They were both so old, at least fifty-five or more. Cardigan looked every bit as arrogant as she’d heard, and not half as handsome, for he had thick bushy whiskers down his cheeks, and his teeth were bad. As for Lord Lucan, he looked as if he were sucking a lemon, and