Chapter 50: Bad News

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” – Ecclesiastes 3:1

York, Great Britain. October 1076

The letter from Luke slipped from between her fingers. Marion had been blindsided by the loss of General Baker. She had been one of Marion’s most successful generals and a great recruitment tool. Little girls saw the petite British general in her dress uniform with all her metals, and they wanted to emulate her, while young men wanted to date her.

When Marion first received the letter, she was curious. It was a much thicker envelope than Luke usually sent. Thinking it contained a long letter or some of his observations of ancient Egypt, Marion quickly opened it. She thoroughly enjoyed reading what Luke sent her regarding his discoveries of ancient ruins. Some of his observations were more in the lines of books with pages upon pages of etchings of ancient inscriptions and drawings of ancient monuments. This letter was far different than what she expected.

Inside the large envelope, Marion found another address to Captain Tostig, BN, a much smaller envelope sealed in wax, and a letter to her. Opening her letter was like a punch to the gut, and tears rolled down Marion’s cheek. She knew General Baker left behind three children and a loving husband. The general’s children sometimes played with hers. A feeling of guilt washed over Marion as she felt responsible for destroying the family. Worse was her dread of what Luke was going through, to have her die in his arms. She knew Luke had a soft place for the little blonde she-devil; he had told her himself. Marion only smiled because she knew Luke was loyal to her and would never do anything inappropriate with Madeline.

Reading Luke’s letter, he explained what happened, what he promised Madeline, and what was in the other two envelopes. Knowing what she had to do, Marion ignored the work sitting on her desk and collected her guards. They were not going far, but Marion never traveled outside the palace without them.

The British Admiralty was now located in York instead of Hull. During the planning for the Egyptian campaign, it was found to be a serious inconvenience to travel from York to Hull constantly when planning a major campaign. Since the rest of the government was in York, the navy moved and was now located in the Admiralty building, which was located next to the main army base. This offered them easy access to the train station and telegraph network. With the telegraph, orders could easily be sent and information received.

Marion arrived and went straight to Admiral Mills’s office, hoping to find Captain Tostig’s location. Luke wished for the news to reach Captain Tostig as soon as possible; this was the easiest way. She walked straight into the admiral’s office, where her luck was very good or bad, depending on your perspective, because Captain Tostig was in a conference discussing his next deployment with the admiral.

“Your Majesty!” Admiral Arthur Mills stood so quickly that he banged his knees on his desk. Looking at Captain Tostig, “Why don’t you go get something to eat, Captain Tostig?”

Marion instantly realized her luck and cursed, but the sooner she got this job over, the better. “Captain Tostig, stop. I need to have a serious word with you.” Tostig froze briefly, but his training kicked in, and he spun around while standing at attention.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Captain Tostig, there is no easy way to tell you this, and I truly wished I didn’t have to, but your wife was killed in action a week ago.”

“What?” Tostig couldn’t fathom what Marion told him, but neither could Admiral Mills. Marion gave the official notice to Tostig, and he looked at it like it had turned into a snake.

“I’m very sorry, Tostig, but Brigadier General Madeline Baker was killed in action at a hill northeast of Luxor.”

“NO! That can’t be right! You have to be mistaken.”

“I wish I were, but she died in Field Marshal MacDougall’s arms. She was leading an attack to dislodge the enemy from a strongly held defensive position when a musket round struck her. She lived long enough to tell the field marshal to ensure you got this letter,” Marion handed him the letter Luke had copied.

Tostig looked at the letter and collapsed in tears. He knew Madeline had a dangerous job, but he never expected her to be killed, even though she had warned him. Admiral Mills was at a loss of what to say or do; he couldn’t imagine his wife being killed. It was at that moment that Arthur understood the heartbreaking anguish that had been inflicted on countless generations of war widows when their husbands were killed in some pointless war. Marion fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around Tostig as he sobbed. Feeling her loving arms around him, Tostig cried harder while Marion held and rocked him back and forth.

Marion kept her arms around Tostig until he stopped crying and stood. He wiped his eyes, and Marion saw his face take on a cold appearance.

“Thank you for informing me of this unfortunate event, Your Majesty. If you will excuse me, I have a mission to prepare for.” Tostig said with a deep bow.

Marion and Admiral Mills stared at each other with their jaws hanging open.

“Captain Tostig,” Admiral Mills called out before Tostig could exit. He spun around and stood at attention.

“Aye, sir.”

“Your wife just died, and you want to go to sea. I think not. You are on leave until further notice. Go home, Tostig. Hug your children and be a dad to them. I do not want to see you here for three months. When you are ready after that, you may return without losing seniority.”

“Sir, with all due respect, I’m ready to go to sea now.”

“No, you’re not. You haven’t processed the fact that you are now a widower with three children to care for. I do not want you on a ship until you have had time to grieve properly because the last thing I want you doing is making a stupid decision at sea and costing a lot of men and women their lives.” Seeing the captain was being stubborn, Arthur decided to go nuclear. “Captain, either take a three-month leave or resign your commission. I cannot have a commander at sea who has their judgment clouded.”

“BUT SIR!”

“No.” Tostig turned to Marion.

“Your Majesty...”

“No. Admiral Mills is your superior officer, and you will obey him. I would back you if he gave you an illegal order, but he hasn’t. What he is ordering you to do is very reasonable, so I suggest you take it and go home to spend time with your family. At the end of the day, this is just a job. A good job, a noble job, but just a job. Your job now is to go home and be a father. Get your personal life in order, and I promise you your spot in the Navy will still be there.”