Here's a chapter for the Bordon fans. Thanks to Janeen for her helpful suggestions.
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A loud knock came at the door of the Tavington suite as Charlotte and Mary were enjoying their tea over conversation. Susan was sitting on the floor on the opposite side of the room playing quietly with her doll, while Ruth had returned to the kitchen to take her tea with other servants.
Charlotte Tavington opened the door to find Captain Bordon standing there, bear fur crested helmet in hand, with an expectant smile on his face.
"Begging your pardon, Mistress Tavington, but the Colonel sent me to assist Mistress Miller in finding quarters and getting settled in."
"Do come in, Captain," Charlotte said amiably, moving aside to allow him entrance. "Would you like a cup of tea?"
"Thank you, but Colonel Tavington wanted me to handle this matter as expeditiously as possible," Bordon reported. "He also told me to advise you that he and Captain Wilkins are busy working on something for the Lord General, but that they would be along as soon as possible."
Setting her tea cup down, Mary rose from the sofa, standing several inches taller than Charlotte Tavington. "I am eager to get settled as it's been a rather trying day," she said, giving the ginger-haired officer a hopeful smile. "Shall we go?"
"You two go ahead," Charlotte told Mary, while simultaneously smiling down at Susan. "Susan can stay here with me and we can get better acquainted while you're gone."
"Thank you, Charlotte," Mary said gratefully. "I truly appreciate it. We'll be able to get this done much more quickly if Susan can stay here."
As Bordon accompanied Mary down the veranda steps onto the fort grounds a couple of moments later, she gave him a grateful glance. "I want to thank you for taking time to help me get settled. Surely, there are other things you'd much prefer be doing right now."
"It's no trouble at all," he replied sincerely. "I am most happy to do anything in my power to help make your stay here a pleasant one."
As the two began walking across the compound, they met Ban Tarleton coming up from the stables, having just returned to the fort with his men.
"Ah, Bordon, where have you been hiding this lovely lady?" Tarleton called out when he was still a good distance from them, with the sun in his eyes. "You might give someone else a chance at her company."
As he came closer, he recognized her, remembering her from his recent trip to the Miller horse farm. "Mistress Miller," he said smoothly. "How nice to see you again. What brings you to our humble fort? Did you come to have a visit with your brother?"
"Later, Ban," Bordon warned, realizing that the other dragoon had yet to hear the news of the raid on the Miller farm. "Why don't you go up to the conference room and Colonel Tavington will fill you in on recent developments."
Tarleton caught the warning look in Bordon's eyes and cleared his throat. "Er, ah, yes, of course." Bowing gallantly in front of Mary as he swept his helmet off in a gentlemanly gesture, he murmured, "If you'll excuse me…"
"I'm sorry about that," Bordon apologized after Tarleton had moved on.
"It's not your fault," she assured him with a sad smile. "And I'm sure he meant no harm. If he's just returned to the fort, there's no way he could have heard the news about the raid."
"Still, I hate to see you upset," he insisted. "Such a lovely lady should not be unnecessary distressed."
"You're so kind and thoughtful, Captain Bordon," Mary said quietly, looking intently into his light green eyes.
"You must call me James," he invited, holding her gaze, mesmerized by her soulful brown eyes.
"James and Jim," she noted, laughing softly. "That must get rather confusing at times serving with my brother in such a close capacity."
"At times," he agreed, still smiling. "But we mainly go by our surnames with each other."
"If I'm calling you James, then you must call me Mary," she said. "I imagine we'll be seeing a lot of each other while I'm here, so there's no need to remain so formal with one another."
"Mary, it is, then!" Bordon said, delighted to see how friendly she was. He had reason to hope that after a period of mourning she would be receptive to his suit.
"I was hoping to be able to stay with my brother," Mary told him a moment later, changing the subject. "The Tavingtons have such spacious quarters and if Jim's are anything like that…"
"Oh, I'm afraid a Captain doesn't rank such nice quarters," Bordon replied, chuckling heartily. "Captain Wilkins and I each have tents down in the officers' area." He gestured to a large tent encampment a short distance beyond the stables.
"And I'm sure he wouldn't want you quartered near the men," the dragoon continued. "Nor would he want you among the tents where the lower ranks quarter their families, as they are quite close to where the…err, um…camp followers live who have, shall we say, less than sterling reputations."
"I see," Mary said, frowning. "So, where can I live, then?"
"I was considering just that on my walk over to get you and I think I've come up with a suitable solution," he told her, as he led her in the direction of the stables.
"Oh?" Her curiosity was piqued.
"There's a carriage house behind the main stable, but closer to the main house than the tent encampment," Bordon explained. "Until a few days ago, one of the officers lived in the rooms upstairs with his wife and son. He's since moved his family back to Charles Town and I'd thought to commandeer the rooms for myself." As they reached the building in question, Bordon concluded, "But I think you need them more than I do."
"I'd hate to put you out," Mary declared. "I wouldn't want to inconvenience you."
"It's no inconvenience at all," he assured her. "It had been just an idle thought for me to move in there. I'm really better off where I am, so that I can be close by if the men need me."
"It would be a more suitable place for Susan than living in the tent encampment," she mused.
"Why don't we go on up?" he suggested, leading the way.
"There's more space here than I expected," Mary said as she inspected the rooms a short time later, which had been left adequately furnished with simple, but sturdy furniture. "I think this will do quite nicely for Susan and I."
There was a surprisingly spacious sitting room, with two tiny bedrooms on either side of the stairway. The sitting room had two windows: one at front and another at back that overlooked the main house on one side and the tent encampment on the other.
As Mary stood looking out the window facing the main house, the tall dragoon came to stand beside her, "It's really a nice view," he remarked. "You can easily see the gardens if you look off to your right." Chuckling, he noted, "It's not a bad place if you can abide the pervasive odour of horses."
Mary gave him a broad smile as she laughed merrily. "After living on a horse farm all these years, I hardly even notice it," she said. "In fact, I'm sure I'd miss the aroma if it were not present."
"Ah, that's music to this old cavalryman's ears!" Bordon declared, grinning widely.
"Not quite so old!" Mary remarked, guessing that he must be somewhere close to her own age.
"I joined the cavalry when I was sixteen," he told her. "So it makes me feel rather old at times."
"I see," Mary replied briefly.
Walking to the other window, Bordon pointed to the left and said, "If you'll look this way at the two larger tents next to that big oak tree you'll see where your brother and I sleep."
Joining him at the window, she said, "That's not very far; no further than going to the main house."
After a long moment of companionable silence, Bordon said, "I should go find your pack horses and get a couple of men to bring your belongings up here."
"And I need to go collect Susan," she said as she followed the dragoon back down the stairs.
Bordon was pleased to find the two pack horses in question already waiting for them when they arrived back at the main house. Two dragoon privates were standing nearby chatting with the Tavingtons' maid, Ruth.
"Well, that saves me a bit of work," he commented in a low voice to Mary as they walked up to the group waiting by the horses.
"Mistress Tavington told me to go have the horses brought here, so they'd be ready by the time you got back," Ruth explained to Bordon. "These two soldiers kindly offered to help unload."
"Good work, men," Bordon said, acknowledging the two dragoons, though he knew they'd likely volunteered just to get a chance to ingratiate themselves with the attractive maid. "Take the horses over to the carriage house, then take the baggage to the upstairs rooms."
"We'll follow you over," Mary said decisively. "I'll wait until we're done to get Susan."
"Begging Mistress Miller's pardon, but why don't you and Miss Susan go have dinner?" Ruth suggested. "I'm sure you're quite hungry by now. I can supervise the unloading of your baggage."
"That's an excellent idea," Bordon said, giving the servant a grateful smile. "Colonel Tavington did say to make sure you'd had dinner. I can take both you and Susan to the officer's mess for dinner."
"I wouldn't want to inconvenience you," she demurred.
"It's no inconvenience at all," he assured her. "We'll have a quick dinner, then I'll escort you back to your new quarters where you can settle in for the night."
"All right, then, James," she said, smiling. "I'd be happy to accept your invitation."
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Later that evening, William and Charlotte Tavington snuggled naked in bed together talking after an extended bout of lovemaking. Tavington particularly looked forward to returning to the fort after being out on patrol, as their couplings tended to be more lusty and satisfying after he'd spent time away from his wife.
Charlotte had surprised him by descending upon him almost immediately after he'd returned to their quarters. She'd taken his hand and almost before he'd known it, had begun to undress him, so eager she'd been to lie with him once again.
Once the afterglow of lovemaking had faded, they'd begun chatting about their day, as was frequently their habit. Charlotte turned to William and told him, "I think Captain Bordon is quite taken with Mary Miller. He was blushing like a schoolboy when he came over here to help her find quarters and could not take his eyes from her."
Laughing heartily, Tavington replied, "Was he that obvious?"
"Oh, yes," Charlotte said. "I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd gone down on one knee and proposed to her right then and there."
Chortling gleefully again, Tavington confided, "I think it was love at first sight for him. Within five minutes of meeting her, he was already confiding in me that he was interested in courting her. And this was right after her husband had died!"
"Oh, my," Charlotte said. "Captain Bordon needs to take into consideration that not only did she lose her husband, but that she was also cruelly violated by one of the partisans."
"He's well aware," Tavington said heavily.
"And he's still interested in her, despite knowing she was brutally used by that barbarian?" Charlotte asked. "Many men would not be so understanding."
"Captain Bordon knows she is a virtuous woman and in no way invited what happened to her," Tavington assured her. "After all, she is Captain Wilkins' sister."
"But I do hope he'll give her sufficient time to heal and to grieve before making his intentions known," Charlotte insisted. "A woman doesn't get over such things overnight."
"He will," Tavington assured her. "He's one of the most patient men I've ever known. And in the meantime, he intends to be as helpful as he can to her in her time of mourning. I purposely gave him the assignment to help her find quarters in order to give him an opportunity to start getting to know her."
"William, you're a romantic!" Charlotte declared, smiling broadly. "I never thought you would have had it in you!"
"Bordon is a good man," her husband said. "And Mistress Miller will want to marry again and probably sooner rather than later. I figured she could do a lot worse than James Bordon. Really, it's a practical matter more than anything else."
"If you say so," Charlotte replied, laughing softly. "I believe I'll do my part as well to help the romance along, as I agree with you that Mary and Captain Bordon are a rather well-matched couple."
Rolling over to take Charlotte into his arms once again, Tavington murmured seductively, "Enough about Bordon's romance for now. We have one of our own to attend to."
"Bordon who?" Charlotte replied as she leaned into her husband's amorous embrace.
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After escorting Mary Miller and her daughter, Susan, back to their new quarters after dinner, James Bordon returned to his tent to freshen up before heading to the tent encampment to pay a visit to the camp whores.
Being around Mary for such an extended time had left the dragoon uncomfortably aroused and he knew he'd have to do something to relieve the tension so he'd be able to sleep tonight and properly concentrate on his duty tomorrow. He also needed the type of relief these camp followers could offer in order to be able to take the proper amount of time to allow Mary to grieve her husband and then to court her properly without seeming desperate.
Bordon did not visit the camp doxies as often as some of the men did, such as Banastre Tarleton, who visited nearly every night when he was at the fort. The dragoon captain usually waited until the sexual tension was interfering with his concentration before he sought release among the whores. The problem was, however, that sexual anxiety plagued him more often now than previously, and with Mary Miller living at the fort, Bordon was afraid that he'd now be right there with Ban Tarleton making nightly visits.
Some time later, the dragoon lifted the flap of Molly's tent to leave, now feeling relaxed and refreshed, his hair loose and blowing in the slight breeze. As he began to stroll in the direction of where his own tent was located, he nearly ran right into Ban Tarleton emerging from another tent nearby.
"Bordon!" Tarleton called out, as he stopped himself from colliding with the taller man at the last moment.
"Tarleton," the other man acknowledged briefly as they began walking up the path together.
"I'm sorry if I spoke out of turn earlier," Tarleton began. "I had no idea of what had happened at the Miller farm. I do hope that Mistress Miller will forgive me."
"Don't worry about it," Bordon replied. "She understood that you didn't know."
"Ah, but now she's single again," Ban noted. "And I sense that you feel more than merely protective of her." Noting the expression on Bordon's face, the auburn-haired dragoon pressed on, "You want her for yourself! I can tell from the look on your face." Clapping the other man on the back, he added, "I never knew you had it in you, Bordon! You're not wasting any time making your move! I couldn't have done any better myself!"
After giving the libertine officer a sour look, Bordon said, "It's not like that at all."
"Isn't it?" Tarleton demanded. "You looked at her as if you wanted to ravish her right there in front of me."
"I'm serious about her," Bordon told the Colonel quietly. "I think I've found the woman I want to marry."
Suppressing the urge to roll his eyes at the mention of marriage, Tarleton told him, "I wish you luck, then. But I don't think you're going to need luck, as the woman is just as taken with you as you are with her."
Bordon raised an eyebrow at this. "Are you certain?"
"Trust me on this," Tarleton assured him, "Who knows more about women than I do or has more experience? Mark my words, you'll be walking that one down the aisle very soon."
"I hope you're right," Bordon said, with a new spring in his step as they continued on.
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Historical note: Because of shorter life expectancies before the 20th century, it was not uncommon to be widowed at a relatively early age, when minor children were still present in the home. It was also common for people to remarry rather quickly, mainly for practical reasons rather than romantic ones. Women looked for another man to support them and their children and men looked for another woman to help raise his children so he could work to support them. They weren't looking to be madly in love first, but were satisfied to find a good man or woman they could imagine themselves loving somewhere down the line.
I was inspired by an example from my own family. One of my great-great grandfathers, who was a Confederate soldier and lived from 1825-1910, remarried rather quickly after his second wife died. He married his wife's sister who had also been recently widowed, and who had lived next door to them. I don't imagine they were suddenly madly in love, but they both had minor children at home, and as in-laws, knew one another well enough to make a go of it.