La Coruña, Battle of, La Coruña, Spain, 1809 -- Juvenile fiction; Moore, John, Sir 1761-1809 -- Juvenile fiction
"I am now regularly on the general's staff, Mary, and this is the
uniform."
"You look very well in it," she said; "don't you think so, Lorenza?"
"I do, indeed," her friend agreed; "it does make a difference."
"Well, to begin with, it is clean and new," Terence laughed; "and though
the other was not old, it had seen its best days. But I have more news,
Mary; you have now to address your cousin as colonel."
Mary clapped her hands, and Don Jose and his family uttered exclamations
of pleasure.
"It is quite right," Mary said; "it is ridiculous that Señor Herrara
should be colonel and you only Mr. O'Connor."
"It does not matter much about a name," he said. "I commanded before and I
shall do so now, but I have got Portuguese rank."
"Why did not they make you an English colonel?" Mary asked, rather
indignantly.
Terence laughed. "I shall be lucky if I get that in another twenty years,
Mary. I am a lieutenant now--I have got the step since you saw me
last--but I am to rank as a colonel in the Portuguese army as long as I
command this corps, which I am glad to say is now to form a part of the
British army. Herrara is to have the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Bull and
Macwitty will, I hope, get their commissions as ensigns in the British
army, with local rank of majors. The general will recommend that Herrara's
troopers all get commissions in the Portuguese army."
"Ah, well! I am pleased that your services are appreciated, Terence. We
are very glad that you have come back, Lorenza especially so, as, now you
have returned, she thinks she will see more of Señor Herrara."
"The bishop is in Lisbon, Mary."
"That is not such good news, Terence. I will be very careful to keep out
of his way."
"Do," he said. "I have spoken to Captain Nelson, one of the general's
staff, about you, and if by any chance you should be recognized as an
escaped nun, I hope that Don Jose will go to him at once and ask him to
obtain the general's protection for you, which will, I am sure, be given.
Your father was an Irishman. You are a British subject, and have a right
to protection. You won't forget the name, Don Jose--Captain Nelson?"
"I will write it down at once," the Portuguese said, "but as Donna Mary
will pass under the name of Dillon, and her dress has so changed her
appearance, I do not think that there is the smallest fear of her being
recognized. Indeed, no one could know her except the bishop himself."
"You may be sure that I shall not go out much in Lisbon," Mary said, "and
if I do I will keep my promise to be always closely veiled."
CHAPTER XX
WITH THE MAYOS
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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